Marketing library services through Facebook groups
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discover whether Facebook Groups are conducive for library marketing.
Design/methodology/approach
Facebook Groups at two major research universities in the USA, along with two global Groups, were analyzed for their activity and membership to examine their performance of effectively promoting library visibility.
Findings
It finds that the success of Facebook Groups can be controlled by the active organization of librarians and by using more general topics to keep discussions alive. It also finds that Facebook Groups should target not only students but also faculty and staff in support of their research and teaching.
Research limitations/implications
By effectively organizing Facebook Groups as useful social networking, libraries can extend their services to more users. The findings of this paper provide insight into a new means of library marketing.
Originality/value
Previous studies on this topic did not analyze the actual activity of specific Facebook Groups. This research is one of the very few, if any, to go into individual groups and examine several important aspects of messages and members in these Groups.
Keywords
Citation
Xia, Z.D. (2009), "Marketing library services through Facebook groups", Library Management, Vol. 30 No. 6/7, pp. 469-478. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120910982159
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited