Web 2.0 tools that help you promote your library program.

1. TOP 10 Karen’s Web 2.0 Tools … For Promoting Programs & Services

2. #10

4. The UPSIDE This REALLY is where students hang out online You can embed a Facebook feed onto your homepage Groups offer the ability for you to have followers and avoid friends With the appropriate timing, your post may be a very useful resource The DOWNSIDE Not easy to gather followers If blocked, must populate all information from home (make sure you get approval to host a page) Students may feel as if you are going to see all of their feeds Turning down friend requests may hurt feelings.

6. #9

8. The UPSIDE Publishers are coming out with a ton of really beautifully produced book trailers and author interviews and posting them onto youtube Nice tool to embed into your lessons and have students use! You can embed a Book Trailer and Author Interviews link onto your homepage You can put the videos onto your school announcements to promote literacy and excitement about reading. The DOWNSIDE Student developed trailers often infringe copyright – you must be cautious to follow copyright guidelines Sometimes trailers give away too much information.

10. #8

12. The UPSIDE SO Much FUN – share books that you are reading, recently bought, etc. with your friends and students. Nice tool to embed into your lessons and have students use! You can embed a Goodreads feed onto your homepage Aligns with Twitter and Facebook Not overwhelming The DOWNSIDE There are competitors – other people may be on Shelfari, etc. and they do not align.

14. #7

16. The UPSIDE Create surveys or forms for your students and teachers to use as needed and keep posted on your webpage. There are many free platforms to achieve this – I use SchoolWires because it is our web software but you can use Survey Monkey, Google Docs, etc. Great for both long term and short term survey needs. Google Docs allows you to embed your survey. The DOWNSIDE Sometimes the analysis capabilities vary and it can be frustrating to sort groups of data, etc. Sometimes while a site is free, additional features require a paid upgrade.

18. #6

20. The UPSIDE Compile all of your resource links for any one project into a visual pathfinder/portal for easy remote access for both students or staff (great resource for professional development) Embeddable into a Glog onto a webpage or into a wiki Great way to differentiate instruction. Have students create their own Glog to compile information on one specific concept or unit. Promote your new books using a Glog The DOWNSIDE The design can look elementary and ultimately make the content seem more elementary than it may be – be sure to make the appearance of the website align with the age group the content is directed towards. The glog is only as good as the content – make sure to ask students to produce quality work in addition to creating a quality design

22. #5

24. The UPSIDE Great PLN – share ideas, develop content together. Nice tool to embed into your lessons and have students begin to understand the power of content and information development It can be great to develop a wiki with a specific focus (Kindle wiki, Scarlet Letter wiki) The DOWNSIDE Sometimes every wiki looks the same – it is difficult to make yours unique If a lot of content is populating the pages, it gets REALLY overwhelming to perform separate searches – a Google Custom Search might be a better way to aggregate a search.

26. #4

28. The UPSIDE Great PLN – share ideas, get help, develop a really wide network that you wouldn’t normally have. You can embed a Twitter feed onto your homepage Nice tool to embed into your lessons and have students use to research professionals in varied fields Helps develop your library personality: Are you going to post book trailers, tutorials, blog posts, etc.? Can keep in tune with a conference when you cannot be there in person The DOWNSIDE Gets REALLY overwhelming A lot of people post silly things – you can stop following if disappointed.

30. #3

33. The UPSIDE They are a really easy way to present information about your program (best practices) to others in a remote professional development setting Multiple platforms are available, many through your local IU (who will also help you advertise the session) You can record the session for anyone to access at a later time. The DOWNSIDE Can be scary to go through the technological learning curve, try to attend and participate in live webinars prior to presenting your own.

34. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: HOW TO WATCH PRERECORDED WEBINARS VIDEO

35. #2

37. The UPSIDE Offer students/staff remote tutorials to get help from you when you are not available Great way to align library services with cyber courses You can upload screencasts which model navigation Helps develop your library personality: Are you going to post book trailers, tutorials, align with guidance dept, etc.? Nice security options (private or public, remove commenting, etc.) The DOWNSIDE Consider your content so that fluff does not outweigh the serious/helpful posts If you post videos with poor resolution or editing you may impact the image of your library program

39. #1

41. The UPSIDE Great for: encouraging literacy, publicizing new books and databases, reviewing books and technology. Even if you don’t have followers, it is a nice way to organize your path and a wonderful platform to direct students towards. Great for aligning with curricular goals/lessons Multiple blog platforms, some which align with Twitter and Facebook The DOWNSIDE It is difficult to get a following As with any public commentary, you need to always consider content. You can easily forget when and where you posted – it might be easier to transfer info to a wiki versus search archives. Requires a regular update