Twitter communication of university libraries in the face of Covid-19

Abstract

Libraries have had to reorient their activities and services due to the closure of their physical facilities during the Covid-19 crisis. In the framework of higher education, educational institutions have transferred their teaching and research to the online environment. University libraries have always been an essential element in the development of teaching and educational activities, and their role has been crucial during the confinement period. This research aims to analyze how Spanish university libraries have communicated this new way of providing their services through Twitter during the first weeks of the state of alarm. A total of 11,867 tweets and retweets from 56 libraries were analyzed based on an ad hoc thematic categorization. The conclusions highlight the role of libraries in the face of the health emergency and the transformation and publicity of this new way of working, as well as their role as an important information point to keep up to date with the current situation of the pandemic. Resumen Las bibliotecas han tenido que reorientar sus actividades y servicios ante el cierre de sus instalaciones físicas debido a la crisis de la Covid-19. En el marco de la enseñanza superior, las instituciones educativas han trasladado su docencia e investigación al entorno online. Las bibliotecas universitarias, siempre han constituido un elemento esencial en el desarrollo de actividades docentes y educativas y durante el confinamiento su papel ha sido clave. Esta investigación tiene por objetivo analizar cómo las bibliotecas universitarias españolas han comunicado la nueva forma de prestar sus actividades a través de Twitter durante las primeras semanas del estado de alarma. Se analizaron 11.867 tweets y retweets de 56 bibliotecas. Para su análisis se realiza una categorización temática ad hoc. Se concluye poniendo en valor el papel de las bibliotecas ante la emergencia sanitaria y la rapidez de actuación en la transformación y publicidad de su nueva forma de trabajar. Asimismo, se destaca su papel como punto informativo importante para seguir la actualidad de la pandemia.

Crisis Librarianship: An Examination of Online Librarianship Roles in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Two European studies described the use of social media by academic librarians to maintain services post-lockdown. Martinez-Cardama and Pacios (2020) examined the use of Twitter communications by 56 Spanish university libraries during the period of March 15 to April 26, 2020, and Gmiterek (2021) collected data posted by Polish university libraries from March 11, 2020 through June 2020 to four social networking sites. Both researchers documented the use of social media as a means of conveying timely information about library services as well as conducting online library programming events.…”

Remembering COVID-19; or, a duty to document the coronavirus pandemic

“…Current COVID-19 documentary initiatives undertaken by LAMs are still evolving as the pandemic itself continues to re-emerge in multiple waves of contagion across the globe. There is an emerging literature on these initiatives and other roles played by LAMs during the coronavirus pandemic (Acker and Chaiet, 2020; Alajmi and Albudaiwi, 2020; Burch, 2020; Dwivedi, 2020; Erll, 2020a, 2020b; Hobbins, 2020; Holland, 2021; Jones, 2020; Kosciejew, 2021; Lloyd and Hicks, 2021; Machovec, 2020; Martínez-Cardama and Pacios, 2020; Matthews, 2020; Neatrour et al, 2020; Oyelude, 2020; Rieger, 2020; Shankar et al, 2021; Tammaro, 2020; Wang and Lund, 2020; Xie et al, 2020). There are useful lists and guides with COVID-19 information, initiatives and services compiled by various cultural memory institutions and professional associations.…”

Curación de contenidos de bibliotecas en medios sociales: plataformas, técnicas y buenas prácticas

“…Cuando se inicia la tercera década del siglo XXI, el uso de los medios sociales por parte de las bibliotecas está plenamente generalizado y consolidado, aunque su proceso de adopción fuera lento, pausado e incluso costoso en sus años iniciales (Charnigo;Barnett-Ellis, 2007;Margaix-Arnal, 2007;Carrasco-Polaino;Villar-Cirujano;Martín-Cárdaba, 2019). En la actualidad es un canal de información y comunicación relevante para las organizaciones bibliotecarias, como las circunstancias recientes derivadas de la pandemia de la Covid-19 han constatado (Martínez-Cardama;Pacios, 2020;Boté-Vericad;Sola-Martínez, 2020;Choi;Kim, 2021).…”