Tag Archives: Social Media

CMLE, Communication

February Monthly Topic: Social Media

Socialmedia-pm
Monthly topics! This is a way for us to look at some information about a topic from a variety of different perspectives, to cover it fully. Our topics are taken from the recent needs assessment survey, and are the ideas and skills our members said they most wanted to know about in their library work.

We have concluded our look at Grants in January, and are covering Social Media this month.

There are all kinds of tools for social media, but the purpose to all of them is the same: to connect with your community members where they are.  Social media can also be a great tool for that very important skill in communication: listening. It is a very easy way to listen to issues of interest to your community members, to find out what questions are coming up, and to make connections between people and ideas.

Do you have topics you want to see this month? Do you have some great social media ideas or tips to share? Add them to the comments below! We look forward to hearing your ideas!!

CMLE, General, Public

Alternative ways to include cats in your library

Cats and libraries – a legendary duo! CMLE has even included a book about a library cat in one of our monthly book groups. But Dewey the Library Cat was adopted by the Spencer Public Library back in 1988, and today, the attitude towards resident library cats is changing.

This article from American Libraries Magazine discusses the large decline in the number of library cats of the past several years. The main reason for this seems to be the problem of allergies among patrons.

However, many library cats remain in their libraries, and the library workers have taken steps to accommodate visitors that suffer from allergies. Some libraries offer to walk books out to patrons’ cars if their allergies are too bad to allow them into the library, or they wipe down each book with a Clorox wipe. Good air circulation and regular vacuuming help too.

But if having a cat in the library is just not going to be possible, there are other ways to incorporate them into library PR. The article talks about one library worker in PA who features her own cats on the library social media on weekends – often in costumes.

Does your library have a real cat, or even stuffed cat, as a mascot? Maybe you incorporate animals in a different way? We’d love to hear about it!

Communication, General

Social Media Content Ideas for Libraries (from LITA)

Socialmedia-pm
Are you a library person looking for interesting things to discuss on social media, to connect with your patrons? We all are! Check out this blog entry by Victoria Orzechowski wtih some great ideas for you.

“In my previous blog entry, I introduced the #NoFilter series which will explore some of the challenges and concerns pertaining to social media and its use in the library. For this post, let’s consider a topic that can be simultaneously fun and perplexing: generating quality content for social media! Thoughtful, consistent, and varied content is one of the keys to cultivating a meaningful social media presence for a library i.e., opening up channels of communication with patrons and encouraging enthusiasm for the library’s materials, services, and staff.  Where does one look for social media content ideas? Keeping in mind that the intricacies of each platform necessitate different presentations in content, below are three suggestions for where those in charge of a library’s social media may find some inspiration.”

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Misinformation spreads faster than Creeping Charlie

IrishI am seriously thinking of unplugging from social media lately. Waaayyy too many crazy, unfounded claims and bits of information, most connected to politics. Such a need for drama it seems; has society become addicted to drama? As a librarian, I feel a need to set the record straight when I see these, but I also know that engaging with such Facebook posts will only cause me to receive more! What to do?

This is such a problem that the World Economic Forum declared the online spread of misinformation to be a form of “digital wildfire,” and one of the main threats to global society. As librarians we understand the power of information, but it rises to a new level for me as I read about  a team of researchers who have conducted a five-year-long study on a wide range of Facebook users in a quest to find out how misinformation blossoms online. If echo chambers, trolling pages and confirmation bias appeal to you, please read the following results from the study. 

Wondering how to check outrageous claims to see if they are true? See our earlier blog post: Do You Really Know the Truth? Snopes Field Guide.

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Irene Dávila), licensed under CC0 1.0

 

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Nine must know tips for Instagram

Red UmbrellaInstagram (in this writer’s opinion) is one of the most fun social media sites. Being able to beautify your pictures and literally see what your friends are up to without the wordy commentary of Facebook, what’s not to like? Just like any social media app, Instagram has some great shortcuts that can improve its experience.

This article delves deeper into nine tips for beginners, many of which include increasing privacy by blocking random followers and removing location tags from a map. You can also find instructions for viewing every photo you’ve ever liked, and arranging notifications to alert you when someone you follow has posted a new picture.

How do you like Instagram? Any other shortcuts or tips the article forgot? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/md7dfnp, licensed under CC BY 2.0