I understand marketing is not advertising or promoting your library, but something different. No more posters giving details on what the library has to offer. Marketing is much more sophisticated. It is getting out and interacting with your users. What do they want, what do you offer, how do you keep users informed. Looking at what some libraries do it is easy to become discouraged because they seem to offer so much, especially if you think you have nothing to offer. But we all do.
I read all the further reading and found some very useful advice. Planning what to do with objectives and investigating the necessary tools made sense; and I have a list of the points made like Identifying a need, developing a plan, finding the right tools. My inital reaction was what do my users want and what do I want to tell them? Are they the same thing? Thus before going any further a survey would need to be undertaken to discover this. It could also be used to see how best to reach them, Twitter, Facebook, or something totally different. Then we can start to inform users what we offer and, if possible, what they would like us to offer. It might be renewing books online or what databases we offer. Libraries have activities and services which users might be interested in. The social networking tools offer great potential and apparently they do not cost very much. By marketing the library you may interact with that group of users who do not use the library.
But to work effectively they require a great deal of time. Planning, evaluating and just informing users. I thought Orkney libraries had a really good outreach programme, connecting with their users. But they used both Twittter and Facebook and found there was little overlap between those who use one and those who used the other. They also admitted it took quite a bit of staff time both informing users and replying. The other thing is that it has to be kept up-to-date or users loose interest. This is good if you have things going on that you can tell users about.
My reaction is I can see that marketing can produce excellent results in keeping readers informed and that feedback about the library service would be really useful. In library systems where things are going on it is a good way to reach readers. In my small library I suspect much of what we have to say, at present, can be said via the library web pages. But I will be putting a survey, using survey monkey, on my list of things to do. I will review how we are connecting, or not, with our uses and offering the services they expect or would like.
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Referencing
I watched the video of Zeroto with great interest. It made compiling bibliographies look so easy. No more cards, usually written in a hurry and therefore difficult to deciper, and always with something missing from at least a quarter of them. No more boxes to loose or drop. Both the Medical Library and the UL tool box documentation gave good instructions on how to use this tool. References can be collected as you consult each document and stored away correctly, no missing bits, ready for retrieval when required. And all by simply clicking the mouse. In addition, a few more clicks and the bibliography is formatted to the style of your choice. No more pages covered in tipex and having to be re-typed before submission. The potential time saving is enormous. It all seems too good to be true. I did not compile a bibliography and so I do wonder if it has limits and what they are. Is it as friendly as it appears? I have not used Endnote or Mendeley and so cannot comment. I suspect what tool you use depends on what you are use to and like and whether it does what you want it to.
This is a tool we can promote in our libraries, together with Endnote and Mendeley, giving users the choice. Users can then select what tool they use, if not limited by their Faculty or Department which might have a preference. It can also be used by librarians when compiling reports, writing articles and demonstrating to users. One of ithe really good things about it is that it can help to combat plagiarism. If users form the habit of downloading their references at the time of making their notes, it will be easier for them to acknowledge where they obtained their information and thus avoid plagiarizing.
I will be investigating further with a view to promoting these referencing tools to our readers.
This is a tool we can promote in our libraries, together with Endnote and Mendeley, giving users the choice. Users can then select what tool they use, if not limited by their Faculty or Department which might have a preference. It can also be used by librarians when compiling reports, writing articles and demonstrating to users. One of ithe really good things about it is that it can help to combat plagiarism. If users form the habit of downloading their references at the time of making their notes, it will be easier for them to acknowledge where they obtained their information and thus avoid plagiarizing.
I will be investigating further with a view to promoting these referencing tools to our readers.
Monday, 9 August 2010
Connecting things
I found Linkedin very different to Facebook. More business like than social, which was what I was expecting. I decided not to join which did limit what I could see.
Having carefully followed the instructions on accessing the site, I missed the helpful suggestions of whom to view. I started with looking for Biddy Fisher as I felt she was the sort of person who might very well have an account. I was rather put off by the number of responses and decided I could not look through them all, especially as most seemed to be North American. I then discovered the limit by country and clicked on United Kingdom with great anticipation. Sadly it made no difference and I could not see how to limit my searches to the United Kingdom. My second attempt was to find Phil Bradley, which I successfully did, but could not view his profile. I then discovered the list of suggestions and viewed all the profiles, which was interesting and showed the potential of Linkedin. I tried to find the Groups section with no success. This is something to try again later, even if it is after the closing party.
How would I use Linkedin. I am not sure I would. If I was developing my career then I think it would be an assest to join. I could advertise my skills etc., for prospective employers, read their profiles in advance if I was, hopefully, called for interview. I probably would join the various groups that were of interest to me and thus expanding my knowledge and getting to know those who were also interested. If you work alone Linkedin is another way of keeping in touch and feeling less isolated. It is also a way of marketing your library. I think the possibilities are there for those who make the time and are interested in participating. As for me, here in Cambridge we are lucky that there is a variety of networks, CLG, Brown bag lunches, etc. which keep us in touch and which provides us with help when we want it. The skills and expertise we have is really quite something.
Having carefully followed the instructions on accessing the site, I missed the helpful suggestions of whom to view. I started with looking for Biddy Fisher as I felt she was the sort of person who might very well have an account. I was rather put off by the number of responses and decided I could not look through them all, especially as most seemed to be North American. I then discovered the limit by country and clicked on United Kingdom with great anticipation. Sadly it made no difference and I could not see how to limit my searches to the United Kingdom. My second attempt was to find Phil Bradley, which I successfully did, but could not view his profile. I then discovered the list of suggestions and viewed all the profiles, which was interesting and showed the potential of Linkedin. I tried to find the Groups section with no success. This is something to try again later, even if it is after the closing party.
How would I use Linkedin. I am not sure I would. If I was developing my career then I think it would be an assest to join. I could advertise my skills etc., for prospective employers, read their profiles in advance if I was, hopefully, called for interview. I probably would join the various groups that were of interest to me and thus expanding my knowledge and getting to know those who were also interested. If you work alone Linkedin is another way of keeping in touch and feeling less isolated. It is also a way of marketing your library. I think the possibilities are there for those who make the time and are interested in participating. As for me, here in Cambridge we are lucky that there is a variety of networks, CLG, Brown bag lunches, etc. which keep us in touch and which provides us with help when we want it. The skills and expertise we have is really quite something.
Friday, 30 July 2010
The joys of facebook
I have just seen Facebook for the first time. Obviously I had heard of it as it has a high profile and recieves a very mixed press. Signing in, even after all the signings in I have been doing at various network sites for 23 Cambridge, I still found it nerve racking to sign in. What to include, what to leave out, how far could I streach the truth about my age, all had to be considered. I will attend the help session on Monday to ensure I am not letting myself in for something I don't want to know about.
I did enjoy visiting the sites suggested by the team. They were very good examples of good practice and what can be achieved if you have enthusiasm, dedication and happenings in the library to report on. I liked seeing/hearing what staff were doing in their libraries, the additional services for users (yes, I thought the jigsaw was great, was it of the English Faculty?) and the informal way information could be sent to users. I can see it would be useful and in the right hands I suspect it could reach quite a few users who tend to be unreachable.
Sadly, I still have reservations about Facebook. Facebook has received a very bad press concerning it's privacy settings. I understand it has altered things before without telling its members, or are they friends? This is of concern. Like all internet sites it can be open to abuse and happenings that were not intended when it was set up. It is a social networking site and that is what its members expect. I did read the article on Libraries and facebook which Sarah put under further reading which was interesting. I wonder if the older generation of facebook users will gradually change it to suit their changing needs and it will become less 'social' and more communication and work. It will be very interesting to see how it develops.
I cannot see myself having a facebook page, either personal or for the library, at the moment. The library may have one in the future. I am open to change if it benefits my users, but it will be after careful consideration and consultation. If users would like a library facebook page and would use it I will create one, and I can now, thanks to 23 Things. In the meanwhile I will enjoy other libraries Facebook pages.
I did enjoy visiting the sites suggested by the team. They were very good examples of good practice and what can be achieved if you have enthusiasm, dedication and happenings in the library to report on. I liked seeing/hearing what staff were doing in their libraries, the additional services for users (yes, I thought the jigsaw was great, was it of the English Faculty?) and the informal way information could be sent to users. I can see it would be useful and in the right hands I suspect it could reach quite a few users who tend to be unreachable.
Sadly, I still have reservations about Facebook. Facebook has received a very bad press concerning it's privacy settings. I understand it has altered things before without telling its members, or are they friends? This is of concern. Like all internet sites it can be open to abuse and happenings that were not intended when it was set up. It is a social networking site and that is what its members expect. I did read the article on Libraries and facebook which Sarah put under further reading which was interesting. I wonder if the older generation of facebook users will gradually change it to suit their changing needs and it will become less 'social' and more communication and work. It will be very interesting to see how it develops.
I cannot see myself having a facebook page, either personal or for the library, at the moment. The library may have one in the future. I am open to change if it benefits my users, but it will be after careful consideration and consultation. If users would like a library facebook page and would use it I will create one, and I can now, thanks to 23 Things. In the meanwhile I will enjoy other libraries Facebook pages.
Friday, 16 July 2010
23 Things Cambridge - LibraryThing
I became very excited when I saw LibraryThing was one of the 23 Things. I had heard of it and thought it had great potential for small, or not so small as I discovered, libraries or libraries without much funding. I eventually managed to work my way through the instructions, I am not good with screens finding them very confusing and loosing things, and started to create my library. I had selected 20 children's books with publication dates ranging from 1965 to the present, but mostly with ISBNs. To my surprise the first book I had selected, published in 2010, came up, but with a different publisher. I wondered if the data base selected USA publications first and if this might prove to be a handicap. It happened again for several other books, which I manually imputed. I did wonder if it would be simpler just to alter the details on the record, but as I did not have in hand the book I was cataloguing ....
I can still see the potential for both personal and library use. I suspect if it had been around 15 years ago we may very well have used it for the temporary online catalogue. I wonder how the UL would have liked importing it into Newton? At home I think I will stay with my current arrangement as I don't have that many books and they are mostly by the same authors.
Now to find what I should do to save and post!
I can still see the potential for both personal and library use. I suspect if it had been around 15 years ago we may very well have used it for the temporary online catalogue. I wonder how the UL would have liked importing it into Newton? At home I think I will stay with my current arrangement as I don't have that many books and they are mostly by the same authors.
Now to find what I should do to save and post!
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Sunset over the water
A picture from Flickr from near to where I was staying last week. A very beautiful area, with water, mountains and the flat. The ferry trips were really good.
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