Exploiting The Potential of Blogs and Social Networks

Slide 1: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/seminars/museum-heritage-show-2008/ Exploiting the Potential of Blogs and Social Networks Brian Kelly Acceptable Use Policy UKOLN Recording/broadcasting of this talk, taking photographs, discussing the University of Bath content using email, instant messaging, Bath, UK blogs, SMS, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised. B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk Resources bookmarked using ‘museum-heritage-show-2008' tag UKOLN is supported by: by-nc-sa This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat)

Slide 2: Introduction Contents Introduction • About Me • About the Talk • About You What’s It All About? • Overview • Example of Museum Blogs We Should Be Doing This! • Reasons For Having a Blog • Policies & QA • Technical Infrastructure • Sharing Best Practices Where Do Social Networks Fit In? • What are Social Networks? • Using Social Networks Conclusions • What Next? • Questions 2

Slide 3: Introduction About Me Brian Kelly: • UK Web Focus: a national advisory post • Long-standing Web evangelist (since Jan 1993) • Based at UKOLN, University of Bath, with remit to advise HE/FE and cultural heritage sectors • Interests include Web 2.0, standards, accessibility and overcoming institutional inertia • Blogger since November 2006 • Awarded the IWR Information Professional of the Year in December 2007 • Facilitated half day workshops on Using Blogs Effectively Within Your Organisation at Museum & Web 2008 and Using Blogs Effectively Within Your Library at ILI 2007 conferences 3

Slide 4: Introduction About The Talk By the end of the talk you should: • Be aware of key blogging concepts and tool • Have learnt about ways in which blogs can be used within a library environment • Have identified potential barriers to the deployment of blogs within an institution • Have heard about and discussed strategies for overcoming barriers • Have learnt about tools and techniques for measuring a blog’s impact and success. • Have heard about and discussed best practices for developing a sustainable blogging service • Have had the opportunity to make plans for launching or enhancing your blog service And have a set of materials & resources which you 4 can use for in-house training purposes 

Slide 5: Introduction About You In brief: • Do you have a work-related blog? • Do you have a social blog? • Do you use social networks (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, …) for work-related purposes or for social purposes? • Is your organisation intending to set up a blog? • What you hope to gain from this talk? 5

Slide 6: Blog Concepts Key Blog Concepts (1 of 5) What Is A Blog? A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Wikipedia definition See also handout Note that blog software can be used for other purposes (including building conventional Web sites). We will focus on conventional understanding of a blog. 6

Slide 7: Blogging Key Blog Concepts (2 of 5) Providing a Blog Blogs can be provided by: • Installing software locally (open source or licensed) • Using an externally hosted service (Blogger.com and Wordpress.com are popular) • Using existing systems (e.g. a VLE, a CMS, etc.) which has blog functionality provided • Using social networking services (e.g. Facebook, MySpace) which providing blogging or similar functionality 7

Slide 8: Blog Concepts Key Blog Concepts (3 of 5) Reading Blogs Blog readers can: • Visit a blog site (conventional approach) • Use an RSS reader, which can be web-based (e.g. Bloglines, Google Reader, etc.) or a desktop RSS reader (e.g. Blogbridge) • Via a blog aggregator – view posts from lots of blogs • Use a mobile device (e.g. PDA, mobile phone, etc.) • Have blog posts delivered using email 8

Slide 9: Blog Concepts Key Blog Concepts (4 of 5) Finding Blogs I find blog posts (including links to my posts) using: • Technorati • Google blogger web comments • Blog directories • Referrer links to my blog • … Technorati is to the blogosphere what Google is to Web space 9

Slide 10: Key Blog Concepts (5 of 5) Since last year we now have ‘micro-blogs’: • Form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually < 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. • These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including IM, SMS, email or the Web Micro-blogging helps to focus on the question: is a blog a publishing Twhirl Twitter app used at or a communications tool? MW 2008 10

Slide 11: Museum Blogs Museum Blogs Typically “the museum Web site” is: • “official” • formal • marketing-driven and branded • impersonal Whereas typically, “the blog” is: Note see MuseumBlogs.org • “un-official” for a directory of • informal over 270 museum • away from brand pressures blogs, an aggregation of • personal 90,000+ posts and a search across the blogs 11 Acknowledgment to Mike Ellis, Eduserv

Slide 12: Museum Blogs Why Have A Blog? Reasons individuals & organisations have blogs: • We want to communicate • We have something to say Reasons museums might use blogs: • Blogs are great at the niche or long tail • Museums are great at the niche or long tail... • There is a compelling mystique about museums:  “why do they collect that and not this?”  “what made them choose that exhibition?”  “why is this particular object special?”  “how do they make their money?” • Museums want to connect with audiences … • … and blogs allow you to communicate with your most loyal and enthusiastic visitors 12 Acknowledgment to Mike Ellis, Eduserv

Slide 13: Museum Blogs What Makes A Good Blog? Want to be a successful blogger? • Blog with passion and because you want to! • Have a personality, a defined tone of voice • Find a niche (or at least well-defined) area of interest • Build your community: two-way engagement • Create well written, intelligent posts • Don’t just regurgitate, but find a new angle (be a thinker not a linker) • Link a lot, and read the links you link to  Like all simple rules, these can be broken – but may be a useful guide for your planning 13 Acknowledgment to Mike Ellis, Eduserv

Slide 14: Examples of Museum Blogs Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn Museum blog: • Engages with its audiences • Reflects museum’s mission • Part of wider use of Web 2.0 services (Flickr, …) Papers about approaches published at MW 2007 and MW 2008 conferences 14

Slide 15: fresh and new(er) – Seb Chan / Examples of Museum Blogs Powerhouse fresh + new(er): • Technology focussed • A way of showcasing and “launching” • A “sounding board” for discussion • Strikes a good balance between institutional and personal http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog/ 15 Thanks to Mike Ellis

Slide 16: Examples of Museum Blogs English Cut English Cut blog: • Not a museum blog! • It’s about a tailor! • It’s “behind the scenes” – all the things you wanted to know but never asked • Personal, engaging, different • Has caused considerable stir, not to mention traffic (and hence business...!) http://www.englishcut.com/ 16 Thanks to Mike Ellis

Slide 17: Examples of Museum Blogs Bowers Museum Blog Bowers museum blog: • Showcases the “object of the week” • Gives focus to posts • ...and a defined “check back in X days” • But not enough commenting or linking! http://bowersmuseum.blogspot.com/ 17 Thanks to Mike Ellis

Slide 18: Examples of Museum Blogs Reflections Thoughts on these examples: • Varieties of different approaches • Personal aspect is what makes these tick • .. finding out about the people behind the formality • Perhaps that is what people want from museums?! Do you now what to set up your own blogging service? 18

Slide 19: Establishing A Blog The Purpose Of Your Blog (1) Why have a blog for your museum? • See suggestions made at blog workshop at Museums and the Web 2008 conference 19

Slide 20: Establishing A Blog The Purpose Of Your Blog (2) 20

Slide 21: Establishing A Blog Reflecting Current Views CEO at HLF argued the need to: • Demonstrate that users are “really … engaged” with digitised services CEO at MLA, on a NOF-digi project: • “How they would engage with it?” Blogs would appear to provide a means (a) for users to engage with digital content and (b) to demonstrate such engagement  21

Slide 22: Establishing A Blog Overcoming Barriers You may need to identify & then overcome institutional barriers: • It’s a fad • It’s not our job • I’m too busy • It will bring the museum into disrepute • I feel threatened • … 22

Slide 23: Establishing A Blog Quality Assurance Establish: • A blog policy covering scope, target audience, … • Editorial processes • Processes for handling problems • Identify & address training requirements • … 23

Slide 24: Establishing A Blog Technical Infrastructure You’ll need to establish the technologies to be used: • In-house blog software or externally-hosted? • Dedicated blog software or functionality provided by CMS, … • Selection of the software 24

Slide 25: Establishing A Blog Measuring Impact How do you: • Measure the impact of your blog service? • Use metrics to identify what works & what doesn’t? • Justify ROI? • Report to funders? See Seb Chan’s paper at MW 2008 25

Slide 26: Social Networks Social Networks What can social networks such as Facebook offer? But note need to be aware of: • Privacy issues • Ownership of data User groups – which may support you, or not • Dangers of data lock-in •… Support for museum A presence for your institution professionals See Introduction to Facebook: Opportunities and Challenges For 26 The Institution slidecast on Slideshare for further information

Slide 27: Building a Community Social networks provide a great opportunity to support the development of a community of practice. Variety of options: • Ning group(s) • Facebook • Blogs (comment on your peers) • … The social networks can be used to facilitate formal and informal contacts with your peers as well as engaging with your user community 27

Slide 28: Support For The Community UKOLN will continue to engage with the museum sector: • Launch of briefing documents for culture heritage sector • Possibilities of joint project work • Exploring possibilities of workshops, etc. • … Send email to b.kelly@ukoln.ac.uk 28

Slide 29: Conclusions To conclude: • Blogs are starting to be used within museums • There’s a need to clarify the purpose and establish best practises • There may be institutional barriers to overcome • But it’s worth it – isn’t it? 29

Slide 30: Questions Any questions or comments? What will you do differently? 30