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

2. Contact Information Susan Ariew sariew@lib.usf.edu sariew@lib.usf.edu http://usflibraries.typepad.com/edlibreport Gina Clifford gcliffor@lib.usf.edu http://usflibraries.typepad.com/web_strategy

3. How We Got Started

4. Leveraging Architecture

5. Blogging@USF E-Resources@USFE-Resources@USF –First Library Blog Subject Outreach Blogs Followed: STM News Arts Blog Education Blog—edlib report Business News

6. The EdLib Report

7. The College of the Arts Blog

8. Florida Mental Health Institute Library Blog

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

10. 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: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/eval/marshall.html http://nnlm.gov/pnr/eval/marshall.html

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

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

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

14. 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

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

16. Blog-Enhancing “2.0” Twitter Twitterfeed Delicious Lijit

17. More Blog-Enhancers Google Custom Searches Google Gadgets FeedBurner YouTube

18. 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)

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

20. 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?

21. 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

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

23. New Services/Changes in Services

24. New Collections or Featured Online Materials

25. Digital Archives/Collections

26. Web Sites and Other Blogs

27. Videos and Podcasts

28. Technology Tips and Updates

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

30. 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?

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

32. Basic Blog Statistics Page Views Page Referrers Links Visited

33. Advanced Stats In-Depth Reporting In-Depth Reporting

34. Informal Feedback zComments on the blog zEmail responses zSurveys zOther

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

36. 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: 36-38.

37. Questions/Comments? ?