Making the Case

I am alway interested how various organizations are using online videos and tutorials. This one struck me as a particularly great idea. California schools, in conjunction with Common Craft Productions, put together this video to teach their communities how funding is structured for schools and what the community voice can do to make a difference.

After watching it, I could not help but think that this is a great idea for public libraries to use when lobbying for better funds. Why shouldn’t we be teaching our communities how to have a voice for the public library? Watch this short video and see how many ideas you come up with. How could you do something similar? What messages would you like for your community to hear and see?

 

PRWeb - A New Concept In PR

PRWeb offers a new, free and (unfortunately, it was discovered that it is not free to post to it but free to for the viewer only - bummer, this could have been a neat tool) easy-to-use, service for organizations to increase the visibility of their news, improve their search engine rankings and drive traffic to their Web site. Check out this quick video and demonstration by the Common Craft Show to see how you could be boosting the press at your library/community events and services.

 

Tweens and Cell Phone Usage

The use of cell phones to obtain information is becoming commonplace with the younger generation. If tweens are indeed using their cell phones in this way, libraries will need to adapt some of their online presence to be adaptable to their needs. Take a look at this YALSA blog posting here and Stephen Abram’s post here.

 

New site for SCSL presentations on Slideshare

The South Carolina State Library has created a Slideshare account to share presentations on all kinds of topics: strategic planning, building Friends groups, staff development, and much more. Here’s an example of what we will offer:

This was one of the presentations we made at the 2007 South Carolina Library Association Conference.

See more at: http://www.slideshare.net/scstatelibrary

 

Customers or Patrons

It’s been far too long since we blogged here at LibraryTrax, I know.  We’ll try not to be away so long from now on.  Here’s one I hope will stir conversation.

I’ve had discussions over the years on whether to call the people who use our services “customers” or “patrons.”  I’ve grown fond of “customer” myself, and I’ve finally found something that may explain why it appeals to me so much.

John Jantsch, over on the Duct Tape Marketing Blog, writes about the choice between “customer” and “client”:

The idea for this post actually goes to Ridgely Evers, founder of NetBooks. In a brief discussion he mentioned the origin of the word customer is the Latin - consuetudinem, coming from one’s habit or custom - or, someone’s customary practice do something repeatedly. The root of client is the Latin cliens, more closely related to the idea of a follower.

He goes on to say:

I don’t know about you, but I know I want my customers to know, like, trust, call and refer me repeatedly. I want them to grow accustomed to my blog. I want it to be their custom to think of me whenever they need a practical marketing tip. So, customer it is for me.

Me too!