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Smeaton, K. & Davis, K. (2014). Social technologies in public libraries: exploring best practice. Library management. 35(3), 224-238. Retrieved from www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17107477 A report of a research project that explored social media best practice in the public library sector using two Australian public libraries. Five themes were extracted from the interview: creating communities, connecting with users, inviting participation, organisational culture and staffing. Only one library had a a social media policy, though this had been developed at the local council level.

Lisa Nielsen promotes the effective use of social media in education and is concerned that teachers do not fully understand their potential, nor best practice. She recommends conversation as an excellent way of supporting teachers in having a go. She provides two lists of conversation starters worthy of discussion in relation to particular contexts. While not promoting them as "Do and Don't" she has, however, divided them into Recommended, and Think twice before... Topics include: best practice for interacting with students; managing your online identity; role and responsibilities of parents, and managing online spaces. The lists provide an excellent basis for the development of a social media policy for schools.

Harmon, Charles; Messina, Michael (2013). Using Social Media in Libraries : Best Practices. http://primo.unilinc.edu.au/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=CSU Chapter 8: Implementing an online social community as an extension to our physical libraries.. A great review re Halifax Public Libraries implantation of their new social catalogue, aptly named Discover. Covers many practical topics such as: features of a social catalogue planning and research for the project objectives of implementing a social catalogue/tie in with mission statement technical issues staff training communication and marketing feedback It concludes with some practical and professional advice for potential users of such a catalogue.

The best link is via CSU library, not the eblib.com link. http://primo.unilinc.edu.au/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=CSU

This slideshare by Judy O'Connell encourages teacher librarians to become competent social media users. The twenty first century learning environment is constantly changing and teacher librarians must adapt. The internet is now a participatory medium and social networks are integral in our lives. School libraries need to be involved in social media and it begins with teacher librarians being active users within their with personal learning networks and their personal lives. Judy provides advice for teacher librarians on how to get started with policy planning, examples of best practice, tools and strategies for implementation. Specific instructions are provided for using Facebook and Twitter in school libraries.

Ellyssa Kroski explains that school libraries have different challenges to face with social media than other types of organisations. Social media policies provide clear guidelines for staff posting on behalf of the library and on their personal accounts and standards for acceptable use by library users. The article outlines what should be included in a social media policy and suggests looking at other organisation's social media policies for best practice. The importance of revising the policy when technological changes occur is also stressed. Unfortunately some of the links to examples of policies are no longer available.

Describes how social media can support learning and argues that restrictive social media policies should be re-thought. Suggests making a distinction between policies (what is specifically allowed and not allowed) and guidelines (recommendations for best practice). References specific US legislation and education standards but the proposed framework for guidelines has general relevance with learning and behaviour the focus, not technology and tools.

Abstract: "Social media is now widely used by librarians to fulfill a variety of objectives. Taylor & Francis has collated a range of opinion and data within this white paper to provide an overview of how social media is currently used by librarians, for what purposes, and to what effect. Our research program comprised focus groups in the UK, USA and India."

Why study social media in the library? Social media has the potential to facilitate much closer relationships between libraries and their patrons - wherever users are based, and however they choose to learn about and access library services and resources. Current usage of social media by the library community generally remains ad hoc and somewhat experimental, but the uptake of these tools is accelerating, and they will likely play an increasingly important role in library service provision and outreach in the future. This white paper has been researched and compiled by Taylor & Francis to provide an overview of current practices relating to the use by libraries of social media, from a world-wide perspective, against which individual institutions can benchmark their own activities and be inspired to try new approaches. This white paper is just a start - we plan to build from this a central web-based resource on social media for the library community that will provide ongoing updates, in-depth case studies and best practice guides. We hope this will become a valuable, developing resource that librarians will access and contribute to, so the entire community benefits from sharing ideas and experiences.

This website provides guidance and examples for social media policy prepared by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The guidance points out analysing policy target is essential. The step by step guidance with Facebook, Twitter and text messages leads the focal points to write policy. The website also provides its policies as example for references.