Location Services for Libraries

Location-based services for libraries: or, why we should invest in “the next big thing” Ashlie K.Conway Social Media Club of Columbia, SC 2/11/2010 New Technology Team 2/15/2010 Music Librarian, U. of South Carolina Conwaya@mailbox.sc.edu

What are location-based services (LBS)? Users download an application (an “app”) for free They use a GPS or wiﬁ enabled phone or iPod (most often iPhone, Android, or Blackberry) They “check-in” at a location with the option to tell their friends They get virtual rewards within the app (some may be tangible)

Image by Irish Typepad: http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/irisheyes/4307046459/ Beneﬁts to patrons/users

Lets you know popular spots Helps you make a connection & get rewards from businesses Explore places in your own community that you wouldn’t necessarily go to (to get rewards) Prepares you for places with special requirements (cash only) Helps you remember places you visit both at home & traveling

Beneﬁts to businesses

Business beneﬁts: Customers offer you constant exposure and word of mouth • Opens the door for new kinds of promotions to reward patrons • Customer behavior is tracked, allowing habits to be identiﬁed and leveraged • It connects you with your digital patrons, people who probably have a lot of clout in their circles From http://outspokenmedia.com/social-media/foursquare-divides-the-web/

Special mayor-only rewards are cropping up...and they’re creating customer loyalty battles that are good for regulars and great for businesses Develops a deeper connection between place and patron Good customer reviews may lead to new customers Can measure foot trafﬁc to a store, proving quantiﬁable ROI From http://mashable.com/2010/01/16/foursquare-world/ and New York Times: http://nyti.ms/biFSbF and http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=138305

Cheap marketing! “For example, it would cost $5 for a restaurant to give my brother a free dessert for being mayor, but with Foursquare linked to Twitter (read word-of-mouth), that $5 could go a long way towards driving people to that venue” From http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=138305

Why? What’s the point? People (mostly college age) log in daily & share about 12 pieces of info a week on facebook From http://bit.ly/aND2Hl We need to pay attention to social media Look at how we can adapt business tactics to marketing our libraries Advertise like a public library to build community connections

84% Of Americans say online reviews inﬂuence their purchasing decisions, according to a survey by the Opinion Research Corporation New York Times: http://nyti.ms/biFSbF We need community members to “buy” into our campus libraries

Today’s focus: FourSquare Gowalla Yelp

About FourSquare: Foursquare aims to encourage people to explore their neighborhoods and then reward people for doing so. We do this by combining our friend-ﬁnder and social city guide elements with game mechanics - our users earn points, win mayorships and unlock badges for trying new places and revisiting old favorites. From http://foursquare.com/businesses/ FourSquare is “Revolutionizing the very way we think about social media and turning it into a form of currency” [Think customer loyalty punch cards] From http://mashable.com/2010/01/16/foursquare-world/

FourSquare Glossary: Check-in: telling FourSquare where you are via GPS or physical address Mayor: a person who visits a given place more than anyone else Badges: think of them like little trophies or rewards for going to interesting places Points: another reward/another way to compete against your friends. Tips: your recommendations to others To Dos: notes to yourself

TCL on FourSquare website

RCPL includes a tip!

Badges Timeline Leaderboard

Gowalla Very similar to FourSquare No mayorships More like geocaching Can create trips

Gowalla Glossary: Passport: “Home” screen that shows where all you’ve been and what items you have Spot: a place Stamps: Places you’ve been (hence “passport”) Pins: rewards for completing trips Items: virtual things to drop/swap at a spot

TCL on Gowalla

Passport The Music Library Activity

Yelp Very similar to Gowalla & FourSquare Known mostly for business reviews No rewards, items, etc. Tie-in with Yahoo!

Image by Travelin’ Librarian: http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/223839049/ Colleges and LBS

What’s going on at UNC Charlotte? UNC’s campus-wide use of FourSquare: http://vimeo.com/8038742 The pilot program connecting Foursquare and Auxiliary Services, means that UNC Charlotte is the ﬁrst university in the country to use Foursquare to spread dining services information and promotions to students, faculty, staff and campus visitors. What that means for Foursquare users is this: checking in at UNC Charlotte may yield an electronic coupon to a nearby dining venue. If you’ve reached Mayor status, the coupon has even greater value. What’s more, you could be helping both Foursquare and UNC Charlotte pioneer better, more effective ways to communicate products and services to students and the campus community. From http://bit.ly/9qFbmc

What’s going on at Harvard?

What’s going on at Harvard? Harvard is the first university to use foursquare to help students explore their campus and surrounding places of interest. Users who have visited a predetermined number of sites on the campus will be awarded the Harvard Yard badge on their foursquare profiles. From http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/01/harvard-and-foursquare/ “Harvard is more than classrooms and buildings. It is an interconnected community of people, ideas, and experiences, and we are actively pursuing ways to enhance those connections,” said Perry Hewitt, director of digital communications and communications services for Harvard Public Affairs and Communications. “We believe that Harvard’s participation will allow our community to engage with friends, professors, and colleagues in new ways. We also hope visitors and neighbors will benefit from the platform as it grows through use.” “Universities are places of such incredible talent and energy,” said Dennis Crowley, foursquare’s co-founder. “And that is why we’re excited about Harvard’s participation and the potential for foursquare to bring people together.”

University Tours

About universities and LBS: If you think about it, tapping into the hyper-local university scene is brilliant. Think about freshman still trying to acclimate to a new campus. They can use the app and game to uncover the university hot spots, ﬁnd the best social gatherings (maybe even a great kegger), bond with their peers and actually learn a thing or two about social media in real-life context. We think it’s genius. From http://mashable.com/2010/01/12/harvard-foursquare/

So what’s the catch? Furthers the distance between the “haves” and “have nots” Who will win the LBS war? Image by GoonSquadSarah: http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/sarah606/254843481/

Why should we invest? Major corps. are So are major partnering with LBS universities: providers: Harvard UNC Charlotte New York Times University of Arkansas HBO Ohio State The History Channel University of South Carolina? Zagat Warner Bros. Lucky Magazine Bravo

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Location Services for Libraries

by Music Library at the University of South Carolina on Feb 14, 2010

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