1. You Can’t Do It Alone:
A Collaborative Approach to
Academic Music Library Outreach
Rahni B. Kennedy
rahni.kennedy@gmail.com
2. “We’re here! We have terrific materials! We have wonderful
programs! Everyone should be coming to us!” (Trotta, 1993)
“Gone are the days when libraries can simply open their
doors and expect to be perceived as the number one option
for information services. With fierce competition for funding
and more people assuming everything offered by a library
can be found online, libraries are feeling the pressure to blow
their own horn.” (Hallmark, Schwartz, & Roy, 2007)
“We are here, we have great stuff, we’ll save you time, there
is a world beyond Google…” (Castonguay, 2013)
3. “Outreach is the process whereby a library service
investigates the activities of the community it serves
and becomes fully involved in supporting community
activities, whether or not centered on library premises.”
(Anderson, 2010)
What is “outreach”?
4. Two types of outreach activities (Carter & Seaman, 2011)
Services offered by libraries
Promotion of these services
What is “outreach”?
5. Primary User Group
Music Students, Faculty, and Staff
Needs (Lai and Chan, 2010)
Undergrads – Scores, Multimedia, Books/Online listening
Grad Students – Electronic Journals, Books, Online listening
Faculty – Books, Scores, Multimedia
Define the Community
6. Secondary Group 1
University community (Patillo, 2005)
Basic instructional materials
Music in the classroom
Recorded music for various activities
Define the Community
7. Secondary Group 2
Outside university community
General Information
Browse collection
Scores
Recordings
Define the Community
9. Facebook
Three domains for relationship building (Phillips, 2011)
Library – Messages related to the library itself
Student – Messages directed at students
Community – Messages about the university and local
community
“…Facebook offers a dynamic environment for
academic libraries to cultivate relationships with
students.”
Social Media
10. Facebook
Messages in the library domain
52% of the posts reflected messages about library
services
22% of the posts reflected announcement messages
13% of the posts reflected the library’s core values and
competency in emerging technologies
10% of the posts dealt with library promotion
Social Media
11. Twitter
It is easy to syndicate
It is easy to use
It can be updated via SMS
“Twitter has a broadcast approach which is a way to
control what information is being sent out.” (Mazar, 2010)
Social Media
12. YouTube
Promotional videos created by libraries (Colburn & Haines, 2012)
General Promotion/Appreciation
Orientation/Tour
Patron-Generated
Promotion of Service/Collection
Event Documentation
News
Instruction/Tutorial
Social Media
13.
14.
15. Instagram
Currently the third most popular social network used
by U.S. college students
Higher engagement level than Facebook or Twitter
(Saloman, 2013)
Social Media
16. Acquiring the Audience (Castonguay, 2013)
Other Music Library accounts
Other University departments
Local community
Other institutions
Local businesses
Public Libraries
Social Media
20. References
Anderson, C. L. (2010). Reaching out: Programming and partnerships. Journal of the
Library Administration & Management Section, 6(2), 45-49.
Carter T.M., & Seaman, P. (2011). The management and support of outreach in
academic libraries. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 51(2), 163-171.
Castonguay, Remi. (2013). Social media: Strategies for success for music libraries, or
beyond creating an account. Fontes Artis Musicae, 60(3), 163-172.
Colburn, S., & Haines, L. (2012). Measuring libraries’ use of YouTube as a promotional
tool: An exploratory study and proposed best practices. Journal of Web
Librarianship, 6, 5-31. doi:10.1080/19322909.2012.641789
Hallmark, E. K., Schwartz, L., & Roy, L. (2007). The basics of a marketing and outreach
plan for the UT fine arts library. Texas Library Journal, 83(1), 40-43.
21. References
Lai, K., & Chan K. (2010). Do you know your music users' needs? A library user survey
that helps enhance a user-centered music collection. Journal of Academic
Librarianship, 36(1), 63-69.
Mazar, R. (2010). Libraries and social media. Access, 16(1), 10-12.
Patillo, E. (2005). UH music library outreach: A two-way street. Texas Library Journal,
81(1), 28-30.
Phillips, N. K. (2011). Academic library use of Facebook: Building relationships with
students. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37(6), 512-522.
Saloman, D. (2013). Moving on from Facebook: Using Instagram to connect with
undergraduates and engage in teaching and learning. College & Research
Libraries News, 74(8), 408-412.
Trotta, M. (1993). Managing library outreach programs. New York: Neal-Schuman
Publishers, Inc.
Editor's Notes
This is probably the sentiment of every librarian. [Read slide] There is something here probably for someone from every walk of life. However, it seems we really only keep seeing the same people over and over again. In order to sustain a diverse user group, we must extend out to all possible users through outreach.
It is important to have a definition of outreach since it can have many different meanings to people. [read slide] There are a couple of things that can be taken away from this definition. “Investigate the activities of the community it serves” is making reference to user needs. “Whether or not centered on library premises” means that activities may not necessarily be on library property.
Services include (1) any assistance with research or information, (2) the resources available at a library, and (3) library facilities.Promotion of services involves marketing or the use of public relations techniques to promote these services, resources, and facilities.Some may say that the first definition is a form of outreach, but this is more of liaison activities. Most of the focus will be on the second definition.
Going back to our initial definition it asks to investigate the activities of the community. This is the primary user group that we are all familiar with – music students, faculty and staff. This is just one study, but it gives us some insight. [read slide]
This group’s needs are general and instructional materials. These are mostly non-music majors taking music classes.Primary school education majors need information on how to implement music in the classroom. Other students use for various activities including theater and dance students needing music to accompany performances.
Like the previous group, they have general information needs and basic instructional materials. Also they want to browse the collection since coming to an academic library is more of a trip for them (as in they will spend more time).
Though using it for facebook, Phillips breaks down the usage of face into 3 domains which can be applied to our user groups. Library - As might be expected, a significant portion of status messages are related to the library itself, including operations, what the library has to offer, and highlighting library values. Within the library theme, messages contain announcements, and information about the collection and information resources, instructional sessions and other events, which are often presented in interesting, creative, and fun ways.Student- Within the student domain (messages directed at students), there is a limited amount of mentioning the library. The focus of this domain is to get the attention of students in a more casual manner. This was mainly accomplished through the use of pictures. Also, the libraries posed questions to students to encourage direct interaction.Community - The community domain focuses on messages about the university and local community. The purpose here is to get students to think about issues concerning the university outside academics and events of local and national interest.[read quote]
Instagram is currently the third most popular social network used by U.S. college students. While it still trails Facebook and Twitter in terms of adoption rate, the level of engagement on the network appears to be higher (Saloman, 2013).Pictures of facilities keep alumni on top of aesthetic changesPictures of people put faces to names
“Unfortunately, audience building is arduous and a task which one needs to work on with consistency. Furthermore, it’s not enough to connect, it’s more important to stay in touch and be interested in what your peers do.”
“Orientation week is an exciting and high-energy time. To reach first-year students during this week requires an approach that matches this level of energy and excitement while also thoughtfully addressing the circumstances and emotions that students may be experiencing.” (collins)
