BCIT librarians are using Social networking tools such as Facebook in an effort to reach into students' social space. Facebook pages in three programme areas (Health, Business and Construction) were created to be used as a "recall tool" for the students. At the end of the instructional session, the librarian displays the page, and invites the students to become 'fans.' In this way students will have a permanent quick customized link to relevant electronic resources that were demonstrated during the instruction session.
The Health Sciences librarian used Netvibes to develop a "startpage" (like iGoogle) to serve as a portal to access the library's electronic resources in Occupational Health and Safety. Students, especially those at a distance, will find the resources they need all on one page. The instructors can share the URL with them.
Even though all the electronic resources have always been available on the Library's web page, with both these tools individual librarians find there is a lot of flexibility as to content and look. Also, these tools provide a handy and efficient way for the students to access the library resources, either from their laptops or mobile devices.
Facebook:
School of Business page.
School of Construction & the Environment page.
School of Health Sciences page.
Netvibes:
School of Health Sciences page for the OH&S program
February 9, 2009
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The Library is also on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bcitlib
Using these technologies to link students to electronic library resources is smart because instead of waiting for students to come in, the library goes to where the students are.
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