Keep Me Logged In: Electronic Resource Vendors and Facebook

Abstract

Web 2.0, social networking in particular, has permeated the scholarly realm, allowing libraries to connect with and provides services to their users in new ways. However, are other library partners – namely electronic resource vendors and publishers – also making use of these new ways? This study examines whether or not a selected collection of databases and their publishers, drawn from the author’s library, have Facebook profiles and briefly examines those profiles where applicable. The results of the study reveal that several vendors and their products are on Facebook, which the author feels is a step in the right direction; however, the author feels that this step is still passive and suggests further study to see who is actually accessing these vendors’ profile and how this might affect the dynamic between vendors and users.