Twitter in Libraries

In the April edition of Library & Information Update (CILIP's monthly members magazine), Phil Bradely gives an overview of how twitter can be used within libraries. He concludes his article with a 139 character summary of twitter (twitter gives you a maximum of 140 charters per tweet):

"It's a superb resource for libns to communicate, promote, share & assist colleagues & users alike. Quick, simple & effective. Try it out!"

So if libraries are getting to grips with utilising twitter to promote themselves and disseminate information to users...are third party companies affiliated to libraries doing the same?

Bill Drew (systems librarian and technical services librarian at Tompkins-Cortland Community College Library) has drawn up a spreadsheet of, what he calls, Library Vendors. He has researched which vendors have a twitter account and verified that they are who they say they are. Not only this, but Bill has been kind enough to publish his findings via Google Docs...view them here.

There are one or two companies that are conspicuous by their absence such as Ebsco. ExLibris is on the list, but have yet to start tweeting in any meaningful way, although at a recent user group meeting they promised they will start tweeting soon. However, even if more Library Vendors do start using twitter it may be short lived. There is a rumour that Twitter may start charging companies to use its service. If this happens how many of those Library Vendors will stop using the service altogether?