Slides for a talk given at ARA Scotland audience engagement event. Inverness, April 2016

1. Using social media:
tips and tricks for archivists
Kiara King, Ballast Trust Archivist

2. The Ballast Trust

3. Scottish Business History Network

4. Social Media
websites and applications that enable users to create and share
content or to participate in social networking

5. For Archives:
• Promote your archive and its collections to a wider audience
• An audience that is engaged with you
• Link back to your archives' website or online catalogue
• Get feedback from others about your services
For Archivists:
• Build and maintain a professional profile
• Connect and learn from other information professionals
• Keep up to date with news, articles, conferences
Social media benefits

6. Twitter: NLS Archives

7. Twitter: RBS Remembers WW1 project

8. Twitter - #tbt #throwbackthursday

9. Twitter - #otd #onthisday

10. Flickr: Dundee City Archives

11. Blogging: Stirling Council Archives

12. Facebook: Edinburgh City Archives

13. Instagram: Glasgow School of Art Archives

14. Pinterest: British Postal Museum & Archive

15. Opportunities for archives
• Tell the unique stories in your collections
• Connect to a global audience
• Build an engaged community around your archive
• Provide your organisation with authentic original content
• Raise your profile internally and externally
• Link up your efforts and platforms
• Make the most of hashtags to join conversations
• Showcase your images

16. Pitfalls
• Ignoring comments – interact with your public
• Spamming – create tailored content for different platforms
• Not proofreading your content
• Finding a consistent voice
• Not allocating time - can you sustain content and activity?
• Will it create unrealistic expectations of access?
• Measure your activity and decide on important metrics for
you (likes, retweets, follows, comments, shares??)

17. How to??
• “Just jump in” vs developing a strategy
• Identify company aims/messages/objectives – how can the
archive support them?
• Decide on whether to support your corporate accounts or
create an archive account – or have both!
• Content calendar
• Audience Engagement

18. Audience Engagement

19. Case Study: University of Glasgow Archive
Services

20. UofG Archives: #OnThisDay tweets using our Uni
Story resource

21. UofG Archives: connect with live businesses

22. UofG Archives: connect with new businesses

23. Glasgow Uni: organisation use of our content

24. Glasgow Uni: organisation use of heritage to
engage students for marketing
#worldchangerswelcome

25. There are loads of resources online to help with social media
•http://rebeccahopman.com/socialmedia/ - a great starting point
•http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/blog/social-media-make-it-work-for-you
•http://weareculture24.org.uk/digitalchange/
•http://digitalfutures.rcahms.gov.uk/
•https://uk.pinterest.com/ballasttrust/social-media/
•https://scottishheritagesocialmediagroup.wordpress.com/
•http://www.slideshare.net/MuseumNext/digital-engagement-in-culture-
heritage-and-the-arts
• http://www.getambition.com/learning-journey/social-media/ lots of detailed
guidance
Resources

26. DISCUSSION