Outreach Blogs: Innovative Strategies for Connecting Libraries to Their Communities Florida Library Association Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Contact Information Susan Ariew Gina Clifford

How We Got Started

Leveraging Architecture

–First Library Blog Subject Outreach Blogs Followed: STM News Arts Blog Education Blog—edlib report Business News

The EdLib Report

The College of the Arts Blog

Florida Mental Health Institute Library Blog

Free or Subscription Blogs? Premium Features Design Customization Technical Support Additional Space and Bandwidth

What is Outreach? zIt is difficult to find a concise, agreed-upon definition of the term outreach in the library profession. zOutreach is defined by the specific activities that are undertaken by librarians and generally means going beyond or surpassing the boundaries of traditional on-site services. See:

Traditional Vehicles for Outreach in the Past zFormal written letters zFlyers & posters zNewsletters z zWorking through faculty representatives

Why Blogs for Outreach? Blogs can be as attractive as newsletters with eye-catching pictures

Blogs Work with “Old” Technologies Blog announcements can be sent out to listservs and distribution lists.

Blogs are Compatible with Web 2.0 Technologies zUsers can subscribe through RSS Feeds zYou can link the blog URL to Library Web Pages, Facebook, Twitter, and other applications. zThus, more people can find the information you put into the blog for outreach

Blogs Add Interest with the Power of Multimedia You can embed videos and images into entries to make them more attractive to users.

Blog-Enhancing “2.0” Twitter Twitterfeed Delicious Lijit

More Blog-Enhancers Google Custom Searches Google Gadgets FeedBurner YouTube

BASIC SEO (search engine optimization) Use Key Words in Post Title Reuse key words in body of post Link back to your website within posts Post as often as possible (at least weekly)

Get others to link to your blog reminders -> target audience Use related past posts in current posts Leave comments on other related blogs More Search Engine Optimization

Having a Focus Makes a Big Difference in Creating a Blog Can you define the scope of your blog? Who is your audience? What are their interests? What is your purpose in writing posts for this audience?

Think, Pair, Share zTurn to your neighbor, introduce yourself, and for three minutes brainstorm about what content you would include in an outreach blog. zMake a list for each of you zBe ready to share your ideas

What Kinds of Information Goes into an Outreach Blog? Library News

New Services/Changes in Services

New Collections or Featured Online Materials

Digital Archives/Collections

Web Sites and Other Blogs

Videos and Podcasts

Technology Tips and Updates

Where Do You Get Ideas for Blog Entries? z announcements at your own library about news and new developments zProfessional reading zOther blogs

Make it Your Own zFind your own writing “voice” zWrite in a conversational tone that is uniquely your own. If you saw someone informally, how would you tell them the news about something going on in the library?

Assessing Blog Activity Blog Use Statistics (Gina) Comments made on the blog itself Responses Surveys Other

Basic Blog Statistics Page Views Page Referrers Links Visited

Advanced Stats In-Depth Reporting In-Depth Reporting

Informal Feedback zComments on the blog z responses zSurveys zOther

Examples of Outreach Blogs zPsych,Soc,Ling, & Af the LibraryPsych,Soc,Ling, & Af the Library zExplodedlibrary.infoExplodedlibrary.info zCurriculum MaterialsCurriculum Materials zResources & ServicesResources & Services in Psychology

Helpful Links zOutreach Blogs of All KindsOutreach Blogs of All Kinds zHuwe, T.K. (2006). Some best practices for personalizing outreach. Computers in Libraries 26,2:

Questions/Comments? ?