As might be anticipated from the title, this slim volume features the most widely used social media tools and discusses how they can be utilized effectively by libraries. There are chapters focusing on Facebook, wikis, video sharing, Pinterest, Google+, Foursquare, blogs, QR codes and Twitter. Each chapter provides an overview of the relevant tool, followed by step-by-step instructions on how to set up an account and use the tool, how to evaluate whether the tool is an effective marketing device and best practice guidelines. There are also definitions of the tool (in case the reader has never heard of them), history, data about usage rates and advantages to libraries.
This book seems to be geared toward librarians who are unfamiliar with these social media sites. The step-by-step instructions and data usage figures are likely to be of value to them, although this instructional content will shorten the shelf-life of this book. It is also likely to provide some useful arguments to include in business plans to justify why a library should use a particular tool. Even those librarians who are more social media-savvy are likely to be exposed to some thought-provoking ideas by reading this book. One such idea is that even if a library is not using a particular social media tool, it does not mean that they lack a presence on it (through unsolicited reviews/comments), and it is important for organizations to be aware of this.
Overall, this resource will be more useful to those librarians who want to get up to speed quickly on current trends in social media with a view to implementing these media in their libraries. Librarians who regularly use the sites mentioned are likely to find this resource less helpful, but there is still beneficial advice to be found inside.
