Today’s library thought leader is Mary-Carol Lindbloom, the Executive Director for the South Central Regional Library Council in New York state. When did you get started in reference, and more specifically virtual reference? In the summer of 1999, when a group of us, including Tom Peters, Lori Bell, and Ginny McCoy, met in person at […]
Tag Archives: library 2.0
Library Customer Service: Online vs. In-Person (Ask a Librarian Software vs. Asking a Librarian in Real Life)
Libraries, and the folks who work in them, solve problems for patrons by connecting them with the resources and information that they need. In today’s online world an ever-increasing amount of this help is taking place via the magic of the web and mobile technologies. Patrons are no longer face-to-face with the library staff who […]
Text a Librarian’s Post to Twitter Button and Why It’s Great: User Generated Marketing for Libraries
Post Your Library’s Questions and Answers to Twitter A “Post to Twitter” button on websites isn’t a new functionality, but after giving it some thought, we decided to add it to Text a Librarian. The reason? It’s User Generated Content that engages patrons and markets your library services. SEO + Social Marketing + Patron Engagement […]
Using QR Codes in Libraries – Thoughts and a Free QR Code Generator
QR Codes – Mobile’s Secret Decoder Ring There seems to be quite an interest about the use of QR codes in libraries lately. I personally have mixed feelings and am still wondering if it’s a bandwagon worth jumping on just yet. Are they cool? Yes. They’re a cell phone’s version of a secret decoder ring. […]
Library Marketing Tips Using Google Buzz
Use the Buzz to Build One Google’s new microblogging service, is getting a lot of, well, buzz. “Hello World!” has literally been replaced by “Buzz! Buzz!” by new people trying it out. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s the best way to explain it: It’s all of the elements that one could think of […]
Word of Mouth Marketing in Libraries – Info and Articles
Then and Now… Faberge Shampoo started it all with their famous commercial from the 1970s. Peggy Barber and Linda Wallace nail it in their new article, “The Power of Word-of-Mouth Marketing” in the November issue of American Libraries Magazine. We wrote a post called “Word of Mouth: The Best Form of Social Media” as part […]
Progress As Promised – The Future Value of Software as a Service for Libraries
“Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun on one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.†– Andrew Carnegie […]
Library Marketing Tips, Part 4: a Tool, a Trick and a How-To
There are enough topics around the subject of library marketing for an entire blog. In fact, Jill Stover posted to her blog, Library Marketing, Thinking Outside the Book, for 3 years and it has some amazing ideas. That said, we’re on the final week of Library Marketing Tips, so we’ve decided to throw in a […]
Beyond 160 Characters in the Library – Text Messaging Reference Doesn't Need to Be Limiting
There seem to be varying stories about the history of SMS (Text Messaging) and why Friedhelm Hillebrand, the creator of SMS, decided on 160 as THE number. Some say it’s the amount of characters on a typical postcard, many other stories not that he just determined it while sitting at his type-writer in Germany, noting […]
Mobilized: Text a Librarian on the iPhone / iPod Touch
We recently tested out Text a Librarian on the iPhone 3GS and had great success. Love your iPhone or iPod Touch? So do we. Mosio’s Text a Librarian works perfectly on both. iPhone Screen Shot: Mobile reference for librarians who enjoy being mobile. We don’t recommend using a mobile phone as your sole text messaging […]