Sociala medier och policys på akademiska bibliotek

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to create an understanding of Swedish academic libraries’ work relating to social media and how the libraries’ policies affect this. The study was conducted through interviews with three librarians from different universities, and reviews of their written policies. The results were analysed with the help of Evert Gummesson’s theories concerning relationship marketing. The libraries as a whole wish to use social medias as a way of reaching their users and to give them a broader understanding of the libraries’ activities. The study also shows that the librarians have a good sense of what kind of social media presence their libraries should have, and the importance of both content and tone. They work continuously in groups with questions concerning social media. Whether or not tasks concerning social media is integrated in the everyday work differs between the libraries. Where the work has not been integrated or supported by the manager, the work has proved more difficult and cumbersome. This, and the fact that many of the followers are other libraries or librarians, shows that networking with different parts of the library industry also are important relationships to nurture. The study also shows that all the libraries have policy documents in one way or another, but that the content of these can vary greatly. Most libraries choose to create some type of policy document before creating a social media account, in part to show to the managers, in part to create an understanding for themselves of what it is they want to achieve with their social media.