A Study of Social Media Marketing in North Carolina Special Libraries

by Robinson, Jillian E

This study describes a Web questionnaire survey of special librarians in North Carolina who are members of the Special Libraries Association. The survey, based on the theory of the diffusion of innovations, was conducted to determine special librarians’ familiarity and knowledge of social media and its possibilities for use in the marketing of special libraries. This study also aimed to determine special librarians’ professional development activities and their impact on the adoption of social media marketing techniques.

The results of this study support classical diffusion theory. This non-random sample showed user perceptions of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity and observability correlated, in most cases, with the adoption of social media marketing techniques.