anythink techfest 2009

Using Videos to Build Communities in Your LibraryPresented by 

Melissa Kiser, Information Technology LibrarianAllen County Public Library

TechFest 2009Anythink: A Revolution of Rangeview LibrariesOctober 12, 2009

Let me introduce myself

@mekiser

The library is part of a larger community.

Let’s recognize and act as if libraries are vital.

We have two jobs

Know our communitiesMake the tech work for us

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

• 340,000 residents in the county

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

• 340,000 residents in the county

• Unassuming midwestern town

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

• 340,000 residents in the county

• Unassuming midwestern town

• Average home sells for $115,000

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

• 340,000 residents in the county

• Unassuming midwestern town

• Average home sells for $115,000

• Cost of living 9% below national average

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

• 340,000 residents in the county

• Unassuming midwestern town

• Average home sells for $115,000

• Cost of living 9% below national average

• 87 parks, 10 colleges

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

• 340,000 residents in the county

• Unassuming midwestern town

• Average home sells for $115,000

• Cost of living 9% below national average

• 87 parks, 10 colleges• All-America City

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

“fat” and “dumb” – and fixing it

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana

How do you know your community?

news

How do you know your community?

news newspaper

How do you know your community?

news newspaper blogs

How do you know your community?

news newspaper blogs people

How do you know your community?

news newspaper blogs people Twitter

How do you know your community?

news newspaper blogs people Twitter radio

How do you know your community?

news newspaper blogs people Twitter radio TV

Getting to know your community

Getting to know your community

Getting to know your community

Getting to know your community

Getting to know your community

Getting to know your community

Getting to know your community

Do the fun stuff you always do!

Getting to know your community

Let’s make library videos

The Bike Summit video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_YEAGEIVVw

The farmer’s market video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVXNiw-u-dE

The Tin Caps video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jreNEl_3FqU

Diaper Daze video

The e-mail video

The Pay-for-Print video

Jobs, Dreams, and You

http://tscrobinson.com/

Why video?

• Good PR• It’s an item of interest on the homepage• Keeps ‘em coming back• Friendly, personal, makes patron feel

like someone is talking to them• Incorporates community stuff into

library video• Ties the community back to the library

How I do it

• Pick a format and stick to it• introduce myself• state date of video/events• list big events going on• be at an event that you mentioned the

week before• group events together if possible (all

at one agency, all one type of event, all one age group)

How I do it

• talk about a service we offer, physically or virtually; examples:

– Dunkin Donuts– Book Clubs page (Book Talk feature)– PINs--gave lots of reminders before deadline– SRP--mentioned in previous four videos

Video-making tips

• talk as if the patron is standing in front of me• incorporate something I enjoy• planning in the future to do videos incorporating my

running, my new kitten, camping• nothing too fancy-schmancy• needs to look very casual and off the cuff,

"man on the street" feel• have A LOT of energy • keep them relatively short to accommodate attention

spans

Read Sean’s book!

Creating Library Videos and Webcasts

Neal-Schuman Publishers, January 2010

Video game tournament

Fort Wayne Area Artists Database

Tips for Tough Times

Gallery podcast

Rock the Plaza

Rock the Plaza

Unemployment claims

Blog everything

• Holiday closings around town

• Community events

• Downtown parking

Catalog enhancements

LibraryThing for Libraries

LibraryThing Reviews

Spell checker and “If we don’t have it”

Easy Login

E-Commerce

Patron comments blog

Book wall

Sirsi SOPAC

Google Analytics

Thanksand have fun!