Monday 21 November 2011
Wednesday 16 November 2011
MIT Libraries Screencast - A Good Example
Today I watched a screencast entitled "About the MIT Libraries" (available at http://libguides.mit.edu/video/ ) on their LibGuides page.
I have started creating video tutorials for library staff at my workplace, so I'm interested in how to make good screencasts; scripting, what to cover, how to speak, and how to display a screencast. Watching MIT Libraries' introductory video gave me some ideas for my own work.
I suppose that most people who are likely to watch video tutorials know how to enlarge the viewing area so it fills more of the screen than the default 4 cm x 5 cm space on a webpage. However, I wonder if it might be good to include a note--either as a caption to the static video screen, or initially in the video--that one can click on the 4-arrow icon to enlarge the picture. Myself, I rarely enlarged video screens on webpages when I watched them. But my husband always maximizes the screens because he can't stand watching something so small. I wonder if people would eschew video tutorials based on their unawareness that they can make the screen bigger? We post our tutorials on our workplace Youtube channel, so most users wouldn't find this an issue…I think?
In any case, I maximized the screen to watch MIT's video. It captures the libraries' webpage and contains too much detail to watch in its smallest mode.
The narrator works her way step by step through the most basic steps on the home page; her explanations of the sidebar are clear and succinct. She also directed viewers to other video tutorials for help using the sidebar selections.
The next part of the tutorial was a map of library locations, each representing a subject area or two. The video also directs viewers back to the home page, and on to LibGuides to find the subject librarian for their faculty, and that librarian's recommended resources.
The tutorial concludes by pointing to the "Ask Us" and "Tell Us" buttons on the home page which allow a simple way for students to communicate questions or comments.
The screencast is under 4 minutes, and gives good basic info for students within that length of time. There was only the briefest of stumbles on her words in the middle of the video, highlighting that the script was well-practiced and otherwise very well delivered.
I have started creating video tutorials for library staff at my workplace, so I'm interested in how to make good screencasts; scripting, what to cover, how to speak, and how to display a screencast. Watching MIT Libraries' introductory video gave me some ideas for my own work.
I suppose that most people who are likely to watch video tutorials know how to enlarge the viewing area so it fills more of the screen than the default 4 cm x 5 cm space on a webpage. However, I wonder if it might be good to include a note--either as a caption to the static video screen, or initially in the video--that one can click on the 4-arrow icon to enlarge the picture. Myself, I rarely enlarged video screens on webpages when I watched them. But my husband always maximizes the screens because he can't stand watching something so small. I wonder if people would eschew video tutorials based on their unawareness that they can make the screen bigger? We post our tutorials on our workplace Youtube channel, so most users wouldn't find this an issue…I think?
In any case, I maximized the screen to watch MIT's video. It captures the libraries' webpage and contains too much detail to watch in its smallest mode.
The narrator works her way step by step through the most basic steps on the home page; her explanations of the sidebar are clear and succinct. She also directed viewers to other video tutorials for help using the sidebar selections.
The next part of the tutorial was a map of library locations, each representing a subject area or two. The video also directs viewers back to the home page, and on to LibGuides to find the subject librarian for their faculty, and that librarian's recommended resources.
The tutorial concludes by pointing to the "Ask Us" and "Tell Us" buttons on the home page which allow a simple way for students to communicate questions or comments.
The screencast is under 4 minutes, and gives good basic info for students within that length of time. There was only the briefest of stumbles on her words in the middle of the video, highlighting that the script was well-practiced and otherwise very well delivered.
Tuesday 1 November 2011
It's been fun getting reacquainted with Flickr. It's a respite from the sometimes overwhelming world of library service & literacy that fills my weekdays. Lately I've felt like my brain has shut off until it gets a full day of rest from having to comprehend or execute or prioritize or analyze.
I like what I've heard of libraries or other social organizations using Flickr to show special events, the people involved in the group. Flickr shares stories and helps people feel connected and inspired to groups they may never meet physically. Personally, I've been compelled to look up pictures with the tag "Venice." I just posted some pictures of a recent trip to Venice, Italy, on Facebook; and I realized how little I got to see in the short time I was there. I'm eager to see other people's pictures, read their comments, and get a better understanding of what I could see next time.
There is a photostream for "Alberta Libraries," (the "group") which my library system belongs to. I've subscribed to the stream via RSS, and by looking at the photos organized into "sets," it's like looking at a calendar of major events in our province. I recognize library staff in the pictures who I've met at conferences and during training sessions. Other pictures show libraries and staff who I've contacted via email or telephone, and I can see what they look like. This helps build a sense of connection, too; and I can mention seeing them on Flickr the next time we talk. I've also found some great images just by searching for "alberta libraries". Flickr's a fun way for me to see what some of my colleagues have been up to!
Here's a pic of my co-worker Lauren from Flickr, taken at a symposium on the future of libraries:
Wednesday 26 October 2011
A Delicious Experience
A library term I've just discovered is "resource discovery." Who knows why I don't recall hearing it before. I've worked in libraries steadily since 2000, and sporadically before that. But now it's popping up everywhere...and I must say...I like the help I'm getting in "discovering" the resources that I want.
I signed up for a delicious account as "agenesis", as per the instructions of 246 Exercise 5 and did a search right in delicious for "social media". Up popped an article on mashable.com, and I linked to 2 other articles from there. Right away I noticed (consciously, thanks to the assignment instructions) that I like browsing through links that others have saved--especially when they include a little description of the page!
The most popular URL of the first 3 webpages I saved had been saved by 620 others, and their top tags for this site were "search" (too broad a tag, I thought), "semantic" (semantic what?), "sentiment" (I didn't understand the reasoning for this tag; so there's a knowledge gap), and my favourite tag, "semantic web" (I like the precision of this tag!). I used this final tag because I couldn't imagine saving much else under the individual words "semantic" or "web."
Via the "semanticweb" tag, I found a video of Tim Berners-Lee @ TED in 2009 talking about "next web." I saved this site because surely the WWW inventor has a few valuable things to say on what we can expect next in online communities.
Having wandered down this path, I then came across the tags of "jaycollier." This person had a "social" tag (all his/her tags comprised one word), and found an intriguing-looking blog post entitled, "A Diaspora from Facebook, or From Reality?" from the EchoDitto blog. In the notes field, jaycollier had copied the final paragraph from the post--and I did likewise, as this is an easy way to add descriptive info to the delicious link:
"Will we collectively use the tool of online social networking to enrich and enliven our real world social lives? Or will we take refuge in it from an increasingly hostile, ecologically degraded, and isolated society: a diaspora from reality?"
This looked like a resource I may refer to in my social software paper, or use as a jumping off point. And if you read this, jaycollier, thanks for the tip!
I searched for the tag "libr246-13bell" to see what else had been saved for this class. But I couldn't tell if others from the class had saved any of the same articles as me. I could see how many saves a link had, and who was the first to save it; but beyond that, I was lost. In any case, I chose to bookmark a link on metadata, tagging, folksonomies, and web 2.0. It seemed relevant, and again, may be helpful for my social software paper. I think delicious may lead me to all sorts of interesting and relevant material!
Tuesday 25 October 2011
What do you think of the move away from the wisdom of the expert and towards the wisdom of crowds? (Tags = blogpostwk9, blogpostwk9n4)
We no longer trust experts. We’ve been fooled too many times. Politicians have made too many promises they haven’t kept. We see TV shows and news stories where experts took the witness stand in court and were later proven wrong. Doctors have made mistaken diagnoses, teachers have misjudged their students, authors have poor hypotheses that can be refuted by anyone with a habit of critical thinking. In his keynote message at the Netspeed conference last week, Jesse Hirsh commented that our society is moving away from “so-called experts” as authorities to the social wisdom we find within our online communities. The Internet is our authority now. If we want an answer, we can find ratings, reviews, recommendations, and derive our interpretation of the truth from the voices we choose to listen to--rather than take the advice of one mere “expert” who may have an agenda or want to sell us something. And experts often cost money, whereas our peeps--our online communities--often offer up their opinions freely, at no charge, to benefit the community. We like authorities who do not require anything of us in return.
Libraries and other collaborative communities have found that opening their collections up to crowdsourcing can have very positive results. Next-generation OPACs like Bibliocommons give users resource discovery options via other library users’ online opinions (Tay, 2009). Allowing members to tag items in a collection can make a collection more accessible, less institutionalized-feeling (Chun et al., 2006). And this open sharing of information & opinion is where business is headed, too; it worked for Toronto-based gold mining company Goldcorp (Tapscott & Williams, 2007). So this is what people want and what they respond to--the ability, the spaces & places, the invitation to get what they give online--information offered up at its point of need.
We no longer trust experts. We’ve been fooled too many times. Politicians have made too many promises they haven’t kept. We see TV shows and news stories where experts took the witness stand in court and were later proven wrong. Doctors have made mistaken diagnoses, teachers have misjudged their students, authors have poor hypotheses that can be refuted by anyone with a habit of critical thinking. In his keynote message at the Netspeed conference last week, Jesse Hirsh commented that our society is moving away from “so-called experts” as authorities to the social wisdom we find within our online communities. The Internet is our authority now. If we want an answer, we can find ratings, reviews, recommendations, and derive our interpretation of the truth from the voices we choose to listen to--rather than take the advice of one mere “expert” who may have an agenda or want to sell us something. And experts often cost money, whereas our peeps--our online communities--often offer up their opinions freely, at no charge, to benefit the community. We like authorities who do not require anything of us in return.
Libraries and other collaborative communities have found that opening their collections up to crowdsourcing can have very positive results. Next-generation OPACs like Bibliocommons give users resource discovery options via other library users’ online opinions (Tay, 2009). Allowing members to tag items in a collection can make a collection more accessible, less institutionalized-feeling (Chun et al., 2006). And this open sharing of information & opinion is where business is headed, too; it worked for Toronto-based gold mining company Goldcorp (Tapscott & Williams, 2007). So this is what people want and what they respond to--the ability, the spaces & places, the invitation to get what they give online--information offered up at its point of need.
Tay, A. (2009). "Libraries and Crowdsourcing - 6 Examples." Musings about Librarianship.
Chun, S., et al. (2006). “Steve.museum: An Ongoing Experiment in Social Tagging, Folksonomy, and Museums.” Museums and the Web 2006. Albuquerque, March 22-25, 2006.
Tapscott, D and Williams, A. (2007). "Innovation in the Age of Mass Collaboration." Business Week.
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Impact of Organizational Culture on Knowledge-Sharing
I’m lucky to work in an organization that has tech-savvy, trend-aware leadership. The assistant director has personally encouraged me to engage in social media, in particular, to connect to a larger knowledge-sharing body, beyond our workplace. This assistant director has fostered an atmosphere where the employees are trusted by management to do their jobs well and supported when they want to initiate changes to workflows or policies, for instance. The director herself has a philosophy that happy employees are more satisfied and do better work; and this means that she has put policies in place that allow for flexibility and creativity. Plus, she supplied free coffee and pop!
Hutch Carpenter, in his blog post, “Enterprise 2.0: Culture is as Culture Does” (2009), talks about how culture maybe isn’t the big potential barrier against change in the workplace that everyone makes it out to be. If management dictates that a change will take place, employees will fall in line. So, if administration at my workplace let us know that we would now be using Basecamp for all our special team projects, we would use it. Admin would create training documents and set up sessions for us to learn how to use the new system, and a plan would be developed for the stages of implementation. Admin would communicate the phases to staff, ensure those that needed to be trained were, and evaluate the process during the roll-out period.
This has been my experience in my organization when technological changes are afoot. The people in management have had a vision for a better way to do business, they’ve made a plan, and made it happen. This doesn’t seem to be what Carpenter means by “organizational culture”--he seems to imply that culture is all about employees’ attitudes to change (or maybe he’s merely just sick of the term...he does make that clear)! But to me, the vision and mission of management has been to grow and improve our organization, and I have learned--and adapted--from the example of my “superiors”. The culture at my workplace has been envisioned by management, and they have modeled it and made it happen.
I have learned a lot about how to encourage change from my supervisors and bosses at work. For instance, in one of our latest “improvements” which was adding the BiblioCommons interface to our regional library system OPAC, I’ve seen them gently support and encourage their staff, deal with conflict gently and efficiently, work through strategic plans and plans of service, and praise the staff as a whole for accomplishments and awards. They employ the elements that Carpenter suggests for new-tech adoption: outline defined “in-the-flow” use cases, engage enthusiastic evangelists, broadcast deployment & verbal support from management, and establish evaluation frameworks. We are in the business of knowledge management and sharing, and that happens best when people feel enabled to share, communicate, and collaborate openly and safely with the tools chosen by those in charge.
I’m lucky to work in an organization that has tech-savvy, trend-aware leadership. The assistant director has personally encouraged me to engage in social media, in particular, to connect to a larger knowledge-sharing body, beyond our workplace. This assistant director has fostered an atmosphere where the employees are trusted by management to do their jobs well and supported when they want to initiate changes to workflows or policies, for instance. The director herself has a philosophy that happy employees are more satisfied and do better work; and this means that she has put policies in place that allow for flexibility and creativity. Plus, she supplied free coffee and pop!
Hutch Carpenter, in his blog post, “Enterprise 2.0: Culture is as Culture Does” (2009), talks about how culture maybe isn’t the big potential barrier against change in the workplace that everyone makes it out to be. If management dictates that a change will take place, employees will fall in line. So, if administration at my workplace let us know that we would now be using Basecamp for all our special team projects, we would use it. Admin would create training documents and set up sessions for us to learn how to use the new system, and a plan would be developed for the stages of implementation. Admin would communicate the phases to staff, ensure those that needed to be trained were, and evaluate the process during the roll-out period.
This has been my experience in my organization when technological changes are afoot. The people in management have had a vision for a better way to do business, they’ve made a plan, and made it happen. This doesn’t seem to be what Carpenter means by “organizational culture”--he seems to imply that culture is all about employees’ attitudes to change (or maybe he’s merely just sick of the term...he does make that clear)! But to me, the vision and mission of management has been to grow and improve our organization, and I have learned--and adapted--from the example of my “superiors”. The culture at my workplace has been envisioned by management, and they have modeled it and made it happen.
I have learned a lot about how to encourage change from my supervisors and bosses at work. For instance, in one of our latest “improvements” which was adding the BiblioCommons interface to our regional library system OPAC, I’ve seen them gently support and encourage their staff, deal with conflict gently and efficiently, work through strategic plans and plans of service, and praise the staff as a whole for accomplishments and awards. They employ the elements that Carpenter suggests for new-tech adoption: outline defined “in-the-flow” use cases, engage enthusiastic evangelists, broadcast deployment & verbal support from management, and establish evaluation frameworks. We are in the business of knowledge management and sharing, and that happens best when people feel enabled to share, communicate, and collaborate openly and safely with the tools chosen by those in charge.
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Marketing Critique
Chinook Arch Regional Library System (CARLS) is a public library system in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Headquarters staff offer their member libraries operational support (technical, consulting, training and collections), information services (database subscriptions and reference, resource sharing, programming (summer reading, “Paperbacks by Mail”, multilingual book service, video conferencing), communications & marketing, and contract services for specific programs (interlibrary loans, “Books for Babies,” French language block collection rotation). Within the “Chinook Arch Plan of Service for 2010 to 2012”--based upon needs assessments, user satisfaction surveys, Municipal Sustainability Plans, and other communications--is a committment to offer “web development,” “marketing materials, training and resources,” “website development” and a “web presence.”
The web presence that CARLS provides education and training for allows its member libraries to try on whatever social media seems appropriate to reach and serve their users. CARLS’ focus in its own social media use is to market and brand the region as a whole to patrons; and to communicate, educate and support regional library staff.
The most popular and widely accessed elements of CARLS’ social network strategy is its Twitter feed and its blog. Both are facilitated by CARLS Consulting staff: the manager of Consulting Services (a librarian), the Automation Services librarian, the Technology Initiatives Librarian, the IT manager, and a consulting assistant. This team takes turns posting comments on the “Overarching Insights” blog, posting about once a week. Topics include upcoming projects and events, libraries in the news, what they learned at conferences, and tips for best practice. The intended audience is member library staff, volunteers and trustees. The Twitter feed for “Chinooklibs” displays on Chinook Arch’s homepage, giving quick and meaning blurbs to all who use the site as their gateway to their library experience.
Chinook Arch has a Facebook page which they do not advertise--perhaps because there is currently no strategy in place to manage the site. Actually, CARLS has 3 Facebook pages, each bearing little activity and little definition. The librarian who initiated the pages is currently on maternity leave. However, over half of the 30 staff members at Chinook Arch headquarters have Facebook accounts and include their co-workers as Facebook friends, including Chinook Arch’s assistant director who advocates for his staff using social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flock browser) to learn and to communicate in the workplace. Often, daily comments do not refer directly to workplace activity, but 14 of the 19 co-workers identify Chinook Arch as their workplace and occasionally refer to their workplace in their posts and status updates.
Another established but underused account is the Chinook Arch YouTube channel. The site was created in July 2010 for video tutorials for library staff throughout the region. CARLS HQ departments have been made aware of the channel and of the software and hardware available at HQ for tutorial creation. Library managers have also expressed an interest in more online training which they can access asynchronously and remotely to avoid taking time away from their rural libraries. Apart from Consulting Services, Interlibrary Loans has also created training videos which are intended for ILL staff throughout the province of Alberta. The ILL videos, however, have inexplicably disappeared from the Chinook Arch YouTube site. ILL staff will be looking into this issue as they look to post more short videos this fall.
Chinook Arch was one of three library systems in the province of Alberta to receive a grant towards the RISE video conferencing project. VC equipment was installed in all Chinook Arch libraries and HQ, and in 2010, over 3500 participants in these 3 regions took in over 800 video conferences. Chinook Arch boasted in its 2010 Annual Report that the RISE network allowed libraries of any size or location to access information and programming available in larger centres.
Perhaps the biggest investment that Chinook Arch has made into user-focused social media is the overlay of BiblioCommons to its online catalog. BiblioCommons is a library catalog interface--created by non-librarians!--which facilitates greater discovery and access to a library’s information, while enhancing the site with users’ comments, ratings, lists, tagging and user-to-user messaging. The result of this has been happy reviews from patrons who love the prototypical web 2.0 features of BiblioCommons. CARLS has also recently rolled out a mobile version of BiblioCommons, and uses both web and mobile versions of Overdrive, an e-book and audiobook service to deliver those formats.
Even if these efforts to implement social media were not conscious efforts at marketing Chinook Arch per se, the result has been that users are making the connection that CARLS libraries can deliver more of what they want--easy searching, attractive layout, ways to add their favourite items to lists, sharing opinions and comments with other users, and finding resources via the social aspect of the medium. However, these implementations have been carefully strategized. The move towards BiblioCommons, the blog, Twitter feeds, and the YouTube channel was fuelled by the Needs Assessments and surveys conducted for the 2010-2012 Plan of Service. The fact that library staff and library users have reported high satisfaction with CARLS technology initiatives and supplemental support suggests that use of social media will remain steady and likely increase due to ease of use and enjoyment of new features. Chinook Arch has built a reputation as an administration that does the research and listens to its stakeholders. The librarians at CARLS travel out to the member libraries several times a year to visit library staff and to attend board meetings. Both online and face-to-face investments work together to show that Chinook Arch is invested in getting patrons the information they want and need in fun, satisfying and effective ways.
If I had to give any advice to Chinook Arch for next steps in their social media strategy, I would encourage the organization to make subtle enhancements to their BiblioCommons interface, allowing users to move from a failed item search to an interlibrary loan request. This would align CARLS services with the recent “Alberta Public Libraries Technology Report” commissioned by the Government of Alberta Public Libraries Services Branch. The report recommends “Transparent/Seamless Access to Public Library Holdings: Update and create services that realize transparent (i.e. ‘seamless’) access to all Public Library holdings for all Albertans.” CARLS staff report that plans are underway to move in this direction.
As for the 3 underused Chinook Arch Facebook pages? It’s okay to let them languish for now. Library staff and patrons have many of their social and information needs met by the well-designed and function-rich BiblioCommons OPAC interface, and for now, that’s where the masses will gather to connect to library holdings, the blog, Twitter feeds, and each other.
Chinook Arch Regional Library System (CARLS) is a public library system in southwestern Alberta, Canada. Headquarters staff offer their member libraries operational support (technical, consulting, training and collections), information services (database subscriptions and reference, resource sharing, programming (summer reading, “Paperbacks by Mail”, multilingual book service, video conferencing), communications & marketing, and contract services for specific programs (interlibrary loans, “Books for Babies,” French language block collection rotation). Within the “Chinook Arch Plan of Service for 2010 to 2012”--based upon needs assessments, user satisfaction surveys, Municipal Sustainability Plans, and other communications--is a committment to offer “web development,” “marketing materials, training and resources,” “website development” and a “web presence.”
The web presence that CARLS provides education and training for allows its member libraries to try on whatever social media seems appropriate to reach and serve their users. CARLS’ focus in its own social media use is to market and brand the region as a whole to patrons; and to communicate, educate and support regional library staff.
The most popular and widely accessed elements of CARLS’ social network strategy is its Twitter feed and its blog. Both are facilitated by CARLS Consulting staff: the manager of Consulting Services (a librarian), the Automation Services librarian, the Technology Initiatives Librarian, the IT manager, and a consulting assistant. This team takes turns posting comments on the “Overarching Insights” blog, posting about once a week. Topics include upcoming projects and events, libraries in the news, what they learned at conferences, and tips for best practice. The intended audience is member library staff, volunteers and trustees. The Twitter feed for “Chinooklibs” displays on Chinook Arch’s homepage, giving quick and meaning blurbs to all who use the site as their gateway to their library experience.
Chinook Arch has a Facebook page which they do not advertise--perhaps because there is currently no strategy in place to manage the site. Actually, CARLS has 3 Facebook pages, each bearing little activity and little definition. The librarian who initiated the pages is currently on maternity leave. However, over half of the 30 staff members at Chinook Arch headquarters have Facebook accounts and include their co-workers as Facebook friends, including Chinook Arch’s assistant director who advocates for his staff using social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flock browser) to learn and to communicate in the workplace. Often, daily comments do not refer directly to workplace activity, but 14 of the 19 co-workers identify Chinook Arch as their workplace and occasionally refer to their workplace in their posts and status updates.
Another established but underused account is the Chinook Arch YouTube channel. The site was created in July 2010 for video tutorials for library staff throughout the region. CARLS HQ departments have been made aware of the channel and of the software and hardware available at HQ for tutorial creation. Library managers have also expressed an interest in more online training which they can access asynchronously and remotely to avoid taking time away from their rural libraries. Apart from Consulting Services, Interlibrary Loans has also created training videos which are intended for ILL staff throughout the province of Alberta. The ILL videos, however, have inexplicably disappeared from the Chinook Arch YouTube site. ILL staff will be looking into this issue as they look to post more short videos this fall.
Chinook Arch was one of three library systems in the province of Alberta to receive a grant towards the RISE video conferencing project. VC equipment was installed in all Chinook Arch libraries and HQ, and in 2010, over 3500 participants in these 3 regions took in over 800 video conferences. Chinook Arch boasted in its 2010 Annual Report that the RISE network allowed libraries of any size or location to access information and programming available in larger centres.
Perhaps the biggest investment that Chinook Arch has made into user-focused social media is the overlay of BiblioCommons to its online catalog. BiblioCommons is a library catalog interface--created by non-librarians!--which facilitates greater discovery and access to a library’s information, while enhancing the site with users’ comments, ratings, lists, tagging and user-to-user messaging. The result of this has been happy reviews from patrons who love the prototypical web 2.0 features of BiblioCommons. CARLS has also recently rolled out a mobile version of BiblioCommons, and uses both web and mobile versions of Overdrive, an e-book and audiobook service to deliver those formats.
Even if these efforts to implement social media were not conscious efforts at marketing Chinook Arch per se, the result has been that users are making the connection that CARLS libraries can deliver more of what they want--easy searching, attractive layout, ways to add their favourite items to lists, sharing opinions and comments with other users, and finding resources via the social aspect of the medium. However, these implementations have been carefully strategized. The move towards BiblioCommons, the blog, Twitter feeds, and the YouTube channel was fuelled by the Needs Assessments and surveys conducted for the 2010-2012 Plan of Service. The fact that library staff and library users have reported high satisfaction with CARLS technology initiatives and supplemental support suggests that use of social media will remain steady and likely increase due to ease of use and enjoyment of new features. Chinook Arch has built a reputation as an administration that does the research and listens to its stakeholders. The librarians at CARLS travel out to the member libraries several times a year to visit library staff and to attend board meetings. Both online and face-to-face investments work together to show that Chinook Arch is invested in getting patrons the information they want and need in fun, satisfying and effective ways.
If I had to give any advice to Chinook Arch for next steps in their social media strategy, I would encourage the organization to make subtle enhancements to their BiblioCommons interface, allowing users to move from a failed item search to an interlibrary loan request. This would align CARLS services with the recent “Alberta Public Libraries Technology Report” commissioned by the Government of Alberta Public Libraries Services Branch. The report recommends “Transparent/Seamless Access to Public Library Holdings: Update and create services that realize transparent (i.e. ‘seamless’) access to all Public Library holdings for all Albertans.” CARLS staff report that plans are underway to move in this direction.
As for the 3 underused Chinook Arch Facebook pages? It’s okay to let them languish for now. Library staff and patrons have many of their social and information needs met by the well-designed and function-rich BiblioCommons OPAC interface, and for now, that’s where the masses will gather to connect to library holdings, the blog, Twitter feeds, and each other.
Tuesday 11 October 2011
No Wiki-Wiki
I don’t like wikis. They ask so much, and give so little. “Contribute! Collaborate! Make the world a better place!” they shout! And many wikis don’t ease you into the process, for instance by suggesting that you “start here” or by providing a table of contents. I know I’m being a bit harsh, but I’ve seen too many poorly constructed, ultimately abandoned wikis to feel that they are a useful tool for long-term use on anything less than a highly-specific theme for a small, invested user group.
It seems that libraries are moving away from the wiki model for several reasons:
1. it’s difficult to develop a clear overarching structure that many participants can understand and work within. If you look at the example of the Alaska Association of School Librarians, you’ll see that even a neat looking page can semi-hide the fact that the point of the wiki is very vague. The introduction simply refers to the sidebar, and the postings in the FrontPage column offer little clarification to the wiki’s purpose. Also, you may notice that the site was last updated over a year ago...why was it abandoned do you think? Did lack of wiki structure cause the collaboration to collapse?
2. People prefer commenting to collaboration. Tagging, rating, commenting--or merely reading--are less labor-intense for users, so libraries move to blogs, podcasts, social bookmarking to better serve their stakeholders. As Cashel mentions (2007), wiki contributors are more likely to edit than to create.
3. It’s more difficult to maintain a wiki which may depend on several collaborators for content than a blog which typically one person writes & mediates. The structure and readability of the info on a blog or podcast is more current, immediate, accessible. It’s a simpler information delivery method for writer and reader both.
If I were to choose between a wiki or social bookmarking for a library study guide, I’d likely go with the social bookmark system. Wikis tend to look more confusing than they are, and the “collaboration” model often leads me to wonder, “Who’s in charge of this?” Wikis should always designate a person or department who holds responsibility for the content, even in the midst of collaboration. I think many wikis have failed because of this lack of perceived leadership. Social bookmarking, on the other hand, both personalizes the information sharing experience and gives each user a sense of ownership & responsibility through having an individualized account; choosing social bookmarkers to follow; adding to the organization & structure of the site through tagging, rating, commenting, and saving; and seeing how this makes a difference.
That said, just today I discovered the nicest, most helpful and organized wiki I’ve seen: the APLEN Training Wiki. I googled a topic for work, found the wiki in a pile of results, and found it to be a very helpful source for various work projects. What I like about this wiki is the clear sidebar which notes the topics on the site. Also, I have been to the APLEN office in Edmonton Public Library, met the staff, and recognize other names on the site. This gives me a sense of who is ultimately responsible for the content, and to whom I might go with questions or concerns--instead of posting such on the wiki for all to see. (Again, Cashel suggests this is a characteristic of successful wiki--collaborators know each other. And as Nichani concludes, it’s best if the intended collaborators have previous experience in working together in online environments.) I have socially bookmarked this wiki for future reference!
Cashel, J. (2007). “When to Use a Wiki.” Online Community Report.
Nichani, M. (2007). "Planning and Sustaining Wiki-Based Collaboration Projects." Pebble Road.
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Make your library seem like you give a hoot...
This week for a class we students were pointed to a few library MySpace and Facebook pages. Some of the links didn't work. Some of the profiles were last updated last year. Some pages had practically no information on them...made me wonder why the library bothered to sign up for an account. Some pages actually looked nice, conveyed interesting information and a pleasant layout, and was recently updated!
Let's just give a shout out to Hennepin County Public Library, this week's big winner [in a list of losers...I so hope this list is not representative of North American libraries in general]!
If I'm ever in charge of my library's social media presence, here's a few things I'm going do based on what I saw this week:
Let's just give a shout out to Hennepin County Public Library, this week's big winner [in a list of losers...I so hope this list is not representative of North American libraries in general]!
If I'm ever in charge of my library's social media presence, here's a few things I'm going do based on what I saw this week:
- post all library events on my wall or notes page so people know what's happening NOW
- take crazy photos of the library, the signage, the people, the seasons changing, cool book displays, events, construction, rare books,
- (Okay, now a shout out to my alma mater, University of Regina Dr. John Archer Library! Woo! Archer posted some great photos of their book displays--my favorites were the staff picks with neat props!)
- I'm not going to put on a bunch of photos that only mean something to library staff...okay, I will, but in a separate album, and maybe make it private. Students don't want to sort thru that stuff.
- the best contact info, directions to our library, opening hours, and other websites are going in our profile
- link to the FB pages of our community partners: other libraries (yes, let's work together), schools, theaters, charities, professional associations...whatever might interest our patrons (and NOT get me in trouble. But I'm not going to think about it too much).
- I will want to put pictures of staff on our site and outline what they do. I might get some flack on this, but I can make a case for this being an awesome idea. As a library user, I love this kind of stuff.
- Rude comments are going to be erased. I'm creating a safe place here.
- I saw a search field...people can search their OPAC on Facebook? Even if you get redirected to the library's webpage for results, that's still a cool idea, IMHO!
- I'm going to keep it light, fun, informative, pretty...like me. IMHO!
Monday 26 September 2011
LibGuides...what’s the big deal?
LibGuides...what’s the big deal?
I hate to admit this, but I’ve never really understood what LibGuides were or what I should do with them. A few semesters ago in my MLIS program, I had to create a pathfinder in a class on reference services. It was a fun project. But some students opted to do use LibGuides for their project. Feeling the need to focus on my own “PDF with columns!” approach to the project [and not willing to admit that maybe these students had some really cool--albeit mystifying--technology up their sleeve], I never went there...to LibGuides...to see what it was all about. My brain was full. I was too busy learning about learning to learn any more!
This semester, LibGuides are popping up again. Marci Hunsaker, the librarian dedicated to our faculty, sent out a welcoming email a few weeks ago, introducing herself and the LIS LibGuides page. I checked out the page. It seemed nicely organized into discrete blocks of information--it was a really comprehensive subject guide to Library & Information Science! There were tabs, tags, and tutorials; and the info I have wanted to get from the King Library at different points of my MLIS journey...it all seemed to be represented in this guide.
FINALLY it was dawning on me what LibGuides made possible! All the information I want in a subject guide in one place :)
By googling “why libguides are great”, I found an interesting discussion on the value of LibGuides which further entrenched my burgeoning appreciation for this aspect of Library 2.0. Rick Mason, the blogger, suggested that some libraries will find the DIY approach to subject guide / blog / tutorials / ILL/DD / librarian info / catalog / database cross-search combo page preferrable. And comments from Slaven Zivkovic, LibGuide creator, and Scott Pfitzinger, Reference Librarian, make excellent--and admirably gracious & enthusiastic--comments on why a LibGuides subscription would be a fine choice for many libraries. After all, why spend resources on creating a knowledge management system when a good, social, customizable, perpetually updated system is a available for a nominal fee? (Well, maybe the “nominal fee” part is the dealbreaker.)
I like LibGuides, and I can now see why this product would be a good investment for any library.
I hate to admit this, but I’ve never really understood what LibGuides were or what I should do with them. A few semesters ago in my MLIS program, I had to create a pathfinder in a class on reference services. It was a fun project. But some students opted to do use LibGuides for their project. Feeling the need to focus on my own “PDF with columns!” approach to the project [and not willing to admit that maybe these students had some really cool--albeit mystifying--technology up their sleeve], I never went there...to LibGuides...to see what it was all about. My brain was full. I was too busy learning about learning to learn any more!
This semester, LibGuides are popping up again. Marci Hunsaker, the librarian dedicated to our faculty, sent out a welcoming email a few weeks ago, introducing herself and the LIS LibGuides page. I checked out the page. It seemed nicely organized into discrete blocks of information--it was a really comprehensive subject guide to Library & Information Science! There were tabs, tags, and tutorials; and the info I have wanted to get from the King Library at different points of my MLIS journey...it all seemed to be represented in this guide.
FINALLY it was dawning on me what LibGuides made possible! All the information I want in a subject guide in one place :)
By googling “why libguides are great”, I found an interesting discussion on the value of LibGuides which further entrenched my burgeoning appreciation for this aspect of Library 2.0. Rick Mason, the blogger, suggested that some libraries will find the DIY approach to subject guide / blog / tutorials / ILL/DD / librarian info / catalog / database cross-search combo page preferrable. And comments from Slaven Zivkovic, LibGuide creator, and Scott Pfitzinger, Reference Librarian, make excellent--and admirably gracious & enthusiastic--comments on why a LibGuides subscription would be a fine choice for many libraries. After all, why spend resources on creating a knowledge management system when a good, social, customizable, perpetually updated system is a available for a nominal fee? (Well, maybe the “nominal fee” part is the dealbreaker.)
I like LibGuides, and I can now see why this product would be a good investment for any library.
Tuesday 20 September 2011
I’ve had a Twitter account for a couple years now, ever since my boss (who might be the coolest librarian in the world), encouraged me to plug in to the greater library world that way...and via Flock, a social browser which I loved until it was announced it would no longer be supported as of April 2011. I admire cool librarians who have RSS feeds and Twitter accounts and library friends on Facebook and professional contacts on LinkedIn. And I believe I read an article for LIBR 246 which encouraged young soon-to-be professionals to get an account set up with every social media outlet they can think of. Start setting up your brand. Make your name about YOU and what YOU stand for. Influence and be influenced. Aggregate and disseminate. What can be easier than having information from your chosen information providers show up every day on your computer! Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find.
But getting information to flow your way is not the whole battle. Honestly, I find it challenging to take the time at work to peruse the many tweets of the 136 Twitterers I follow. I haven’t figured out a good way to do it. After all, do I just scan the first page of the latest tweets? Should I go back a ways and try to catch up? Should I use TweetDeck to be instantaneously notified of the freshest news / opinion / personal thought? In addition to tweets, I have 157 RSS feed subscriptions, and even though I have divided them up into daily and weekly categories, I still feel GUILTY taking time to go through these feeds. After all, what am I really gleaning from them? Is it worth using work time to read them? Goodness knows that once I’m off the clock and at home, I spend as little time in front of computer as possible. There’s lots of tweets and feeds I simply enjoy--but most of those do not pertain to “library and information science.” Of those that do pertain to my field of study, many are excellent blogs & tweets--well-written, relevant, insightful, engaging...and varied. At this point in my life, I feel as though I’m following too many people and too many ideas. After all, I work full time in a specific library department, dealing with specific issues for specific patrons. I’m taking two MLIS classes with clearly defined objectives. And when I’m not immersed in the library world (some days this amounts to a scant few waking hours), I want to think my OWN thoughts, not absorb and process someone else’s.
So what do I think of Twitter? The whole Twitterverse is a pretty cool way to have a conversation--or rather, multiple conversations--about anything of [fleeting / immediate] interest. But for me, in my current, very focused, very time-sensitive world, I don’t have the resources to digest a wealth of information from many excellent info providers. I don’t have the desire, and it’s simply not prudent at this juncture of my library career. My tune may change when it comes time to develop my e-portfolio and suddenly I’m confronted with the need to articulate over-arching views of the facets of librarianship. But for right now, I need to ignore most of my 136 Twitter friends and my 157 RSS feeds to simply get through the day. In the future, I fully intended to prune my info providers down to my favorites--professionally and personally. That’s a valuable skill we need as librarians, the ability to sort through the noise to the music. But for now, I just want as much quiet as I can gather.
P.S. Despite wanting to limit my Twitter exposure right now, I REALLY want to read Goodnight Tweetheart
[a Love Story in 140 Characters or Less] by TeresaMedeiros, (Book - 2011). Looks like a fun way to learn about the ins and outs of Twitter!
Thursday 15 September 2011
246 - Week 03 Blogging & Marketing - Exercise 2
246 - Week 03 Blogging & Marketing - Exercise 2
1.
What do you see as the differences between the five blogs I asked you
to subscribe to in terms of the type of blog and type of post (genre,
length, etc.).
Having
to find difference between the 5 blogs written by people who work for
and love libraries is a challenging task. Of course, as they all focus
on issues in libraries and their own place within librarianship, they
have much more to compare than to contrast. “In the Library...” blog
stood apart from the others due to its long, multi-authored,
peer-reviewed essay posts. This site uses blogging as an academic
activity, which is certainly not the norm. The other blogs are written
in first person singular tense, are more personal and casual in tone,
and reflect opinion and observation over fact and research. Also, these
blogs feature posts that could be read easily in a minute or two, and
they feature information that is helpful or informative.
2. What types of posts do you find most appealing to read and why?
As
a person who’s regularly paging through RSS feeds, I’ve learned to
discriminate somewhat between blogs worth my time, and those that don’t
make the cut. As mentioned in my blog post on this week’s theme of
blogging & marketing, if a blog/feed is not updated regularly, I
delete it. This is one of the easy ways for me to judge if blog is
worth subscribing to. (I may change this criteria someday...considering I
have 154 blog subscriptions, I may later decide that fewer posts better
suits my ability to read them!)
I
like well written blogs with pretty pictures, too. Blogs that seem to
be quick thoughts about something the author means to think about more
but hasn’t had time so he’s just going to post his underdeveloped
philosophy online...no thank you. (And because I feel that’s how I come
across when I blog, I do not blog...except when required to by class
exercises. :)
When
it comes to library blogs specifically, I have a hard time
discriminating between feeds when they all seem to contain information
that could help me learn and grow and understand librarianship better
and help me in my current job. But I have to. Perhaps the best
criteria for me currently is to choose blogs that I enjoy most, because I
will be most likely to read well-written, funny, relevant and SHORT
posts. After all, I work full time in a library system and take 2 SLIS
classes a semester. That’s a lot of library information for me to
percolate before you factor in RSS feeds. Nevertheless, I don’t want
to get so caught up in my perspective on the library world that I
forget what the broader issues are.
3. What three library blogs did you subscribe to?
Please include a 1-3 sentence description of each one.
Please include a 1-3 sentence description of each one.
In addition to the 5 blogs given to us to subscribe to, I chose to add the following blogs to my collection:
The
Ann Arbor District Library AXIS blog posts events and succinctly
describes the event, along with the date, time and age group for the
event. I’ve read about Ann Arbor’s gaming initiatives in other classes,
and I love reading about their programming in such a concise template!
The
University of Victoria (UVic) Library has a “Featured Resources” blog
which lets patrons know what’s new and noteworthy in the library. I
like seeing academic universities reach out/outreach to their clients
via blogging because it certainly softens up the library’s image and
makes it seems as if librarians care for their university community.
And
the SJSU Art Librarian blog caught my eye because it involves my
current school, art, and librarianship, and I found that combo too
tantalizing to pass up! Although the blog hasn’t been updated since
June 27, I think I might hang onto this blog with the hopes the
librarian begins to post more regularly. I like her posts on art books
she’s reading and their subject headings! She also captivated me with
her talk on what to see in San Jose when you come to town for
graduation. That will be me next spring! Maybe she’ll let me know what
art shows to see next May!
4. Based on the blogs you chose, what are some of the characteristics that you think make a library blog successful?
I
think good, concise, clever writing does a lot to hook me, and a good
picture makes a blog on a relevant topic hard to resist. Long blog
posts are very much a turn-off, no matter how well written, because I
feel that they take too much of my time...although I must take a closer
look at the “In the Library with a Lead Pipe” blog as it seems to have a
great premise--and it’s peer-reviewed. Maybe I should make time for
it! Also, if blog posts on library topics are too short, they can’t be
giving me much information I couldn’t come up with myself (I say to
myself as I gloss over its entries). So too short or too long or poorly
written/constructed/presented/thought-out blogs....no thank you!
You’ll really keep my attention with pictures, medium-sized, regular
posts with clever turns of phrase!
Tuesday 13 September 2011
246 - Week 3 Blogging & Marketing - Blog Post
I've tried blogging personally a number of times, and have abandoned the sites after about a month, realizing I don't want to post my personal information online in a way that takes more than 30 seconds, as it does on Facebook. I didn't really feel I had much of lasting value to share anyway, so why bother? And honestly, I didn't feel that some of my friends blogs weren't worth reading either (but many were, surprisingly. More on that later.) Blogs created by an organization or business are different. Rather than blogging to an unknown audience without thought of consequences, organizations--like libraries--that begin a blog should be aware that their efforts can make a huge difference in their community's perception of them. According to Dusty Anderson, the factors involved in a blog generating interest, RSS subscribers, Twitter followers, and blog commenters are "Focus, Passion, and Originality."
My favourite blogs are those that give me information I find both interesting and helpful, and that are updated regularly. If your blog--which I read in Google Reader--isn't updated at least once a month, I delete you. (I may follow you on Twitter, but I rarely open Twitter since I'm currently following too many Tweeters and find it overwhelming to sift through all the tweets everyday.) If your blog ends up repeating what you've already posted a lot, I delete you. If you give too much info and I can't read your post in under a minute, often I'll delete you. If you give the same information as another blog I like slightly better, I'll delete you. If it seems like you think just stating facts will keep me interested, I'll delete you…because you're so dumb (and maybe not dumber than me, but I want to read, as Anderson says, focused, passionate, and unique blogs, not the ones that make me wonder why the blogger bothered).
So, in my opinion, if you write a blog that I feel that I could have written without caring about the subject, or by reiterating the news, or by sharing an uninformed opinion, I will delete you. My favourite blogs are those that make me feel that I couldn't have written that post--but that I'd be proud to.
(Tip: the InstantShift blog is a good one…it features a lot of lists…another element I love in a blog. Break it down for me, Blogger!)
Anderson, D. (2010). "14 Traits of Successful Blogs." Instant Shift.
Tags = blogpostwk3, blogpostwk3n2
I've tried blogging personally a number of times, and have abandoned the sites after about a month, realizing I don't want to post my personal information online in a way that takes more than 30 seconds, as it does on Facebook. I didn't really feel I had much of lasting value to share anyway, so why bother? And honestly, I didn't feel that some of my friends blogs weren't worth reading either (but many were, surprisingly. More on that later.) Blogs created by an organization or business are different. Rather than blogging to an unknown audience without thought of consequences, organizations--like libraries--that begin a blog should be aware that their efforts can make a huge difference in their community's perception of them. According to Dusty Anderson, the factors involved in a blog generating interest, RSS subscribers, Twitter followers, and blog commenters are "Focus, Passion, and Originality."
My favourite blogs are those that give me information I find both interesting and helpful, and that are updated regularly. If your blog--which I read in Google Reader--isn't updated at least once a month, I delete you. (I may follow you on Twitter, but I rarely open Twitter since I'm currently following too many Tweeters and find it overwhelming to sift through all the tweets everyday.) If your blog ends up repeating what you've already posted a lot, I delete you. If you give too much info and I can't read your post in under a minute, often I'll delete you. If you give the same information as another blog I like slightly better, I'll delete you. If it seems like you think just stating facts will keep me interested, I'll delete you…because you're so dumb (and maybe not dumber than me, but I want to read, as Anderson says, focused, passionate, and unique blogs, not the ones that make me wonder why the blogger bothered).
So, in my opinion, if you write a blog that I feel that I could have written without caring about the subject, or by reiterating the news, or by sharing an uninformed opinion, I will delete you. My favourite blogs are those that make me feel that I couldn't have written that post--but that I'd be proud to.
(Tip: the InstantShift blog is a good one…it features a lot of lists…another element I love in a blog. Break it down for me, Blogger!)
Anderson, D. (2010). "14 Traits of Successful Blogs." Instant Shift.
Tags = blogpostwk3, blogpostwk3n2
Tuesday 6 September 2011
246 - How to Manage Your Library’s Brand
How to Manage Your Library’s Brand
Despite years of librarians considering themselves “information specialists,” libraries and their staff still endure the stereotype of being behind the times, all about “books,” and not so much about technology (see Dr. Matthew’s blog post on OCLC’s misrepresentation of the public’s perception of libraries). If librarians hope to keep their organizations alive, they need to sell their product to stakeholders. Stakeholders need to want to “buy” what librarians are “selling.” Branding, marketing, and delivering are all part of a librarian’s job.
New librarians are instructed to learn to sell themselves to potential employers and organizations by creating a “brand” which represents who they are and what they believe in. After successfully landing a position as a librarian, one should consider the brand of the organization one works for. Ideally, a librarian and library are well matched upon the librarian’s hiring...but even if it’s not a perfect fit, a librarian’s own personal brand can add to the unique flavor of the library and enhance public perception with personality and ingenuity.
So far as I know, creating and managing a library’s brand is not an exact science. But neither is it an undertaking for the uneducated. Time should be invested in research, consultations with administration and staff, needs assessments, technology tools, and deciding who will do what. Organizational mission and value statements will guide the discussion. And looking at other “brands” who have what you want will inform the process, too.
From the readings I’ve done over the years, I’ve gleaned my own ideas of where to start in managing a brand. I can’t attribute all the following points to the precise influences on my thinking, but I will attribute ownership where I can.
* Make a plan to “sell yourself” (i.e. your organization): decide what to say (here’s who we are and what we do), how to say it (tone, style), where to say it (online, print), and who to say it to (users, non-users). With all the talk about online social media, we may forget traditional methods of making ourselves known--like having a face-to-face conversation in the actual library, or putting an ad in the paper. These methods sometimes have the most impact because they are the most personal.
* Involve staff in brand management. They can provide good ideas, practical feedback, and ultimately, they are often the ones who make the biggest impact on users.
* As mentioned in readings this week, make the effort to monitor comments about you and yours on the world wide web. Monitor, and make responses quickly and tactfully. People are watching how you respond.
* Brands can’t be totally controlled--only managed, directed, and influenced (Bedbury). There will always be people who don’t like, don’t care, won’t use, don’t know...and more important than their negatively or oppressive neutrality is your response to it. If your library’s brand includes regular, relevant, sincere, positive personal posts, your following--and respect--will grow.
Matthews, S. (2011). “OCLC Perceptions of Libraries 2010 Report : Good News? Not Hardly!” 21st Century Library Blog. Retrieved from http://21stcenturylibrary.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/oclc-perceptions-of-libraries-2010-report/
Bedbury, S. (2002). A new brand world: 8 principles for achieving brand leadership in the 21st century. New York: Penguin Group.
Despite years of librarians considering themselves “information specialists,” libraries and their staff still endure the stereotype of being behind the times, all about “books,” and not so much about technology (see Dr. Matthew’s blog post on OCLC’s misrepresentation of the public’s perception of libraries). If librarians hope to keep their organizations alive, they need to sell their product to stakeholders. Stakeholders need to want to “buy” what librarians are “selling.” Branding, marketing, and delivering are all part of a librarian’s job.
New librarians are instructed to learn to sell themselves to potential employers and organizations by creating a “brand” which represents who they are and what they believe in. After successfully landing a position as a librarian, one should consider the brand of the organization one works for. Ideally, a librarian and library are well matched upon the librarian’s hiring...but even if it’s not a perfect fit, a librarian’s own personal brand can add to the unique flavor of the library and enhance public perception with personality and ingenuity.
So far as I know, creating and managing a library’s brand is not an exact science. But neither is it an undertaking for the uneducated. Time should be invested in research, consultations with administration and staff, needs assessments, technology tools, and deciding who will do what. Organizational mission and value statements will guide the discussion. And looking at other “brands” who have what you want will inform the process, too.
From the readings I’ve done over the years, I’ve gleaned my own ideas of where to start in managing a brand. I can’t attribute all the following points to the precise influences on my thinking, but I will attribute ownership where I can.
* Make a plan to “sell yourself” (i.e. your organization): decide what to say (here’s who we are and what we do), how to say it (tone, style), where to say it (online, print), and who to say it to (users, non-users). With all the talk about online social media, we may forget traditional methods of making ourselves known--like having a face-to-face conversation in the actual library, or putting an ad in the paper. These methods sometimes have the most impact because they are the most personal.
* Involve staff in brand management. They can provide good ideas, practical feedback, and ultimately, they are often the ones who make the biggest impact on users.
* As mentioned in readings this week, make the effort to monitor comments about you and yours on the world wide web. Monitor, and make responses quickly and tactfully. People are watching how you respond.
* Brands can’t be totally controlled--only managed, directed, and influenced (Bedbury). There will always be people who don’t like, don’t care, won’t use, don’t know...and more important than their negatively or oppressive neutrality is your response to it. If your library’s brand includes regular, relevant, sincere, positive personal posts, your following--and respect--will grow.
Matthews, S. (2011). “OCLC Perceptions of Libraries 2010 Report : Good News? Not Hardly!” 21st Century Library Blog. Retrieved from http://21stcenturylibrary.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/oclc-perceptions-of-libraries-2010-report/
Bedbury, S. (2002). A new brand world: 8 principles for achieving brand leadership in the 21st century. New York: Penguin Group.
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