Slides to acompany a talk delivered at the Royal Society of Chemistry, London (11/5/10) to the University Science & Technology Librarians Group (USTLG) spring meeting.

1. Making the most of blogs & microblogging 12 May 2010 Gareth J Johnson, Document Supply & Repository Manager University of Leicester Do Librarians Dream of ElectricTweets? Image: http://www.officialpsds.com/Twitter-Bird-3-PSD31850.html

2. Highlights Today What is blogging and microblogging – and why does it matter? Making the most of blogging and microblogging Experiences and applications The good, the bad and the ugly …and please tweet away using #ustlghashtag

3. Leicester University Top 20 in all National tables 91% student satisfaction rate 6th Highest citations rates relative to size 23,000 students 41% Distance Learners Around 1000 academic staff 93% submitted for RAE ’08 87% determined to be producing internationally significant research 4 Colleges Moved from faculty structure this academic year

5. 1500 User spaces

6. 38km shelving

7. 1M+ volumes on shelves

8. 350 PCs + wireless network

9. 13 Group study rooms

10. Graduate Media Zoo

11. 2 IT training suites

12. Also houses Careers, Accessibility & Student Learning Deptswww.le.ac.uk/li/about/building/factsandfigures.htm

13. Jargon Busting Post To send a microblog message or upload an entry onto a blog. Tweet A single twitter posted message (or synonymous with post) Retweet (RT) To re-send another person’s message Social networking Interaction in the Web 2 world, generally not mediated or closed and outside Organisation 1.0 communication routes Crowdsourcing To solve a problem or resolve a task through offering it (out-sourcing) to the world at large for input

15. Static

16. One way

17. Formal (usually)

18. Private (mostly)

19. Organisation 1.0

20. Everything it’s cracked up to beIs Dynamic Interrogative Social (usually) Public (mostly) Organisation 2.0 Buzzwordtastic

22. Reflective

23. Longer lasting

24. Text, links & media

25. Many core sites, many appsSee video references for broader examples

26. What Use Are They? Because they offer powerful professional tools Answering queries and enquiries Professional updating Sharing experiences and ideas Developing and maintaining professional networks Why should my organisation use them? Benefit to staff development Staff motivation and satisfaction Promotion and visibility in a new arena Perceptions of engaging with new technologies &readers

27. Blogs

28. Blogs Mature and respected technologies Still powerful if less sexy Useful for promotion, sharing experiences, reflective practice & crowdsourcing Form a knowledge based resource over time e.g conference or project reports Can be an easier sell to senior management Well established and almost mainstream Can answer marketing or advocacy needs

29. Planning for Great Blogs Readership Target audience & developing return visits Niche or broad in scope Tone Authoritative or informal Casual or wordy Accessible or specialist Eye candy Look and feel of the UI and visitor experience Corporate branding & design rules Promotion Cross promote where ever you can (A.B.M!)

30. Build a Better Post Message & Length Clarity and purpose of each post Crowdsource a challenge seeking input Promote activities and build attention Regularity Use a themed series of posts Keep them coming to keep attention Rainy day posts Conversation Respond to comments & add value through insights Develop a community of practice

31. What Makes a Good Post? Scholarly Engaging Challenging Readable Informative Novel Questioning Knowledgeable Reflective Structured Insightful Any good post should meet a least three of these areas

32. UoL Library Blog Style & purpose Informal but professional tone Target audience of library and institution Started quietly to gain voice Went public after a month Core of authors although all invited External cloud based platform (WordPress) High customisability Low technical requirements

34. Twitter

35. Twitter Professional networks and networking “Enhanced my professional networks more in 2 years than CILIP has in 15” Involvement in local projects and community Self-selected for engagers and enthusiasts A resource for enquiry resolution Friendlier & more engaged than mailing lists Instantaneous feedback & crowdsourcing Cross pollination of blogging & other endeavours Are people talking about your service? Search on #tags, monitor twitterfall or saved searches How often are your messages retweeted?

37. Be part of the conversation

38. Link, link, link

39. Enhances discoverability

40. Cross promotion

41. Don’t feed the trolls

42. Walk away, block, unfollowBe Human Be prepared to share, honestly Don’t simply Automate OK as part of a feed Keep it frequent Once a day ain’t enough Mix your media Twitpic, YouTube, Flickr, Blip.fm etc

43. Followers & Following Initially pick from a trusted source Phil Bradley maintains a list of librarians Personal recommendations, conferences etc Following rules of thumb Those who follow you Those who talk about things that interest you Those who reply or retweet you Individuals of particular interest Don’t have to follow to make an @ reply But do for Direct Messages (DM)

44. Tracking the Conversation Twitter Fall for live back channel Twapper Keeper stores #tag threads Wordle capturing the sentiment of a #tag feed Tweet Deck allows multiple groupings of followers Twhirl & Echofon simple but powerful email-like twitter client FriendFeed and Twitter Lists

46. Experiences & Applications

47. When Worlds Collide!!! Social Networking is here But it can also be here

48. Concerns & Brickbats Concerns over staff time Compare/contrast with email implementation or the telephone! Over stepping the mark Concerns over splitting personal from professional Be prepared for a slap down from someone somewhere sometime Technology concerns Getting a twitter client installed Isn’t email good enough? Services blocked or restricted Stalkers and hidden followers When openness bites you in the ass

49. Convincing Management Justifying it to senior management “It isn’t suitable for US!”, “It’s just anther tool I have to learn”, “It might go away tomorrow” Can be the hardest battle. Prepare to make an business case or informal argument Point to established peers or exemplars Try the following arguments I using it to monitor sentiment about our library! I using it to to keep an eye on our competitors! I using it to handle customer service/enquiries! I using it to network with other librarians and academics! I using it to promote our library/service! I using it as a cost-neutral service marketing tool!

51. Gareth J Johnson, DS&R Manager Email: gjj6@le.ac.uk Tel: extn 0116-252-2039 Web 2.0: llordllama Web 1: http://tinyurl.com/cfuhdz Questions? Contacts & Questions

52. References 5 Excuses for using Twitter at Work http://twittown.com/social-networks/twitter/twitter-blog/five-excuses-using-twitter-work Bleeting definition http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bleeting Bradley, P. (2009) What is twitter? Twitter for librarians, http://www.philb.com/twitter.htm British Librarians on Twitter, http://tweepml.org/100-British-Librarians-on-Twitter/ Briggs, D. (2010) Learning Pool’s Free Twitter Guide, http://bit.ly/lptwitter Contrasting Blogs, Twitter & Library News (video), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1nJQKsLgM0

53. References Explaining Twitter Simply (video), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4__htJ-IdU Johnson, Gareth. (2009) The unspoken rules of blogging, CILIP Gazette, 14th August 2009 Leicester UoL Web 2.0 Community http://tinyurl.com/yjznum2 Pettey & Tudor (2010) Gartner Reveals Five Social Software Predictions for 2010 and Beyond, http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1293114 Talk slides, www.slideshare.net/GazJJohnson UoL Library Blog http://uollibraryblog.wordpress.com