These competencies are excerpted from the WebJunction Competency Index, published in July 2009. A key source of input for this set came from the Social Networking Literacy Competencies for Librarians presentation at ACRL 2009, delivered by Joseph Murphy and Heather L. Moulaison.
Public Services competencies related to social networking
Category: Adult Services
Competency: Uses Web tools and social networking communities to engage with and provide services to users
Associated skills & knowledge:
- Understands and articulates the importance of engaging with users in non-traditional ways that extend beyond the physical library
- Investigates and evaluates tools, and identifies those most applicable to the library’s services and community needs (blogs, wikis, widgets/toolbars, social networks, other emerging online tools)
- Determines objectives for enhancing library services and access, and acquires proficiency with selected tools to provide effective library services
- Explores the potential of social networking to interact with users and meet their information needs
- Assists users with setting up and using Web tools and participating in social networking communities
- Understands the unique opportunities, norms and limitations of online engagement with users
- Devises strategies to keep up with emerging tools and techniques, and connects with professional communities to seek and share best practices
Category: Children's Services
Competency: Uses Web tools and social networking communities to engage with and provide age-appropriate services to children
Associated skills & knowledge
- Understands and articulates the importance of introducing children to age-appropriate online tools and environments
- Investigates Web tools and social networking communities oriented toward children, and evaluates them for their potential to enhance learning and meet information needs of children
- Understands the unique opportunities, norms and limitations of online engagement for children, and establishes guidelines for the use of social networking tools appropriate to the library setting and to the age groups
- Assists children in accessing online children’s programs, using Web tools and participating in social networking communities
Category: Young Adult Services
Competency: Uses Web tools and social networking communities to engage with and provide services to young adults
Associated skills & knowledge:
- Understands and articulates the particular importance of engaging with young adults in nontraditional ways that extend beyond the physical library
- Involves young adults in the investigation and evaluation of tools to identify those most applicable to the library’s young adult services (blogs, wikis, widgets/toolbars, social networks, other emerging online tools)
- Explores the potential of social networking to connect and interact with young adults and meet their information needs
- Understands the unique opportunities, norms and limitations of online engagement with young adults, and establishes guidelines for the use of social networking tools appropriate to the library setting
- Assists young adults with setting up and using Web tools and participating in social networking communities
Technology competencies related to social networking
Category: Core Web Tools
Competency: Understands and uses common social networking and online collaboration tools
Associated skills & knowledge
- Locates and reads blogs and listens to podcasts; demonstrates familiarity with micro-blogging (Twitter)
- Demonstrates familiarity with RSS and uses feedreaders (Google Reader, Bloglines) or other means to manage feeds
- Demonstrates familiarity with instant messaging tools (Meebo, Trillian, Skype), social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning, SecondLife) and social bookmarking (Delicious, Diigo)
- Demonstrates familiarity with photo-sharing (Flickr, ShutterFly), music-sharing (Last.fm, Pandora, iTunes) and video-sharing (YouTube)
- Demonstrates familiarity with online collaboration tools (GoogleDocs, Zoho, wikis, LibraryThing, Slideshare)
- Uses webconferencing programs for synchronous, online meetings or learning
- Locates and follows information sources to stay informed of new technologies and social tools
Category: Web Design & Development
Competency: Implements and manages the library’s presence on the Web to place the library’s services in the path of the users
Associated skills & knowledge:
- Understands the importance of having a Web presence beyond the library Web site
- Investigates and develops the library’s presence on social networking sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Eventful, etc.)
- Evaluates and implements widgets and other tools for extending online access to library content
