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Marketing the DominiNET Blog, originally uploaded by mstephens7.

These were all over campus yesterday. Simple. Intriguing. I wonder how the blog’s stats might jump after this type of guerilla marketing.

I was rather excited so I emailed the GSLIS Faculty and the Academic IT Committee:

It’s a journalism class - and the content just keeps coming! The voices are human, honest and engaging. I have learned so much about Dominican and student life from this blog - I’ve added it to my news portal. Created simply with Blogger, it seems to be generating many comments and feedback. I have pointed to it once on my blog but will be writing about it again and sharing it with my social tools colleagues.  Good stuff.

I truly believe this is the future of marketing and engagement - a perfect example of social media done right: sometimes messy, sometimes silly, sometimes thought-provoking…but very real.

I checked in today and found that the posts and comments continue, so here are five reasons I think this is a good thing for the University. This venue seems to be a useful way for students to learn and more:

They are learning journalism skills but also media and promotional skills. Check out the video embedded in this post about the blog’s promotion around campus. Images augment posts as well.

They are finding their voice. “Ya know what really grinds my gears?,” asked one poster. “Mandatory attendance at extracurricular academic activities.” Entering the conversation openly and honestly is important. Learning how to state one’s case fairly and evenly is even more important. A “grind my gears” post is a good way to express frustration and call for solutions. The act of writing it down helps the thinking process.

They are getting invaluable experience in new media. Blogging didn’t exist when i took journalism classes at IU. These skills are invaluable. And sure, blogging will fade away but the next online communication mechanism built on it will be just as important for our future leaders to understand. Imagine: the blogging undergrad of today might just be tomorrow’s library director.

They are interacting with University officials. The “Bullet found on Campus” story generated buzz and one young reporter found herself chatting with Dean Carlson not only about the story but about the journalism program. “After the 45 minute discussion Carlson and I shared, I left his office feeling fabulous about the possibilities DU can provide future journalists. I was enthusiastic to see how receptive, appreciative and understanding Carlson was in hearing what, why, when and how I think new courses would dramatically enhance the journalism curriculum…” Here’s another example of that interaction.

They are asking important questions. This post really interested me: within our MyDU Web site, photos are featured prominently, including some of students who did not know they were being photographed. “Perhaps the mystery photographer was trying to capture the “essence” of Dominican. I still don’t think it would have been ridiculous for the photographer to ask for permission, or at least make the students aware that Dominican was going to use the photos. What do you think about this? Would you care if this happened to you? Do you find it creepy, or not a big deal?” As we all deal with our online lives and “digital dossiers,” asking these questions about photos, privacy, student rights and the University are important in deciding how we might share ourselves. 

They are marketing Dominican University in a way that no PR campaign ever can. I really appreciated the varied voices, the honesty and the range of topics. As I said above, I’ve learned more about what’s up with our students and the way they see the University than any other online offering available. Google loves blogs and future students will find this blog and the voices and it may just help them decide to come to school here.

Well done, DominiNET!

5 characteristics

1. “I blog therefore I am”
express their identity online and offline - they don’t distinguish between the two
avatars as another version of identity
one difference is “subscribe to *me*”

2. multitaskers
a lot of debate over multitasking and what it is, but they’re doing multiple things at once
example of game in which boys tried to maintain as many IM conversations with as many girls as they could at once

3. consumers to creators
interact with digital format - seems self-evident, but presumption is immediate access because digital (eg, digital camera vs a disposable one); movie theater vs YouTube, print vs searchable text
presumption of media in digital form and that it’s social and shared

held a contest to design the logo for “Digital Natives” project at Harvard Law School - got 136 entries (32 from the kid who won), just for the glory (no prize)

4. mash up different media, putting different forms of media together

comes down to a series of technologies - RSS, Google Docs, lightweight collaborative tools

5. an international perspective
“couchsurfing” Google Maps mashup - 89,000 friendships created

And this post from Lindsay, one of my St. Kate’s LIS768 students:

• The way Digital Natives are interacting with information is changing rapidly. Librarians need to stay educated—be aware of the technology so the conversations/education seminars are relevant to Digital Natives. “This participatory digital environment requires all of us to become more media literate” (128). “We ignore the social norms of Digital Natives at our peril” (148). “Those who come to understand the dynamics of information production in the digital era will be better prepared than anyone else to thrive in the integrated digital world. And the best way to learn these dynamics is to participate in information production directly” (159).
• Use older Digital Natives to stay informed and current on how to engage Digital Natives—to create a community-based solution to the complex and continually evolving issues created by new information and technologies. “Tap into—and celebrate—the creativity of the Digital Natives to help solve the problem” (105). “And it is Digital Natives who are best poised to engage in this process” (125).

My point is that we have so much legalese that comes in that it cripples a library’s ability to operate in this way. You can’t put people’s picture on flickr because of their rights (even though they don’t care). It’s no wonder that libraries can often seem faceless or uncaring. All the legal makes it so you can’t do very much or you violate someone’s privacy. Libraries are afraid to use a patron’s email to let them know about an event at the library or services they may be interested in. The only pictures we can use are of the building or inanimate objects. The only video can be of library staff. I understand the privacy issue. However, the LIBRARY is faceless as a result.

http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/Web20StorytellingEmergenc/47444

A story has a beginning, a middle, and a cleanly wrapped-up ending. Whether told around a campfire, read from a book, or played on a DVD, a story goes from point A to B and then C. It follows a trajectory, a Freytag Pyramid—perhaps the line of a human life or the stages of the hero’s journey. A story is told by one person or by a creative team to an audience that is usually quiet, even receptive. Or at least that’s what a story used to be, and that’s how a story used to be told. Today, with digital networks and social media, this pattern is changing. Stories now are open-ended, branching, hyperlinked, cross-media, participatory, exploratory, and unpredictable. And they are told in new ways: Web 2.0 storytelling picks up these new types of stories and runs with them, accelerating the pace of creation and participation while revealing new directions for narratives to flow.

How can libraries tell stories in this manner?

We just opened an amazing room for early literacy at the Waukegan Public Library. The impetuous for the room was a survey conducted by the United Way on Kindergarten Readiness in Spanish and English. Cut to the chase—the children of Waukegan are entering school unprepared, children are not doing well in school and several schools in Waukegan are on the No Child Left Behind watch list.

Within 6 months we had architectural plans to put in a stimulating, engaging, room for preschoolers featuring multiple places to explore with hands-on learning. There is a pretend play theatre, arts and crafts center, science and math lab, nature center, music hall and a “crawl space” for infants.

We’ve gotten some good online press about it at I Love Libraries, School Library Journal, and the Suburban Chicago News.

Here is a some info on the planning.

The concept for the center sprang from a 2006 United Way survey that showed only 43% of Waukegan kindergartners ever attend preschool, and 77% speak Spanish as their primary language. Over half the kids surveyed had little or no exposure to books before entering public school. The study also showed that in this largely Hispanic community, eight out of ten new kindergartners can’t recognize the letters in the alphabet. The library had previously set aside 2,200 square feet to build a space dedicated to preschoolers, but prior to this study coming out the room’s primary function would have been to hold the preschool book collection.

“I was astounded by the percentages,” says Richard Lee, Executive Director of the library. “Looking at those deficiencies, we decided to set some measurable goals.” With guidance from Waukegan School District
60, the library began planning an Early Learning Center (ELC) dedicated to developing four pre-literacy skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Developers based the design on the Illinois Early Learning
Standards set by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), creating stations for science and math, pretend play, storytimes, arts and crafts, nature, music, and infant development.

Using the Kohl Children’s Museum in Glenview as a model, the architects crafted the space to engage the senses and appeal to each child’s inner explorer-with costumes to don, bells to ring, dough to squish and paint to dab. Of course, the center also holds an extensive collection of picture and board books, as well as games and puzzles to foster pre-reading skills. Signage appears in English and Spanish.

Elizabeth Stearns
Assistant Director of Community Services
www.waukeganpl.org

Custom Flip Mino HD, originally uploaded by jblyberg.

Hotter than hot. Did you know you could do a custom skin on a Mino? Very nice example of Darien Library doing just that with the library logo.

Save our Small Libraries!

http://sospl.blogspot.com/

Dear Michael:

I want to tell you about my new blog. Aside from the standard issues that Librarians face here in Indiana we have a new one that has the potential for disastrous consequences for small public libraries here in Indiana.

Stephen Boggs

Looks like Stephen ran out of steam on his blog but the issue continues to be a concern and the proposed consolidation of Indiana libraries is getting more discussion here and there. LJ reports on the issue and quotes the director of my former library:

Don Napoli, director of the St. Joseph County Public Library and one of the few library directors to publicly support consolidation, told LJ, “Nobody wants to lose their boards, nobody wants to lose control of their own library.” Though his is a county library in name, only about 11 of 32 current county libraries cover the full county; one community with a separate library in St. Joseph County directly borders the central city of South Bend.

As for Swanson’s concerns, Napoli suggested, “They might get a better library… It’s more likely that we could build a new branch for them before they’re going to afford it.” He acknowledged that, statewide, there probably wouldn’t be much cost savings from consolidation, but “I think it’ll result in better libraries.”

He said it was natural for library leaders to want to keep local control. “But if they’re thinking the status quo is going to stay the way it is, they’re wrong,” he said. Also, said Napoli, library leaders should come up with an alternative that the governor and state legislature would accept—and that would have the support of all libraries.

Beyond consolidiation, unelected library boards will have trouble maintaining fiscal autonomy, as the commission has recommended that all library budgets be approved by local governments. “They may be able to retain their boards, but they’re not going to have taxing authority,” Napoli predicted.

Meg writes:

What is a Community Manager? My friend, Connie Bensen introduced me to the concept at my first social media gathering. I know she has collaborated on the wikipedia definition, and as a librarian herself, and I hope she agrees with my assertion. Community managers help shape online spaces by representing organizations through starting and/or contributing to discussions. They are social media mavens and power users. Community managers solve problems, offer the best customer service, and give organizations a human face.

I’ll be adding this to the list of emerging LIS jobs. How are we training new librarians to be Community Managers? Did you ever think that might be a role you’d play?

Later she tape into that important bit about the ongoing conversation:

Not enough of us tweet outside our community or seek out our users in other social media. Some success with MySpace and Facebook is promising, but we can’t just friend and fan eachother. We need to connect with our patrons, customers and users in online communities. Historically we may not be known for savvy communication skills, but here’s another opportunity.

Gathering community input is also a key role of librarians. As we plan services, build new facilities, and evolve into our 21st century selves, libraries have to listen to what our community needs. Let’s face it Gen x and y aren’t attending community meetings at the library. The meetings are happening online. Do you Google alerts point to blogs, microblogs, or comments that reflect how patrons feel about the library? Are you listening and responding?

This so ties in to what Cliff Landis and I discussed over on ALA TechSource this summer:

MS: That brings up something that has been on my mind for the past few months as I watch more libraries diving into creating Facebook pages and other sites. What do you think about the Facebook pages for libraries that have a bunch of other librarians as fans? Frankly, it disappoints me. I’ve actually curtailed some of my “fan-ing” of pages lately. I’d rather leave the fandom to the users and watch to see how it goes from outside. How do the users find and adopt the page. What are the patterns of use and what types of outreach builds the community. Tapping into that is most important for understanding user needs.

CL: This is another symptom of librarians talking to each other, saying “Hey! Look at this neat thing I did!” and never involving the users. What do you suppose would happen if the person managing the library page wasn’t a librarian, but a student? (I can already hear the gasps of thousands of librarians.) Let’s face it–we’re control freaks.

And what David Lee King blogged about here.

Wouldn’t you rather be a community manager instead of a control freak?