User engagement and social media

Abstract

Digital libraries (DLs) are created to preserve collections while providing users with greater access to their content. The evolution of the world wide web during the 21st century has changed expectations among these users regarding how, and in what ways, they consume this content. Compared to other fields with a cultural heritage focus, DLs are collectively more advanced in their attitudes towards user engagement. Their history of building tools that encourage access to content and, in some cases, facilitate communication with other users, parallels the history of the web itself, resulting in a natural migration to social media as a way to further serve users.