Tools and Tips to Market YOUR Collection Ruth Wolfish IEEE Client Services Manager 31 March & 1 April 2009 UK Serials Group

Have fun marketing your collection!

Today’s Agenda Events in the library Blogs Twitter Facebook Other simple ideas Measuring success Questions

Successful Events are the Result of Several Factors  Meaningful event  Timing that works with the audience  Good promotion to the right audience  Endorsement of key influencers  Faculty  Students  What’s in it for me?  FUN!

Sample Task List for Library Event Check for conflicts on library calendar & university calendar(s) Create task timeline for advance planning and the “day of “ Partner with students to design poster /flyers Engage assistance of E-resource library vendors, library staff, catering, academic departments Plan for food, balloons, posters, etc. Work with university building services for chairs/tables, power, web access Take photos! Ask STUDENTS for input on where to advertise event and ideas for raffle prizes

Vanderbilt University Uses Key Marketing Elements Eye - catching image Enticing Attendance Generators Link from technology to IEEE Xplore database

Build on the Success of Others… Keep fonts uniform and easy to read Keep text light so reader sees key message first Include an RSVP with a name

Build on the Success of Others… Eye Catching Image Enticing Attendance Generators Less Text Select most meaningful items Encourage RSVP for both you & attendees Be careful of color on color

It’s Not All About the Flyer…. Clever way to bring traffic to library Fun and original Prizes, food Ties in with other campus activities Add intrigue… tour an off-limits secret tower!

IEEE Fully Customizable Event Flyer Free and Easy!

Eight Designs to Choose From!

Create Buzz with a Quiz! (and Prizes)

Highlight Valuable Giveaways

Blogs Have fun Don’t be afraid to show your personality Informative Accessible

University Wisconsin - Whitewater

Twitter Make it interesting Be clear about what you’re sending Works best with brief information

University of London

College of DuPage Librarian “Library Secrets”

University of North Carolina

Facebook Facebook currently has more than 175 million active users worldwide. Facebook recently surpassed MySpace in amount of visitors, making Facebook the most popular social network, followed by MySpace and TwitterMySpace Twitter

Little Ideas with Big Impact “Flyers in places people can’t avoid” (restroom)  Mel DeSart, University of Washington Deliver requested articles to faculty in person  Rachel Berrington, formerly Mentor Graphics, now IEEE Slide flyers under faculty doors  Anonymous “Tear off tab” concept  Audrey Jackson, UCLA

“Tear Off Tabs” Make Remembering Easy

Measuring Promotion Efforts Has usage gone up? More attendance at events? More research requests? Did it make new contacts, such as: –Invited to speak at classes –“Friends of the library” –Library Board

Value of Collaboration Become part of the student and faculty communities … When students include librarians ( , meeting minutes, etc.), in their planning activities: –communication (both ways) improves –collaboration becomes truly fruitful Participating in student planning meetings (depending on the time and availability) also helps A Successful Collaborative Partnership among the Faculty and Librarians at Drexel University with the IEEE Jay Bhatt, Drexel University A Successful Collaborative Partnership among the Faculty and Librarians at Drexel University with the IEEE

Questions ? Ruth Wolfish IEEE Client Services Manager Attribution Oberazzi, Flickr