using ifttt to connect and spread your message (ili 2012 conference)
DESCRIPTION
This presentation was given at the Internet Librarian International 2012 conference.TRANSCRIPT
Using IFTTT To Connect And Spread Your Message
Gary Green
Surrey County Council Library [email protected]
What is IFTTT?
• A free web service (www.ifttt.com)
• IFTTT = If This Then That
• Connect over 50 online & messaging services (channels) together
• Automatically feed information/data between channels
Why is it useful?• Pull information together
• Share information across different networks
• Manage information flows
• Extend your reach & spread your message
• Backup & archive information & files
• Create alerts
• Do it all in one place
• Use limited time & resources more effectively
Which Services Connect?• Social networks
• Bookmarking sites
• Image sharing sites
• Blogging services
• Video & audio sharing websites
• File storage services
• Document collaboration services
• RSS feeds
• Email & messaging services
• Date, time, weather, stock alerts
How does it work?
• Connect 2 channels (some require authorisation)
• One acts as trigger (A)
- you specify the trigger
• One acts as response to the trigger (B)
- you specify the response
• Each trigger/response combination is called a recipe
Iftrigger “A” does This
Then“B” responds by doing That
How does it work?• Some channels can either be used as a
trigger or a response
• Some channels can only be used as a trigger or a response
• Different channels use different criteria as triggers/responses – you define the criteria
• Recipes are automatically & regularly checked to see if they need to be run
• The same trigger can be used for different recipes
• You can share your recipes with others
Different Triggers
Facebook triggers
Different Triggers
Google Reader triggers
Different Responses
Facebook responses
Different Responses
Google Reader response
Recipes
Recipe: Google Reader + Twitter1) Description of recipe2) Activity & options3) Trigger: Look for any item
in Google Reader I tagged with “ggtwitter”
4) Response: Create & post tweet using data in fields pulled through from Google Reader
In Google Reader
Examples (Library Use)• Archive mentions of your library service in a
spreadsheet (Google alerts RSS + Google Drive)
• Send you an alert if someone mentions your library service (Google alerts RSS + email/SMS)
• Save any library event photos you post to Facebook to Flickr (Facebook + Flickr)
• Tweet an alert about possible library closures if snow is forecast (Weather + Twitter)
• Share any bookmarked links to social networks (Delicious + Twitter/Facebook)
Examples (Personal Use)
• Share library news articles to a variety of social networks (Google Reader + Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook)
• Create a work or C.P.D. Log (Google calendar/Your blog RSS/LinkedIn + Google Drive/Evernote/Dropbox)
• Archive blog posts and status updates from a conference (Delicious/LinkedIn/RSS feed + Google Drive)
• Alert a colleague/yourself if a new file has been added to a shared project folder (Dropbox + email)
IfThis = “You want to collect, share & backup information quickly & efficiently via a range of services”
ThenThat = “try using IFTTT”
Using IFTTT To Connect And Spread Your Message
Gary Green
Surrey County Council Library [email protected]
Image Credits
• Social media beakers – iconshock.com• All other screenshots www.ifttt.com