weblogs as customer communication & collaboration tools: blogs at apl christina k pikas...

Weblogs as Customer Communication &

Collaboration Tools: Blogs at APLChristina K Pikas

Computers in LibrariesMarch 22, 2006

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Agenda

Our ProcessOur Current BlogOther Internal BlogsLessons LearnedFuture Work

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Our Process: Our Environment

Centralized IT managementNo library servers, techiesNo lab-wide effortWe are the content peopleImmediate management pro-innovation

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Our Process: Need

Need for newsletterIntranet portal design is inflexibleMoving to all digital/online > need new communications channels

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Our Process: First Try

Librarian ProposalPotential usesRequirementsSuggested Software

Techie - Picked another software, that did not meet requirements

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Our Process: End of First Try

Librarian Coded templateCreated contentMarketedNo statistics

Server taken away, content backed up

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Our Process: Second Try

Head of library group found friendly techie, group to host

Purchased MT licenseLibrarianSet up blogsCreated branded templatesCreated marketing tools

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Current Blog

Statistics viaApache/Webalizer (2k visits/month)MT internal

E-mails received requesting inclusion

Linked from department pages

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Other Internal Blogs

Mix of software hostsUnder the radarDo not receive comments – authors get e-mail, phone calls, stopped in the hall

Do not have subscribers, mostly get traffic from search, visits

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Future Work

Topical blogsInternal lab-wide summit for social software

Possible hosting of other department blogs

Surveys to determine other directions

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Lessons LearnedDo the best you can to get a stable host

Do not assume customers and IT know/get blogs

Back-up, consider ways to export/import posts

Lots of contact informationGet it advertised on the pages your customers visit!

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Contact Information

Christina K. Pikas, BS, MLS R.E. Gibson Library & Information Center

The Johns Hopkins UniversityApplied Physics Laboratory

Voice  443.778.4812 (Baltimore)

240.228.4812 (Washington)

E-mail Christina.Pikas@jhuapl.edu