Happy holidays! It’s time for my annual collection of Online Stuff To Waste Time On. You know, in case you needed help not getting your work done. Be virtually rained out. Like the sounds of rain? Of course you…
Comments closedWhat Does This Mean to Me, Laura? Posts
For several years, I was a lucky customer of Verizon with a grandfathered, unlimited data plan. Last year, in an attempt to shove us freeloader-types overboard, Verizon jacked up the price of unlimited plans by…
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I get to present workshops and courses fairly often, especially on social media-related topics (when you write books about a subject, people generally want you to talk about that subject). One question that has come…
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A common question from librarians is “Where are the kids online?” Of course, the answer to this question changes regularly. Teens shift their allegiances to social media channels periodically (remember when all the teens were on…
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Ok, I admit, that’s a bit of an incendiary headline, and I’m not really advocating that your library forego taking advantage of the viral new trend that is actually pretty advantageous for libraries. But, I do worry…
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Recently, at my place of work, we decided to do a broad survey of Ohio’s public library websites for some basic functionality and features. We wanted to get an idea of just how many websites…
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If your library’s website doesn’t have a search field at all, this post isn’t for you. Your site has way bigger issues to contend with. (But, feel free to use this post to guide the…
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If you’ve been paying any attention to digital marketing trends, then you already know that one of the next big things is the personalization of the user experience. Today, I was reading an article about…
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I’m happy to announce that my new book, The Librarian’s Nitty-Gritty Guide to Content Marketing, is now available for pre-order from the American Library Association. What is content marketing? Simply put, it’s the most effective way…
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If you’re in charge of your library’s social media and/or content marketing, then you already know that measuring your work isn’t all that hard. Getting stats for virtually anything you post online is relatively easy…
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It’s still pretty much a new(ish) year, and I’m interested in addressing even more topics that would interest you, the blog reader. This quiz will help (but let’s be real, it’s pretty limited), but please…
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Fonts are complicated. I won’t pretend that I’m anything like an expert, because I can barely differentiate between a typeface and a font to begin with*. But I have to work with fonts all of the…
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There’s a heck of a lot of information out there about how important it is to have a good headline for blog posts. Many people will make their decision to read or not, based purely…
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Happy holidays! It’s time for MeanLaura’s annual collection of Online Things Which Can Prevent Work. You know, in case you needed help not getting work done. Listen to Wikipedia. No, not someone reading Wikipedia…
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One of Gartner’s 2016 technology predictions is the emergence of what it calls the “device mesh“: where we are surrounded by smart devices that constantly stream data to us and/or apps. In other words, when…
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A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted this: How many times have you heard “But the patrons want…” with no real data to back it up? #libux — Laura Solomon (@laurasolomon) November 5,…
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Today’s post discusses my latest “Headache Avoidance” tool. If you work on designing and/or developing websites, you are almost certainly accustomed to vague conversations, that don’t give you all of the details you might need in order…
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For the past several months, I’ve been enmeshed in the writing of a(nother) book, on a topic that only marginally involves websites. During my research, I read a terrific book by marketing expert Jay Baer, called…
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Colors can be fun, but they can also be complicated. There’s a lot of psychology involved with choosing colors as well. I really enjoy putting together or finding color palettes for different websites or projects…
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How many accounts do you have spread across the Internet? I couldn’t even begin to guess how many accounts I have. Social media accounts, accounts to comment on blogs, ecommerce-related accounts, gaming accounts…the list goes…
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When I started doing web stuff in the 1990’s, I remember it being very much a “Wild West” kind of realm, with few hard and fast guidelines or rules (which is why sites made with GeoCities…
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Some people have a teddy bear. Some people have a security blanket. I have some little browser extensions that make me feel better on a daily basis, that are far more useful than Mr. Teddy.…
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If you didn’t know already, your library’s site should be responsive. Having a separate mobile site is no longer good practice. Heck, even Google is penalizing non-responsive websites. If your library’s website isn’t responsive…
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Because, numbers. Do any of these numbers change how you think about your library’s social media strategy? Facebook: Facebook’s monthly active user base is expected to surpass 1.43 billion in the first quarter of 2015.…
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I’ve only listed the three I think are most important right now, because we all get overwhelmed. Fill up on caffeine and get reading, folks. Does Google Think Your Library is Mobile Friendly? If you ignore…
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I spend a lot of time on Twitter. Nevertheless, it is a tricky social media tool to get right. Things move so quickly, and engagement is perhaps more elusive than on some other platforms. I’m always…
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Allegedly, we’re heading into some season that doesn’t necessarily involve horrible weather and the desire to hibernate. Perhaps, you might be thinking about cleaning things out after the long winter. Hopefully, that urge includes your library’s website.…
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I’m an avid user of Feedly, and I subscribe to a ridiculous number of blogs and websites. However, if I had to narrow those down to the bare essentials, these are the five I couldn’t…
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Many libraries devote significant resources to their website. It’s important to know how it’s being used (and not being used). Google Analytics is a popular tool for website analytics, but I have to admit –…
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Don Yarman is the Deputy Director at the Delaware County District Library in Ohio. I’ve known Don for more than a decade, and one of his most endearing traits is his ability to speak truth…
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Happy holidays! It’s time for MeanLaura’s annual collection of Online Things Which Can Prevent Work. You know, in case you needed help not getting work done. Cat Petting Simulator. If you’re of a certain age,…
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So…you probably already know that social media has become increasingly visual. Images and photos typically get more engagement than plain text. But, what if you don’t have a fun photo to share? What if you…
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Let’s start with defining “other” here: I mean sites that aren’t library websites. If you do nothing else, I want you to get out of the habit at looking at other library sites for inspiration. …
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Learn about more common UX myth at http://uxmyths.com/. [qzzr quiz=”26203″ width=”100%” height=”auto” redirect=”true” offset=”0″]
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As many of you already know, I spend a lot of time looking at research as it pertains to the use of social media. Honestly, it’s a frustrating business. The information changes constantly, and there’s…
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I’ve talked about all of these before, either in various presentations or blog posts. If you’re looking for a quick tune-up for your library’s website, you might try starting with these: Cut the text on…
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I’ve mentioned before how I primarily work from home nowadays, where it’s very quiet. So, I’m often looking for ways to jazz up my work environment without actually playing music, which I often find to…
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Carousels have almost become ubiquitous. I am frequently asked about them when I start designing a site for a library. I often. now, make it clear that these don’t represent a good design choice. Yes,…
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Librarians generally don’t like to say “No” to patrons: no, you can’t do this, no, you can’t have this. But they don’t understand the technical challenges involved as we try to preserve and protect public…
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Getting people to share stuff, especially via social media channels, is always a challenge. I’ve tried various WordPress plugins and sharing buttons for my blog, but never been really happy with how most operated; typically,…
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I create websites for public libraries. I’ve been doing that for more than 15 years. In that time, I’ve learned a few things, especially in my current job, where I work on sites for multiple…
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Last fall, I was tasked with trying to pull in all of the social media stuff tagged with a state convention’s hashtag into one, easy-to-digest display. My was first thought was along the lines of…
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Social media and promoting your library’s “stuff” is something I’ve written about before. It’s still a message that I find many libraries ignoring. Too many libraries believe that their stuff is “cool” because they say…
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Perhaps you’re like me, and you have the attention span of a gnat. Or, maybe you’re just like most people, and you don’t have time to read today’s news, in depth. That’s where this handy…
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“Any suggestions on how to get more followers? I’d like to get more for the [insert social media site here] account I created. Thanks!” I see a fair number of this kind of question on…
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If someone were to ask me “Which tool do you wish you had known about at the beginning of the Internet?” it wouldn’t be that difficult to answer. It would almost certainly be NameChk. NameChk…
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I admit it. Sometimes, the siren call of Facebook or Twitter gets to me, and I head over to social media to see what’s going on. Maybe it happens to you, as well? Or, perhaps…
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It’s that time again! Time for MeanLaura’s annual collection of online things with which you could potentially be ruining your productivity. That is, if you still even have time. After all, Candy Crush Saga might…
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Have you ever needed to create a timeline? Or had a student ask you how to create one? Just like most other things nowadays, there’s an app/online tool/thingy for that. One of these is called…
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I was recently asked to talk to a SLIS class for the University of Illinois, concerning what I do and what real-world advice I might care to impart to a class full of potential web…
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As a followup to the Head Meets Desk posts, I asked techs and administrators from around the Web to send me their best advice on hiring IT staff for a library. What follows, here in…
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As a followup to the Head Meets Desk posts, I asked techs and administrators from around the Web to send me their best advice on hiring IT staff for a library. What follows, here in…
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As a followup to the Head Meets Desk posts, I asked techs and administrators from around the Web to send me their best advice on hiring IT staff for a library. What follows, here in…
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As a followup to the Head Meets Desk posts, I asked techs and administrators from around the Web to send me their best advice on hiring IT staff for a library. What follows, here in…
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So, let me tell you about what happened to me earlier this week. Our family went to Cedar Point. I’m getting really thirsty. Hot day in August and, of course, soft drinks at the amusement…
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Don’t get me wrong: I love Pinterest. I have spent countless hours curating interesting content, trying Pinterest recipes and crafts and admiring inspirational posters and the creativity of others. However, when it comes to libraries…
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(Today’s post is almost more of a question than anything else, so please post your thoughts in the comments. I’m genuinely interested.) I’ve got questions. Most libraries have some form of web analytics, to measure…
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The fact that social media has pretty much gone over to images shouldn’t be a surprise; with the rise of Pinterest, Vine, Instagram, animated GIFs and even the Edgerank algorithm that Facebook uses to prioritize…
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It’s true: I have a yen for weird little apps and web services that are truly niche in purpose and yet are helpful. I’ve mentioned some of my favorites previously, such as Newsle and Sunrise. …
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Now, they may be out there, but I have yet to run across a library that accepts voice messages via its after-hours answering machine. (I’ve never been clear on whether this was an active choice…
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