shareable web pages

This should not be hard to do, but it seems that sometimes it is.  I have just been looking at a webpage from a national organisation in Australia (and I won't out them), it is about exciting things coming up, and I thought I would tweet the page.  There was no share option.

Yes, I know I could have copied and pasted the information.  It isn't hard, and often I do this.  In this instance that the page was not easily sharable undercut what they seemed to be trying to achieve.

This is also a great page showing lots of social media options, but I can't find the share on this page either.  I really like the way the social media is brought together on this page - but it still needs to be shareable.

In case you are thinking I am being unreasonable in wanting to share webpages - have a look at how easy NASA makes it with share right next to search (on every page at the top right).  They also have an amazing range of share options.

Is your social media mentioned on vehicles?

I liked this, it was simple, and clear. The social media was consistently present on promotional material - see here for some more examples.

Finding out about online resources in library buildings

When I visit libraries and other places I like to see what I can find out about their online presence when I am onsite.  These are just a few examples.

Denver Library made it easy to find out about their local music


their ebooks and other online services as well.


Arapahoe Libraries had promotions including for ebooks, and zineo posters and screen savers


Robbins Library tells about the Massachusetts wide ebooks collection


Boston tells people about their renovations

Central Park encourages people to share their playground images

The Blood bank encourages sharing on social media

and the Australian Museum provided a hashtag (as well as other information not shown in this photograph)

How easy is the social media to find on a website?

Do you make it really easy for your clients to find all the social media streams your organisation is active on?  Can they be found online?  Can they be found in your library?

Tate has a great list of all their streams (and there are some lovely ones to follow).  You can read Tate's digital makeover transforms the traditional museum,  for background.

NASA helpfully brings their social media together,

Seattle Public Library via their @SPLBuzz account tells us that it is
The official Twitter channel of The Seattle Public Library. Have a question? Ask here or go to http://www.spl.org/ask .
 Helpfully prompting asking a question.

#blogjune Oak Park Public Library

They had a sloth in the library (although it did give me a Zoo city moment to see it)
and the different uses of
the idea box
 
 Although as an aside one expression I do not like is "think outside the box" - there is no box to think outside of (although in this case there really is).

#blogjune Dublin City Public Library

This give a strong impression of the library. I am using images from libraries I have not visited as I am interested in the power of the story I can work out through this.

This bus highlights a local and international event as Dublin remembers building up to the commemoration of the Easter rising next year


This is also good because of the bilingualism.
and their one city one book events

#blogjune Chattanooga Public Library

Chattanooga Public Library uses its Flickr account to tell stories about what is happening in the library.  Most of the emphasis is on what happens on the second and fourth floors.

an example of programs


and of how the spaces are used

#blogjune Christchurch City Libraries

Christchurch City Libraries is very impressive in their use of social media.  They were documenting post earthquake for local studies, and they record and showcase things happening in a their libraries. This image shows a local studies angle
This a library program and commemoration
and this, a library program
 

#blogjune Chicago Public Library maker space

This is interesting because the Chicago Public Library maker space was started as short term and temporary, as a way of testing need and interest.  The need and interest has continued. I like the way makers of all ages are photographed. You can see the whole stream here.

Hennepin County Library #blogjune

This stream has a mix of programs, events and heritage photographs.

it is time for #blogjune again

I have participated in #blogjune over the last few years.  I pick a theme, and most of my posts for the month are around that.  This #blogjune I am looking at library and museum social media.  I will mainly be looking at how Flickr and Instagram are used, but may include a few other things as well.  I will be avoiding NSW examples, not as a slight, but because it is less complicated for me this way.  I will try and embed photographs, but you may have to follow links - it depends on how the sharing is set up.

First up is the National Museum of Australia. I like the way they highlight their public programs on Flickr, including lots of photographs of participants.  They must have good documentation for this.

The Hunt Library video wall experience on Storify

This library looks amazing. I keep seeing different photographs of this library and I really like the #myhuntlibrary images. Here are some more great photographs and stories from this library.

Storify of Sree Sreenivasan on social media best practices

You can watch the video
and read the Storify. It is great the way this can be shared online, for those of us who could not be there.

Aztecs at the Australian Museum

This is a lovely (disturbing and brilliant) exhibition, and before you reach it, you are informed about the social media available, how to connect to the museum, and the exhibition.  This photograph shows one of the screens which do this.  You can see more examples of how they promote the hashtags and connect people to their social media.

Archives Week and Storify

I enjoy a good use of Storify, and this one from the UK National Archives is a lovely one.  It highlights the range of work archives do.  Have a look at their other uses of Storify as well.

location based encouragement to use social media

This sign was in the Wet Tropic World Heritage Area. I like the way they let me know the hashtag, while I was onsite, and how I can connect on facebook. They were efficient on Instagram, as the two images I posted using that hashtag were liked within 24 hours (by this group). There was little mobile coverage in this area,(and mostly no mobile coverage further north) so it was a nice way to let people know about it. I have written blog posts about this before, and I really like location based information.

Daintree Tea and location based marketing

This is what you see when driving to Cape Tribulation.

It really is at the tea plantation.


They have an honesty box where you can buy the Daintree Tea (and yes, I bought some here).


They also let you know they are on facebook (at the tea plantation)
 Supermarkets (south of the Daintree River) were also letting you know it was local tea
and
 
I am including all the photographs of tea and promotion, to show that it does not have to be fancy. I really liked the way the tea was promoted at the tea plantation. I was thrilled there was an honesty box (I had never bought tea this way before). They were taking advantage of the location, and it was in a smart and professional way. It is lovely tea too.

Science Museum tours on twitter.

This came to my attention because I follow Medium, and read this article about Museum tours on twitter by Will Stanley.  It is a good idea to read the article before reading this post.

The Storify is beautifully done, because it records the twitter tour and it bring the comments about it to the stream as well, highlighting the conversation.  I like the use of the Science Museum twitter account, and that the curator being identified as leading the tour.  This is lovely.  This could be done for so many local studies events and location.  Imagine tweeting a walking tour, so that someone could do the tour by following the tweets or be able to able to see the tour without being there.  It would be great to highlight collection items, the way the Science Museum has. It would also work well for local festival (to help record them for local studies).

Have a look at more of the use of Storify from the Science Museum.

Staff can help...

I saw this in the Waterstones Bookshop at Sydney


You could see staff in the shop helping people, but this seemed another way to let people know that they could ask for staff assistance.

They also make it easy to connect with them on facebook.

Share the good stories

I have been a fan of the way the National Theatre of Scotland uses social media for a long time.  It started when I saw Black Watch at the Sydney Festival, and then looked them up online to find more about their work. This recent storify is very interesting because they have very deliberately put a neutral/negative comment at the start, and then followed it up with positive ones.  They could have chosen to to leave out a comment that said "bit disappointed", but they didn't - and I am impressed by that.

As an aside I am also a fan of the National Theatre of Scotland as the two productions I have seen (both thanks to Sydney Festval), Black Watch and Beautiful burnout have been incredible.