CPL 2.0 Twitter

I found the various library Twitter accounts very interesting. Twitter does seem like a useful way for the Library to disseminate information quickly to followers. There were lots of posts about upcoming programs, a few about new titles going into the collection, and Country Hills even had a tweet that a GPS was currently in stock. Shawnessy's last tweet, however, was on March 26 -- which seems somewhat contrary to the spirit of Tweeter (which seems to be that followers will be interested in knowing when a celebrity blows his or nose).


I think the Library should post information about programs, especially those that need extra promotion and those aimed at customers like teens who are most likely to follow Twitter. Information about services, especially new services or changes to existing services (for instance, Sunday closures / openings, the number of renewals changing from 2 to 4, or the change to the limit on borrowing DVDs) should also be posted on Twitter. I can see SCFT posting Tweets about early and family literacy for its followers. The Cybrarian has posted about teen programs, the new teenzone web site, contests, etc. Perhaps Twitter could also be used to announce temporary branch closures due to electrical outages, etc (although the location itself wouldn't be able to post the message in the case of the electrical outage!)

I see a definite need for some system-wide objectives and guidelines about the Library's use of Twitter:

• What are we trying to achieve as a system using Twitter?
• Who will be responsible for posting what?
• Should all branches or public departments post Tweets?
• Who decides on the content of Tweets?
• Who does the actual input of the Tweet?
• What is the best way to get the general messages about system-wide events or services out to everyone? Presumably not all followers for a specific branches or department will necessarily also follow the general CPL site, yet it seems inefficient to have every branch/department using Twitter posting the same general messages.

I'd also recommend a style guide for Twitter posts -- even the names of the various Library accounts listed in the assignment are inconsistent in terms of capitalizing the branch name or not.

One thing I couldn't understand is how people sign up to become followers of these various CPL branches and departments? The only Twitter icon I could find on our website was in the new Teenzone (http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/teenscreate/).