4. The Traditional Special Collection
• Safeguarded
content
• Cut off from public
use unless in
monitored reading
room
• “Restricted” access
• Risks: theft,
damage, misuse,
loss
5. Today’s Sharing Society
• Today, we share
everything
• How has this influenced
libraries?
• Most libraries have social
media accounts ranging
from Twitter to Flickr.
• These accounts are so
often underutilized!
• Libraries need, but often
lack, dedicated staff for
Web and Social Media.
6. Social Media to Promote
Special Collections
• Special Collections
can use Social
Media to:
• Attract users
• Promote
collections,
exhibits, events,
etc.
• Expand access
• Connect with other
institutions
7. Library Wide Platforms
• Libraries are starting to use Facebook and
Twitter
• But how can social media be harnessed for the
Special Collection?
Answer: PROMOTION!
Special Collections
should use Facebook and
Twitter as bait, to entice
viewers to view larger
parts of the collection on
image platforms like …
8. The Advent of Flickr and Instagram
• Image based
sharing
• Flickr provides to
opportunity to
create sharable
online exhibits, for
free!
• Instagram allows
libraries to connect,
share and learn
from with others in
their community
using hashtags.
9. Even the Smithsonian Does It
• In addition to launching its
own accounts, they also
launched the Flickr
Commons in 2012.
• The Flickr Commons is a
place for Institutions from
around the world to share
content.
• The Smithsonian was really
the Flickr library pioneer,
using it not only to share
but also as a way to store
and display digitized
materials.
No Meme here guys, it’s the
Smithsonian. Have some
human decency.
10. #Specialcollections on Instagram
• Connect with other
special collections
around the world
• Follow hashtags
• #weekofROYGBIV
• #bookfacefriday
• Promote collections
to the public
• Have fun!
11. More than Just Posting Pictures
• You need metadata,
cataloging information
and access points!
• Save the image with a
controlled name, use
jpeg.
• In the image description:
• Link to the catalog
record or your
homepage
• Use hashtags for key
words
• Provide contact info for
your institution
• Link to other material
12. My Project: Kelly Library Flickr
• The Kelly Library is a
great example of a
library using Flickr for
promotion
• Each uploaded image
has appropriate
metadata included in
the description
• All the images are
organized into albums
13. My Project: Kelly Library Flickr
• Next steps for the Kelly: connect with more users
and similar collections
• See what is trending
• Start using other platforms, and created a cross-
platform social media strategy
• Expand the user base while at the same time
digitizing collections!
Editor's Notes
Hi everyone, I’m Emily Newman and I’m here to talk to you about Special Collections and Social Media Sharing! Consider this your crash course , all the basics you need to know in 10 mins.
Ok so first, a few things about me. I’m a grad of Queens with a BAH in History and Classics, which is basically just more history. I’ve been working in libraries since grade 9, working at various Queens libraries through Highschool and Undergrad. I came to Toronto to attend the iSchool in 2014, and have been working at a bunch of different libraries since. My favourite opportunity to date has been at the Kelly library, where I have worked with their special collections.
So, special collections and social media. We all know the stereotype, the librarian, old and dowdy, who doesn’t get technology. We’re going to talk about how that stereotype is changing and can be changed towards a social media savvy librarian.
In terms of special collections, content in the past has been kept away from public use, monitored, restricted, and generally kept safe. This is great, items don’t get stolen, lost or damaged and the collection retains its value. But of what value is the collection if it isn’t used by anyone?
Today: sharing is big (air B&B, carshare, etc) and libraries are jumping on the bandwagon. Most big libraries will have various platforms, although not all are used to their full potential. Special collections within larger libraries are also often passed over. Dedicated, social media savvy librarians are often lacked, but needed to promote a coherent message from each institution.
There are a number of benefits to pairing social media with special collections. Within academic settings especially, you attract students! As you all probably know, young ppl love social media.. Throw a few old book images into someone’s instagram feed in between the pumpkin spice lattes and the blanket scarf selfies, and you might just nab yourself a potential patron! Vintage is cool right now, we can take advantage of that! You can promote exhibits and events on sharing platforms as well, get people in the doors!
You can also connect with other institutions, see what they are doing
learn what you could be doing, and promote yourself! Promote to other instutitions, to users, to donors, to sponsors, to those giving you your money (and its all free!), no advertising budget necessary!
One of the best things modern technology has done for special collections is hands down image based sharing. The two major platforms currently are Flickr and Instagram, as tumblr has slid out of the picture. These platforms have opened so many doors for use and access!
Flickr allows us to share single images, collections, exhibits, series, etc. online in albums. You can also link to your flickr page on your library website or catalog, allowing users another access point into the material.
A hugely popular example of library use of flickr is The Smithsonian and their Flickr Commons. Launced in 2012, the Smithsonian began their own flickr presence as well as the The Flickr Commons, a place for Institutions from around the world to share content.
Instagram, in my opinion is where the real fun is to be had. Instagram allows us to connect with other libraries, get involved with a community, share with other users and see what’s trending in the community. Hastag it up people! Some recent examples: #weekfofROYGBIV, where libraries posted pictures of books of a different colour each day all week; and #bookfacefriday, where people hold books with faces up to their own face and share the picture; or simply add to existing hashtags like #rarebooks and #speccoll. The main thing here is to share cool content and have fun!
So pictures are great, but we’re librarians, we need organization. Start off by creating a strategy for saving the image: where it will be saved and how it will be saved (file type, controlled name, etc). In the uploaded image’s description, link to the item’s catalog record, link contact information (an email) for those wanting to access the material posted, link to other similar material (the exhibit or collection catalog), and use hashtags or @’s to link the image with others that are similar or people.
At the Kelly Library I have been digitizing a number of rare books with unique furniture and metal clasps. After adjusting the image in photshop, I saved them as jpegs with a controlled name, and uploaded them to Flickr. From there I created an album dedicated to Metal Clasps, and added appropriate metadata to each image, including the bibliographic information of the item, a link to the UofT catalog record, and contact information for Kelly Special Collections.
If you’re interested in seeing more, look up KellySMC on Flickr!
The next steps for Kelly Special Collections would be to move onto more platforms, connect with more users, keep up with various trends as they go. This will help them expand their user base and attract attention for their collection.
