fun library architecture

KANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY in MISSOURI, USA

is considered one of the most unusual buildings in America and in the world. It is an innovative way of advertising and a very unique campaign of attracting people to the public library.  This is not the front view of the building, but it is actually the front of the parking lot area.

http://www.homedit.com/kansas-city-public-library/

Harris County Public Library Marketing Critique

The Harris County Public Library system (HCPL) has an annual circulation of over 10 million items. Harris County, which encompasses Houston, Texas, is one of the largest urban counties in the U.S. The HCPL network of 26 community-focused branch libraries is committed to providing excellent customer service, strong collections, and cutting edge information technology for the 21st Century. Reference assistance is available in person, by phone, by email, and "virtually" through the HCPL eBranch website 24/7.

MISSION:  Harris County Public Library provides  information and resources to enrich lives and strengthen communities through innovative services within and beyond our walls.

VISION:  Your pathway to knowledge

VALUES:  At HCPL, We C.A.R.E. About Our Customers and strive to provide:

                                   C - Comfortable and Clean Libraries

                                   A - Attention to Your Needs

                                   R - Reliable Resources in a Variety of Formats
                                   E - Exceptional Library Services

*They are especially committed to the star core values of creativity and innovation; open communication; integrity and fun.  Technology-enhanced services are provided through a downloadable HCPL Digital Media Catalog where patrons can download eBooks, eAudios, Movies & Music today for iPod/iPad users, eBook Readers, Mac Users & Video for PC or mobile version.  The HCPL Digital Media Blog is updated weekly by Michael Saperstein

 HCPL on the Web has a presence on a number of social networking sites. Veronica from the eBranch/Marketing departments keeps patrons up to date on all things HCPL on both the Harris County Public Library Facebook page with 1078 fans and harriscountypl Twitter profile with 2068 followers.  Patrons are encouraged to "check us out and follow us" for upcoming programs, celebrations, library news, or to share opinions on their Wall.  The facebook page includes an RSS/Blog to the main library website and upcoming library events and a My HCPL page to Search the Catalog via keywords or multi-media title browse. 

There are 21 pages of hcplbiblio's (209) Bookmarks tagged on their del.icio.us profile and 512 pages or 9,210 items of hcplebranch's photostream on Flickr.  There is even an option in Navigation to Switch to Mobile Website, a specific interface for mobile users, along with a reversal Switch to Desktop Site. Its harriscountypl's Channel on YouTube includes 140 uploads, but only 41 subscribers. 

The site iHCPL: The Next Generation was created  in 2008 as the next step in Harris County Public Library's iHCPL Learning 2.0 Program; a discovery learning program designed to encourage staff to explore new technologies. This blog has been set up to continue Harris County Public Library's iHCPL project to encourage staff and customers to experiment and learn about the new and emerging technologies that are reshaping the context of information on the Internet today.  However, it appears that this site has not been updated since Monday, May 24, 2010
Dorrie Scott's blog
Christine Turner's blog
Abby B.'s blog
Victor S.'s blog
Linda Stevens's blog
Veronica G.'s blog

 

Stay connected and get so much more - with the Harris County Public Library Toolbar! Download the hcpl Community Toolbar via Conduit to get the freshest content delivered directly to your browser; search the Web and get a wide choice of useful search engines; add your favorite apps to your browser with Conduit Engine; receive the most important news and announcements instantly'; and check out all of HCPL favorite places on the Web.

Harriscountypubliclibrary profile on

SocialFollow combines twitter and blog updates on one convenient page.

Exercise 3 - KUDOS to Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

After perusing the examples of MySpace Profiles and Facebook Pages this week, I found the facebook library group page for Charlotte Mecklenburg Library  to be a wealth of interactive information and became their 4,791st fan to "Like" their group page!  The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library serves the citizens of Charlotte, NC and Mecklenburg County with 24 locations and innovative services and programs.  As stated in their description on facebook:  "Today, libraries must continually evolve to meet the changing needs of our customers."  This forward-thinking library offers many social networking tools such as facebook, twitter, YouTube, RSS feeds, and 24 Bookmark & Share options.  The facebook icon immediately takes its patrons directly to a "Welcome to CMLibrary Page" and greets them with an inspiring quote and a photograph of an adorable "Library Fan of the Month" below their unique library logo.

I was especially impressed by the number of tabs/pages (14!) linked to this organization's group page:  The Wall posts announcements such as Teen Tech Week, the dates that the PC's will be serviced, or messages recruiting volunteers; shared information/links from the 40+ libraries CML 'likes' nationwide; and interesting library-related facts.  The Info page gives a descriptive history of the CM Library along with a links to their website, bing map and directions, Skype phone number, and a list of their Likes and Interests. 

There is an important page exclusively devoted to the fines/fees/service charges which became effective 1/1/11.  Library Hours are posted on its own page for all regional and community libraries.  Events and past events list Library Task and Board of Trustees meetings and Friends of the Library special events.  The Twitter page summarizes 2152 followers, 2332 following, 3289 updates and options to Follow (@cmlibrary) on Twitter and/or Send Page Invitation to friends.  Friend Activity, Topograph and HTML did not show any activity on these fb pages.

The YouTube page features 6 library videos including 4 Reader's Club tutorials and a youtube link also redirects patrons to YouTube cmlibrary's channel with an option to subscribe and where 17 uploads and 9 favorites are further available to view.  The Poll page question asks patrons:  If your life story were told in book form, what type of book would it be?  With twelve genres to choose from, patrons can vote and choose to publish their votes only after adding the poll application.  Causes allows patrons to write and post a library care note of thanks, props or just a note to different fb Cause organizations that they may already independently support on facebook.  My favorite innovative Text to Donate page is sponsored by Bank of America and the Carolina Panthers and is featured on this bookmark below:  Text READ to 27722 to donate $10 to CM Library...

Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library has done quite a successful job in reaching out to almost 5000 patrons through their facebook page only followed closely behind by Hennepin County Library.  Some additional improvements could be made, such as these other features that I especially appreciated and found on nearby UNC Davis library's facebook page which offers an IM a librarian! with reference questions.  Surprisingly, they only have 888 'fans' for a university library?!!  

 

Hennepin County Library offers a very useful and special tool-- Library Search bar on both their MySpace (1282 friends) and Facebook (4542 fans) profiles to Find books & more and patrons can even add the HCL Catalog to their facebook profiles.  Bravo to UNC Davis Library and Hennepin County Library!!

Library Search

my account

  Find books & more

Title Author Subject Keyword

  add Hennepin County Library Catalog search to your Facebook profile!

Just Keep on Tweetin'...

Twitizens?  Twittersphere?

What IS all this twittering and twitterers ALL about?  Twitter is described as a free social networking and micro-blogging service where users have up to 140 characters to "tweet" and get their message out, by simply answering "what are you doing?"  Users sign up for a free account and can "follow" or have "followers" to their posts which can appear on the Twitter home page for all to see, or posts can also be private and only sent to groups of friends.  Twitter is easy, fun, free to use and allows friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected in a real-time broadcasting medium(Brown, 2009).         

As a positive medium, twittering libraries are seen as forward-thinking and have the advantage of instant information.  They have the ability to meet many of their patrons "where they're at" as another communication tool and connect with many others in their communities.  They can network with other librarians and libraries and use of this tool allows for collaboration amongst staff for educational and professional development, and can easily be incorporated within their blogs and websites.  It is an ideal marketing and public relations tool to advertise and promote library programs and services.  Libraries can use Twitter for library announcements, to post news, update resources, as a reference service, for customer service, and even cataloging/tagging (Brown, 2009).

As a negative medium, some of the cons include its brevity, too intrusive and/or time-waster, or another thing to monitor and update.  Because twitter only reaches a select audience of tech-savvy patrons, it limits the library's reach depending on its location.  Lack of support or interest from colleagues contributes to fellow staff members hesitant to use it (Brown, 2009).  Similarly, I found it difficult to keep my announcements brief and to fit my messages within the 140-character limit keystroke, especially when adding a link and/or hashtag!  It took quite a bit of effort to master this skill to be brief and concise in order to communicate effectively.  The best way to learn and become efficient is simply through doing via tweeting and through trial and error! 

Twitter offers an inhuman amount of reading material...Although the quality of the words on Twitter is not a concern, the sheer voume is staggering!  Almost fifty million tweets a day is equivalent to 1.15 billion words per day.  Just this morning, I heard on the radio that according Stephen Blackwell of Death and Taxes, it would take one person about 10 years to read every tweet on twitter in a single day?!!             

Brown, L. (2009). "Twittering Libraries." LIS 5313 Course Wiki

 

Praetorius, D. (2011).  It Takes 10 Years To Read 24 Hours Worth Of Tweets   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/28/tweets-per-day_n_829355.html



RSS...FEED[s]...ME

Why should libraries care about RSS?

Rich Site Summary or Real[ly] Simple Syndication is the functional description of RSS according to author Meredith G. Farkas.  Based on XML, RSS is the format for syndicating content on the Web and breaks Web sites into discrete chunks of infomation.  Essentially, users can subscribe to the site's RSS feed for blogs, news sites, and other Web content and receive the updated content in a single place.  This information is accessed through an aggregator or a "news/feed reader" found in a desktop brower, e-mail client, mobile device, or Web portal.  In a nutshell, RSS is the key to staying informed and preventing information overload (Farkas, 2007).

Chapter 4 gives a number of substantial reasons why libraries should care about RSS.  As Publishers, RSS allows librarians an excellent way to push contents to our patrons, make content more easily accessible, and combine content from various sites onto a single page.  Library patrons can be easily updated with new and upcoming news, events and programs from the library's Web site or opt for specific feeds such as general news, adult or youth book clubs, adult or special programs, reading lists for all genres and even lists of new books and materials now available.  RSS also enables libraries to integrate their blog content into their main site for easy to find access (Farkas, 2007).

In academic libraries, faculty and grad students can subscribe to the RSS feeds for their areas of interest to receive the newest, current books on their subject matter and on a regular basis.  As Middlemen, Farkas emphasizes that librarians can syndicate and remix existing feeds from a variety of sources to provide useful information for their patrons.  Journal and database vendors such as ProQuest provide curriculum-specific RSS feeds by doing the searching and finding the relevant articles for students and faculty to subscribe to. Registered users can also subscribe to RSS feeds of subject-specific content searches in EBSCO databases (Farkas, 2007).

As Consumers, librarians can keep current with favorite blogs, journals and news sites using RSS to consolidate all their online reading in a single place.  RSS is the ultimate tool for keeping up-do-date with relevant content, keeping up with the constant flow of online information and for preventing information overload (Farkas, 2007). 

Farkas, M. G. (2007). Social software in libraries: Building collaboration, communication, and community online. Medford, NJ: Information Today.       

Exercise 2 - A Blogosphere of blogging librarians...

 The murder victim? Your library assumptions. Suspects? It could have been any of us.

In the Library with the Lead Pipe immediately piqued my interest with such a clever blog title referencing a Clue murder-mystery deduction!  It's uniquely co-authored by a team of seven diverse librarians, along with invited guest authors, working in academic, public, and school libraries across the United States.  This group blog was originally founded by 6 energetic new librarians in 2008 and publish weekly Wednesday, peer-reviewed posts.  Their goal is to share perspectives from across the library community and encourage posts with creative thinking, envelope-pushing, and constructive criticism from libraries’ diverse professional landscape.  

Librarian by Day

Bobbi L. Newman  

Bobbi Newman started her blog, Librarian by Day in August of 2007 after becoming her library's new  Digital Services and Resources Librarian.  She is dedicated to helping libraries find their place in the digital age and is especially passionate about 21st century literacies and the role of all libraries in equal access and opportunity for all. Her professional interests include digital and technology based services, the digital divide, and improving existing services through expanding traditional methods, while creating innovative new practices.

        

social web   emerging trends   libraries

Author, musician, librarian, IT specialist David Lee King of davidleeking.com creates, writes, thinks, and speaks about library websites and emerging digital technology which his website reflects focusing on library website 'stuff' such as managing, marketing, experimenting, usability, planning, videoblogging and web 2.0/library 2.0 topics.  David works at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library as the Digital Branch & Services Manager and has worked in libraries since the mid-1990's.  David does disclose that there are ads on his site:  Google Adsense ads, Amazon Affiliate ads and links, which allow him to effectively promote his many books!

The Distant Librarian

Paul R. Pival is The Distant Librarian, a Public Services Systems Librarian (aka webmaster) at the University of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada and prior to that he was the Distance Education Librarian there from 2001-2007.  Paul realized that he should be blogging about the fine art of Distance Librarianship after attending an OCLS Conference in May of 2004.  His blog site even has a convenient 'mobile version' option and averages weekly updates. 

Some of the content he covers includes the following categories:  Book reviews; Document delivery; Electronic reference; m-Libraries; Random tech tips; Social networks; Web/Tech and Web blogs.  With the exception of his book reviews, his filter blogs are essentially a link blurb or brief remark style of a short paragraph introducing the topics which are linked to the originating author and/or blog.  He also adds 3 additional links via LinkWithin to his own previous posts as "You might also like:" options.  The graphics and videos add a welcoming interest and some interaction to his otherwise plain blog site.

The Librarian's Commute

To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive    

 

Olivia Nellums is a  Reference and Instruction Librarian at a community college in southern South Jersey.  She  started The Librarian's Commute in November 2007, posting weekly on Sundays, during her 'adjunct' phase when she was shuttling among different jobs and job functions.  Her blog attempts to be a part of, and contribute to, the library community, as she figures out what a librarian is as the information world changes, and libraries, technology, and higher education are her topics of choice. 

Her weblog is simple in appearance as she uses google's free blogging software, but her photos add a nice personal touch to her journal style posts ranging from short to long articles.  I found her single perspective to be very readable and pleasant.  Her experiences are very relevant and relatable to connect with and I especially appreciate her down-to-earth writing style which allows her simplistic, earnest voice to flow.  It was a nice surprise to see that both the Distant Librarian and In the Library with the Leadpipe's latest blogs are also suggested as Recommended Reading (Blogs) on her site!  

 

What's in a library staff social media policy?

I didn't realize until reading Daniel Hooker's blog entry in socialibrarian, that "few institutions have drafted acceptable use policies for their employees or students."  He reiterates that best practices and appropriate use need to be at the forefront of any library's online initiatives to make the library's social media presence clear and unified.  Libraries are developing policies outlining acceptable-use guidelines for blogs and the use of other social media for both staff and users alike.    

Ellyssa Kroski's 2009 article "Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy?" in the October issue of School Library Journal cites only seven libraries with existing library policies at the time.  As I perused the policies of these seven libraries (where 2 out of the 7 are California-based in Kern County and Monterey), I noticed that several of the library social media/networking policies are adapted from other libraries' established policies, not mentioned.  For example, Kern County Library's Social Network Guidelines is adapted from the Washoe County Library System Social Software Policy, which in turn is adapted by the Newton Free Library's Services Blog Policy, which is finally adapted with permission by Computerworld’s Blog Comments Policy.  Similarly, Whitman Public Library's Social Networking Policy is adapted from the Newton Free (MA), Berkeley Public (CA) and Niagara Falls Public (NY) Libraries.

Per Kroski, a social media policy is a useful way to set some ground rules for employees with regard to their online activities and a reminder that the content they post isn't private and may reflect on the organization.  For staff members who are posting on behalf of the organization along with employees with personal social media accounts, a social media policy such as staff blogging policies can help establish clear guidelines and standards.   

What sorts of rules should be included in a library staff social media policy?  

• Use a disclaimer by stating your opinions are yours alone and not your employers
• Don't share secrets by disclosing private, sensitive or proprietary information
• Be yourself by being candid about who you are and your professional role
• Respect copyright by citing sources and/or linking them within blog posts
• Respect your colleagues by considering the privacy of your coworkers
• Avoid online fights by voicing your opinion in a professional manner
• Post accurate information by researching facts and providing supporting sources
• Consult the employee manual for behavior guidelines and existing policies
• Use good judgement by thinking about the type of image you want to convey
• Provide value to your community by offering recommendations and services
• Accept responsibility by admitting any wrongdoing, be honest and apologize

Kroski further suggests that libraries consider sponsoring an employee training or orientation sessions in the use of the social Web to educate staff about privacy issues and what they should and shouldn't be posting online.  Composing the policy document in the form of a wiki also allows libraries to update their social media policy as new technologies develop.  Establishing a library staff social media policy with these guidelines will unify all employees to use social media in an informed manner.   

Hooker, D. (2009). "The Dearth of Social Media Policy Development." socialibrarian
     Retrieved from http://blog.danielhooker.com/2009/10/18/the-dearth-of-social-media-policy-development/
Kroski, E. (2009). "Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy?"  School Library Journal
     Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6699104.html