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Micro Interactions, Conversations, & Customers: Sweet Tweet Strategies

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:45:05 +0000

Notes from the 2009 Internet Librarian Conference

Micro Interactions, Conversations, & Customers: Sweet Tweet Strategies
David Lee King
Julie Strange
Amy Kearns

David – tools for interaction
Comments
Start conversation and add value – except maybe on youtube

Status updates – twitter facebook myspace
Casual conversation
Meet ups

Retweet – that was cool content, I’m going to share it again

Likes, thumbs ups, ratings, favorites
You can subscribe to someone elses twitter favorites by RSS feeds, let someone else do the work for you

How to achieve engagement nirvana
1. Say the stuff in your head – but not everything, Healthy debate is good
2. Have to give to get, you can’t “get” something without using it, how do you get to know a friend f2f? you interact
3. ask & ye shall receive, allows you to ask a question & get 20 responses
4. listen – listen first,
5. Dangle a carrot – tempt them to engage, offer a reward for engagement, ask leading questions
6. don’t be dishonest, if you’re dishonest or shaddy sometimes that’s amplified on the internet
Bonus – tools that will help, get stats, facebook stats – demographics, flickr has stats too – these are the most popular, video 2mobile then to youtube because 2 mobile doesn’t stats, pay for radion6 scoutlabs will do similar to google but help show positive or negative reactions to your updates

Your goal is to connect wth your online community, its ok to have the online community to be your only goal, chances are they have been neglected and just being there indicates they are the type of people who like to participate

Julie Strange and Amy Kearns
Tweet What?
How to power up your twitter use

How twitter got started – wanted something that was similar to IM but using sms
Logo is a bird, on purpose, bird chirps sound meaningless to use, but meaning is applied by other birds, what sounds meaningless to you is not to others
Connections
Collaborations
Conversations

What were doing online isn’t information pushing it’s the interaction that primary, the conversation builds the relationship

Twitter search is the new google
Don’t have to have an account to watch whats happening., search.twitter.com, advanced search allows you search for emoticons  or  or ?
Can search for tweets by zip code & then subscribe via RSS, then insert themselves into the conversation
Libraries posting examples of the types of questions they are getting
Used twitter to put recent questions on front page of library
Post statistics, customer comments etc
Asking & answering questions
Conversations don’t have to exist solely online even if you’re using these tools
McMaster – have twitter embedded on bottom of the tv screens that are in library

Use it for reference
Connect for customer service
Broadcast news & events
Solicit feedback
Broaden professional network

How are you using it
Response – running a search for their library name & location & saw a negative comment by a reporter & were able to address it before it became a problem.

Don’t be the creepy guy, don’t just be pushing your stuff, give and take, just showing up and pushing your stuff and

Recommendations for twitter statistics
Tweetstats
Twitter analyzer, twittilizerSimilar Posts:

Will Libraries be Able to Loan the Nook and eBooks from Barnes & Noble?

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:05:20 +0000

Will Nook and Barnes & Noble play ball with libraries? Librarians have been trying to figure out a way to lend Kindle titles and Kindles since they were first available. But its complicated and Amazon hasn’t given any indication they want to work with libraries. Yes there are libraries doing it but they do not have Amazon’s official blessing.

But the Nook and Barnes & Noble might be different. They might be willing to officially give libraries permission to loan Nooks & their ebooks. Why?

They have already built in 2 week loaning and borrowing
Loaning can be made to a variety of devices – Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod Touch, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Mobile (soon).
You can load ebooks from your public library onto The Nook*
Barnes & Noble has a history of work with libraries.

*All signs point to yes as Barnes & Noble has adopted Adobe® Content Server but none of the players have specifically addressed this issue.Similar Posts:

Implementing a 23 Things Type Program at Your Library

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:27:56 +0000

Notes from the 2009 COMO conference in Columbus GA

Implementing a 23 Things Type Program at Your Library

View more presentations from Bobbi Newman.

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A Day in the Life of a Digital Branch Manager

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:39:29 +0000

I took these notes today as part of The Day in the Life project, if you would like to read more please see the wiki, if you’re interested in how it all got started read this post

First thing in the morning with coffee in hand I answer emails, and DMs from Twitter that had come in the night before. Being on the East Coast a lot comes in after I’ve stepped away from the computer for the night.
Arrive at work – First thing answer emails, make a few updates the website, chat with Head of Teen Services about updates to her page.
Meeting with Director – we’re moving her blog from Blogger to WordPress because of some of the options she want, and walk through adding some RSS feeds to Outlook.
Back to website
Deal with paycheck problem
Work on patron survey about the website that will go up on Monday.
Spent most of the rest of the afternoon working in policies one for Social Media in general and one specifically addressing Flickr. Both of these will be part of the Digital Branch Guidebook when its complete. Part of this will address how the Digital Branch helps the library meet its mission and vision statements, and because we’re in the middle of updating these I spend sometime going back and forth between the old and the new.

I think what amazes me most as I read through m notes of the last week is how much of my time is spent, reading, writing and well, just thinking. I didnt’ really think being a Digital Branch Manager was all that different from other jobs I’ve held, but I can see there are less completed items in my day. Less projects with a clear beginning and a clear end. As someone gets a sense of accomplishment from starting and finishing clearly defined projects I wonder how this will affect me as I go forward.Similar Posts:

Day in the Life of Me – Day 2

Bobbi Newman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:14:17 +0000

I took these notes today as part of The Day in the Life project, if you would like to read more please see the wiki, if you’re interested in how it all got started read this post
Wake up before the alarm, whats up with that?
Coffee, email, Twitter, Facebook
Discovered email response from a comment I left on a Day in the Life blog last night asking about the recipe for roasted peach ice cream – hurray! I will SO be making this this weekend
Check calendar and weather before leaving for work, only one meeting, lets hope it stays that way, and its supposed to rain, scrap original outfit that include purple suede pumps (suede and rain are not friends)
Add a couple of things to my Alice.com shopping list, hope I get to 6 (free shipping for 6 or more items) before I run out of contact solution. I’ve used Alice.com twice and so far I love it, I compared prices on my first order to Target and Alice was cheaper on everything but canned dog food. Plus using it keeps me out of Target and away from impulse buys, that’s a money saving win right there.
Arrive at work, email, then take a look at our online resources page in preparation for Database committee meeting tomorrow, notice we don’t have a medical one, add medline plus which leads to too much time tweaking the page. The website had gone through many many hands over the last couple of years, as a result the code is a mess. I try not to get too caught up in fixing is though as we’ll completely replacing it, hopefully by the end of the year.
Sent Buffy’s post to our teen librarian to see if she thinks the kids my like something like that from the public library
head downstairs with the EEE (which desperately needs a cool nickname) to do some writing in the study carrels. I do this because it gets me away from my desk, otherwise I might never leave it, it gets me some sunshine, despite being on Management row, I have no window.
Working outside the office
Write definition of Super Friends will do and what I’m looking for in potential members )the official name of this group is FIT – Future, Innovation and Technology)
Notice that people are using #librarydayinthelife as a hash tag on twitter, wish we could have thought up something shorter to use, maybe next time
Think about how being Management limits how much of my day can really be blogged
Notice blog is down, getting a 500 error, email Blake, he emails back within 5 minutes that he’s on it and will keep me updated hurrah!
Go through my Friends, CVL (any mentions of my library on the net) and Daily folders in Google Reader, these are my priority reads. I have 12 folders total.
Think about how one obstacle to a culture of change is the Martyr Syndrome, remind myself I bought The No Complaining Rule to read and make a note to locate it tonight when I get home to see if it address this at all, also book mark some pages, have a Twitter and email conversation about it, think maybe it deserves a blog post next week
Just try to take it, I triple dog dare ya
ran errands, post office, picked up new meds for Big Dog, they’ve changed his dosage again, back in my office
Look for fun stuff to give out to staff
Talk with Head of Teen Services about the email I sent her earlier, trying to decide if we should do bags for Teens or Teachers, call ends with her saying – something just fell gotta go.
Back to my to-do list
Spend some time in Twitter, see a remind that Computers in Libraries deadline is early this year 9/15/2009, send tweet out for co-presenters, get good responses, put proposal writing on my calendar for Saturday
Work on writing our Social Media Policy part of which includes Flickr. All of this will be included in the Digital Branch Guide/Bible/Manifesto. I can find a LOT of libraries using Flickr but no one with a policy addressing it.
Small Dog prepares to leap
Meeting with a reference employee about being part of the Super Friends, take a walk down stairs with him at 5 so we can continue conversation. End up having a great convo with him and the Head of Reference about general online needs.
Back to my office, its a ghost town up here!
Head home, plans for tonight walk and play with the guyzos, read Day in the Life blogs, work on Policies, reading and listening to new Diana Krall album

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Geek the Library

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:00:53 +0000

Monday OCLC kicked off their Geek the Library campaign with Iowa (my home state!) and Georgia (my current state!). What is Geek the Library? Its a community-based public awareness campaign. The idea is to increase public awareness of libraries and the important role they play and the funding we so desperately need. People can share what they are passionate about using geek as a verb

Geek\Verb.

To love, to enjoy, to celebrate, to have an intense passion for.

To express interest in.

To possess a large amount of knowledge in.

To promote

I love (or is that geek?) the potential of this campaign! When they get the gear up I’ll be first in line for a shirt and coffee cup! Right now they are testing the campaign in Georgia and Iowa, with plans to kick off nationwide in 2010. I’ll be interested to see how it plays out. The site looks slick and being a geek is cool in many circles now, I’m sure it will be a hit with librarian. Will it raise public awareness and more importantly funding for libraries? I hope so.

For the public they have show your support page. I do with they had made the Local Events and the Myth or Reality page more prominent.

For libraries they have special geek page

Show some love connect with them on Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook or share your story, what do you geek?

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Implementing CMS: Public

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:50:32 +0000

Aubri Keleman, Teen Services & Web Coordinator, Whatcom County Library System

Tao Gao, Live2Create Interactive

Aubri -

Rumba with Joomla

What is a cms and why is it wicked cool? The webmaster doesn’t have to do anything

Pre-redesign

collect stats
review your brand
collect photos – tell a story
focus groups
set explicit goals in priority order

redesign questions

do staff and leadership know why a new website is needed
which cms is best for us
what can we afford money vs time vs design
how much staff time can we put into the redesign & upkeep;
do you need to outsource or do you have the talent you need on staff
how will decisions be made, who gets the final say
who is the best for the website
how will staff be involved in the redesign process
what project management tool should we use – blogs and wikis, they used a wiki

goal wc3 compliant

new page – www.wcls.org

results

increased user feedback
more content, more up to date content
users spend more time on our site
improved navigation
w3c compliant
flexibility

Problems

you cant limit authors to just one page or section
calendar
migration

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Technology for Tight Budgets

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:01:09 +0000

Times are tight, and likely to get tighter, if you’re looking to save money talk with your IT department. They may have some helpful solutions.

Take a look at the University of Missouri’s IT department suggestions – Technology for Tight Budges. Many of these can be used by libraries and other businesses looking to save funds.

Investigate the Technologies Available to Stretch Your Budget

MeetingPlace Audio/Web Conferencing

SharePoint Online Collaboration Tools

IT Training — In the Classroom and Online

Captivate e-Learning Authoring Tools

Voice over IP (VoIP)

Go Green, IT! Power Down and Virtualize

Server Virtualization

Videoconferencing

TelePresence

Smartphone Technologies

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What DO you wish your patrons knew?

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:39:24 +0000

My local library

I copied this post from The MLXperience to ask you – What DO you wish your patrons knew?

Seattle Books Examiner’s Danielle Dreger-Babbitt took an informal poll of librarians in Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, New York City, and Portland about what they wish library patrons knew or did. Here’s the shortlist:

1. Use us!
2. We support Intellectual Freedom
3. Be respectful of our library patrons
4. Pay your fines
5. Return your items on time
6. Tell us what you like
7. If possible, check out all materials at once from the circulation desk
8. Please listen to us the first (or even second) time we say something
9. Practice good hygiene
10. Let your librarian know what materials you’d like to see on the shelf
11. The library has almost as many DVD’s as your local video store
12. Hang up your cell phone when you come to the reference desk (or circulation desk)
13. Please be patient with us
14. We like it when you thank us
15. Please respect the desk barrier
16. Come to our programs!
17. Do not leave your child (or children) unattended- for their safety
18. Ask us what we read
19. Ask us for what you really want
20. Enough with the “sexy librarian” jokes

See the full article: Seattle Books Examiner: Top 20 things librarians in public libraries wish patrons knew or did

What would you add?

I’d like to add

21. If I’m sitting at the reference desk, please don’t talk to the back or side of my head, it is polite to stand in front of the person you’re addressing.

22. Be an empowered library user, we’d love to show you how to search the catalog, place holds and renew your books online or how you how to use one of our many online resources, just ask!Similar Posts:

I’m not narcisitic, you’re eavesdropping

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:59:56 +0000

In many of the articles I read about the Social Web, especially Twitter, the author laments that they don’t care that I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch, or what I thought of the latest American Idol. I’ve long felt that these writers are missing the point and this week I came across two sources that articulate this better than I could have.

The first is Clay Shirky’s book Here Comes Everybody, he makes the point that with new advances in technology people mistake broadcasting media (1 to many) for communications media (1to 1). New tools allow people to use broadcasting media for communication. He gives this example – if you read a blog of someone you don’t know and see that they got wasted last night and today when shopping for clothes you think what’s the point? Who cares? Yet if you went to a food court in a mall and eavesdropped on the same conversation it would be clear that you are the weird one. We’re so used to the old web that we think if we can read it, it’s targeted towards us and with the new Social Web this just don’t hold true anymore.

The second is this article from The New York Time Magazine.

“It’s an aggregate phenomenon,” Marc Davis, a chief scientist at Yahoo and former professor of information science at the University of California at Berkeley, told me. “No message is the single-most-important message. It’s sort of like when you’re sitting with someone and you look over and they smile at you. You’re sitting here reading the paper, and you’re doing your side-by-side thing, and you just sort of let people know you’re aware of them.” Yet it is also why it can be extremely hard to understand the phenomenon until you’ve experienced it. Merely looking at a stranger’s Twitter or Facebook feed isn’t interesting, because it seems like blather. Follow it for a day, though, and it begins to feel like a short story; follow it for a month, and it’s a novel.

Both of these illustrated the point that just because you can read it, doesn’t mean it’s intended for you. If you precieve something as blather, you’re probably not the target audience. This is a new occurrence that has developed with social web tools. The line between what’s public and private becomes blurred. If you come across the blog of someone you don’t know and start reading it are you violating their privacy? It’s out there for anyone to read. What if they only started writing it to keep their family updated, and you’re not the intended audience?Similar Posts: