Original Message posted on onmuse-l and canmuse-l Listservs:

"Hello everyone,

We are a municipal museum, and have faced all sorts of roadblocks from our Clerk's office and senior management regarding setting up a Facebook page for the museum.

After much whining and complaining, I have finally pushed them to the point where I have been asked to provide precedent and guidelines for use! 

If any other municipal museum has had success in achieving this, would you mind sharing your Guidelines, Policies, any other relevant materials?

It would be greatly appreciated!"

Summary of responses from museum workers across Canada:

- We are not allowed to have our own Facebook page but can contribute to content on the City's page.  Same for Twitter!  All has to be contributed through the corporate communications office. Our network also blocks Facebook, so we can't even open it to see what's on the page.

- You can find example Social Media Policies and Plans from many museums and nonprofit/gov examples as wll on the museumsocialmedia wiki: http://museumsocialmedia.pbworks.com/w/page/38318824/Example-Social-Media-Policies-and-Plans

- We have a FB page.  It was something that we set up before we were a city department (since that happened 4 wks ago) but they have let us keep it.  The big issue is the IS site filters that block pornography, social networking sites, bomb making etc....  We have allowed those who need to access the Facebook page to upload pictures to bypass that restriction (just the same as I can access sites regarding guns and bombs to do my job).  It takes a little bit of work which is why a lot of places just say no for everyone! We have done some neat things with it.  I have put up a virtual exhibit, our expansion project is being viewed all over the world, and we use it to invite people to events.  We don't have any policies regarding the page, but limit the people who can put things up.  That way we control the content, but not the discussion.

- ... had a Facebook page for about 10 month but found that we were not utilizing it so we had it taken down and started to use the City's Facebook page. This is because it has a much larger following, which means more people seeing our posts. So we do not have a Facebook page ourselves but the City does, and we were allow by the City to have one if we wanted. 

- We don't have any written guidelines, however we are aware of FOIP and do not publish names with photos. Cultural and Historical Services in Okotoks has it's own webpage and facebook; this includes activities at Museum and Archives. Our webpage is ____. The link to Facebook is at the bottom right of the screen. If you open our Facebook link and click on the "notes" icon at the left side of the screen you'll be taken to our policy. 

- We are owned, but not operated, by the Province of Alberta and are supposed to get permission for anything new like this that we do. We went ahead and set it up without permission and asked for forgiveness later. I have found that if we wait for the incredibly complex and byzantine Provincial process to wend its way like chilled molasses, nothing would ever get done. Now, to be fair this is Alberta where the entrepreneurial cowboy spirit lives and maybe that kind of action isn't possible elsewhere.

- We just started a few months back with Facebook and Twitter. They are different creatures, each with unique strengths.  Social media is a perfect fit for audience-building particularly with a demographic that previously hadn't been too involved with our museums (and to a lesser degree, it is a means of marketing with no cost!)  It wasn't a struggle for our Museums, as it was already entrenched in the municipality's Economic Development office. We were just following suit.Check out our Facebook/Twitter profiles, as per the addresses below, to get an idea of how we have been using social media. We're still newbies, and I'm sure we still have a lot to learn.

- If you havn't already check out my article on social media here: http://www.museums.ca/filestorage/muse_0708_10.pdf
Also, this is the powerpoint from my and Nicole Drake's presentation last October at the OMA and it contains guidelines on putting together policies and guildelines.
http://www.slideshare.net/katrinaurban/friends-followers-feedback-presentation2
I was browsing around looking for some good policy examples awhile back and I stumbled upon this excellent resource:
http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php  There are examples from all different types of companies and organisations. and finally here is a general list of links which may be helpful:
 
- Smithsonian Web and New Media Strategy
http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/Strategy+--+Table+of+Contents

- Principles for public sector social media
http://www.psnetwork.org.nz/blog/2007/02/19/principles-public-sector-socialmedia/

- Powerhouse Museum Blog Policy (2007)
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog/wp-content/powerhouse_museum_blog_policy_2007.pdf

- Twitter guidelines for museum staff
http://www.museumnext.org/blog/?p=226

- Twitter for museums
http://www.museumnext.org/blog/?p=228

- We went through much the same issue here but managed to get access to Facebook and Twitter last year.  Every staff member too the AAM Social Media and Marketing Webinar (it was three 1.5 hour sessions).  By doing so I could assure the City that the staff did have training and knew the appropriate protocol for posting things on Facebook or Twitter on the Gallery's behalf.There is now a social media committee that the City has established to create a social media policy. Two of my staff sit on that committee.  I'm sure that once it is done we could forward you copies of it.  I believe the City of Kitchener has one in place but it is 96 pages long!!

- We are a small community museum and have had some problems with this issue. I have successfully started a "group" for our museum off of my own facebook page and have found it very easy to care for and set privacy settings. I had a page for the museum itself but do not think I set it up properly as it had to be connected to my name and this caused difficulty with privacy settings and unsolicitated "wall" activity, currantly I am deleting it and will perhaps try again later. I do not know how much it has helped or not helped our museum but the group ha been great for posting information regarding events. Like most things associated with the web it is important to have someone who knows what they are doing and has the time to do it.

- I started in July 2010 and one of the first things I wanted to do was get the Museum & Archives their own Facebook page.  I contacted our Webmaster who was able to do this for me and now the City has several Facebook pages that are highly successful.  However, we also faced roadblocks from management as they did have some concerns (understandably!) . 

- Our Facebook page is extremely important to us. We don't have any official policies or procedures, but follow some common sense steps.
1. All the management are administrators on the page
2. We must remember that everything on it is public
3. Choose a `voice` that everyone will use i.e.; professional, new-age quirky type, informal, personal and friendly, announcement only... but try to keep it consistent.
4. You have total control of everything on your page, if there is a comment made, it can be deleted.
5. Keep on top of it, if people comment and it isn't responded to they will lose interest.
We have had huge success with our Facebook experience and find it extremely useful to get current information to our followers in a timely manner....plus it's free (we love free) free advertising is always welcome. The younger generations, as well as the tech-y moms and grandmas are easy to reach through Facebook.