The document discusses using social web tools to solve common problems in academic institutions. It provides examples of using Facebook and Twitter to engage users, blogs and RSS feeds to communicate updates, embedding a Google calendar on a website to promote events, and setting up an internal wiki for staff collaboration. Each solution addresses a specific need, such as low event awareness, the desire for user feedback, or ad hoc internal communication. Implementing these affordable social media tools can help libraries and universities interact with users and stay informed without large investments.
An presentation on how the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is using social media and web 2.0 technologies. Including case studies, challenges, lessons learned and future directions
Slides for a two-hour workshop I presenting on Thursday, March 6, 2014. Examples of Twitter gaffes and controversies, as well as step-by-step training in setting up a new Twitter account, and some positive applications of Twitter in a business context.
An presentation on how the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is using social media and web 2.0 technologies. Including case studies, challenges, lessons learned and future directions
Slides for a two-hour workshop I presenting on Thursday, March 6, 2014. Examples of Twitter gaffes and controversies, as well as step-by-step training in setting up a new Twitter account, and some positive applications of Twitter in a business context.
Using Social Media to Build Community Support for School InitiativesCharlene Blohm
This is one of the handouts prepped for the "Using Social Media to Build Community Support for School Initiatives" roundtable discussion during the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) conference held in Austin in March 2009. Props to Kristen Plemon who found the district examples listed here.
Developing E Learning Forums For Global Distance LearningMarvin Dejean
This presentation provides insight on using a combination of web-based elearning platforms with cutting-edge technology to promote global distance learning
The following resource was developed by RESYST for a research uptake and digital communications workshop held in Bangkok, Thailand.
In this resource:
- What is social media?
- Uses for social media in research uptake
- Online global health movements
- RESYST on social media
- How to get the most from twitter
Find more: http://resyst.lshtm.ac.uk/resources/resource-bank-research-uptake
ocial media, including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, is changing the way we communicate, share ideas, and build networks. By exploiting the power and popularity of these tools, we can provide students an enhanced learning experience. This session will focus on how social media can be used in education, both inside and outside the classroom. More specifically, we will offer real-life, tried-and-true examples to demonstrate social media's ability to increase course communication and collaboration; create engaging learning activities; enhance the student experience (e.g. satisfaction); and improve student learning and performance. Note: Attendees must bring their own computers
http://www.nmc.org/preso/8322
Social Media in Crisis Communication: The IAEA's Experience During the Fukush...Rodolfo Quevenco
How the IAEA used social media channels to augment its outreach and crisis communications efforts during the initial weeks of the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Slides for a talk on "Monitoring the Impact of Your Strategies" given by Brian Kelly, UKOLN at an SCA SEO workshop.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/sca-seo-20090629/
To develop best practices for integrating Web 2.0 technologies into the work of local public health departments in order to improve the communication and information sharing within the department, between partner organizations, and to the populations that they serve.
Slides for a talk on "Surveying Our Landscape From Top to Bottom" given by Brian Kelly at a workshop on "Metrics and Social Web Services: Quantitative Evidence for their Use and Impact" held at the Open University, Milton Keynes on 11 July 2011.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/eim-2011-07/
Note the slides were also used at the SOLO 2011 conference - see http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/solo-2011/
Lessons Learned: The FDA.gov Redesign / Forum One Web Executive SeminarForum One
Sanjay Koyani, Director, FDA Web Communications</itunes:author>
<itunes:subtitle>Lessons Learned: The FDA.gov Redesign</itunes:subtitle>
<itunes:summary>Sanjay Koyani, Director, FDA Web Communications, speaks at Forum One's Web Executive Seminar, "Putting Online Audiences First, Again and Again" on May 8, 2008. To learn more about this event, visit http://ow.ly/oY7y . Contact: Sophie Campagne / scampagne@ForumOne.com .
Welcome to the Metrics and Social Web Services workshoplisbk
Welcome slides to be used by Brian Kelly, UKOLN in a workshop on "Metrics and Social Web Services: Quantitative Evidence for their Use & Impact" to be held at the Open University on 11 July 2011.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/eim-2011-07/
Personal or Institutional Use of Social Web Services For Scholarly Communicat...lisbk
Brian Kelly will give a pre-recorded presentation of a talk on "Personal or Institutional Use of Social Web Services For Scholarly Communication?"at the Scholarly Communication Landscape: Opportunities and Challenges symposium to be held at The Manchester Conference Centre, Manchester on 30 November 2010.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/online/scl-2010/
Presentation delivered at 4th international m-libraries conference in Milton Keynes. Shares the results of two surveys on mobile technologies in libraries.
Using Social Media to Build Community Support for School InitiativesCharlene Blohm
This is one of the handouts prepped for the "Using Social Media to Build Community Support for School Initiatives" roundtable discussion during the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) conference held in Austin in March 2009. Props to Kristen Plemon who found the district examples listed here.
Developing E Learning Forums For Global Distance LearningMarvin Dejean
This presentation provides insight on using a combination of web-based elearning platforms with cutting-edge technology to promote global distance learning
The following resource was developed by RESYST for a research uptake and digital communications workshop held in Bangkok, Thailand.
In this resource:
- What is social media?
- Uses for social media in research uptake
- Online global health movements
- RESYST on social media
- How to get the most from twitter
Find more: http://resyst.lshtm.ac.uk/resources/resource-bank-research-uptake
ocial media, including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, is changing the way we communicate, share ideas, and build networks. By exploiting the power and popularity of these tools, we can provide students an enhanced learning experience. This session will focus on how social media can be used in education, both inside and outside the classroom. More specifically, we will offer real-life, tried-and-true examples to demonstrate social media's ability to increase course communication and collaboration; create engaging learning activities; enhance the student experience (e.g. satisfaction); and improve student learning and performance. Note: Attendees must bring their own computers
http://www.nmc.org/preso/8322
Social Media in Crisis Communication: The IAEA's Experience During the Fukush...Rodolfo Quevenco
How the IAEA used social media channels to augment its outreach and crisis communications efforts during the initial weeks of the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Slides for a talk on "Monitoring the Impact of Your Strategies" given by Brian Kelly, UKOLN at an SCA SEO workshop.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/sca-seo-20090629/
To develop best practices for integrating Web 2.0 technologies into the work of local public health departments in order to improve the communication and information sharing within the department, between partner organizations, and to the populations that they serve.
Slides for a talk on "Surveying Our Landscape From Top to Bottom" given by Brian Kelly at a workshop on "Metrics and Social Web Services: Quantitative Evidence for their Use and Impact" held at the Open University, Milton Keynes on 11 July 2011.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/eim-2011-07/
Note the slides were also used at the SOLO 2011 conference - see http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/conferences/solo-2011/
Lessons Learned: The FDA.gov Redesign / Forum One Web Executive SeminarForum One
Sanjay Koyani, Director, FDA Web Communications</itunes:author>
<itunes:subtitle>Lessons Learned: The FDA.gov Redesign</itunes:subtitle>
<itunes:summary>Sanjay Koyani, Director, FDA Web Communications, speaks at Forum One's Web Executive Seminar, "Putting Online Audiences First, Again and Again" on May 8, 2008. To learn more about this event, visit http://ow.ly/oY7y . Contact: Sophie Campagne / scampagne@ForumOne.com .
Welcome to the Metrics and Social Web Services workshoplisbk
Welcome slides to be used by Brian Kelly, UKOLN in a workshop on "Metrics and Social Web Services: Quantitative Evidence for their Use & Impact" to be held at the Open University on 11 July 2011.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/eim-2011-07/
Personal or Institutional Use of Social Web Services For Scholarly Communicat...lisbk
Brian Kelly will give a pre-recorded presentation of a talk on "Personal or Institutional Use of Social Web Services For Scholarly Communication?"at the Scholarly Communication Landscape: Opportunities and Challenges symposium to be held at The Manchester Conference Centre, Manchester on 30 November 2010.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/online/scl-2010/
Presentation delivered at 4th international m-libraries conference in Milton Keynes. Shares the results of two surveys on mobile technologies in libraries.
How To Network And Market Yourself Using Online ToolsJo Alcock
Conference paper to accompany presentation given at New Professionals Conference 2009. Introduces online professional networking, share my own experiences of blogging, microblogging and social networking, and gives ten top tips for online professional networking.
Learning Resources Forum - experimenting with mobile technologies in librariesJo Alcock
Presentation for Jisc Learning Resources Forum event on 25th March 2013. Presentation covers numerous examples of mobile technologies in libraries and considers next steps in planning to implement mobile technologies in your own library.
Presentation given at Internet Librarian International pre-conference workshop on MOOCs. I was invited to give a presentation from the perspective of a learner who has studied by using MOOCs. The presentation provides background information to me as a MOOC learner, and an overview of my experiences studying for two different Coursera courses.
The JISC Mobile Infrastructure for Libraries programme is a series of projects in UK supporting initiatives that utilise mobile computing in academic libraries. The presentation will give a brief overview of the institutional projects, and discuss the broader community support project which aims to help support and engage the emerging m-library community by reviewing and synthesising existing research and evidence-based guidance.
Managing Change for CILIP West Midlands Regional Member NetworkJo Alcock
Presentation on the changes to CILIP Professional Registration, and some tips for managing change. Delivered on 5th February 2014 for CILIP West Midlands.
ARLIS Experimenting with mobile technologies in librariesJo Alcock
Curious about QR codes? Apprehensive about the potential use of mobile apps? This session will explain some of the ways mobile technologies can be used to support library services including mobile access to resources; using QR codes around the library; and using mobile devices to support roving enquiries. Whether you are a complete novice to mobile technologies or are already using them, the session should give you some new, low cost ideas to try out at your library and introduce you to the work of the JISC-funded m-library community support project.
How To Network And Market Yourself Using Online ToolsJo Alcock
Presentation for New Professionals Conference 2009 - introduction to online professional networking, focusing on blogging, microblogging and social networking. Includes information from my own experiences and top tips for online professional networking.
New professionals - build your network using social mediaJo Alcock
Professional networking is an important part of any career, but is particularly important at the beginning of a career to develop knowledge and build contacts within the profession. With the development and growth of social media and Web 2.0 technologies, professional networking can be achieved virtually as well as physically.
As a keen blogger and microblogger since 2007, I hope to share my experiences and some useful tips on building an online professional network. The session will begin with an introduction to social media, followed by practical examples of how blogging and microblogging can be used to build and expand your professional network and bring opportunities for development. The second part of the workshop will be more practical in nature, promoting sharing of useful resources and contacts as well as tips for how to get the most out of social media.
The focus of the session is for new professionals as I will discuss my own experiences as a new professional, but anyone is welcome to attend.
Jisc Collections workshop - Accessing library resources via mobileJo Alcock
Presentation given on 16th July at Jisc Collections mobile workshop. Provides an overview of some of the work researching ways to share information about accessing library resources via mobile, and some examples of different approaches from library content providers.
WhoAmI.com - marketing yourself and your skills onlineJo Alcock
Presentation about personal branding, including tips for developing brand values and an elevator pitch. Also covers ways of utilising social media to express your personal brand.
Presentation abstract and details:
Many librarians use social media to market our libraries, but what about marketing ourselves as librarians? As we make the necessary shift from marketing our products to marketing our services, it becomes increasingly important to market ourselves and our skills, both to our current and potential library users and as a way of establishing ourselves within the profession. This session will introduce the value of having a personal brand, and discuss ways of utilising social media to express your brand.
The session will begin with an introduction to marketing and a discussion about why librarians need to market themselves (and who to). Each participant will then identify their strengths, and develop a personal 30 second elevator pitch before we move on to consider elements of each person’s individual brand. The session will conclude with tips and advice to bring it all together and to help convey your personal brand through social media.
Slides from a lecture on social media applied to University career centers. Subjects: Why Social Media? | Strategy elements | What can we do with social media? | Potential problems | Focus: Facebook and LinkedIn
My presentation from the 2011 Special Libraries Association conference on NASA libraries and use of social media. Includes tips for libraries on using social media to communicate with customers and increase awareness of - and support for - library services.
The presentation was delivered November 13, 2009 by Marlena Reed and Sharon Goldmacher of Atlanta based marketing firm communications 21 to the National Credit Reporting Association.
Integrating Social Media Into Your WebsiteTechSoup
You can view the recording by clicking on the link to the right. You'll also see a link to the PowerPoint presentation and audio file. Please post additional questions to the Emerging Technology Forums.
Leading with Technology: Social Media Tools and Mobile Apps for 21st Century...Cheryl Peltier-Davis
There is significant value in using Social Media and Mobile Apps in social, political and economic spheres of activity. Within these areas, social media tools such as Blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook share a common usage in supporting internal communication, collaboration, news aggregation, teaching, learning and knowledge sharing. Are there similar benefits for using social media within the spheres of Leadership and Management in Libraries? How are 21st century Library leaders utilising social media to enhance services in their organisations and connect and communicate with stakeholders? What are the opportunities and challenges associated with using social media in Libraries? This presentation seeks to address these issues.
It highlights some of the core competencies (professional and personal) that is required for library leaders to function effectively in a technologically driven environment and introduces emerging trends and concepts - cloud storage, crowdfunding, makerspaces, MOOCs, news aggregation, photo and video sharing, self-publishing, social networking, video conferencing, visualization - that can be readily adopted and adapted (‘mashed up’) in libraries and other knowledge repositories. The goal is to develop and share a toolkit of resources for 21st century library leaders who are willing to use Social Media and Mobile Apps to engage their communities, reshape and add value to the effective delivery of innovative library services.
Social Media Overview
CLEO’s use of Social Media – CLEONet examples
Other Social Media Examples from the sector
Discussion Questions
For More Information: Suggested articles, sites and tools mentioned
Session 1: Gary Shochat (PAU) The basics of setting up a web strategy and com...Web2LLP
First session of the Web2LLP online training course on web strategies and maximising the social media presence of Lifelong Learning Projects.
Topic: Setting up a web strategy and communication action plan
Author: Gary Shochat (PAU Education)
Website: http://web2llp.eu/training/online-session-1-web-strategy
Igniting Internal Communications with Effective Social Media StrategiesSandra Fathi
Presentation given at the Strategic Internal Communications Conference in Chicago on March 15th, 2011 by Sandra Fathi. Presentation discusses effective uses and strategies for incorporating social media in internal communications initiatives
The Professional Development Cycle - Central Banking TrainingJo Alcock
In an age when researchers have a wealth of information at their fingertips via the internet, librarians need to show that their services are still valuable. Facilitating access to digital services, such as online databases and digital journal stores, may require librarians to acquire new skills, re-train and adapt their workflow. In this interactive workshop, the group will consider the new professional skills and competencies which librarians can benefit from, and discuss ways to plan, prioritise, participate in, record and reflect on professional development activities. Delegates will leave the session with ideas for developing new skills and competencies, and tools and techniques to support them.
Developing leadership skills through professional engagementJo Alcock
Presentation for CILIP in Wales 2012 Conference on leadership. Discusses the ways I have begun to develop leadership skills through my professional engagement activities.
Managing yourself - how to be productive with your timeJo Alcock
As librarians and information workers, we are experts at managing and organising collections. But what about our own information? How do we manage incoming information such as emails, blog posts, paperwork etc.? How do we prioritise what tasks we should be doing? How do we break down projects into more manageable tasks and track our progress? This session will introduce you to the basics of David Allen's Getting Things Done principles and consider how you can apply this in your own work. It will include active discussion and practical examples of some of the tools you can use to help you Get Things Done.
Developing ourselves: productivity for librariansJo Alcock
From ILI 2011 programme:
Alcock wonders if it’s bad to be a twit and explores how you can use microblogging and social software to Get Things Done. This philosophy, articulated by David Allen in 2001, works on the principle that to progress toward our goals we must effectively manage incoming information. Alcock, a self-confessed productivity tool geek, shares her experiences with a variety of different tools and demonstrates how to integrate the best of these tools into the research librarian workflow.
Experimenting with mobile technologies in librariesJo Alcock
Presentation for CoFHE 2011 conference with numerous examples of mobile technologies being used in libraries. All resources available at: http://www.delicious.com/tag/cofhemobapps
Presentation prepared for a digital literacy training session focusing on managing and sharing online information, including RSS, social bookmarking, and online sharing tools.
Are you suffering with information overload? Trying to keep abreast of the latest research papers, industry or educational news, updates from professional organisations, conferences, government reports, and ever-changing websites can be a challenge. RSS feeds are an excellent way of bringing relevant content to your desktop and keeping you up-to-date with new items of interest in your teaching or research subject areas, allowing you to control what information you access and how and when you access it.
In this workshop, participants will learn how to use RSS feeds, and bookmarking and citation tools, to help organise and manage online research material. This practical session will look at how to find and use feeds from key journals, publisher websites, and online library catalogues, as well as how to make the most of Learning Centre’s electronic resources to export, tag, and share your articles and links.
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
This slide is special for master students (MIBS & MIFB) in UUM. Also useful for readers who are interested in the topic of contemporary Islamic banking.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
Francesca Gottschalk from the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation presents at the Ask an Expert Webinar: How can education support child empowerment?
Safalta Digital marketing institute in Noida, provide complete applications that encompass a huge range of virtual advertising and marketing additives, which includes search engine optimization, virtual communication advertising, pay-per-click on marketing, content material advertising, internet analytics, and greater. These university courses are designed for students who possess a comprehensive understanding of virtual marketing strategies and attributes.Safalta Digital Marketing Institute in Noida is a first choice for young individuals or students who are looking to start their careers in the field of digital advertising. The institute gives specialized courses designed and certification.
for beginners, providing thorough training in areas such as SEO, digital communication marketing, and PPC training in Noida. After finishing the program, students receive the certifications recognised by top different universitie, setting a strong foundation for a successful career in digital marketing.
1.4 modern child centered education - mahatma gandhi-2.pptx
Social web case study: solving problems for your institution
1. Social web case study:
solving problems for your institution
Jo Alcock
Evidence Base
Birmingham City University
2. Introduction
Personal use of social web
• Blog at Joeyanne Libraryanne
• Tweet as @joeyanne
Institutional use of social web
• Keen to introduce social web in workplace
• Implemented social web at current and previous
workplaces (University libraries)
3. About solutions, not tools
Social web shouldn’t be used simply because a
tool is available; it should only be used if it meets
a need.
Each of my examples follow the same structure:
Benefit
Solution
Need
Problem
8. Blogs
Blog used to deliver updates about the collection or service. Easy
way to keep content fresh and deliver news conveniently to end
users.
9. Event promotion
Low awareness of events
Central place with details of all events
Google calendar embedded into website
Website always up-to-date, easy for staff
to update, users can subscribe
10. Google Calendar
Embedded into website – easy to use (similar to Outlook for adding
events), ability for people to subscribe or add events to their
calendar.
11. The best bit?
Engagement
e.g. FB/Twitter
Communication
e.g. Blog/RSS
Event promotion
e.g. Google Calendar
Website
Many of these solutions can work together
14. Gathering feedback
Would like feedback from users
Monitor reputation
RSS and alerting services
Know what people are saying, giving
valuable feedback
15. Monitoring services
Set up searches to receive alerts when certain keywords are
mentioned (such as your organisation).
16. Thank you for listening
Presentation: http://slideshare.net/joeyanne
Images from Iconfinder
Jo Alcock
http://www.joeyanne.co.uk
@joeyanne
Editor's Notes
Introduction to my blog and Twitter.
Skills and knowledge learnt through these gave me ideas of how to solve some of the problems I was experiencing on a day-to-day basis in my working life. This presentation will share my experiences and some of the ways I have used social web to solve some every day problems within my institutions.
As Ann mentioned in her presentations this morning, social web tools aren’t something that should just be used for the sake of it; they should only be used when appropriate.
I’d like to present some of the examples from my own experience of when social media has been a suitable solution to a problem. Each example will follow the same structure to demonstrate why there was a problem, what we needed, what the solution was, and how it benefitted us.
I’d like to give examples both for problems relating to our communication with our users, and also problems internally for staff.
A common issue in most (if not all) organisations is ensuring you engage with your users or customers. The easiest way to achieve this is to go to where your users already are – you may do this physically, but do you do it virtually?
So the solution here is to discover where your users are in the virtual world, and see if you can join their conversation there.
Some suggestions include Facebook and Twitter which I’ll explain a little more in a minute.
These help enable a two way conversation with users – we can get information about our services out to them, and they can provide feedback which is useful to us. We need to encourage this sort of feedback, even if it is negative – it’s useful for informing future decisions, and if it’s in your space you will know about it and can perhaps put things right.
Facebook now allows anyone to set up a “public profile” which means it is possible to use Facebook for organisations or specific purposes. Facebook was one of the first uses of the social web for the Learning Centres at University of Wolverhampton. We wanted a way of reaching our users where they already were. In our case, a walk through our IT suite would quickly identify where our students were – on Facebook. The University already had a presence, which had a network of thousands. We worked with Marketing and Communications to set up a page for the library, and a number of library staff from different areas became administrators of the page. Functionality has changed a few times since 2007 when we set up the page but the principle features have remained the same – communicating with people who “like” the page, delivering news and updates to them, details or events and links to website etc., and providing somewhere “official” for discussions.
Another option is a Twitter account – a particularly good tool for communication (though only if your users are there already, not quite the mass appeal of Facebook yet).
Twitter enables short updates and is increasingly being used by organisations to improve communication. You can monitor what people are saying about your brand, get involved in conversation about your products/services, and offer assistance to potential users/customers.
It’s also a good way to get involved in a community – by replying to and retweeting other’s tweets.
If you are going to use Twitter, use it little but often; this is far more effective and people expect quick responses to their tweets.
Both Facebook and Twitter can be used to update users, but it’s more of a secondary feature. So how can we make sure there is a definitive place to ensure people are kept up-to-date with our news?
What you need is a convenient, efficient tool to convey these messages easily to a large mass.
One solution to this is to use a blog or a news feed. Some websites have a feed, but for most it is easiest to set up a blog as these are usually much easier to update than a website.
The benefits of a blog are that users can choose to subscribe to the updates if they wish, in a convenient format for them. Many blogs can be subscribed to either by email or RSS feed. There are also easy for staff to administer, and can be used to encourage further discussion if you enable comments.
This is a blog I set up when I was a subject librarian responsible for a specific collection of teaching resources. The collection was going through a major update, and I needed a way to keep people up-to-date on developments. I used a free wordpress.com blog, created some information on the page about the collection, and started blogging. I used it to highlight new or noteworthy stock, developments in the collection, useful online resources, and other general news. Trainee teachers (and their lecturers) could subscribe by RSS or email to keep updated.
At my previous workplace, we ran a series of information skills workshops but we struggled to find a way to let people know about the events, particularly if they weren’t frequent visitors to the library.
We needed a central place online to keep a record of all our events.
We decided to use Google Calendar due to its ease of use and its functionality – you can embed it into your website and people can easily subscribe to the whole calendar or just add one event to their own calendar.
With very minimal effort from us, this meant that the website was always up-to-date (including last minute changes) and there is a central place to go for event information.
This is a screenshot of the calendar as it is embedded into the website. This shows the events during November, but you can also change the view to just show events for the week or a list of all events.
The pop up shows the details of the event (this is very minimal - more can be added if necessary), and enables people to add the event to their own calendar.
The best bit about using these social web tools to solve these problems is that you can then bring them together. The glue that holds them together is RSS and various widgets which enable you to link them together.
So you can pull in your blog, your calendar and your tweets to your website, publicise your events and blog posts on Twitter or Facebook etc.
RSS also enables anyone to subscribe to any of these individually so that they don’t have to keep visiting lots of different places.
Moving on to a couple of internal problems that can be solved using social web tools...
The issue I’m referring to here is I am sure something that you will be familiar with, it’s something that breeds confusion and can lead to gossip. You know the situation - a colleague mentions something which has changed (maybe a policy change) and you weren’t aware. You’d like to find out more but don’t know who to ask and wonder why you hadn’t been aware of the change, chinese whispers and messages from other people cause things to blow out of proportion and no one is sure what is fact and what is fiction. This isn’t the only issue with staff communication, I’m sure you can think of many more problems you have encountered.
What you need is a collaboratively working space that all staff use as their main communication tool – the go to place for all up-to-date operational information.
One solution for this is a wiki or an intranet such as Sharepoint.
This will help improve communication and document control, ensuring staff are well informed.
At Evidence Base, we use Sharepoint for internal communication. The main uses for us are the shared documents and the calendar which we use to keep each other updated on our activities. We also share common links.
Sharepoint is an expensive option (something our organisation already pays for), but you can achieve very similar results using other wikis (such as PB Works) or other online intranet services.
A common complaint from many service based organisations is that they don’t get much feedback from their users apart from the odd comment form which usually contains complaints.
You need to monitor your reputation and one way to do this is online.
You can set up RSS and alerting service and use these to receive updates whenever someone mentions those keywords. You could use this for your organisation (this was something I did at my previous workplace) or you could use keywords or phrases, maybe for a particular feature or event you are hosting.
This means you will know what people are saying about you online and you can use this as valuable feedback for future.
Google alerts is a good tool to set up searches across the web. You can use search algorithms such as a phrase search and can choose to receive alerts by RSS or by email (if you choose email you can select the frequency).
You can also set up searches on Twitter for keywords or phrases, as well as setting up saved searches for certain hashtags and archives for hashtags which is particularly useful for getting feedback on your events.
I hope that has provided you with an idea of some of the ways I have used social tools within my workplaces; hopefully it’s given you some ideas to take away with you. Thank you.