tripping over reference

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Tripping Over Reference The importance of link placement (and other stuff) Bill Pardue ([email protected] ) ALA 2007—Best Practices in Cooperative VR

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Tripping Over Reference. The importance of link placement (and other stuff) Bill Pardue ( [email protected] ) ALA 2007—Best Practices in Cooperative VR. Placement is promotion!. Press releases, handouts, ads, etc. tend to create brief “spikes” in usage. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Tripping Over Reference

Tripping Over ReferenceThe importance of link placement

(and other stuff)

Bill Pardue ([email protected])

ALA 2007—Best Practices in Cooperative VR

Page 2: Tripping Over Reference

Placement is promotion!

Press releases, handouts, ads, etc. tend to create brief “spikes” in usage.

Proper placement assures that people will find the link to VR when and where they need it!

(This doesn’t mean not to do handouts, ads, etc.!)

Source: Elaina Norlin, “Creating a Purple Cow, VRD 2005.

Page 3: Tripping Over Reference

Not just a “QuestionPoint thing” Promote multiple avenues for reference:

Chat IM VOIP (If you have it! We don’t.) Phone & in-person

But today, we’re talking about AskAway/QP!

Page 4: Tripping Over Reference

Looking at the statistics

Looked at referrer page info from QP Three months: 458 Sessions 139 sessions from home page & catalog 319 came from everywhere else! 70% of sessions originated from places other

than home page & catalog

Page 5: Tripping Over Reference

December 2006 Stats (more detail) 136 Total chat sessions

Home Page: 48 referrals Websites/DBs page: 17 Kids World: 17 Catalog: 9 Contact Us: 7 38 sessions from other locations!

Page 6: Tripping Over Reference

Placement tips

Get your link: As part of the basic page template “Above the fold” (test it at 800x600)

Use graphic and brief text AskAway branding essential, but make sure

patron understands what it is! E.G., “Ask a Question Live Online” or “Get Live Online Help”

Page 7: Tripping Over Reference

Current practices (a quick look) Looked at 20 libraries Home page link: 19 (why not 20?) Part of site “template”: 8 Link via catalog: 0 Placement (homepage):

Low: 5 lower left; 1 lower right; 2 lower center High: 4 upper left; 5 upper right; 2 upper center 1 Dead center

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Think about your vendors

Your catalog Your subscription databases

FirstSearch, Gale, Ebsco, Proquest, Wilson, etc. Many support “branded” links, which can include

VR service. Contact your vendor for details. We’ve had relatively few sessions from these,

but why not catch what you can?

Page 9: Tripping Over Reference

FirstSearch admin module

Interface Display > Your Library Settings > Your Library

Page 10: Tripping Over Reference

How it shows up:

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Gale Group admin module

Locations/Select your location (like GRC)/Customer Links

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How it shows up:

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Do you maintain any other sites? E.G., Community information directories (like NorthStarNet)

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Market it as local information “Ask a question about Arlington Heights” Don’t necessarily play up the librarian angle as the

main point!

Page 15: Tripping Over Reference

Links on other community sites? Town/village site Chamber of Commerce Social service agencies

Be ready to answer questions relevant to these sites or to arrange referrals!

There’s a political element to this.

Page 16: Tripping Over Reference

The Downtown Business Association

Page 17: Tripping Over Reference

Look for social sites/blogs!

Not just your own blog Look for other sites where people might post

comments/questions—post answers and give your URL!

For example: http://tinyurl.com/shasy

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Think of anywhere else!

E.G., In the signature of outgoing e-mails to patrons:

--Bill Pardue Ask Us--We Answer!Also contact us via Live Chat or IM!:http://tinyurl.com/toqqb ----------------------Arlington Heights Memorial Library Information Services Dept., Reference Section500 N. Dunton Ave., Arlington Heights, IL  60004847-392-0100

Page 19: Tripping Over Reference

Also see Sara Houghton’s presentation: "Reaching Patrons: Online Outreach for

Public Libraries":http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/onlineoutreach/index.html

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We’re after the “long tail!”

Most of these won’t contribute large numbers You’re doing this to increase referrals

incrementally. 1 or 2 per month from multiple sources

begins to add up!

Page 21: Tripping Over Reference

Checking your referrals:

Start at the My QuestionPoint page, click on View Service History

Page 22: Tripping Over Reference

Checking referrals, cont’d: Then click Reports/Form Fields. Select month and

uncheck everything but “referrer”. Select “View Excel file,” then “Submit.”

Page 23: Tripping Over Reference

Other stuff

Alliances/Mucking About: http://www.beepcentral.com http://www.arlingtonheights.org

VLogs http://www.ahml.info/vlog/vault.asp http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=LibVlog