Share Your Library Hacks via the Library Success Wiki

After reading the last post, Andrew kindly sent me a suggestion to have a library hacks wiki. I like the idea of sharing information via a wiki that anyone can edit, but am not so keen on idea of creating a brand new wiki that people will most likely ignore. I instantly thought of the Library Success Wiki as a better way to do this.

So I added a section on Library Hacks to the promotions page and it is now ready and waiting for your hacks. This may or may not be the best place on the wiki to place this, if it's not I figure someone will move it, but to me this is classic promotion.

If you have a tip or hack that helps get end users excited and shows the value of library resources please head over to the Library Success Wiki and add it!

Where Are All the Library Hacks?

(just when you thought this blog was officially dead, I’m baaaaaack. Can’t say for how long, I just happen to have a bee in my bonnet again).

After being inspired by meeting conversation, I was on the hunt again today for fun, quick and easy, tips and tricks to share with our end users about OhioLINK resources. Preferably something that tells users how to find cool things in our databases that they don't know about. Things like this Trouble picking the perfect present? blog post which shows how to find consumer reports in EBSCOhost. This should be easy to find at library and vendor Web sites everywhere right? Wrong. Well, maybe I’m not looking in the right place, but they’re not, and not being a librarian, I don’t always know the resources well enough to come up with them. In fact, I’m feeling stumped right now.

I did however find one inspirational blog, Library Hacks, by Duke University Libraries. Inspired by LifeHacker, Library Hacks:

“Library Hacks is a place to find out about tools, resources, services, and ideas that can help make the library more efficient for you. It’s written mostly by librarians, but we’ll also have occasional student and faculty guest bloggers.”

The Cell Phones for Citation post has already given me some ideas. Maybe if I take pictures of my mileage I won't forget it!

It’s good stuff, but shouldn’t there be more tips floating around out there. Help me out, what are your favorite library and library database hacks?

One to Watch: Mark Lives in IKEA

As a major IKEA fan (try the Daim chocolate. Go on. It's impossible not to love it.), I have to say that Mark Malkoff is living my dream. This is just brilliant publicity for IKEA, but how many other stores would have said yes to this? (though I can't help wondering if it was really completely Malkoff's idea in the first place. It's just such great publicity!)

I'm not sure spending the night in the library would have the same appeal, but would you say yes if someone wanted to pull a similar stunt in your library? Before you say no to a wild idea, spend some time thinking about why you should say yes. As Seth Godin reminds us, you can't be remarkable without taking risks and trying something new.

Good Stuff Worth Sharing

Marketing-ish Think piece: Harry Beckwith's 40 tidbits on what motivates people. Beckwith is the author of the great Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing (a must-read) and other marketing books.

Inspiration: Randy Pausch's Lecture of a Lifetime and Jeff Zaslow's article and video about it.

Media relations tip: Publicity Hound Joan Stewart says you should pitch your Halloween stories now. Did you give local reporters your list of library activities?

Creative library opening idea: Taking pictures of patrons and their favorite books is a fabulous way to celebrate a library grand opening. Especially if the photos look as fantastic as the black and white photos taken by photojournalist Todd Mizener at the Moline (Illinois) Public Library's opening

Do You Make Reporters Jump Through Hoops?

Publicity Hound Joan Stewart's latest tips of the week include some good advice on what not to do if you hope to ever get publicity and how to keep your message clear when talking to reporters.

Check out the first story for some great tips on how not to treat reporters or anyone looking for information about your library or organization. Joan's tips include (go read her article for complete details):

1. Make sure your front-line employees understand the importance of media inquiries.
   
   
2. When you get a fabulous media hit, include it at your website.
   
   
3. Put contact information--including a shipping address, phone number and email address--in an easy-to-find place on your homepage.

As well as making sure front-line employees understand the importance of media inquiries, make sure everyone has a list of the events and programs going on in the library that day easily accessible. It's frustrating for patron, the media or anyone to ask about an event they saw listed in the newspaper, or your newsletter, only to be greeted with a blank stare from someone who hasn't been informed of the day's events.

Joan's tips bring up another point. Do you have an online newsroom? Most of the library Web sites I visit don't, but probably should. Online newsrooms aren't just for big corporations, they're something most libraries will probably benefit from as well. Online newsrooms should contain quick and easy access to your news releases, fast facts, statistics, testimonials, historical and contact information, and anything else the media might need or want to know when doing a story on you. And online newsrooms aren't just for the media. Library staff and customers will visit them for facts and stats as well. If you do have an online newsroom, make sure it's up-to-date and is easy to find from your home page.

Good Resource: Get to the Po!nt

I keep meaning to post something about Get to the Po!nt, Marketing Prof's newish e-newsletter. Well, actually I keep meaning to post something period, but, I digress. Anyway, back to the Po!nt, ignore the tagline "small business secrets in 60 seconds," this e-newsletter has great tips for anyone who cares about marketing and promotion period.

Some of the particularly relevant issues include:

• Cut Down on Printing Costs
• Three Tips for Writing for the Web
  
• Don't Censor Online Feedback
• What Makes a Great Logo
• Five Tips for Effective Survey Design
• How to Drum Up Word of Mouth

Get to the Po!nt is also a great example of everything library e-newsletters should be: short, interesting, useful, attractively designed and relevant. It's on my wouldn't it be great list to have an e-newsletter of short research tips with everything from ways to search Google more effectively, to quick and helpful uses of that database no one without an MLS understands how to use anyway. Wouldn't it be better to stop telling people that X database has x,000 journals and articles and start telling people what they can actually do with it? Read Time magazine online, get the reports needed to make better business decisions, keep up to date with your industry news, etc.

Good Stuff Worth Sharing

• Using jargon and putting more than four bullet points on a slide are just two of the 10 Dumb Things Smart Communicators Do read the complete list at Media Orchard.
  
  
• The Travelin' Librarian's notes on The Customer-Centered Library: How to Stop Tweaking and Start Doing It with New Steps for 2007 are a must read.
  
  
• Don't resort to oversize cardboard checks and scissors for that next photo op, get more creative ideas from Joan Stewart's April 10 edition of the Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week. Scroll down to Cardboard Checks and Scissors.
  
  
• James Oliver Cury, executive editor at CondéNet's Epicurious.com offers some good tips to keep in mind when pitching story ideas to the media in Recipe for Healthy Media Fare: Epicuious Editor Dishes on Patience, In-Person PR.
  

Clear and Simple Branding Basics

Are you confused about branding? Not sure branding is important for libraries? Then you definitely need to read Branding: How to Keep Your Practice from Being Plain Vanilla by Stewart Gandolf and Lonnie Hirsh. Yes, it's geared toward dentists, but the concepts are the same no matter what business you're in. This is a very clear and helpful article. They've stripped out the marketing jargon and added in a lot of good tips, such as:

Everything must tie together - from how your phone is answered, how long patients wait, and your choice of uniforms ... to your technology, your manner, your location (signage, building, entrance, furniture, colors of the walls), which services you promote, and much more. If you decide you want to be the “leading-edge dentist in town,” you can’t limp along with a 1970s Brady Bunch look-alike office.

All of that is so true for libraries too. If librarians and staff wish to be perceived as research and information professionals, then that image needs to be reinforced in everything, from the customer service you provide, to the publications you produce and yes, even down to the clothes you wear. When I was an intern at a credit union, the president explained that dress-down days and casual clothing weren't ever allowed because we were in the trust business. Who are you more likely to trust with your hard-earned cash, the uber-professional in a crisp suit and tie, or someone in jeans and a t-shirt? While I like to wear jeans to work as much as the next person (more probably), he was right.

The article also offers are some critical brand-building points to consider:

Start with the patient’s value system...Effective branding communicates to the tastes, attitudes, and sensibilities of the buyer, not the seller.

This is one we often miss. Talk about the benefits patrons will receive (save time, money, hassle), do research at home in your pjs, or get a better grade on your paper.

Identify a value-added edge over the competition. What is highly unique about your practice that delivers value to the patient over and above whatever else is available in the marketplace? Whatever issue you choose to compete upon, it needs to be the one thing that best characterizes the experience, and has to be the centerpiece for everything you do and say about the practice.

Be willing to offend someone. By definition, your positioning must be unique; therefore, you cannot be everything to everyone. The challenge will be to appeal to many, while recognizing that your positioning cannot be universal. Being everything to everyone is not unique, and that’s the same as vanilla.

Guard your brand zealously. Once you’ve created your brand, you should beware of the trap of carrying the message banner for others.

Deliver a consistent experience. People prefer consistent quality to nasty surprises, and a brand isn’t really a brand if the practice doesn’t deliver a consistent, high-quality experience. That’s why it’s easy to understand why budget-minded American students traveling through Europe often pass on local fare to eat at McDonald’s. Remember, just a few negative experiences can blow your brand credibility and betray the trust you’ve worked so hard to build.

Deliver consistent branded communications. In addition to delivering consistent in-office experiences, you must effectively communicate your brand message at every marketing opportunity. This means your Yellow Pages ad, Web site, brochures, etc. (Our next article will cover practice brochures, which should be the foundation of your marketing and branding communication.)

This is a tricky one, especially at libraries where there isn't a marketing or PR person who coordinates all the writing and design needs. When you have multiple people producing Web sites, brochures, fliers, presentations, etc., it's hard to be consistent. Especially in those kinds of situations it's important to have logo guidelines, a style guide and a point person or two to help you provide a consistent look.

(Hat tip to Jill Stover for pointing this article out.)

Good Stuff: Customer Service Tips

My customer service kick continues. Here are some links to other good stuff worth sharing:

1. We Don’t Like You Go Away - Seth Godin’s Blog:
“Hey, I know that your last customer was a jerk. I know that you get asked the same stupid questions over and over. I know that people don't appreciate you, they're boors, they're selfish, they're in a hurry.

But, here's the thing: I'm not those people. I've never been here before. I didn't do anything wrong! Don't blame me for them.”

2. Business Week’s “Rules for Making a Good First Impression” (via Library Voice):
Rule #1: Respond within 24 Hours
Rule #2: Greet People with Enthusiasm
Rule #3: Make Eye Contact
Rule #4: Leave Smart Voice Messages
Rule #5: Respect Contacts
Rule #6: Mind Your E-Mail
Rule #7: Remember Small Touches

3. Guy Kawaski's The Art of Customer Service & Doug Hanna's The Art of Customer Service II

I just loooove Seth's post. Get your fix of more customer service articles here.

Articles Worth Reading In C&RL

I know I'm (at least) a month behind, but if you haven't looked at the February 2007 issue of College & Research Libraries News, there are several articles that may be of interest. And this is news to me, but now you can get the full-text articles online! Cool. When did that happen?!

• Creating the Academic Library Folksonomy: Put Social Tagging to Work at Your Institution by Xan Arch
• Building Your Value Story and Business Case: Observations From a Marketing Faculty and (Former) Librarian Perspective by Leslie Simmel
• Developing a Ling-Range and Outreach Plan for Your Academic Library: The Need for a Marketing Outreach Plan by Elizabeth Kennedy Hallmark, Laura Schwartz and Loriene Roy
• Using Technology in Teaching and Learning: Resources to Help You Navigate a Digital World by Bryan Alexander
  

If you are embarking on creating a marketing plan, you may find the resources in the OhioLINK Marketing Toolkit useful, especially the communication plan workbook and the additional resources.

Winning the Battle Against Library Jargon

Anyone writing copy for library newsletters, Web sites or other publications should read "Start Making Sense" by Ann Wylie (Public Relations Tactics, October 2004, vol. 11, issue 10, p. 17). You can read the print version or read the full text online in Business Source Premier (Ohioans can read the full text of Tactics and thousands of other magazines and journals through their school, public or academic library. I fear that few Ohioans know this or realize how cool it is).

Most librarians and library staff realize that there is a ton of jargon in library-land which we need to avoid using. I think there are also a lot of terms that we think users understand, which they really don't. The real harm with jargon is that it alienates your audience. According to Wylie it also:

* Makes your copy longer.
* Forces the reader to work harder.
* Makes it harder for the media to use your information.
* Illustrates that your organization may be in trouble.
* Demonstrates your ignorance.

Wylie offers three steps to clear communication:

* Define your audience

You can get away with using industry-specific jargon in trade publications and with insiders, but not with your outside audiences.

* Rethink definitions. The most common way to define terms on first reference is: "Unfamiliar term, familiar term ...." This is not the most friendly way.

*Use the B2B test.

Wylie describes the B2B (is it just me, or is this one of the most annoying examples of business jargon in existence?) test as going to trade publications' Web sites and searching for questionable terms to determine if they are jargon or not. You can adapt this test by searching local media sites for terms you use in your press releases. You can also search sites relevant to perspective audiences, or simply question audience members if they understand your terms are not. If not, don't use them!

JibJab's Second Spoof a Hit

Good To Be In DC!, the second political parody by JibJab Media Inc., makers of This Land!, is a hit. Good To Be In DC! debuted on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 7 and was also shown on the Today Show on October 8. The Today Show reported that more people have watched Good To Be In DC! than have visited both Kerry and Bush's Web sites. B. L. Ochman's site has the details.

I like this site for several reasons. First, it's hilarious. I watched it again while sitting here and suffering through the presidential debate. Which shows how timely the release date is. I also think it's a great tactic. The brothers who created this parody, Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, are honest about their efforts. They unabashedly plugged their DVD during their interview with Matt Lauer this morning.

I did have one complaint after my first visit to the JibJab site. I couldn't find a link to more information about the creators or contact information. I made a second visit this evening and after clicking on every link possible I did eventually find contact information and a blog (albeit an outdated one) hiding on the copyright statement page.

So why did the Spiridellis brothers create a second parody?

Jay Leno asked if we'’d be interested in making another one to debut on The Tonight Show, we said, “YES! YES! TAKE US, JAY! TAKE US!”

...We set specific goals for the sequel. We wanted to make you laugh (obviously). We wanted to stamp our brand on your brain again (JibJab! JibJab!). But most of all we wanted to make you say to yourself, “Dang! Those guys busted my gut! I’d pay ten bucks to see their movie!”

What does this have to do with library marketing and communications? A lot. If you want media attention, or the attention of users, non-users, etc. you need to be:
*relevant
*timely
*honest
*informative

You also need to keep communicating in order to reach new users, inform potential users and stakeholders, and remind current users why you exist and how your resources and services benefit them.

Gregg and Evan Spiridellis' experiences also demonstrate another important lesson. If you can't reach the audience you want to, maybe you can get your advocates to do it for you. I'm not saying trick them into cheering for you (you can't), but give them something so great they can't wait to spread the good news for you. Gregg and Evan couldn't interest film and television companies into talking to them until after they posted This Land!, it spread rapidly through the Internet and into the mainstream media, and was viewed by millions. This lesson applies not just when you're trying to reach the media, but also when you're trying to reach legislators and other influencers, and even users (maybe students will listen to faculty more than librarians?).

What's in a Name?

While surfing from Weblog to Weblog tonight, I ran across a post about "The 9 Keys to Naming Success" on the Origins of Brands Blog.

I've been thinking about names a lot lately. It started when I was reading Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing by Harry Beckwith (which, by the way you should check out if you haven't already). Harry's chapter on names is aptly titled "Monogram Your Shirts, Not Your Company: Naming and Branding." This chapter really struck a chord with me in reference to libraries. When I first started working for a public library (my first library gig) I was constantly asking or trying to figure out what one acronym after another meant. There's ALA, OLC, ACRL, iii, YBP, etc. I won't even go into all the OhioLINK-specific acronyms that exist. If people in the library world have trouble keeping all these acronyms straight, how can users possibly cope?

Getting the Word Out By Bus

If you missed The Bay Area's Best Value By Ronnie Davis in the September 14, 2004 issue of Library Journal, be sure to check it out. The article details how nine library systems in the San Francisco Bay area publicized themselves in a joint campaign, using ads on busses and other tactics.

I love the idea of using bus ads, and other innovative means (innovative for libraries anyway) to promote libraries and their services. In a similar vein, Kent State University Libraries, an OhioLINK member, promoted the consortium's online chat service by posting banners on campus busses. We definitely need to spend more time promoting the library outside of our buildings and Web sites. Unfortunately, current practice seems to be just the opposite.