Nebraska Learns 2.0 Thing #24

Twitter:
I used the following search terms on Twitter:
"Columbus Nebraska" library
"Columbus NE"
same as above, adding the word "library" outside the quotation marks

I tried variations of the terms "c-town" and "c-bus" for "Columbus". Using our initials, "CPL" hits big, but nothing with relevance. "CPL" is used instead of the word "couple" and is also the name of scads of other libraries.

I found results for my city and state, but nothing pertaining to Columbus Public Library. Though it is not a surprise given our size and location, it is disappointing. This says to me that our library needs to beef up its virtual presence. We have a lot we can offer patrons online. I think micro-blogging is a wonderful tool for busy librarians. Maintaining Facebook and MySpace accounts can be time-consuming. A lot of librarians use weblogs to promote and share and Twitter is a great way to generate some more traffic and interest. Especially for patrons who are still confused by RSS.

Google Alerts:
I am a fan of Google services and have used alerts in the past. I set up Google alerts for most of the search terms I used at Twitter. Google alerts came up with some mixed results. Announcements that appear on our local paper's website hit, but most of the alerts were for other libraries. As our web presence grows, this can be a useful tool for tracking where our events get posted and that the advertising is correct.

FairShare:
I'd not heard of FairShare before but was very excited to try it. I used to author a personal blog and many, many times found my original content being re-posted on other sites that were set up to generate ad revenue. Most of these content leeches linked back to the original posting, but it wasn't always clear the content was not original to their site. I didn't make money on my blog, and was irritated that someone else might.

Since I hadn't established much of a blog for this project, I signed up for FairShare with my old blog. The RSS feed isn't updating since I'm not writing, so FairShare isn't turning up results. Which is fine by me. I will create an account for the library's young adult blog to track content usage.

It's suggested we show our appreciation for the link when the content is used fairly and I agree when the intentions are to share, not steal. This service is a great for libraries who post original works by their patrons or guest presenters. If I have a writing contest for teens, for example, and post the winning work online, I can teach them how to track the online usage of their copyrighted material. I can also see this used as a tool for teaching people about plagiarism.

Summary:
This was a great exercise to demonstrate how far-reaching our online presence can be. It is disappointing to see that my library isn't using the web to its full advantage. Being aware of these services, how they work, and knowing the results I'd like to have seen, I can use them to promote and share the library more effectively. It's on my to-do list to set up CPL's Young Adult Twitter account to post when I update my blog and share my Twitter feed on my blog. I've also created alerts for links back to our library and our YA blog.