Analyzing, Evaluating and Communicating the Value of Web Presence

Michael Porter and Amanda Clay Powers

don’t let “that’s the way we’ve always done it” or “we are too busy” kill our libraries.  –Michael Porter.

Michael’s part

ROI: What it is. What it is for libs. Why you care/don’t need to care.

Slides will be online later.

Case to invest staff time, see Oliver Blanchard’s site (business community leader), smroi.net

“Social media is just a spoke in the wheel.” –Jason Falls, www.socialmediaexplorer.com

Create your goals, then measurable objectives, then strategies to met the objectives, then tactics to accomplish the strategies. –Jason Falls.

Video: Social Media ROI: Socialnomics

Delicious Resources

See, ROI can be pretty COOL….can tell a story. “there really is no way to calculate Social Media ROI through an equation…”

There are low-cost tools available (listed in the slides)

WebJunction studies. Michael has thrown stuff together into reports over the last 18 months with lots of anecdotes about what has happened at WebJunction looking at their investment into Social Media.

Amanda’s part

There’s nothing wrong with analysis… AND the metrics are out there….

Most people see a place for Twitter and Facebook and Other Tools

But What is Your Target? What’s next

It’s about listening, building relationships, and adding value. What Barry is doing at JCCCLibrary is this. See his slides from last week for more info. He does a lot with Twitter Search & connecting with his patrons at the college.

Get your resources noticed. and see how your message is being spread.

Assessing Social Media #cil2010 – Not just about numbers, but who’s engaging with you —@carolbatt

Assessment is Blanchard’s

  • multiphase
  • multi-layered
  • process

We are peeling back layers of rich, nonlinear, exciting data we’ve never had before.

  • Are you retweeted? Who did it and why?
  • What gets “liked”?
  • What provokes comment?
  • Who’s engaging with YOU?
  • What are you doing that’s STICKY?

Create your own assessment tool.

Your ROI Story, Questions, Comments?

@JanieH tells story of library tweetups & businesses have come who use Twitter. These businesses now retweet library events that the library tweets about.

Archiving Tweets: Twapperkeeper

Can feed your Facebook stats into Google Analytics now.

Libraries & Transliteracy

Bobbi Newman, Matt Hamilton, Buffy Hamilton

Bobbi’s part

Transliteracy: ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools, and media.

Fast evolution of technology going on. Industrial revolution will look small by comparison.

1976: first Jobs’ apple computer creatd.

1998: iMac

2001: first iPod

2007: first iPhone

2010: first iPad

Information used to be consumed through the printed word. Information overload concerns been around for a very long time & are not new.

Life being changed by drastic technology changes. Taxes, health info, statutes, contact information, paying bills, social media. Privacy, life online. Password strength (hacking).

Access to internet is increasing. Free wifi just about anywhere. A lot of people still don’t have access, and don’t have ability to get it.

Those with chronic diseases, under the poverty line, and those older are more likely to not be online, but these people need to be online more than anyone else. Social interaction online helps them out, keeps them engaged, saves their lives.

Change. Regurgitation of information in schools. Information is now available online, accessible in two seconds. Must instead be focused on analysis, evaluation, critical thinking about information. Patrons are looking to libraries to learn how to do this. They’re asking, requesting, and demanding this.

Transliteracy is not a destination. About methods of communication, art, culture, not just technology. Grandparents need pics printed; parents can be emailed with links to pics thru email; friends will see the pics the next time they long on.

Reading literacy — learned to read and that was it. Transliteracy is fluid that you must be able to change and learn new things, constantly.

“The future is here it is just not evenly distributed.” –William Gibson. –Knight Commission report & MacArthur Foundation reports talking about second class citizens in this digital world both mention libraries. 2nd class citizens could include senior citizens, those below the poverty line, those with chronic diseases, and some teenagers.

Digital Divide — high speed Internet access AND access to hardware. Ownership of hardware and/or lack of knowledge to use the hardware.

Transliterate Divide — those who can’t discern what a legitimate website is. Those who can’t write a resume.

Libraries are failing their patrons. We assume they know it or ignore it.

Training is important.

What can we do?

  1. stop fighting amongst ourselves. Web 2.0 vs. Anti-Web 2.0. need to meet where the patrons are at. meet the patrons needs, not ours
  2. it won’t be easy. Techies: must lead from here on out and must stop being condescending to those who don’t know; be kind and excited for those learning. Make comfortable environment. Non-techies: must move forward; have to be fearless and try and attempt. You are moving. Standing still is not working at all.
  3. there are no excuses for not doing any of this. patrons need this. It will be hard; no money; no time, but we always find time to what’s important to us. Patrons must be transliterate to be an active participant in society.

Buffy’s Part

Slides

reading and writing the world: school libraries as sponsors of transliteracy

  1. sponsors of literacy
  2. participatory librarianship

“literacy is the energy supply of the information age.” –Deborah Brandt.

“this means that our democratic institutions (schools and libraries particularly) have to work hard and thoughtfully to mitigate these forces.” –Deborah Brandt

Knight Foundation is calling upon libraries to be this powerful agent into what literacy can mean in the lives of patrons, for transliteracy, we’re doing something even greater for the public good.

“as new and powerful forms of literacy emerge, they diminish the reach and possibilities of receding ones” –Deborah Brandt

In the very near future, Transliteracy, digital literacy will become as valuable as the three Rs.

How do we invite and facilitate conversations about transliteracy with our patrons?

participatory librarianship is about inviting and creating spaces for participation; sparking conversations (f2f; virtual means); knowledge construction and creation; libraries are in the change business.

Not just books. eBooks; mobile readers; iPods; cell phones; mobile computing (using Evernote, for example); ereaders; research pathfinders that reflect the changing nature of social scholarship with tools such as rss, social networks, videos, mashups, and other information feeds (not just databases).

Connecting students with real world experts. Skype. Blogging.

Collaborative tools to create and share knowledge; Social bookmarking tools (diigo, evernote, delicious);

scaffold alternate ways of representing learning and knowledge (glogster)

Scanning, posting, and licensing artwork (creative commons licenses)

Multigenre elements of learning

Presentation zen and digital citizenship and get away from death-by-powerpoint.

Harness power of cloud computing. RSS; Netvibes; videos; blogs; widgets

Rethinking what “collection” means. Gaming. Manga and anime (graphic novels); virtual reference; digital equipment (flip cameras); information portals & digital information;

“The possibilities are challenging and exciting”

“libraries efforts as sponsors of translitearcy can provide ripple effects in the lives of our patrons.”

Matt’s Part

Supporting Transliteracy

21st century skills– IMLS

customers growing up with expectations of ubiquitous access.

For those not growing up as digital natives, libraries are about the only institution that people can turn to.

IT traditionally looked to as locked-down. Tools looked at as security threats.

“teach yourself.” –IT self-taught, but not normally good teachers, and frustrations provided on both sides during training.

How do we bring everyone to the table and work together?

Get excited and make things.

Have to ask IT to shift focus from fixing things to getting involved with programming; (hacking Wii firmware); program at St Louis Public Library on personal technology assistant;

IT can help take it further; classes on things as removing Spyware; alternatives to paid software; IT can help lead the way to increase tech competencies. IT staff not comfortable with training can work with those more comfortable with training already (reference desk staff).

IT can support digital storytelling workshops; video game club — developing games yourself (Scratch & Alice);

“Make tools for creating and experiencing new media broadly available.

We’ve got to work together. All about partnerships.

Pivot Points for Change Session

Connecting the dots of information literacy with social media.

Buffy Hamilton, Internet & Schools East, April 2010.

Presentation slides

Rethinking ways we can instruct our students with information literacy.

– How do we support and scaffold students’ ability to read and write an ever-growing world of information?

– How do we adapt our pracitce as librarians to effectively cultivate informationally fluent students who will thrive in today’s society? — help them learn to analyze/evaluate information.

-Seth Godin: “when industry norms start to die, people panic. it’s difficult to change when you think that you must change everything in order to succeed. Changing everything is too difficult.”

– strategic changes are much more helpful than changing everything.

Don’t reinvent the wheel; instead, find pivot points for change.

Pivot Point #1:

Keep your traditional sources of authoritative information in your research pathfinders, but let the research topic and mode of research guide the integration of social media information sources and tools for delivering that content to help students navigate the maze of today’s information world.

– days of trusting the printed reference book has come and gone. Teachers must get their heads around new authorities.

AASL 21st Century Standards

New Resources for Authorities

  1. podcasts — students much more engaged at times if they listen or watch resources. Lots of resources now provide podcast; lots of authoritative information being delivered through podcasts.
    1. PBS
    2. CNN
    3. students weren’t just reading about situations; they were able to experience the situations.
    4. Podcasts can be a free and dynamic way to capture student interests
  2. Blogs — lots of experts blogging about issues.
    1. Homefires Blog (veterans transitioning back into mainstream civilian life)
    2. Netvibes — RSS feeds from several blogs all on one page
    3. Students prefer to read the blogs over a textbook — they are much more organic and students are engaged. Plus blogs are free; textbooks are not.
  3. Twitter
    1. #iranelection
    2. way to get current information about current issues.
  4. Youtube/video
    1. YouTube blocked at schools, use Zamzar to download and convert YouTube videos.
    2. Treasure trove of videos that are free and online and full of information that students can use and explore.
    3. Video used as a teaser; then, students really got excited about learning and researching.
  5. Google Maps/mashups
    1. taking data and putting it into map form
    2. Embassies Accepting Injured People in Iran
    3. Swine Flu Google Map
  6. RSS Feeds
    1. Librarians’ best friends
    2. Database vendors (including Ebscohost & Gale) have RSS feeds
    3. Newspapers, Twitter, Podcasts all have RSS Feeds
    4. Streams of information to push the information out to students
    5. Google News
  7. RSS Feeds/Widgets
    1. Don’t have to be an html expert to create widgets; already created for you.
    2. News, Topics, possibilities are endless

Teaching research is much more fun today, because so many tools available to teach research. Traditional research pathfinders are no longer. So many ways now to display research information in ways students will use them, and they are free

Pivot Point #2:

Keep focusing on teacher collaboration, but focus on creating conversations…

Create conversations about collaboration, leadership, and social responsibility….

  1. research wiki (wetpaint)
    1. building living textbook
    2. continually being updated and created
    3. share with other classes involved with the same project. very rich and informative discussions in class
    4. cross-collaboration with students; no more lone-wolf learner in era of testing; how do we share information & replicate what we see in the real world
  2. literature circle wiki
    1. book trailers
    2. notes on the face-to-face meetings posted to the class wiki.
    3. have follow-up discussions online through the class wiki, through comments on the discussion notes.

Pivot Point #3:

keep assesing student learning using traditinoal tools, but use alternative modes of assessment like blog to engage students in metacognition and to activiely reflect on their research strategities.

create conversation about adaptability and research strategies using blogs.

  1. research student blogs
    1. students get excited about the research. “Life changing, these two words give a perfect summary of what this project has been for me….” –student blog comment
    2. Real world experts comment on student research blogs.
    3. Students engage, think about topics, and connect with real-life experts.
    4. Learning tool not just for one research project. Blogs are a way to have a voice and get ideas out there. Ideas have value and meaning

Pivot Point #4:

Keep teaching students how to access and consume information, but place….

Create….

  1. multi-genre artifacts — can differentiate instruction & open up students who have abilities in other areas. Can learn online safety skills through these projects. Presentation Zen ideas covered.
    1. Facebook Page
    2. Voicethread
    3. Glogster
    4. Two Voice Poem
    5. Skit
    6. Song
  2. Presentation Zen: Students had to think about the content, not just regurgitate. Had to learn to connect with the audience.

Pivot Point #5:

Keep creating research pathfinders for students, but teach students how to forge their own paths for learning and building their own information portals

Learning is the process of creating own network….

www.netvibes.com/alex7586#home (student created netvibes portal)

www.netvibes.com/samonte94#General (student created netvibes portal)

Students so excited about researching and learning about their topics.

Advice

  1. Baby steps are ok.
  2. anticipate some initial pushback, from both students & teachers. –for first time students were being asked, “What do you think?” Some students were ok, some not so much.

Embrace the messiness of social scholarship and questions of authority.

  1. Rules are hard & fast now; not firm. What is authoritative. If students can articulate this, they have mastered these skills.
How do you go about getting some of these tools unblocked? Check out Buffy’s Fighting the Filter Presentation.

Monday Keynote: Info Fluency & Imagining the Internet

Here’s my notes from the keynote. They are quite lengthy, and unformatted; will try to come back later and do so.

Technology is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts w one hand, and stabs you in the back with the other. -CP Snow.

Lew Rainie, PEW Internet. They are like Internet archaelogists – study it, but don’t make judgments.

@lrainie –

@Pew_Internet

Tweckle: heckling a speaker on Twitter.

The Internet is the change agent: THEN and now

2000

46% of adults use internet

5% w broadband at home

50% own a cell phone

0% connect to internet wirelessly

less than 10% use “cloud”

=Slow, stationary connection built around my computer

2010

75% of adults use internet

62% w broadband at home

80% own a cell phone

53% connect to internet wirelessly

greater than two-thirds use “cloud”

= fast mobile connections built around outside servers and storage.

Librarians can teach & make pple more comfortable with these tools.

Those not using the Internet so far, they feel uncomfortable with the tools, with the devices, and uncomfortable with the risks that are out there. Librarians can handhold and show these people that there’s not much to be afraid of.

25% of American adults don’t use internet: say don’t want/need to, many uncomfortable w/tools & environment. Librarians can help. #cil2010 –@annehaines

Media ecology – now (information age)

48% of adults own laptops – up from 30% in 2006

43% of adults own MP3 players – up from 11 % in 05

37% of adults own game consoles

18% of adults own gaming devices.

All mobile devices.

All of these can be connected to the Internet and can reach the cloud.

Networked creator universe:

57% are social networking site users

Kids think adults have encroached on their space.

No exodus of the teenagers; continues to grow

37% share photos

life blogging

30% share personal creations

30% contribute rankings and ratings

ratemyprofessor.com

28% create content tags

26% post comments on sites and blogs

19% use Twitter / other status update features

15 % have personal website

15 % are content remixers

14 % are bloggers

haven’t found compelling ways to talk to bloggers; some of the blogging has migrated to social networking sites. Pple don’t think of this as blogging. Talk about it as social networking experience.

Manuel Castells – The Internet Galaxy

Four cultures shaped the Internet

Creators of online culture

1.Techno-elites

1.Scientific method enshrined;

1.openness,

2.peer review,

3.meritocracy

2.Hackers

1.Stallman: “Free speech in the computer age”

1.Freedom to creat

2.to appropriate

3.to redistribute

3.Virtual communitarians: Early Usenet groups

1.Horizontal free communication

2.Primacy of self-directing networks

3.“Whole Earth ‘Lectronic link – well.com

4.Entrepreneurs – Netscape IPO

1.Tech know-how

2.can generate lots of money

Lee Rainie sees NEW One:

5.Networked creators

1.Democratized the voices in media

2.Challenged traditional media gatekeepers

3.Inserted themselves in “expert” affairs

4.Enhanced their civic and community roles – much more engaged.

1.37% of internet users contributed to the news

2.20% contributed to health content

3.19% contributed to civic and political activities

New community-building activities that online content creation enables

1.Produce content that helps them expand their social network and increase their social standing – audience

1.“Beyond Reality” –Janet and Maddie Video Channel – http://beyondreality.blip.tv/ & http://www.itsbeyondreality.com

2.Daughter wanted to be social commenter; she’s now achieved her dream.

Advantages to creators – conclusions of MacArthur Foundation team – www.macfound.org

negotiating friendship, status, identity (teenagers have been doing this, always)

creating spaces for building social networks among friends And those who share their interests

creating learning opportunities

gaining reputational capital – Maddie got into college in part because of this stuff

2.Produce content to create social posses to solve problems.

Acura TSX – Car thief posse – An epic thread yields rapid internet justice.

_____ book begins with a story like this.

Love the mob as long as we don’t become one mind and don’t think first before acting in regards to @lrainie keynote story #CIL2010 –#mlibrarianus

Advantages to creators in posse situations

1.fact checking and transparency

2.crowdsourcing wisdom, especially among “strangers” who share a common purpose

3.production and accumulation of evidence that is easily search-able

3.Produce content to construct “just-in-time-just-like-me” support groups

Karen Parles material; lung-onc listserv; www.caringbridge.org/visit/karenparles/mystory

Esther Schreurs comment: another cancner

Just-in-time-just-like-me communities

1.communities of just-in-time information and support – ad hoc and “on the fly”

2.communities of “rare species”

1.Homophily par excellence (“birds of a feather”)

3.communities of practice that are “space-less”

1.just-in-time-just-like-me communities: communities of practice that are “space-less”: #cil2010 teachers, librarians have greatly used this –@hbraum

2.@lrainie “Birds of a feather” Communities can form for support/understanding i.e. I need someone who is going through what I am. #cil2010 –@ma1ja

3.Cool new word “homophily”. Birds of a feather. Internet lets groups form for any specific interest imaginable. #cil2010.–@quinnrosie

4.Also, librarians have ALWAYS known that ppl/organizations are information resources. This is that – faster & on steroids! #cil2010 –@annehaines

4.Produce content unlike traditional news organizations

Social-media-sphere is the “5th estate”

Week of March 30-April 5, 2009:

1.Trad’l press focus on Obama and Economy

1.G20 Europe Trip

2.Economic Crisis

3.Auto industry

4.ny hostages

5.afghanistan

2.Blogosphere is filled w an eclectic mix of stories

1.guardian prank (Twitter)

2.Torture

3.Actress Comments

4.Earth Hour – gorgeous pics on Boston Globe website: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/earth_hour_2009.html

5.Online Security

Lee ramie @ #cil2010 traditional media vs blogosphere PEJ analysis http://www.journalism.org/ –@peacekaat

5th estate publishing tastes

1.technology developments, esp activites in the social media environment

1.bloggers as rocket boosters

2.links as social currency

2.off-beat stories, especially those with quirky humor

3.American exceptionalism stories

4.Cultural cleavages and social issues more than economic issues

#cil2010 Rainie: The social media realm is the fifth estate. –@julian2

Implications for libraries

1.“You can be a node in people’s social networks as they seek information to help them solve problems and meet their needs.” Libraries are pple’s smarter friends, the expert friends, we’re the master teachers – don’t know the answer, but know how to find the answer. Pple can’t keep up with info, need people in networks who can dig through the stream and find the right info quickly.

2.You can teach new literacies

1.screen literacy – graphics and symbols

2.navigation literacy

3.connections and context literacy

4.skepticism

5.value of contemplative time

6.how to create content

7.ethical behavior in new world

3.need to re-vision your role in a world where much has changed

1.access to information

2.value of information

3.curating info means more than collections

4.creating media – networked creators should be your allies.

Rainie has no answers for this as to what the revision should look like.

Librarians have become more powerful in the past 6 months – Knight Foundation & Aspen Institue – communities’ information needs. Assessing needs of communities – libraries are central to this. As journalistic resources are shrinking, pple are bombarded with lots more info, libraries are an anchor institute that can respond to their communities’ better than anybody else.

KLA 2010: Day 1 (Presentations)

Day 1 of the annual Kansas Library Conference (KLA or KLC) is here. I’m presenting first thing this morning at 8am (ugh — am NOT a morning person, for those of you who don’t know me) with the wonderful Janelle Mercer from SWKLS. We’re leading a preconference on Social Media for Librarians. Check out the presentation resources; we’ve got slides, videos, and even a visit virtually through Skype by the wonderful Erin Downey Howerton from Johnson County Library.

I’ll present later this afternoon with Liz Rea (co-worker at NEKLS) and Diana Weaver (former NEKLS co-worker; current Atchison Library Director) on Googols of Uses: Collaborate and Communicate using Google Apps in your Library. We’ll be live note-taking the session here, starting at 4pm central time. Much more to come from this conference. I’ll also combo-tweet & blog sessions I attend.