user experience
Your homepage isn’t nearly as important as you think it is
11th January 2021Yes, the website's homepage is important. But it's not nearly as mission-critical as many staff think it is. Why?
What you get, when you get right down to it
Laura
fun
Because you’re not getting much work done anyway (2020 edition)
16th December 2020Let's face it: 2020 has been a serious dumpster fire and the more distractions, the better. In that vein, here are some of my favorites from this year. Happy holidays.
social media
You’re being forced to abandon vanity metrics. That’s a good thing.
22nd October 2020What we're seeing now, though represents a huge shift in how even the social media platforms themselves are viewing low-level (often referred to as "vanity") metrics.
social media
Make your library’s social media posts better in 5 easy steps
29th September 2020For the past couple of months, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a small, selective cohort of library staff from public libraries in Tennessee. Each week, we look at important concepts in social [...]
tools
Is working from home too quiet for you? Three tools to help
4th May 2020However, even I will sometimes admit that things can get just a little too quiet. Granted, if you've got kids or family trapped in the house with you right now, that might not be one of your problems. [...]
usability
The “3-click rule” has been hogwash since it’s inception
30th January 2020I could go on for a while about how the "rules" of web design have changed in twenty years, but one "rule" that has somehow persisted, despite real data now being available, is that of "Users won't go [...]
fun
Because you’re not getting much work done anyway (2019 edition)
16th December 2019Happy holidays! It’s time for my annual collection of Online Stuff To Waste Time On. You know, in case you needed help not getting your work done. And, by the way, this is the TENTH year I've been putting [...]
Keeping Up
Libraries: let’s be honest about “emerging technology”
22nd August 2019A couple of years ago, I was asked to do a series of this type of workshop for an out-of-state consortium. When the evaluations came back to me a few weeks afterwards, I got very good marks as a presenter, [...]
websites
Your building is not your product
4th April 2019The building ISN'T the library, but it is part of the library's identity.
usability
Why do web myths live on in libraries?
21st February 2019Why do these myths continue to be perpetuated in libraries? Perhaps because so many of us grew up alongside the web. We were initiated in the very early days, when it was truly a Wild West-type environment. [...]
trends
Top posts of 2018
27th December 2018What was popular this past year, here on the blog? Here’s the list: Because You’re Not Getting Much Done Anyway (2017 edition) Social media isn’t what it used to be…and it never will be [...]
fun
Because you’re not getting much work done anyway (2018 edition)
17th December 2018Happy holidays! It’s time for my annual collection of Online Stuff To Waste Time On. You know, in case you needed help not getting your work done. Hear the sound of a vintage Viewmaster and [...]
tools
No Photoshop? Try free LunaPic instead
7th December 2018I work with a good number of smaller libraries that don’t have professional graphic artists on staff and also rarely have the money or expertise to use high-level design software, such as Photoshop [...]
social media
My relationship with Facebook: “It’s complicated”
18th October 2018It is part of the global Internet infrastructure now. Safiya Noble, a University of Southern California professor and author of Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism I often fantasize [...]
websites
When it comes to your library’s website, are you a climate change denier?
25th September 2018Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion. W. Edwards Deming One of the least comfortable parts of my job as a web developer/designer is to convince library clients that certain things [...]
Podcasting
I got to talk TRS-80s with the Library Pros
21st September 2018If you’re not familiar with the Library Pros, they’re a librarian and a library IT professional, podcasting interviews with folks doing interesting things in the library field. Bob and Chris [...]
social media
Social media isn’t what it used to be…and it never will be again (Part II)
4th September 2018(Read Part I here) The decline of sharing In his 2015 book The Content Code, Mark W. Schaefer points out that even great content isn’t enough. “But epic content simply earns a seat at the table today. [...]
social media
Social media isn’t what it used to be…and it never will be again (Part I)
27th August 2018INTRODUCTION For the past few years, the vast majority of news from the social media realm has been in a positive vein. Popular formats and platforms. Demographic shifts between channels. Social media [...]
tools
Cliphy: Add fun to words
22nd August 2018I spend a fair amount of time testing out new online tools, usually of the free variety. Some don’t work as advertised. Some are cool, and I sing their praises to the virtual rooftops. Others are [...]
websites
Is Alexa killing off websites? Not quite.
12th June 2018I ran across this Medium post by tech futurist Michael Spencer the other day. In it, Spencer claims that websites are about to disappear because of AI-powered voice assistants, like Alexa. (It’s [...]
tools
Free online tools you didn’t know you needed
3rd May 2018I had the privilege of speaking to a packed house at the Computers in Libraries 2018 conference last month. Here’s my slidedeck, featuring a small sample of some of my favorite online tools. Enjoy! [...]
trends
Cars didn’t make horses unemployed…they made horses unemployable
13th March 2018SPOILER ALERT: Humans are the new horses. Welcome to the robot revolution. This riveting 15-minute film really brings home what’s happening on the tech front right now. An important point: a lot [...]
websites
Level up your library’s website with this one little thing
8th February 2018In 2016, my workplace did a study to determine the state of various issues on public library websites in Ohio. One of the numbers that was concerning was the widespread lack of a favicon. Over 45% of the [...]
fun
Because you’re not getting much work done anyway (2017 edition)
18th December 2017Happy holidays! It’s time for my annual collection of Stuff You Didn’t Know Existed But Can Waste Your Time On. You know, in case you needed help not getting your work done. Sandcastles: If you, [...]
mobile
Is your library ready for mobile payments?
16th November 2017Drive up to almost any McDonald’s drive-through window and you will see stickers proclaiming that the restaurant now takes payments through Apple Pay and Android Pay. Visa has just rolled out a program [...]
Podcasting
Should your library be podcasting?
23rd October 2017Confession time: I haven’t listened to podcasts in quite a while. I was only sort of marginally aware that they had even made any kind of comeback; it was only after a coworker raved about her podcast [...]
tools
Make your own animated GIFs from video captures–easy
7th September 2017Animated GIFs are everywhere, especially in social media. Even my Android phone has many built into its SMS app. They’ve become a very common part of modern communication. Not only do they effectively [...]
marketing
Make your links and buttons more effective
29th June 2017Before we can talk about links or buttons, we’ve got to cover an important concept in online marketing. It’s called the CTA (“Call To Action”). Douglas Karr, writing for MarTech, [...]
social media
Frustrated? Why your library needs to level up to content marketing
2nd May 2017It's no longer a novelty for a library to be visible online: it's a necessity. It's time to level up how we present our libraries online, because "doing social media" doesn't cut it.
usability
What if your library’s website solved problems?
13th April 2017Go look at your library’s website. Now, go look at the website of the library nearest yours. Now go look at some big city’s website. Heck, go look at most websites I’ve done. And, while [...]
social media
How to set better library social media goals
3rd March 2017What are your library’s social media goals? At first glance, the answer to that question might not seem all that difficult. And, if I ask you (or other library staff) this question, you might come [...]
trends
Emerging Tech Trends Spring 2017
2nd February 2017I did a webinar for OPLIN last month on a few trends we’re seeing come to the fore. You can see it here: https://ohlibrary.adobeconnect.com/p5zkqluwnsi/
fun
Because you’re not getting much work done anyway (2016 edition)
15th December 2016Happy holidays! It’s time for my annual collection of Online Stuff To Waste Time On. You know, in case you needed help not getting your work done. Be virtually rained out. Like the sounds of rain? [...]
tools
Is your library’s website costing your patrons money?
2nd December 2016For several years, I was a lucky customer of Verizon with a grandfathered, unlimited data plan. Last year, in an attempt to shove us freeloader-types overboard, Verizon jacked up the price of unlimited [...]
social media
Stop diminishing your library’s brand: unify its voice
6th October 2016I get to present workshops and courses fairly often, especially on social media-related topics (when you write books about a subject, people generally want you to talk about that subject). One question [...]
social media
New social media rules for us #olds
29th August 2016A common question from librarians is “Where are the kids online?” Of course, the answer to this question changes regularly. Teens shift their allegiances to social media channels periodically (remember [...]
Keeping Up
Forget Pokemon Go. Your library has real problems
14th July 2016Ok, I admit, that’s a bit of an incendiary headline, and I’m not really advocating that your library forego taking advantage of the viral new trend that is actually pretty advantageous for [...]
websites
What’s still missing from Ohio public library websites?
6th June 2016Recently, at my place of work, we decided to do a broad survey of Ohio’s public library websites for some basic functionality and features. We wanted to get an idea of just how many websites still [...]
usability
Make your website’s search less painful for your users
21st April 2016If your library’s website doesn’t have a search field at all, this post isn’t for you. Your site has way bigger issues to contend with. (But, feel free to use this post to guide the creation [...]
user experience
A simple idea for personalizing your patrons’ experience
7th April 2016If you’ve been paying any attention to digital marketing trends, then you already know that one of the next big things is the personalization of the user experience. Today, I was reading an article [...]
marketing
The Librarian’s Nitty-Gritty Guide to Content Marketing
10th March 2016I’m happy to announce that my new book, The Librarian’s Nitty-Gritty Guide to Content Marketing, is now available for pre-order from the American Library Association. What is content marketing? [...]
marketing
Measuring is easy, but the questions are hard
25th February 2016If you’re in charge of your library’s social media and/or content marketing, then you already know that measuring your work isn’t all that hard. Getting stats for virtually anything [...]
Keeping Up
Tell me your worst trouble spot right now
11th February 2016It’s still pretty much a new(ish) year, and I’m interested in addressing even more topics that would interest you, the blog reader. This quiz will help (but let’s be real, it’s [...]
tools
5 tools to ease your font headaches
26th January 2016Fonts are complicated. I won’t pretend that I’m anything like an expert, because I can barely differentiate between a typeface and a font to begin with*. But I have to work with fonts all [...]
tools
Absolutely honest tool tells you if you need a better headline
14th January 2016There’s a heck of a lot of information out there about how important it is to have a good headline for blog posts. Many people will make their decision to read or not, based purely on the headline. [...]
fun
Because you’re not getting much work done anyway (2015 edition)
15th December 2015Happy holidays! It’s time for MeanLaura’s annual collection of Online Things Which Can Prevent Work. You know, in case you needed help not getting work done. Listen to Wikipedia. No, not someone [...]
Internet of Things (IoT)
5 smart devices you didn’t know existed
23rd November 2015One of Gartner’s 2016 technology predictions is the emergence of what it calls the “device mesh“: where we are surrounded by smart devices that constantly stream data to us and/or apps. [...]
websites
The plural of anecdote isn’t data
16th November 2015A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted this: How many times have you heard “But the patrons want…” with no real data to back it up? #libux — Laura Solomon (@laurasolomon) November [...]
tools
Get the web details you need–FAST
22nd October 2015Today’s post discusses my latest “Headache Avoidance” tool. If you work on designing and/or developing websites, you are almost certainly accustomed to vague conversations, that don’t [...]
websites
Shifting our website from promotional to actually useful
2nd October 2015For the past several months, I’ve been enmeshed in the writing of a(nother) book, on a topic that only marginally involves websites. During my research, I read a terrific book by marketing expert [...]
tools
Make your web colors better
14th September 2015Colors can be fun, but they can also be complicated. There’s a lot of psychology involved with choosing colors as well. I really enjoy putting together or finding color palettes for different [...]
tools
How hard *is* it to delete your account?
18th August 2015How many accounts do you have spread across the Internet? I couldn’t even begin to guess how many accounts I have. Social media accounts, accounts to comment on blogs, ecommerce-related accounts, [...]
Design
Are you designing for something that isn’t there anymore?
25th June 2015When I started doing web stuff in the 1990’s, I remember it being very much a “Wild West” kind of realm, with few hard and fast guidelines or rules (which is why sites made with GeoCities [...]
tools
My teddy bear web design tools
9th June 2015Some people have a teddy bear. Some people have a security blanket. I have some little browser extensions that make me feel better on a daily basis, that are far more useful than Mr. Teddy. I’m [...]
mobile
Why responsive design can be scarier than dating Taylor Swift
21st May 2015If you didn’t know already, your library’s site should be responsive. Having a separate mobile site is no longer good practice. Heck, even Google is penalizing non-responsive websites. If [...]
social media
10 facts about social media that might make you think
14th May 2015Because, numbers. Do any of these numbers change how you think about your library’s social media strategy? Facebook: Facebook’s monthly active user base is expected to surpass 1.43 billion [...]
Keeping Up
Link roundup: things your library should be paying attention to right now
21st April 2015I’ve only listed the three I think are most important right now, because we all get overwhelmed. Fill up on caffeine and get reading, folks. Does Google Think Your Library is Mobile Friendly? If [...]
social media
5 fast ways to up your library’s Twitter game
2nd April 2015I spend a lot of time on Twitter. Nevertheless, it is a tricky social media tool to get right. Things move so quickly, and engagement is perhaps more elusive than on some other platforms. I’m [...]
websites
Spring cleaning for your library’s website
6th March 2015Allegedly, we’re heading into some season that doesn’t necessarily involve horrible weather and the desire to hibernate. Perhaps, you might be thinking about cleaning things out after the [...]
Blogs
5 blogs I follow and you should, too
26th February 2015I’m an avid user of Feedly, and I subscribe to a ridiculous number of blogs and websites. However, if I had to narrow those down to the bare essentials, these are the five I couldn’t live [...]