What's Social Media Got To Do With It?

LINKcat member libraries are considering the Novelist Linked Library Service to enhance visibility of library materials on the Web. Amy Gannaway previously wrote about "linked data" and you will be hearing more about the Novelist service in the near future. 

So, I can hear you asking "What's Social Media Got To Do With It?" Well, at the recent WiLS Peer Council, Karla Smith from Winnefox spoke about their experience with the Linked Library Service in her talk called "Let's Get Visible" (scroll down on the page to see her slides). We were reminded that it is important for libraries to maintain their social media presence as exposing the library catalog data will naturally draw attention to the information in participating library's social media profiles. The image to the left is a screen capture of the profile for a "linked data" title found by searching "scarlett denver public library". If you click on the photo, you will see all of the social media links.  

If you haven't done much to make sure your web information is up-to-date, never fear as there was a Tech Bits post about that too. Rose Ziech pulled together some information on Social Media Tips and Tricks that was originally prepared by Abby Ward as a 2015 practicum project through the UW Madison School of Library & Information Studies. Whether or not we moved forward with the linked data project, it makes sense to make sure that your library's social media presence is as strong as it can be.