BY EMILY SCHMITT KNIGHTLIFE EDITOR
When Kari Weaver, information literacy librarian, is near a computer, she always has Facebook open. She, along with the rest of Wartburg’s librarians, considers Facebook a standard tool for her job.
Weaver communicates with at least one student a day through Facebook. She said students will often get faster responses from her through Facebook than they can through e-mail.
“Whenever I’m searching for something, I’ve always got Facebook up in another tab. The main idea is that everyone is using it all the time, so it’s one of the main modes that we have for communication,” Weaver said.
Although Weaver has been advertising her presence on Facebook to students all year, the entire library staff is now embracing the social networking Web site.
“All of the librarians are on Facebook, so you can contact them through that,” Weaver said.
Not only does each librarian have a Facebook profile, but Vogel Library now has its own Facebook page, and Weaver said she hopes students will become “fans.”
“It’s got a link to the Web site, it has information about finals hours,” Weaver said. “It’s an easy way to find information from a librarian when you’re on Facebook already.”
“You can also find your librarians here and then e-mail them through Facebook,” she said.
She said students often “friend” her so they can send messages and chat with her on Facebook when they have questions.
Weaver often poses challenges to students by updating her status, asking for a research challenge. She said she gets replies back and is able to help students find the information they were looking for.
“I’ve found it very effective,” Weaver said. “People like it, it’s easy.”