Journal of Librarianship and
Information Science
1–11
© The Author(s) 2014
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DOI: 10.1177/0961000613520027
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Introduction
Online activities including engaging in blogs, social net-
working sites, photo- and video-sharing sites and location-
based services are a growing part of many people’s private
and professional lives. Social media is the unifying term
for these ‘new digital media phenomena […] in which
ordinary users (i.e. not only media professionals) can com-
municate with each other and create and share content with
others online through their personal networked computers
and digital mobile devices’ (Bechmann and Lomborg,
2013: 767). Even though many studies elaborate on the
potential of social media, it is difficult to locate an ade-
quate definition.
According to Bechmann and Lomborg (2013), social
media can be demarcated using three main characteristics.
First, social media communication is de-institutionalized,
which means that media companies alone do not control
the flow and distribution of information. Second, social
media users are also information and content producers.
We refer here to the collapse of production and consump-
tion roles, labelled ‘prosumer’ (Jenkins, 2006) or ‘produs-
age’ (Bruns, 2008). Third, social media communication is
interactive and networked in nature. Users interact with
each other (rather than via institutions) and connect in a
The librarian 2.0: Identifying
a typology of librarians’
social media literacy
Hadewijch Vanwynsberghe
iMinds-MICT-UGent, Belgium
Ruben Vanderlinde
Ghent University, Belgium
Annabel Georges
iMinds-MICT-UGent, Belgium
Pieter Verdegem
Ghent University, Belgium
Abstract
This article reports on the identification of librarians’ social media literacy profiles. These profiles were developed through the
construction of scales measuring social media competencies. An online questionnaire was developed and administered to a sample of
184 librarians working in Flemish public libraries. Cluster analysis revealed four social media literacy profiles: (1) social media workers;
(2) social media laggards; (3) social media literates; and (4) social media spare-time users. This typology of social media literacy profiles
is necessary information when developing a successful social media literacy strategy in libraries. Our research results further indicate
that librarians who fit the social media literate or social media worker profiles are expected to play a central and facilitating role in
the adoption and implementation of social media within public libraries.
Keywords
Library, library 2.0, profiles, social media literacy, social media use
Corresponding author:
Hadewijch Vanwynsberghe, iMinds-MICT-UGent, Korte Meer 7-9-11,
Gent, 9000, Belgium.
Email: Hadewijch.Vanwynsberghe@ugent.be
520027LIS 0 0 10.1177/0961000613520027Journal of Librarianship and Information ScienceVanwynsberghe et al.
research-article 2014
Article