FRANKENTERPConnecting with Students through an ImmersiveSocial Media Challenge

T H E P R O B L E M

Academic libraries commonly struggle to increase awareness among undergraduates of the many ways a library can help them succeed. This is especially true of first-year or beginning students at a large public university where the sheer scale of offerings and complexity of the landscape can overwhelm and intimidate.

We have a strong information literacy and research instruction program that reaches thousands of incoming students through their English courses, but surveys in our Terrapin Learning Commons and anecdotal evidence have shown that students still have little understanding or appreciation of the full range of library spaces, services, and resources available to them.

T H E A U D I E N C E

Last fall, the university welcomed an incoming fresh-man class of 4,714 students. We know these younger students rely on social media and smartphones to communicate and engage. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center media survey of teens, 95% of teens report they have a smartphone or access to one. Roughly one-third say they visit Snapchat (35%) or YouTube (32%) most often. Our own data showed Snapchat losing ground to Instagram after Instagram introduced its popular Stories functionality.

We also know members of this age demographic are concerned about anxiety, depression, and academic performance. A 2018 Pew Research Center survey of teens found that 70% of teens see anxiety and depression as a major problem in their social circles and over 60% reported they feel pressure to get good grades. By comparison, 29% reported they feel pressure to look good and 27% feel pressure to fit in socially. In light of these stressors, the Libraries try to provide services that support our students’ overall well-being in addition to their academic needs.

T H E G O A L S

Drive conversation at the beginning of the semester Measurements: Instagram impressions and reach, story views

Increase awareness of library services among students Measurements: Number of challenge participants, number of challenges completed

Position the Libraries as a fun, friendly, and supportive online presence at the beginning of the academic year Measurements: Follower growth, engagement metrics, geofilter uses

Introduce students to Frankenreads, an international celebration of the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Measurements: Participation in Frankenreads events

Access to Smart-

phone

Anxiety/ Depres-

sion

Use Snapchat

most

Good grades

UseYouTube

most

Look good

Fit in socially

95% 35% 32%

Teen Media Usage 2018

Major Teen Stressors 2018

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SPONSORS

University Libraries

Friends of the Libraries

Division of Research

Office of Undergraduate Studies

Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities

College of Arts & Humanities

Departments of English and

Women’s & Gender Studies

Center for Literary & Comparative Studies

Center for Synergy

Program in Film Studies

Honors Humanities

Honors College

Pepsi Fund for Campus Enhancement

The Dairy

EXTERNAL SUPPORT

Old Greenbelt Theater

American University

George Mason University

Georgetown University

Keats-Shelley Association of America

National Endowment for the Humanities

T H E S T R A T E G Y

For the last four years, the University Libraries have run a themed social media challenge to set a friendly, engaging and supportive tone at the beginning of the school year. Building on previous efforts and testing new strategies, the challenges have grown incrementally and integrated students into the planning, design, and implementation phases. Past themes have included Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and the popular Netflix show Stranger Things.

Blending a fictive world with the symbols and culture of the university has proven an effective strategy for driving conversation, highlighting the creativity of our team, and motivating students to engage with the Libraries.

In 2018, Frankenstein’s monster overtook campus. The Department of English sponsored the local iteration of Frankenreads, the international celebration of the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein organized by the Keats-Shelley Association of America, whose president is a faculty member here. Library liaisons to the Department of English served as co-chairs of the campuswide planning committee, which organized scores of events from readings and dramatic performances to exhibitions and costume contests. (See partners at right.)

Expenses were modest for our social media challenge that coincided with the campuswide celebration. All design work was performed in-house, much of it by a student worker, thrilled to expand her design portfolio by working on the project during the summer.

Working closely with our student outreach team, a group of student employees who help plan outreach campaigns and events, we have a keen understanding of the services students find most useful but don’t know about.

T H E B U D G E T

P R I Z E SEnamel Pins (225) $ 518Socks (80 pairs) 582

P R O M O T I O NGeoFilters (3) $ 106Bookmarks (2,000) 146Buttons (1,500) 443Stickers (5,000) 408

P A R T N E R S

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Right: Logo for Frankenreads, the international celebration of the 200th aniversary of the publicationof Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Below: University of Maryland’s mascot, Testudo (left); Initial sketch (center) and finished art (right) for FrankenTerp.

F R A N K E N T E R P

To localize the international celebration Frankenreads (an activity in which participants all over the world read aloud from Shelley’s book), we worked with the campuswide planning committee to adapt the Frankenreads logo into FrankenTerp, a mashup of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster and the university’s terrapin mascot, commonly referred to as a Terp. The graphic provided the creative framework for the entire campaign.

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T H E G A M E

We created an immersive, Frankenstein-themed social media challenge to introduce students to library resources. Using clues posted on social media, students followed the adventures of FrankenTerp as he explored campus after coming to life in a secret lab. By completing simple, interactive challenges, students could earn FrankenTerp-branded prizes.

T H E P R I Z E S

Students could win a FrankenTerp enamel pin (right) by completing 5 of the 10 challenges. By completing 8 challenges, students could win both an enamel pin and a pair of FrankenTerp socks (left).

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S P R E A D I N G T H E W O R D

We promoted the FrankenTerp challenge at First Look Fair, the largest campus outreach event of the fall semester. We also scheduled a FrankenTerp Snapchat geofilter to give the challenge a digital presence at the event.

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P R O M O T I O N A L I T E M S

Along with Instagram and Snapchat stories, we publicized the challenge with a range of print materials: FrankenTerp laptop stickers, bookmarks and buttons. Small fliers featuring the Libraries’ social media accounts helped students get connected and receive challenge information.

FRANKENTERPCHALLENGEConnect with us on Instagram or Snapchat to get clues to find Dr. Terpenstein’s monsterAND WIN PRIZES!

@umdlibrariesgo.umd.edu/frankenterp

A series of e

vents, activ

ities, a

nd exhibits to

join

the internatio

nal celebratio

n FRANKENREADS

www.frankenre

ads.umd.edu

UMD Celebrates 200 Years of

Mary Shelley’s

FRANKENSTEIN

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I T ’ S A L I V E !

A flip book animation of a more playful version of FrankenTerp used for the challenge was built into the libraries’ “Get it Done Guide,” a popular resource for undergraduate students distributed at outreach events and library service desks. The animation was also posted to social media.

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We launched the FrankenTerp Challenge on Instagram and Snapchat immediately following the First Look Fair. During the next week, we posted 10 challenges that invited students to interact with the libraries while following the adventures of Frankenterp.

T H E L A U N C H

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3 D P R I N T I N GFirst stop was the newly renovated STEM Library, where students can access 3D printing services. Students took selfies with a 3D-printed Frankenstein, which they messaged to the library account.

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T O P T E X T B O O K S

To highlight a library text- book initiative supported by student government that loans textbooks for UMD’s largest courses, we encouraged students to take a picture with a textbook FrankenTerp checked out to under- stand his monster anatomy.

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C A M P U S L O C A T I O N SSnapchat geofilters placed near our two largest libraries gave the challenge another layer of interactivity.

Students took selfies with FrankenTerp at UMD’s iconic McKeldin Fountain and the library home of the taxidermied terrapin that inspired the university mascot.

Combined, the geofilters had close to 3,000 views and 400 uses.

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C I R C U L A T I N GM E D I AAt Library Media Services, FrankenTerp found a copy of “Bride of Frankenstein” which inspired him to create his own companion in the library’s MakerSpace in a later challenge. Students shared photos of items from the DVD display that they would like to check out.

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M U S I CR E S O U R C E SLooking to expand his playlist, FrankenTerp headed to the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library and stumbled upon an exhibit featuring Frankenstein-inspired music. Students were prompted to take pictures with the items they found most interesting.

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S T U D Y R O O M SGreen vinyl FrankenTerp footprints helped give the challenges an immersive feel and let students know they were in the right locations.

Students took pictures next to iPad kioks where FrankenTerp learned about reserving rooms for meetings and study sessions.

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T H E W I N N E R S

In general, we were very happy with the results of the FrankenTerp Challenge. The campaign’s impression and reach metrics exceeded our expectations, and the number of challenges completed surpassed all of our previous fall challenges. We were also surprised by the high levels of engagement with the Snapchat geofilters.

Another welcome outcome of the challenge is that we were able to identify expert and enthusiastic student participants — prime recruits to support our planning and creative efforts in future campaigns.

Freshmen – 30%Sophomore – 22%Junior – 18%Senior – 17%

Grad Student – 5%

Winners by Grade Level

Unknown – 8%

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E V A L U A T I O N

Drive social media conversation at the beginning of the semester Measurements:

l 28,523 Instagram Impressions

l 21,066 Instagram Reach

l 388 Average Instagram Story Views

Increase awareness of library services among students Measurements:

l 71 Challenge Participants

l 463 Challenges Completed

l 60 Challenge Winners

Position the Libraries as a fun, friendly, and supportive online presence at the beginning of the academic year Measurements:

l 98 New Snapchat Followers

l 53 New Instagram Followers

l 890 Instagram Likes (19 Posts)

l 5,752 Snapchat Geofilter Views (3 Geofilters)

l 710 Snapchat Geofilter Uses (3 Geofilters)

Introduce students to Frankenreads by promoting Libraries events via social media Measurements:

l 24 participants in the literary contest (poetry and prose reflecting in some way on Frankenstein)

l 50 readers in the marathon reading

l 55 attendees of the screening of “Young Frankenstein”

l 62 attendees of the all-day symposium “Body of Frankenstein: A One-Day Anatomy”

l 7 Frankenstein exhibits in branch libraries

Competitors in the Halloween costume contest held in McKeldin Library and a custom Frankenstein ice

cream flavor concocted by the campus dairy.