1. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Maximising the Effectiveness of Your Online Resources: Exploiting the Social Web to Promote Your Resources Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath, UK UKOLN is supported by: This work is licensed under a Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat) Acceptable Use Policy Recording this talk, taking photos, discussing the content using Twitter, blogs, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised. Acceptable Use Policy Recording this talk, taking photos, discussing the content using Twitter, blogs, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised. http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/sca-seo-20100602/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/briankelly/ http://twitter.com/ukwebfocus/ Email: b.kelly@ukoln.ac.uk Blog: http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/ Gowalla: http://gowalla.com/users/briankelly/

2. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 2 About Me Brian Kelly: JISC-funded Web adviser to UK HE/FE sector Based at UKOLN, a national centre of expertise in digital information management Involved in Web since Jan 1993 Over 300 presentations given since 1997 700+ blog posts since Nov 2006 Current areas of interest include Web 2.0, Web standards & Web accessibility User of various Web 2.0 services: blogs, micro- blogs, social sharing services, social networking services, …

3. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 3 UK Web Focus blog : main user engagement & dissemination channel IWMW 2010 blog aims to encourage user participation prior to & during event UKOLN’s Cultural Heritage blog: dissemination role but also guest blog posts encouraged

4. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 4 Talks given in 2009 covered Web 2.0, accessibility & standards. More Tools I Use Use of Web 2.0 technologies & approaches: RSS feeds for structured information Geo-location data Exploitation of 3 rd party services Openness of resources Risk assessment / management approaches

5. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 5 Revisiting SEO Summary of key approaches: Apply various techniques to Web resources to make resources easier to find in Google, … Resources may include organisational Web suites, third party Web sites, databases, … Resources may also include real world objects and ideas (i.e. your museum, your research ideas, …) Based on understanding of importance of Google to end users Summary of key approaches: Apply various techniques to Web resources to make resources easier to find in Google, … Resources may include organisational Web suites, third party Web sites, databases, … Resources may also include real world objects and ideas (i.e. your museum, your research ideas, …) Based on understanding of importance of Google to end users Databases Web sites Real world Directories Google (Live Search Bing, …)

6. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 6 Beyond SEO Summary of key approaches: Make use of social networking services which people may use of discuss your services Services may include Facebook, MySpace, Slideshare, Twitter, … No need to touch your Web sites (so useful if you can’t!) Based on understanding of popularity of SNs and people’s interests in chatting and sharing Summary of key approaches: Make use of social networking services which people may use of discuss your services Services may include Facebook, MySpace, Slideshare, Twitter, … No need to touch your Web sites (so useful if you can’t!) Based on understanding of popularity of SNs and people’s interests in chatting and sharing Databases Web sites Directories Social Services (Facebook, Slideshare, Twitter, …) Real world

7. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 7 Opportunities & Challenges

8. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 8 It’s About The Individual! Focus of the Social Web is the individual. Challenges posed: ‘It’s my space’ ‘Sustainability Privacy Editorial control Branding … Focus of the Social Web is the individual. Challenges posed: ‘It’s my space’ ‘Sustainability Privacy Editorial control Branding …

9. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 9 Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly, 2005 Characteristics Of Web 2.0 Network as platform Always beta Clean URIs Remix and mash-ups  Syndication (RSS) Architecture of participation  Blogs & Wikis  Social networking  Social tagging (folksonomies) Trust and openness Characteristics Of Web 2.0 Network as platform Always beta Clean URIs Remix and mash-ups  Syndication (RSS) Architecture of participation  Blogs & Wikis  Social networking  Social tagging (folksonomies) Trust and openness Web 2.0 What Is Web 2.0? Marketing term (derived from observing 'patterns') rather than technical standards - “an attitude not a technology” Web 2.0

10. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 10 What Does Google Find? Pages in Wikipedia are Google-friendly First 3 rd party Web site for search for ‘British Library’ is from Wikipedia Wikis Similar results found for a search for ‘British Postal Museum’

11. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 11 Exploiting Wikipedia (1) Is your organisation listed in Wikipedia? If not you are missing out on a (free) marketing opportunity. Wikis

12. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 12 Exploiting Wikipedia (2) Your entry may have created by someone who doesn’t work for your organisation Here’s a simple example of a Wikipedia entry. Looking at the page history we can see when it was created and by whom. The original page may have been embarrassing. How long might this page have been promoting your museum? Conclusions: Doing nothing may not be an option! And would you allow inaccurate information to be published in a popular print publications?

13. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 13 Exploiting Wikipedia (3) How to proceed: How to create pages: See Museums and Wikipedia paper, J Bowden from MW 2007. No Wikipedia reputation: Get ID and be a good Wikipedia citizen first. Entry flagged as ‘marketing’: You’ve copied your marking material, haven’t you! Work with your peers to avoid ‘the best’, ‘the leading’, … Wikis Note: This is now fixed

14. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk DBpedia 14 DBpedia: Linked Data version of Wikipedia info boxes

15. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk DBpedia Relationship Finder Find relationships between items in Wikipedia 15

16. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Wikipedia: Conclusions Conclusions: Good for SEO A way of joining Web of Linked Data 16 Note that relationship isn’t described in entries for Oxford or Cambridge, but is provided externally

17. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 17 Why Blog? Multiple reasons for blogging (not all to do with maximising access to resources and ideas): Reflection Dissemination Engagement News and alerts Note-taking Experimentation ‘Think out loud’ Personal development Syndication … Blogs Jo Alcock (librarian at Wolverhampton University) has a blog which allows her to engage with her users on library developments and solicit feedback

18. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 18 Why I Blog Reasons mentioned previously. In addition: Talk about plans for new ‘stuff’ (events, papers, ideas, …) Talk and ‘stuff’ I’ve delivered (as illustrated) Use of a blog allows this to be: Commented on Syndicated Repurposed Blogs

19. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 19 The Paper In The Repository The paper in the repository can fail to engage with potential interested parties (especially if the paper is embargoed)

20. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Facilitating The Discussion The blog post about the paper can engage a wider audience … 20 and encourage discussion and debate.. and provide links to discussions taking place elsewhere

21. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 21 Best Practices For Bloggers Examples of best practices: Have a blog policy (e.g. ‘Don’t be stupid’) Define the scope and target audience Link to others Allow comments Respond to comments Decide on team or individual blog … http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/documents/ See UKOLN’s Cultural Heritage IntroBytes briefing documents

22. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 22 From A Distance Blog Blogs Chris Sexton, IT Service’s Director at University of Sheffield & current UCISA chair Her blog: Outlines senior management strategic thinking Embed title and link to my most recent blog post

23. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 23 Reading, Even If Not Blogging Negative impact – the bad things they say about your stuff Can be useful to monitor: Your brand Your ideas Your reputation Your stuff …. Blogs Some minor criticisms from Stephen Downes, a well-read Canadian e=learning guru A speedy reply, and a positive response

24. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 24 What Can Twitter Offer? Twitter

25. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 25 What Can Twitter Offer? Twitter Promoting blog post about possible event. Brief - designed for retweeting (RT) Should you add “Please RT”?

26. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 26 What Can Twitter Offer? Twitter “OMG they’re criticising us – and this is being retweeted to new groups!” Note you don’t have to respond (but you may address issues raised)

27. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 27 Rationale: Allow retweeting in entirety Clause which can be removed (“in light of #digitalbritain report”) to allow for commentary (e.g. “great post”) Twitter Writing Style New blog post published which I hope to gain a wide audience for. Announcement tweeted. First draft “Respect Copyright (and Subvert It!)" My thoughts on copyright and openness in light of the #digitalbritain report http://bit.ly/4XOMJ” Second draft: “Respect Copyright (and Subvert It!)" Thoughts on copyright & openness in light of #digitalbritain report http://bit.ly/4XOMJ”

28. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Evidence of the importance of Twitter for driving traffic to blogs The Evidence 28 Evidence UK Web Focus Blog: Total of 250,00+ views. Average 250/day over 3.5 years But how do they arrive at the blog? UK Web Focus Blog: Total of 250,00+ views. Average 250/day over 3.5 years But how do they arrive at the blog?

29. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 29 “The Power Of Passed Links” The Value Of Twitter Is In “The Power Of Passed Links” Wilson predicts that at current growth rates, Twitter “will surpass Google for many websites in the next year.” And that just as nearly every site on the Web has become addicted to Google juice, they will increasingly try to find ways to get more links from Twitter. Because Twitter equals traffic. … Moreover, he asserts that these Twitter links “convert better” than search links because they are often pre- filtered and come in the form of a recommendation from someone you are following. TechCrunch, June 2009

30. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Twitter Alerts Twitter alerts for keywords, etc available using: Columns in Tweetdeck Email alerts … But this doesn’t provide a historical perspective 30 Note ukwebfocus Twitter account is used for automated announcements of posts

31. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Exploring The Evidence Twitter can be a significant driver of traffic 31 Where would blog be now without Twitter? Twitter seems to have decimated RSS traffic.

32. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Further Evidence Screenshots from http://twitoaster.com/briankell y 32 Aim: get people to provide suggestions for TwapperKeeper. Aim: to get feedback on ideas in post (… and to get post read) Aim: to get feedback on ideas in post – but received valuable feedback What does the evidence tell us about (a) success of aims &(b) how to achieve aims?

33. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Beyond The Individual Twitter is used to support IWMW event with IWMW and IWMWlive accounts (and sword_app) 33 This news function was initially carried out using RSS Official transcript of plenary talks is useful for remote audience. We also intend to use it for captioning videos of talks

34. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Observing Patterns Twitter used by Mimas 34 Twitter used by EDINA for several of their services

35. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Next Steps: Implementation History: Use by early adopters Use to support events Claiming ‘ukoln’ Twitter ID Gathering evidence of benefits / ROI Now: Planning use of ukoln and ariadne_ukoln Twitter accounts Agreeing responsibilities and scope Documenting and sharing best practices: the ‘voice’; the scope; do we follow; do we auto- follow; do we respond; … 35

36. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Further Benefits Further benefits include the paper.li daily newsletter – see http://paper.li/ariadne_ukoln 36 http://paper.li/ariadne_ukoln

37. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Collective Approaches What benefits can be gain by actively collectively: Sharing best practices and experiences Exploiting virality of social networks – services that get better as nos. of users grow What about the ethical aspects? 37 ukwebfocus Twitter account follows JISC Twitter accounts. paper.li provides daily newsletter based on links posted – see

38. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 38 Slides To Engage Users Slides designed to allow users to make use of content and links: AUP giving permission to reuse content & exploit WiFi network to discuss content Hyperlinks in slides Link to master copy provided in title slide and footer in handout Tag used in del.icio.us to bookmark resources (no need to copy URLs) Slides The PowerPoint file is a live resource which can be easily accessed, discussed and provide links to relevant resources during a talk and subsequently.

39. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 39 Slideshare To Promote Ideas Slideshare I use Slideshare to maximise awareness of ideas in papers presented at events. Approaches: Slides uploaded in advance (accessibility benefits) Allow slides to be embedded in blogs, Web pages, … Text, tags, links & metadata to support searching & provide context I use Slideshare to maximise awareness of ideas in papers presented at events. Approaches: Slides uploaded in advance (accessibility benefits) Allow slides to be embedded in blogs, Web pages, … Text, tags, links & metadata to support searching & provide context

40. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk The Researcher Carol Gole’s slides 40 Slides uploaded on behalf of Professor Carole Goble

41. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 41 What About Video? Increasingly users want video content – and are likely to use Google or YouTube to find videos Google Video might have been an obvious place to store videos – but it is how being deprecated

42. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 42 YouTube Want to make your University appealing to potential students? They’re likely to look at YouTube What will they find?

43. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 43 YouTube Want to make your University appealing to potential students? They’re likely to look at YouTube What will they find? From Apr - Oct 2009 Sheffield Uni ran competition encouraging students to upload videos to YouTube (£3000 prize). Aim was to get the students to express in own words what they thought of the University & how Sheffield had made them. IWMW 2010 session

44. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 44 Your Institutional Video Is it worth trapping your marketing videos in your institutional Web site? The SEO tips for enhancing the visibility of your videos in YouTube follow well- established guidelines (e.g. title, description, tags, …) “Given that YouTube is by far the most popular video website, you should be publishing videos there (even if you are a B2B company like HubSpot ”

45. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 45 What About Facebook? (1) Should you have a Facebook presence for your organisation? What are the reasons for having a presence in Fb? What are the concerns? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Nos. in June 2009 – 24,200 in May 2010

46. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Social Web & Linked Data Will Social Web services help- to popularise Linked Data? Notice how sig.ma provides access to structured content from many Social Web services 46 It knows my name … but can get it wrong!

47. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 47 Risks of Doing Nothing Webinar held on 16 June 2009 Advice for US Universities on how to exploit social networks What are the risks of being left behind? Must a service be 100% ‘pure’ before choosing to use it?

48. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 48 What About My Organisation? 50 Social Sites That Every Business Needs a Presence on Social-Media/Social-Bookmarking Sites Share your favorite sites on the Web with potential clients and business partners by commenting on, uploading and ranking different newsworthy articles. You can also create a member profile that directs traffic back to your company's Web site. Reddit, Digg, del.icio.us, Stumbledupon, Technorati, Ning, Squidoo, Furl, Tubearoo, Wikihow, YouTube, Magnol.ia Professional-Networking Sites Sign up with these online networking communities as a company or as an individual to take advantage of recruiting opportunities, cross-promotional events and more. Linkedin, Ecademy, Focus, YorZ, Xing, Facebook, Care2, Plaxo, … General Social-Media Sites The following social-media sites provide excellent opportunities for businesses to advertise; promote specials, events or services; and feature published, knowledgeable employees. Wikipedia, Newsvine, 43 Things, WetPaint, Twitter, Yahoo Answers Don’t go for them all!

49. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk 49 Conclusions The Social Web: Can be used to enhance access to digital resources, real world resources and ideas and concepts Ignoring the potential may mean you lose out to your peers, competitors or rivals Can form part of your organisation’s mission and not just an added extra for dissemination But there are risks

50. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Questions and Discussion Any questions? 50

51. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Discussion Possible areas for discussion: 1.Who’s already doing this: What experiences can you share? 2.Who’d like to do this: What barriers do you envisage? 3.Who feels that more evidence is needed: What evidence is required? 4.Who thinks this is a wrong approach: What concerns do you have? 51