The Otis College of Art and Design Library Takes the Lead with Web 2.0

In the Spring 2009 issue of Art Documentation, in an article titled “Archiving 2.0: Problems, Possibilities, and the Expanding Role of Librarians,” Sue Maberry, Director of the Library and Instructional Technology at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California addressed the archival issues associated with web 2.0. (Full article available through subscription only. You can read the abstract here.) As more and more content is created on the web, how do we preserve it? Many of these technologies are meant to be ephemeral, so should we even attempt to archive them? I think these are issues a lot of libraries and archives struggle with, but few resolve.

For Otis College of Art and Design, the key was to put the library at the forefront of new technologies and teaching and learning initiatives at the school and to begin archiving right from the start. A few grants and some brilliant, techie, fresh-out-of-library-school librarians also helped the process.

In her article, Maberry writes:

“The TLC funding excited everyone. Faculty and students created and used e-portfolios. Some began experimenting with wikis…Blogging was embraced…Flash learning objects were created. We acquired land in Second Life and began building. Students designed virtual art exhibitions…Art historians and social scientists experimented with audio and enhanced podcasts…Many faculty members became interested in making video “learning objects” for their courses.”

They really did it all. And with tools like CONTENTdm and DIGIcation, they have been able to preserve some of this content.

All of this is great, but my question is, how did they get the students and faculty to participate? What did they do to market the initiatives? When I go to the Otis College of Art and Design Library (aka The Millard Sheets Library) website now, there is no mention of these web 2.0 activities. There is, however, a Meebo chat widget and a YouTube tour of the library (see video below), two more web 2.0 technologies. (Is there anything web 2.0 the Otis College of Art and Design Library hasn’t experimented with?)

It would appear that while the library is the key player in the web 2.0 exploration at Otis, the initiative supports the entire school. The undergraduate admissions page includes links to Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. And the webpage on Technology and Learning is where they’ve hid the rest. Perhaps they would get even more interest by putting some of these links on the Library’s homepage.

Integrating Web 2.0 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Thomas J. Watson Library is the primary research library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2006, the library assembled a web 2.0 team to initiate web 2.0 technologies in the library and throughout the museum. Not only did they learn about and discover new tools, they also used these technologies to communicate with one another throughout the process, in order to get a feel for how these tools could be used, and which would be most appropriate for the museum setting. A lengthy slideshow of the process was posted on SlideShare (Note: The SlideShare presentation embedded in this post may not appear when using Firefox versions prior to 3.5 or Internet Explorer.)

Once the web 2.0 team selected a set of tools, they spread the word through the museum newsletter, email, flyers, meetings, and instructional classes, and over a period of four months, attracted the attention of over 250 staff members from 32 departments. They got overwhelmingly positive feedback and several staff members said they had never considered the use of these tools in a research context. Yes! Success!

The majority of their successful web 2.0 experiments were for internal use: the staff blog, Google Calendar seating chart, and Google Doc reference schedule, but the WordPress-built web portal with RSS, and Flickr photostream were also highly successful.

Since the primary users of the Watson Library are museum staff, these web 2.0 tools are a great addition to the system–they facilitate many forms of communication and research. But as an outside viewer, things look pretty dull (I’m not too interested in photos of the Watson Library Holiday Party or conference photos). Overall the tools are easy to use, and the incorporation of an RSS feed on the portal further improves the usability. I love it when information gets sent to my Google Reader so I don’t have to check dozens of blogs on a daily basis.

The Brand Library & Art Center; A Little Gem

In my search for art libraries using web 2.0 technologies, I came across an art library/gallery/recital hall housed in an early 20th century mansion, perched on a hill surrounded by a park–I’d say it’s an art librarian’s dream. What’s more is the fact that this little gem is a branch of a public library! So rare for a public library to have a separate branch devoted to the arts, but that is the case for the Brand Library & Art Center, the art and music section of the Glendale Public Library, Glendale, California.

Prominently displayed on the library’s website is a link to their Facebook page (Note: You must login to see this page. If you are not a member of Facebook, check out the screenshot above). The Library invites patrons to become a fan of the Brand Library & Art Center in order to receive announcements and invitations to events, but they clearly state that they will continue to share these notifications on the library’s website and email listserv. This is a great way for the library to attract a younger audience, but still provide information to those not on Facebook. One drawback is that those subscribed to the email list and Facebook will receive duplicate information, but it does act as a good reminder.

The content on the Facebook wall is similar to that of the Sloan Art Library: new items and highlights from the collection, exhibition announcements, art related news, and updates on library renovations and closures. The info page contains the address, phone number, web address, email contact, and hours of operation; the photo section features photographs primarily of exhibition openings; the events page lists all past and upcoming events and allows the patron to RSVP; and the notes page features lengthier updates on collection development. It is a fabulous resource for Brand Library patrons as well as librarians and curators from anywhere who are interested in new publications or exhibitions. It’s no wonder there are 527 Facebook fans!

As I said before, the Facebook layout and colors cannot be altered and there is little room for customization. But I don’t think those capabilities are necessary for the Brand Library. They utilize all features completely, and as a visitor, I do not feel that the Facebook page is lacking in content or quality. I’ve never been to the Brand Library, or Glendale, California for that matter, but I’m impressed by their social networking abilities and I’m tempted to become a fan on Facebook.

UCLA Arts Library Blog x3

And, we’re back to blogs…

The UCLA Arts Library is divided into three subject areas: Art and Art History, Architecture and Design, and Theater, Film and Television. For this reason, the UCLA Arts Library has three blogs. The template is identical for all blogs, which provides consistency, and shows a relationship between them. Each blog is accessible from the Arts Library website under the blogs section of each respective heading. The Art and Theater blogs are also linked to one another on their blogs, but the Architecture blog is not (perhaps because it is newer).

Having dealt with the issue of representing multiple departments through blogs, it is understandable that the UCLA Arts Library would opt for three separate blogs rather than lumping everything into one. It was also a feasible option because each of the three sections has its own librarian or staff member to update the blog content (so it doesn’t fall into the hands of one individual, in which case there would surely only be one blog). These blogs were not started at the same time. The Theater, Film and Television blog came first, in May 2008, the Art and Art History blog started shortly after, in June 2008, and the Architecture and Design blog just started in September 2009.

The content is similar across all three blogs, which makes me wonder why the three separate blogs are necessary at all. The blogs contain updates on library tools and resources (particular attention given to the ARTstor database), upcoming exhibitions in the library, and the occasional arts news post. ARTstor posts especially dominate the Art and Architecture blogs, and I would recommend they embed an RSS feed to the ARTstor blog rather than repeat content. Chances are, ARTstor users are already receiving these ARTstor updates. If you remove the ARTstor posts, what remains is pretty slim. As I said with the Yale Arts Library blog, they would benefit from the addition of short bibliographies, highlights from the collections, or recent acquisitions. They could use a few more images as well, for aesthetic reasons, as the blogs are currently a bit dull. If I were a arts student at UCLA, I would probably subscribe to the art and art history blog, but I’m not sure I would get much out of it.

Indiana University Fine Arts Library Thing

When I interned with the Art Librarian at the University of Minnesota (check out my first post on creating a blog), one of my regular tasks was collection management. Every week I got to go down to technical services to approve the books that arrived through approval plans, and I got to weed through slips and order books from catalogs too. It was always interesting to see the new load. So many beautiful, inspiring art books–and I got first dibs on checking them out. However, I was always a bit unsettled after reviewing or ordering books, knowing that in a couple weeks, after a short stint on the new book shelf, hidden among the other humanities and social science texts, these book treasures would disappear into the ether–aka, the stacks.

Since the art history, fine arts, and performing arts collections at the UofM were all lumped in the main library, it was especially difficult to draw attention to new acquisitions, either physically or online, which was one reason I was asked to start a blog. The architecture and landscape architecture books, however, were luckier, as they had their own library home, and a large new books table on which to be displayed.

In the case of Indiana University-Bloomington‘s Fine Art Library, it is a physically separate library so they can prominently display new books, and they do have their own website where they can also advertise recent arrivals, so that is just what they have done. And they have done it using a web 2.0 tool, Library Thing.

On the library’s homepage there is a link to New Books tag cloud. When you click on it, you are directed to the tag cloud with an introduction notifying you that here you can view up to 200 of the most recent books received by the library in the last few weeks. Currently, Architecture, Exhibitions, Painting, and Photography appear to be the most populated categories. When you click on a category, you are directed to the IU Fine Arts Library’s Library Thing page, where you see a list of all of the titles with that particular tag, as well as the call number for that item. While I had known about it, I had never used Library Thing prior to my discovery of it on the IU Fine Arts Library page. It really is quite intuitive. Entries even link to WorldCat and various citation formats, which is really convenient. If I become a member of Library Thing, I can even add these books to my personal library or wishlist.

I’d say the IU Fine Arts Library’s experiment with Library Thing is a success. While it may be interesting for students to browse, I think it would be especially helpful to art history and architecture professors who study a particular subject, such as Islamic art. They can stay up to date on library acquisitions by just clicking on that category in the tag cloud. It’s also a great way for faculty and students to see what categories are lacking, and they can then request books to suit their needs.

In addition to Library Thing, the IU Fine Arts Library uses reference chat and an Add This widget that allows users to bookmark or share the Library’s website via a number of web 2.0 tools.

Yale Arts Library’s Bursting Blog

The best art library blog I have come across belongs to the Yale Arts Library. The blog posts themselves are just mediocre, but the additional pages including research tools, Yale resources, and links provide an abundance of useful information. This is an excellent example of a blog as a one-stop-shop. The only thing it’s missing is a widget for searching the Library’s catalog. If the Library’s homepage was a wreck, I’d use the blog instead, but it is Yale and the Arts Library’s homepage happens to be quite pretty and user friendly.

Visitors can find the link to the blog in the About the Library dropdown menu. If they want users to find it, they really should move it somewhere more visible (I see a perfect place for it in the right-hand column). Once users get to the blog, it is easy to navigate. The simple two-column grid places recent posts, a category cloud, top posts, the blogroll, and additional useful links on the right side of the page. These categories remain when moving through the various other pages on the site, which allows for quick navigation back to blog content. One additional category that would facilitate browsing would be to include the archive, which would allow users to browse by date.

One area that needs improvement is the overall content of the blog posts. Nearly all entries are links to news or journal articles. Perhaps it’s the librarian in me, but I’d like to see updates on recent acquisitions or highlights from the collection. What they lack in blog content they make up for with their links and additional tools and resources. Any first year student would be grateful for the library how-to movies and step-by-step tutorials, that are easy to find and use.

This blog has made me realize one general drawback to blogs: spam comments (or as with the Yale Arts Library blog, a random reference question posted in the comments section of the Research Tools page: “I am looking for a yale 1800 cream pitcher, with the number 500 and a half on the bottom of it.” Why would you post that on the blog?). While comments can be monitored, that takes staff time, but I think it is time well spent. If your patrons want to participate in group discussions or post their own comments not related to the blog, maybe Facebook is the better alternative.

Sloan Art Library Faces Facebook

So maybe it isn’t that easy to get students to read a library blog, but how about becoming their friend on Facebook? These days it’s almost necessary to have a Facebook account in order to stay in the loop with friends, family, and even places…like the library! Even my dad is on Facebook! The Sloan Art Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a great example of a successful attempt to attract users through social networking on Facebook.

The Sloan Art Library Facebook wall (you will need to login to Facebook to view this page. If you are not a member of Facebook, you can view the page in the screenshot above.) is updated regularly, sometimes multiple times per day, with information on library tools and resources, exhibitions, events, and timely arts news from around the world; the info page includes links to the library’s website and a map of the library’s location, as well as the library’s hours and phone number; and the event page allows the library to advertise events and send invitations, and also acts as an archive of past events.

The Sloan Art library Facebook page is not advertised on their website, but that’s the beauty of social networking–friends see the link on a friend’s Facebook page, they become a fan, and the chain continues. Currently there are 81 fans of the Sloan Art Library.

Since Facebook has a set layout and categories, every page works the same way, which makes it easy to find information. (We all get in a big tizzy when the layout or features change, but we learn to like it and get over it pretty quickly.) The one drawback with Facebook is that not everyone has an account, so by posting information on a Facebook page, you neglect to inform everyone. For this reason, exhibit and lecture notifications, such as those posted by the Sloan Art Library, need to be distributed in multiple formats, which is actually the best way to reach the greatest number of people anyway.

Facebook isn’t the only web 2.0 tool in use at the Sloan Art Library. The Sloan Art Library’s Flickr photostream features a small selection of images of events and artists’ books, a Google maps mashup pinpoints all art museums in North Carolina, and a widget on the Library’s home page shows RSS updates from three arts news sources.

Blogging at the University of Minnesota

In August I left my job as intern to the Arts, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture Liaison at the University of Minnesota, in order to pursue my MLIS. My final project before I left was to create a blog for the library. Starting the blog was easy (and finding ARTstor images to design the header montage was a blast), but finding time to write blog entries and getting the attention of students, faculty, and staff were more challenging tasks. In creating the blog it was important to consider the diverse audience (five different departments: art history, fine art, architecture, landscape architecture, and theater/dance) in order to determine the appropriate content.

All blogs at the UofM are hosted by the University Libraries’ UThink Blogs, run with Movable Type 4.25. For the Arts & Arch/LA Librarian Information Exchange blog I selected a professional website template, which appears less like a blog, and more like a website, and allows for multiple pages including a home page, blog, and about the collections and contact pages. This template is easily navigable, particularly with the links to recent blog entries visible on every page. It’s even easy for non-tech-savy professors to use.

The Arts & Arch/LA Librarian Information Exchange blog contains information on new library resources, exhibitions at the University Libraries, tips for using online tools, and other relevant arts information. Each post provides great information with links to the library catalog and resources, but the blog is updated infrequently (only a couple times each month). In order for a blog to stay relevant and attract users, it needs to provide continually updated content. As I mentioned before, the hardest task is getting an audience, and without sufficient content, they will not revisit the blog.

Marketing the blog is also necessary to build a reader base. When the blog was first created, an email was sent to all students, faculty, and staff in all five departments notifying them of the blog. However, feedback was minimal and the RSS subscription rate still remains in the single digits. Perhaps one issue is that the blog is not advertised on the library website. This is challenging to do since the visual and performing arts collections are located in the main library and the architecture/landscape architecture collections have their own library across campus, so there is not one single physical or web location (which was one of the reasons we created the blog in the first place). The Librarian includes a link to the blog in her email signature, but only students and faculty who email reference questions ever see that (and how many, for that matter, even notice it?). A blog was a great idea, but is it worth it if it’s rarely read?

It’s easy to create a blog, especially with the abundance of blog templates, but as you can see it’s not always easy to find time to update them, and it’s even more difficult to market your blog to readers.