Discovery and Access Systems: Discussion of Value Added Dimensions Using Twitter

The use of hashtags in Twitter closely resembles the use of controlled vocabulary in online library catalogs. This natural link between this micro-blogging tool and library catalogs offers an opportunity to consider how Twitter and its accompanying hashtags can contribute to innovations in the 21st century library catalog. One of the most important aspects of libraries as physical places is their role as social spaces, a role they have yet to successfully fulfill in their online presence. Incorporating social media tools such as Twitter into library catalogs offers a venue for conversation and interaction to simulate the experience of users present in physical library spaces. Twitter’s hashtags offer a means of aggregating conversations and information on topics from the catalog, librarians and users and facilitating the growth of online communities. The benefits of integrating Twitter into the online library catalog can be viewed from the framework of the Eisenberg-Dirk modification of Taylor’s value-added model, which acknowledges the developing interactivity of information systems. Additional insight is possible by using the Chang Iyer morphological box of Twitter application, which is based on Ames and Newman’s taxonomy of tagging motivations, to analyze possible value-added attributes of each interface feature.