5 Universities Killing It On Snapchat

I am becoming convinced that Snapchat should become a library social media staple. Being a "cusper" (on the tail end of the millennial generation) I might not be as in-tune with what's fresh in social as my younger counterparts, but the numbers don't lie. Smith, from DMR, reports that Snapchat not only touts 100 million …

Top Libraries for Academic Libraries to Follow on Pinterest: Part Deux

I wrote the Top 10 Libraries for Academic Libraries to Follow on Pinterest back in 2013, but with so many new boards popping up I thought I'd add to the list (as a side note I noticed just about every library has either a Downton Abbey or cat-related board!). I used the same criteria: Post quality content …

Snapchat For Your Library

Snapchat has been getting a lot of buzz as of late (Facebook offered to purchase it for $3 billion, but was turned down). It is currently valued at about $4 billion, and I think it will be the social media application of 2014 (here's an interesting story of why teens use Snapchat by npr). What …

Top Ten IFTTT Recipes for Librarians

Ok if you're a librarian then you're probably familiar with the statement "if this then that" (IFTTT). It's pretty much a Boolean search that performs an action in a web application. If you've ever performed an advanced search, run a list in your LMS, forwarded your email to another email carrier, etc then you've used …

Best Contests for Pinterest

Looking for a way to engage your patrons/customers/students? How about a Pinterest contest?! Pinterest contests can be a great way to engage your audience as well as sneak in digital literacy skill development that is fun and exciting to learn! I have been scouring the interweb to curate a list of past and present Pinterest …

Using Hashtags to Teach Subject Headings

One of the hardest concepts, that I have found, for students to grasp and actually utilize are subject headings. Because students don't regularly employ them in their day to day life they tend to be cast aside for a comfortable natural language search technique. I show students how useful subject headings can be when searching …

SXSWi Spots and Sessions for Librarians

Here is the list of all SXSWi events. There are so many sessions to attend and people to meet that it can be pretty overwhelming. When searching this extensive list try narrowing it down by theme such as: DIY, Hacker and Maker Social and Relationships Design and Development Diversity and Emerging Markets Work and Career …

Top 10 Libraries for Academic Libraries to Follow on Pinterest

With the popularity of libraries joining Pinterest I thought I would share the list of top 10 libraries that I think are worth following. I like to follow libraries that have boards that focus on research, technology, and interesting promotional ideas. Criteria: Post quality content for repinning- This includes content that promotes research, innovation, best practices, …