Yesterday I attended my first CILIP West Midlands branch committee meeting at Birmingham Central Library (where I must investigate sometime, can’t believe I’ve never been in before!). I’m the new Marketing Officer for the branch which I’m really excited about.

Marketing in the library and information sector is becoming increasingly more important at the moment, particularly with budget cuts, and I know from my own experience that many in CILIP (Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals) are unaware of some of the benefits available to them as members. There is also a large number of information professionals who are not currently CILIP members, and although some of these people I know have perfectly valid reasons which I respect, I’m sure there are others who just aren’t a member through lack of awareness (either of CILIP itself or of the benefits of being a member).

At both a national level and a local level, I’m finding out more and more about how you can get involved in the profession and benefit from CILIP activities, even if it’s just an informal chat with like-minded people over a pint (or an Archer’s and lemonade in my case!).

I’ve taken over responsibility for the marketing from Katharine Widdows (now newsletter editor), and it’s a tough act to follow – her and David Viner (current chair), along with the rest of the committee, have been developing the use of social media in a big way over the last year or so. This has certainly contributed to an increase in my own understanding of what the branch does, and has inspired me to volunteer my time to join in helping to spread the word! We discussed some marketing ideas at the meeting; it underpins so much of the work of the branch (no point doing all this work and organising events if no one knows about them or what we do!).

I’m going to work on a strategic marketing plan for 2010, building on the work Katharine did as Marketing Officer last year. I’m really looking forward to this new challenge and can’t wait to get going with some marketing activities.

I was pleased to be able to attend CoFHE Mid-West/UC&R’s recent event “Tell us what you want (what you really, really want…): Library surveys and promotion on a shoestring”. The morning session looked at ways of getting user feedback through surveys and focus groups, and the afternoon focused on marketing initiatives to promote academic library services. Despite an interesting journey (Kassam Stadium is very hidden and not easy to find from the bus service out of Oxford), I managed to find my way there having found other delegates on the same bus!

Following tea, coffee and biscuits (and allowing time for presentations to be converted to the correct Word format!), the day began with a presentation from Anne Rowlands and Stephen Cullimore from Barnet College. They shared their experiences of using surveys and shared some good practice about the structure of a questionnaire, when and how to do it, and the types of questions to ask (e.g. open, closed, free text). At Barnet College they were interested in getting user feedback about their Learning Centres and devised a short 4 question survey which automatically loaded when users logged onto a PC (once for each user). Using this method they gathered 2600 responses; a higher response rate that the general student satisfaction survey at the college. Some of the data may shape the future of the service, although Anne stressed the importance of using a trial period (e.g. if students request longer opening hours) to assess and evaluate whether the change is feasible and if real use reflects the views expressed in the survey. Anne and Stephen hope to further their work to ensure they reach a wider audience (their current feedback was only from those who used the PCs in the Learning Centre in a certain period of time which could have skewed their results). They also hope to use the data to feed into “You say, we say” displays to demonstrate the importance of user feedback.

The next presentation was about focus groups, by Jan Haines from Oxford Brookes University. Jan’s talk was particularly interesting for me as I’m interested in learning more about how focus groups can be used and how to run them. She discussed the advantages of a focus group – qualitative, subjective feedback where the group can build on other’s ideas and are often more willing to talk than in an individual interview. Jan recommended using focus groups when you require in-depth information on a particular area, and using a group who share something in common. She went on to share some advice on the who, what, where, and when of planning and focus group as well as some advice on publicity and promotion, what to do on the day (before, during and after), and how to analyse the data and provide feedback to users (both those involved in the focus groups and those the decisions may impact upon). Unfortunately, despite all this research and forethought, Oxford Brookes still struggled to get participants for their focus group, highlighting how difficult this methodology can be (this issue was also raised recently at Middlemash, where Owen Stephens and others shared their experiences of lack of interested participants and no shows in their own focus groups). Jan’s presentation was really interesting and certainly gave me a lot to think about in practical terms of using focus groups.

We broke for lunch at this point – excellent variety although sadly a lack of labels (people are always interested in a food report so wouldn’t want to miss out that important point!). The afternoon session was handed over to Terry Kendrick, who was previously a librarian and now combines consultancy work with employment as a lecturer in marketing. His credentials certainly made him appropriate for a marketing event about libraries, and he didn’t disappoint.

Terry began with some basic principles of marketing, and a particularly eye-opening task. He asked us to think about the last time we studied for a course and asked it to think about the main reasons for doing it. He separated us into two groups; those who were passionate about the subject and just wanted to learn more, and those who were interested in the subject but mainly did it to get a qualification. Needless to say, the majority of the room (including myself) moved to the latter group. Terry then pointed out that if libraries market themselves by talking about all their “stuff”, our message will only interest the small minority that are incredibly passionate and always want to know more. If we want to reach the other group, we need to tailor our messages for their needs – being able to save time for example, or improve grades. This message really stuck with me and I’ve been thinking about it a lot since – as both an undergraduate and postgraduate student, I didn’t use the library that much. I use electronic resources, and as an undergraduate I spent a lot of time in the library to use the PCs (in the days before internet access in halls of residence!), but I didn’t take advantage of many of the library services that were no doubt available to me. I’m now analysing our marketing far more – how would I market to someone like myself?

The afternoon was packed full of lots of activities and sharing ideas for marketing initiatives, with a particular focus on word of mouth marketing. Terry stressed the power a good testimonial can have in terms of marketing, particularly if the message is from someone that users see as having similar needs to themselves. We need to give our users a reason to talk about the library and build active communication channels to enable these interactions. One such example of these is the frequently seen “Share this with a friend” type features on the web (for example, I use ShareThis on my blog – but can you do this on your library website and online catalogue?).

Another key message I took from the afternoon was the importance of how we contact users, with what message, and when. This is something I am particularly interested in – I support the work of my boyfriend’s marketing business two days a week, and it leads to some interesting conversations. I come from a more service-based environment, mainly B2C (business to consumer), whereas my boyfriend mainly works in the B2B (business to business) market, primarily supporting products rather than services. One of the things we agree on (yes, despite these differences a lot of our ideas about marketing are fundamentally the same!) with regards to marketing is the growing importance of relationship marketing. Terry emphasised elements of this by pointing out that if the library sends mass emails, people may well see this as an intrusion, and if it is not relevant to them at that particular moment (highly likely!), they will begin to think of the library brand as one which is an irritant to them and not very helpful. Over time, this can have a massive effect on the brand perception of the library, and we therefore need to think very carefully about the messages we convey, how, and when. In particular, we need to make sure they are relevant and timely.

As you can probably tell, I got a lot out of the training event and would thoroughly recommend going to one of Terry’s sessions if you get the opportunity. A lot of the areas covered have stayed with me and made me think critically about our own marketing efforts. The morning sessions were also very interesting, particularly as they each focussed on a certain technique common to library marketing research. I also met some fantastic people – the table I sat on had some fascinating conversations, both from an FE and a HE perspective, and it was really interesting to share our thoughts and experiences and discuss new ideas to improve marketing within our institutions. Many thanks to CoFHE Mid West/UC&R for organising such an enjoyable event!

A couple of weeks ago I attended my first CILIP Branch and Groups (BNG) event on behalf of CILIP West Midlands branch. The events are held throughout the year by Kathy Ennis and Lindsay Rees-Jones from CILIP Membership Support Unit. This event was titled “Marketing: getting your message out”; many of the delegates were responsible for marketing within their branch/group.

It was my second visit to CILIP HQ, although I still needed my Google Maps app to navigate London and find my way from Euston station! There were around 15 delegates, and it was good to have the opportunity to discuss activities within their branches and groups as well as in their day jobs, which represented a wide range of sectors and roles.

After a quick drink and opportunity to network, we moved upstairs for a brief introduction to the day from Kathy and Lindsay. The day began with a keynote speaker, Elizabeth Elford, who currently works at the British Library. She presented an overview of marketing essentials and shared some innovative marketing campaigns, and is happy for her presentation to be shared – I will update this post when I get a copy. UPDATE: Elizabeth’s presentation is now available online.

Elizabeth presented us with a useful acronym when planning marketing activities – RSVP (Relationship, Strategy, Value, Professional). The main points to bear in mind are to get key people on board in developing the marketing strategy to focus marketing efforts to specific audiences, use powerful, simple messages, and give a professional edge by using designers, writers and photographers where possible. She also recommended Robin Williams’ The Non-Designers Design Book when budget or time doesn’t allow for this!

We then had the opportunity to work in small groups to think about the branches and groups we represented and what our main marketing message is. This was a really useful exercise – a lot of ideas emerged through talking to others and it helped refine our marketing strategies.

Elizabeth also discussed online social marketing and shared some examples of successful online marketing campaigns such as Obama’s presidential campaign which utilised social media, combining marketing, PR, branding, customer service and the web. She discussed the benefits and risks of online social marketing, and demonstrated how library services and related organisations are currently utilising social media.

The presentation sparked discussion on marketing methods and we moved on to share our experiences, both good and bad. It was a really interesting discussion and was evident that there is no right way to market something – it depends on what you are marketing and who to.

We broke for lunch along with the opportunity to network and discuss the day so far, and then it was time for some practical work. The afternoon activity involved us working in groups to market an event such as those held by CILIP branches and groups. After choosing our key markets, we needed to decide on a main message, key points to convey, and which methods to use to achieve this. We were given magazines and carrier bags to inspire us, and it was great to do some creative work! The activity reinforced the importance of group brainstorming to develop marketing strategy, messages and methods.

Throughout the day Lindsay and Kathy were actively involved and shared some great ideas as well as keeping us informed of CILIP developments and the support available to branches and groups, including some of the features of the new website. It was an excellent day – a great opportunity to share experiences, meet other CILIP activists and learn about how to support the work of your branch or group.

I met Kathy Ennis from CILIP at the New Professionals Conference earlier in summer and she asked a few of us from the day if we could also speak at the CILIP Graduate Open Day. The theme of the day is marketing yourself, which was also the message in my talk at New Professionals Conference, so I was happy to accept the invitation to speak. I’ll be presenting a similar presentation to before, and will be focusing on using blogging, microblogging and social networking to market yourself and your skills online. As well as a series of presentations, the day also includes the opportunity to speak to CILIP themselves to get career advice, and also a speed networking event which I’m informed was very popular last year!

The day is open to anyone (you don’t have to be a CILIP member) but is particularly aimed at students, graduates and those new to the profession. It’s a free event at CILIP HQ in London, although registration is necessary. You can see a full timetable of the day and register a place from the CILIP Graduate Open Day website.

I’m looking forward to another speaking engagement, and I’m really looking forward to meeting up with some of the people I met at the New Professionals Conference, such as Emma Illingsworth and Ned Potter who are both now blogging too.

At the New Professionals Conference I presented at last week, I spoke to CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) representatives who mentioned the CILIP Network of Expertise and Interests. Seeing as I was talking about online networking, they seemed surprised (and I was fairly embarrassed) that I hadn’t heard of it before. I asked others on Twitter last week and was relieved to find that it wasn’t just me who wasn’t aware of the network. I decided to register, and thought I’d share a brief review of the service.

The network is not part of the Communities area of the CILIP website, and is not attached to the CILIP Communities login. This surprised me, and I was a little disappointed to have to wait a day to be verified before I could take a look at the network, despite being a CILIP member and already registered on the CILIP Communities website. Having said that, one thing I was pleased about was that registration is open to anyone, even if they are not a CILIP member (although obviously it must be approved before being accepted). On the flip side I see the argument that there needs to be incentives to CILIP membership, but for this particular purpose I feel the network offers more value if it is open to all (UPDATE: unfortunately, this is no longer the case – the network is only open to CILIP members, which is a shame but I can see the reasoning.).

It wasn’t completely clear to me before being verified (which took about 24hrs) what the network was for or how it worked – CILIP referred to it as a sort of LinkedIn but it doesn’t have many of the same features that LinkedIn does. On the initial registration email it mentions matching members so I did wonder if it recommended other members with similar interests to yourself (like online dating might do but obviously for a different purpose!) but it doesn’t seem to do that.

Now I’m logged in I have found the aim of the network:

The CILIP membership is rich in skill and experience. This site is for members to make connections, share experiences and learn from each other.

Here’s a screenshot of the service once you have registered and logged in (I have just used my own profile as I appreciate it is a private area, when you log in there is an alphabetical list of entries similar to mine):

You can browse all members alphabetically (at present there are 119 members), or you can use the search functionality to find people. One feature which I really feel it’s crying out for is the ability to list people with a certain interest (these are selected from a list when you apply for membership so there should be consistency). These interests are included in the main entry on the home page, and are listed on each profile (see mine below for an example):

I wish these were links to take you to a list of everyone who has included that interest, it’s certainly what I was expecting (maybe I’m too used to tagging technologies!). I couldn’t find an easy way to list people by their interests and this is something fairly basic which I really think the network should be able to do.

There doesn’t seem to be any way to create groups either, and it seems the only way to contact people is by email, there is no way to send a message within the network.

It has potential to be a useful service and is good to be able to find other members with similar interests, but it is fairly long winded to use and the information is minimal. It’s more like a directory listing than a network really as it doesn’t encourage communication on the network platform.

I know I’m coming across a little critical, and I do think there are a lot of enhancements which are necessary before it is a viable alternative for LinkedIn (and as Owen Stephens pointed out on Twitter, one of the great advantages of LinkedIn is that different professions are all represented therefore providing links outside the library profession as well as within it). However, it’s great to see CILIP trying these new ideas, and acting on developing new networking methods as they mentioned mention in their recent Draft Council Paper on the use of Web 2.0.

One thing I am confused by however is the lack of publicity about this service. I don’t know if it’s a deliberate thing to soft launch to try the service with small numbers, but it seems to have been around for a while, and I wonder why it wasn’t mentioned amongst the #cilip2 discussions earlier this year. The CILIP representative I spoke to last week wanted to promote the service, so hopefully I’ve helped raise the profile a little (I know quite a few others on Twitter have joined since I mentioned it last week).

If you’re interested in finding out more, why not apply online and let me know what you think – do you see yourself using the network?

UPDATE: I wrote most of this post last week, but since then the page has been updated. Discussion forums have been activated along with a note that the network is hoped to be incorporated into CILIP Communities shortly. I’ll keep the blog updated with any new developments.

A couple of months ago there was a major backlash from the library community in the UK regarding CILIP and it’s use (or lack of) Web 2.0 technologies.

It started with Bob McKee’s All of a Twitter post on his From the Chief Executive’s Desk blog, which was responded to by Phil Bradley in his CILIP – Epic Fail post. There were others who responded either on the original post from Bob (although at the time this was only open to CILIP members, something which had always irked me but has thankfully now been changed, on Phil’s post, on their own blogs, or on Twitter.

It all kicked off one afternoon with many librarians on Twitter joining in the conversation about how CILIP should be supporting Web 2.0 technologies and what they could do to improve things. It was actually quite exciting to be a part of this, and it was great to see a community using social media tools to discuss professional issues.

Thankfully, CILIP were also following what was happening and have decided to begin to tackle the issue by holding an Open Session with the main aim (from the CILIP Council Matters blog post):

to generate some really good ideas about how the Council could be using Web 2.0 to engage better with the LIS community and the individuals in it – both members and non-members

Phil Bradley and Brian Kelly have been invited to start the discussion by speaking about what sort of things have worked elsewhere and suggest ideas that CILIP could try. I’m honoured to have been asked by Brian if he could use me as an example of what people in the community are doing, you can see a draft version of his slides over at his blog.

The actual event is on Wednesday (29th April) in London, and I’m really looking forward to it. I won’t be there physically, but appropriately for such an event there will be people blogging and twittering the event, so I’ll be following the tag #CILIP2.0 (although I think there may be some issues with the tag so it may be #CILIP2 instead). I hope virtual attendees will still be able to contribute to the event, but if there is anything in particular you would like raising, both Phil and Brian have asked for feedback on their recent blog posts.

I for one am certainly pleased that CILIP are taking action, and hope that in the future I’ll be posting about great initiatives that CILIP are getting involved in.

CILIP have been trying to widen the community section of their website for a while now and one of their newer innovations is the CILIP members blog landscape. It’s basically a collection of library related blogs written by members of CILIP. A short summary of the most recent posts can be viewed by anyone (you don’t need to sign in to the CILIP website) and they link to the original blog posts if you want to read more.I may be slightly biased (my blog has been added to the list!), but I really do think this is a great new resource for the community on CILIP. It’s certainly a good way to keep up-to-date with UK library developments as well as introducing you to new and interesting blogs you may have been unaware of.

I like these sort of things as they make it very easy for people to read many blogs without having to be aware of them all individually (particularly useful for those who don’t subscribe to RSS feeds and want to have a ready made one stop shop for library related blogging).

Hopefully it will become more popular and more blogs will be added too.