Question of the week: What kinds of social media apps do you think you might use in your library? If you use some already, what ideas did you get for making better use of them?
Our library currently uses Facebook, Pinterest, and GoodReads. We do not have accounts with Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LibraryThing.
We use Facebook to post flyers and information about upcoming events, post pictures of past events, and post book covers of new arrivals. We also try to promote other events/closures that are going on around town by sharing posts from the Chamber and other local groups. I do not currently post questions on Facebook to promote interaction. I have thought about doing that, but have noticed that often no one responds to questions posted on the Facebook pages of other libraries. I think it would be a lot of fun if you could get responses, but if you can't, it just seems lame.
We primarily use Pinterest to get craft ideas for Story-time and ideas for the Summer Reading Program. When I find cute craft ideas, I save them on our Story-time Crafts Board. Then, even if I don't use them right away, I can go back and easily find them later. I also post pictures of book covers that link to book reviews or summaries on a board called "Book
Reviews/Summaries." We have a Silhouette Cameo machine (kind of like a Cri-Cut) that we use to cut out designs for decorating bulletin boards or to cut out shapes to help with Story-time crafts. So, I have a Board for Silhouette ideas and follow some "pinners" who post tips and designs for the Silhouette. After taking the class, I was exposed to various boards/pins about libraries. I started a board called "Library Stuff" and have started following some other library-themed boards. I'm hoping to get a lot of good ideas from the boards I am now following. Pinterest is definitely a social media venue that I am glad I participate in. It is one that actually saves me time in the long run because I can get so many good ideas from one site, rather than visiting lots of web pages.
I have a Goodreads account under my own name, but I don't have one for the library. I use my account to look at book reviews to determine which books I should purchase, and I use it to help recommend books to patrons. Another of my primary uses for Goodreads is to get the book cover art to post new arrivals on our Facebook page. I have no plans to start using LibraryThing. I have set up a personal Shelfari account, but have not started using it. I think Shelfari has a cooler look than Goodreads, but I just don't know if it's worth the time of starting all over and adding all of the books I've read and want to read. It would just seem redundant. I am going to look into it a little more and see if I can figure out the widget to help post new arrivals to our website.
We do not have a YouTube account and do not plan to have one. However, we do use instructional YouTube videos to help us learn how to do things. We do not have an Instagram account or a Twitter account and have no plans to pursue those. Twitter and Instagram seem to be geared toward users that need to post comments/pictures often and instantly. We are a library in a small town. Things are not happening fast enough here that a Facebook account does not suffice for our purposes. I don't actually think many folks in our town use Twitter. I have never heard any of our patrons mention using it, and the two teenagers at my house don't use it. The young folks here do use Instagram. However, I think they use it less often now. They mostly SnapChat with each other.
When you have limited time to devote to social media, you have to choose where you get the most bang for the buck. Pinterest and Goodreads are definitely useful library tools and a worthwhile use of my time. Facebook may not actually reach a lot of folks for the amount of time put into it. However, it is an easier avenue to update than our webpage is and it does allow users the opportunity to post comments and questions. I plan to continue to use Facebook to promote our library and I hope to do more non-library posts such as sharing links from other community pages.
Thanks for the class. I look forward to our next opportunity to learn together.
Happy New Year!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Week 5: Social Media Metrics; Shelfari, Goodreads, and LibraryThing
Question of the week: What kinds of social media apps do you think you might use in your library? If you use some already, what ideas did you get for making better use of them?
Right after our last class, I worked on a nice, thoughtful answer to this question. It was just pointed out to me today that I haven't completed the Week 5 homework, so apparently my post did not upload properly. So, here goes with a less thoughtful answer.
We currently use Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads at our library. I use Facebook to promote library events and community events, post pictures taken during our programs, and post covers for new arrivals. We use Pinterest primarily to get ideas for crafts for story-time, but I have recently started posting pins of book reviews on a Book Reviews board. . Rarely have I posted original pictures, just when we did a cool story-time craft that I didn't find on Pinterest. My GoodReads account is a personal account, but I use it to look at reviews of books I am considering for the library and to borrow cover art for posting new arrivals on Facebook.
I understand that Facebook accounts can be more effective if you invite interaction/responses by posting questions. I have done that a few times, but haven't had much luck with anyone posting replies. I have seen other libraries posting questions and they don't get many replies either. I'm not sure if Facebook is a very effective marketing strategy for our library, but it doesn't take a ton of time and I have heard from a few folks who learned about a program from Facebook.
Some of the apps I am not considering using include Twitter and Instagram. Those apps seem to be useful for places and folks who have a lot going on and have time to post tweets/photos often. If one is not going to post tweets/photos often, then I don't see the point of adding a Twitter or Instagram account. Things are just not happening so fast at our library that we need Twitter or Instagram. I really don't know if libraries that use Instagram are getting a lot out of it. When I looked at large libraries using Instagram, it didn't seem that they had many likes or responses to pictures they posted. So, I'm not sure how many they are reaching with this tool.
I use YouTube to find videos of how to do things, but I doubt that I will post any videos there. I'm glad it's there, and I'm glad other libraries have the time to post videos so that I benefit from them.
Shelfari is an app I would consider using. It looks cooler than GoodReads and has some kind of widget that can be used to post new arrivals to a website. I just don't know if I want to enter all of the books "read," "to read," etc... into another account. For the purpose of looking at book ratings/reviews, I probably will stick with GoodReads since it has more users.
Well, hopefully I will be able to publish my answer this time. Thanks for letting me know I didn't have an answer up yet. I enjoyed the class and look forward to seeing everyone again.
Right after our last class, I worked on a nice, thoughtful answer to this question. It was just pointed out to me today that I haven't completed the Week 5 homework, so apparently my post did not upload properly. So, here goes with a less thoughtful answer.
We currently use Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads at our library. I use Facebook to promote library events and community events, post pictures taken during our programs, and post covers for new arrivals. We use Pinterest primarily to get ideas for crafts for story-time, but I have recently started posting pins of book reviews on a Book Reviews board. . Rarely have I posted original pictures, just when we did a cool story-time craft that I didn't find on Pinterest. My GoodReads account is a personal account, but I use it to look at reviews of books I am considering for the library and to borrow cover art for posting new arrivals on Facebook.
I understand that Facebook accounts can be more effective if you invite interaction/responses by posting questions. I have done that a few times, but haven't had much luck with anyone posting replies. I have seen other libraries posting questions and they don't get many replies either. I'm not sure if Facebook is a very effective marketing strategy for our library, but it doesn't take a ton of time and I have heard from a few folks who learned about a program from Facebook.
Some of the apps I am not considering using include Twitter and Instagram. Those apps seem to be useful for places and folks who have a lot going on and have time to post tweets/photos often. If one is not going to post tweets/photos often, then I don't see the point of adding a Twitter or Instagram account. Things are just not happening so fast at our library that we need Twitter or Instagram. I really don't know if libraries that use Instagram are getting a lot out of it. When I looked at large libraries using Instagram, it didn't seem that they had many likes or responses to pictures they posted. So, I'm not sure how many they are reaching with this tool.
I use YouTube to find videos of how to do things, but I doubt that I will post any videos there. I'm glad it's there, and I'm glad other libraries have the time to post videos so that I benefit from them.
Shelfari is an app I would consider using. It looks cooler than GoodReads and has some kind of widget that can be used to post new arrivals to a website. I just don't know if I want to enter all of the books "read," "to read," etc... into another account. For the purpose of looking at book ratings/reviews, I probably will stick with GoodReads since it has more users.
Well, hopefully I will be able to publish my answer this time. Thanks for letting me know I didn't have an answer up yet. I enjoyed the class and look forward to seeing everyone again.
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