Tough Times Make Tougher Libraries
Sarah Houghton-JanDigital Futures Manager, San Jose Public LibraryAuthor of LibrarianInBlack.net
Why doth the libraries cry?
What we can do right now
1) Find out user needs
2) Use free technologies to save money
3) Plan projects effectively
4) Assess projects thoughtfully
5) Market our services the right way
Find out user needs
“Understanding local patron culture is essential to
creating used and useful technology services.” -
Char Booth
Taking the Ass out of
Assumption (Char Booth): slideshare.net/charbooth/local-user-research-taking-the-ass-
out-of-assumption
Taking the Ass out of Assumption (Char Booth): slideshare.net/charbooth/local-user-research-taking-the-ass-out-of-assumption
Listen to your users.
It really is as simple as that.
Plz?
Use free technologies to
save money
Public & Staff Computer Software
Operating System - Ubuntu
Email/Calendar - Google Calendar & Gmail
Web Browser - Firefox, Google Chrome
Financial Software - GNU Cash
Productivity Software - Open Office
- word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, desktop publishing, and calculator
More...Public & Staff Computer
SoftwareImage Editing - GIMP
Typing Software - GNUTypist or TypeFaster Typing Tutor
CD writing - Brasero or InfraRecorder
Antivirus - AVG Antivirus
Ad-Busting - AdAware
Anti-Spyware - SpyBot, Spyware Guard, Spyware Blaster
Staff Scheduling ToolsDroster
AceShift (<20 shifts/day)
or even Open Office's “Calc”
Team Meeting ToolsVoice – Skype, Google Voice
Video – Skype, Sightspeed, Tokbox
IM – AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, & others
Meeting Space/Chat – Today's Meet
Meeting Scheduling – When Is Good, Doodle
Webcasts – Vyew
Tech Support ToolsEmbedded chat - Meebo chat widget
Voice or video chat - Skype or Ekiga, Sightspeed, Tokbox
Screencasts on the fly - Jing
Discussion board - Google Groups
Remote Support - LogMeIn.com
Audio & Video ToolsVoice/Video Chat – Skype or Ekiga
Audio Recording/Editing – Audacity
Video Editing – Avidemux, DVDx, Lumiera, Kino
Video Hosting – YouTube, blip.tv, Vimeo
Audio Hosting – OurMedia
eLearning ToolsScreencasting – Screencast-o-matic,
Jing, Wink, Camstudio, Screencast.com
Online Learning Environment – Moodle
Conference Calls – FreeConferenceCall.com
Webcasts – Ustream.tv
Class Websites – WordPress, Blogger, PBworks
'Contact Us' ToolsEmail – Gmail, Yahoo Mail
Instant Messaging – AIM, GoogleTalk, Meebo
Chat Widgets – Meebo, Plugoo
VOIP/audio – Skype
Video – some IM clients (AOL, Skype)
Text Messaging – AIMhack
Social Networks – Facebook IM
Twitter – “ask us a question with @...”
Jing – screencast video on the fly
Social Network ToolsCheckUsernames.com: check multiple
networks
Open ID and ClaimID: claim and log into multiple networks
HootSuite: Twitter stats
Ping.fm, Hellotxt.com, and AtomKeep: simultaneous updates
Twitter/Facebook: settings/apps to update both
Filtrbox and MyBUZZmonitor: what people say
Website ToolsWebsite recommender - del.icio.us,
Evernote
ILS - Koha or Evergreen
Content Management System - Drupal
Flickr slideshow - Pictobrowser
RSS Feed and Blog Post Statistics - PostRank
Tag Clouds - TagCrowd, Wordle
Web Forms - Google Forms
CSS-picker - Typetester
Online Book Displays
Westmont Public Library
http://www.flickr.com/photos/westmontlibrary/549380055/
More Free Web Tools
Free eBooks• Project Gutenberg• AudioBooksForFree• Escholarship• Google Books• ManyBooks• Memoware• Online Books Page• Oxford Text Archive
& many more!
Free Articles• ArticlesBase.com• FindArticles.com• + open access e-journals• + free access through individual
publication's websites
Why not add this stuff to your website, or even your catalog?
More FavoritesRSS aggregator - Google Reader
Book Jackets - Book City Jackets
Open Source/CC Images - Wikipeda Commons, Flickr Image Search
Charts – LucidCharts, Lovely Charts, Gliffy
Text to Voice – Text2Speech, Google Voice
Citation Keeper – Zotero
Movies Online - Hulu
File Drop Sites - SendUIt, DropBox
Plan projects effectively
Quick & Dirty Project Planning
Time and Money Completion Date (start date Sept. 15)
Research 10 hours, $0 September 22
Committee review 20 hours, $0 October 6
Software installation 10 hours, $35 October 13
Staff training 40 hours, $0 November 3
Can add costs for staff time, explicit deliverables, breaking each step down further,
listing who is responsible for what.
Sarah's Awesome 10 Step Project Plans
1. Background2. Aims & Objectives3. Overall Approach4. Project Outputs5. Technology Requirements & Impact6. Training7. Project Management8. Marketing9. Budget10. Evaluation Plan
But my project is huge and I need help managing the steps!
BaseCamp
Staff Training
Part of training is information.
Provide staff exposure at least 1 month before soft launch
Offer staff formal training in that time
- Play with it, touch it, and learn it.
- Fun. Rewards. Food.
- Types and numbers of trainings
Getting Staff Buy-In
Inform early and constantly.
Ask for & use input.
Demand consistent managerial support.
Soft Launches
Beta test everything!
1. Launch the new service for a small group of staff first (to find big bugs).
2. Launch for entire staff (and ask for feedback, problems, suggestions).
3. Launch for users (without “hard” promotion and ask for feedback).
4. Do a hard launch and promote.
Assess projects thoughtfully
Evaluating New Services
Survey users and staff 6 months in: Would you recommend this service to a friend? Why or why not?
Evaluate the library's follow-through: Has adequate marketing and training been done?
Evaluate statistics: How much staff time is being used?How much is the service used?
Project Evaluation Plan
Results of Evaluation
Continue service
or
Discontinue service
or
Extend pilot
and - change aspects of the service - do more promotion or training
Discontinuing a service is not failing.
Persisting in a failed effort is failing.
Market our services the right way
Marketing ≠ Bookmarks
Raising Awareness
PR in our physical presence
PR in our online presence
F2F World Marketing Ideas Open communication & discussion
in the library outside the library
Outreach to partners & community groups Word of mouth Dynamic physical marketing
LCD screens in-library or in the community Flyers, posters, geocaching in the
community
Online Marketing Ideas Library website promotions – large, graphic Have a good URL Updates & flyers on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Short promotions on receipt printers, email
alerts, newsletters, catalog, banner, everywhere! Ensure search engine findability Events websites (Eventful, Going, Upcoming) Get links from partners
$10 = 5000 Facebook Flyers to targeted audiences
Facebook Flyer image by Steve Lawson: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tuttlibrary/1546577200
CHEAP ADVERTISING!!!
Rejoice in failures...for failing indicates that you
have encountered a boundary that needs testing.
Questions?
Sarah Houghton-Janweb: LibrarianInBlack.net
email: [email protected]
IM: LibrarianInBlack
Twitter: twitter.com/TheLiB
Skype: LibrairanInBlack
Facebook: facebook.com/librarianinblack