Netherlands Twittering

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool, where you can send out “tweets” to any subscribers, to let them know what’s on your mind. You can “tweet” once a day, or 60 times an hour, it’s up to you. Libraries have been using Twitter to update users on what they are doing, and its a great way to drum up support for library events.

While most libraries tend to use the third person when they tweet (eg: XXX Library is hosting XX at where/when/etc.), the Delft University of Technology Library (TU Delft) in the Netherlands has taken a rather quirky first-person narrative form instead.

For example, on their Twitter feed, they’ve announced: “Spring is in the air, students are starting to lounge on my steps in front of the main entrance again.” It doesn’t sound hilarious if it’s a person twittering, but since this is a university library, I get an odd image in my head of a talking building who can feel disgruntled because humans are sitting on its “feet”. I love it!

CC photographed by Till Krech

Since the nice part about Twitter is letting a huge bunch of people know what’s on your mind at the same time, it looks like TU Delft Library has decided to give a human face to their Twitter feed, and let others know what’s on its mind too. Its a fresh and appealing approach, and would put a smile on my face, if I were walking down the street in Delft, and the library tells me: “I sprung a water leak last night, currently a bit damp. So far none of my collection damaged. Official news to follow on website.” It’s like my best friend has told me her bathtub just flooded. I would want to send back a reply, saying: “Oh dear, good luck cleaning up.”

I hope the library does more to market its Twitter feed, because the way they’ve done it deserves a bigger following. It makes their library seem like a very friendly one indeed, and would entice me to visit it in person. Right now though, their website has nothing about its Twitter, or other Web 2.0 tools used. A search on Google retrieved evidence of a TU Delft Library Flickr photostream, but that was it. Oh, the potential!

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