marketing in the library and beyond joe marquez, mlis sonoma state university library
TRANSCRIPT
MARKETING IN THE LIBRARY AND BEYOND
JOE MARQUEZ, MLISSONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Marketing of the Library
mar-ket-ing \ˈmär-kə-tiŋ\ n.Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
—American Marketing Association website
What are we selling?
Access to information in a friendly environment
Books, DVDs, CDs, place, librarians/staff, computing, databases, journals, newspapers, lectures, workshops, galleries, archives, children’s story time
A sense of place. A part of the community. Service to the community.
How & why do we market our services?
Demonstrate our worth, especially in economic times like these
Play on patron interests, key library collections, and focus on the local community
The tools focused on in this discussion demonstrate how the library has evolved
Where to Start?
Library as Place Services Collections Community
What tools do we use?
Web 2.0 (Twitter & Facebook) Mashups & Timeline Library Homepage (slideshow, In Focus) Mobile website Google Calendar QR Codes
Web 2.0: Twitter and Facebook
Rodney the Rooster
Rodney the Rooster was a stray bird that walked around campus. The students wanted to change the mascot from a Sea Wolf to a Fighting Cock. One day Rodney was eaten by a raptor.
Fox
Mashups & Timelines
Your archives/special collections/history desk is marketing’s best friend
People love seeing B/W photographs
People love seeing what their town used to look like
Mashups & Timelines, cont.
Make everyday items more useful by joining like items electronically
Showing off the archival or special collections not only demonstrates the library’s value as a repository of physical items but also a holder of community memory
Mashup: Geologic and Topo maps
• SSU covers 6 services counties (Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Marin, Solano)
• Mashup combined all topo maps for 6 counties and placed them in geographic context
• Maps are now electronic and can be accessed from off-campus
• Serves the geology dept AND the local community
http://goo.gl/K13Kh
Timeline: Sonoma County History
• Created with funding from grant to show local history timeline
• Images are from Archives
• Created using MIT’s SIMILE Exhibit
• Very little coding• Easy to update• Simple interactive tool
to show historyhttp://goo.gl/RSTci
The Library Website
Best place to market the Library is on its own website – specifically the homepage
The only part of the library that is open 24 hrs/day
The only way to search the library’s collections
The library website is the other front door and probably the one most often used
The Library Website: Homepage
Previous Library website
- no global navigation- no visible “end” to the page- html only- marketing elements below the fold- 7 software packages, lacking uniform branding
The Library Website: Homepage, cont.
Current Library website
- global navigation- page has a border- php- easy to update- visible marketing elements- outreach to campus and community- uniform branding
http://goo.gl/Kp5bI
Slideshow: Homepage
• Slideshow allows for ease of updating
• Not necessary to alter homepage when updating
• Slides are uniform in size• What do we display:
• Events (lectures, workshops, music)
• Gallery exhibits• Student help• Technology• Archives/Special Collections
collection
Slideshow: Regional & Special Collections
• Highlights Regional & Special Collections
• Same size as homepage slideshow
• Focus on various collections
• Same widget as Library homepage
http://goo.gl/eD1yH
In Focus
• In Focus allows us to connect the Library with our patrons
• I will send out emails to faculty and staff to participate
• People LOVE being on the homepage
• Provides an opportunity to show the various faces on campus and learn about what people do (for work or research)
Mobile Website
Google Calendar
• Google Calendar is free• Easy to update• Students now have google email accts and calendar can be integrated into their school calendars• The calendar works on the mobile site and is easily embedded
QR Codes
QR codes are the latest and greatest technology that allows you to capture data via a 2D code with a handheld device
The data can be text, links, even contact information
QR codes are appearing everywhere We currently use them in our catalog
and in the stacks for point of reference
QR Codes: In The Catalog
Our QR codes in the catalog provide the name, author, call number, location, and availability
http://goo.gl/cKoED
QR Codes: In the Stacks
QR codes in the stacks link to a webpage with basic how-to instructions on finding books in the stacks.
QR Codes: Where Else?
How to Create a QR Code
Create your content (webpage, image, contact info)
Go to a website like qrcode.kaywa.com Enter information in space provided Select size of QR code Click “Generate” Copy embed code into your webpage
Things to Keep in Mind
Keep committees small and nimble
Design with the user in mind – “Cool” can be fun, but always question whether or not it is appropriate for your library
Don’t over saturate your library with a single technology
Wrap up
Big question to ask in thinking about marketing the library:
Can we afford it? And then, can we sustain it?
Whenever possible, reuse technology across the website.
We reuse slideshow and QR code technology
And always assess to see how it worked
Resources
How to create a mashuphttp://goo.gl/Ou9z5
How to create a timelinehttp://goo.gl/7Rhpu
How to create a 2.0 presence
http://goo.gl/qMsLhHow to create a QR
code
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
Contact
Joe MarquezWeb Services LibrarianSonoma State [email protected]
Library: http://library.sonoma.edu
Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/joughm/