The Role of a Librarian in Using Social Media Tools to Promote the Research Output of HIS/ HER Clienteles

Abstract

Social media has the potential to facilitate much closer relationship between libraries and their patrons wherever users are based and however they choose to learn about and access library services and resources. This paper therefore revealed the role of a librarian in using social media tools to promote the research output of its clientele. The study also revealed that current usage of social media by the library community generally remains and ad hoc, and somewhat experimental, but the uptake of these tools is accelerating and the likely play an interesting important role in library service provision and outreach in the future.The study revealed some of the role of a librarian in using social media for advocacy is to offer practical advice about how researchers can make their research output visible to rest of the scholar and to provide both print and non-print (electronic) materials that are relevant to the area of specialization of its clientele the right information, in a right format and at the right time. The study also revealed that librarian can also search for conferences online that match area of its clientele discipline or area of specialization on its client behalf and forward it to its clientele for further action.

Keywords: Libraries, Librarian, Social Media Tools, Advocacy, Clientele.