What you get, when you get right down to it
As a staff person, your view (mental model) of the library's website is incredibly different from that of a patron. It's so very different, that you can't even pretend to be a patron user. It's vital [...]
Let's start this discussion with a question: Is library staff important?
Yes, the website's homepage is important. But it's not nearly as mission-critical as many staff think it is. Why?
Let'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.
What 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.
For 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 [...]
However, 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. [...]
I 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 [...]
Happy 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 [...]
A 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, [...]
The building ISN'T the library, but it is part of the library's identity.
Why 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. [...]
What 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 [...]
Happy 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 [...]
I 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 [...]
It 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 [...]
Without 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 [...]
If 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 [...]
(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. [...]
INTRODUCTION 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 [...]
I 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 [...]
I 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 [...]
I 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! [...]
SPOILER 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 [...]
In 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 [...]
Happy 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, [...]
Drive 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 [...]
Confession 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 [...]
Animated 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 [...]
Before 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, [...]
It'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.
Go 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 [...]
What 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 [...]
I 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/
Happy 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? [...]
For 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 [...]
I 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 [...]
A 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 [...]
Ok, 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 [...]
Recently, 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 [...]
If 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 [...]
If 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 [...]
I’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? [...]
If 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 [...]
It’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 [...]
Fonts 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 [...]
There’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. [...]
Happy 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 [...]
One 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. [...]
A 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 [...]
Today’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 [...]
For 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 [...]
Colors 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 [...]
How 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, [...]
When 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 [...]
Some 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 [...]
If 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 [...]
Because, 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 [...]
I’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 [...]
I 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 [...]
Laura
