Transcript What Can The Social Web Offer The Heritage Sector?

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/events/asva-2008/
What Can The Social Web
Offer The Heritage Sector?
Brian Kelly
UKOLN
University of Bath
Bath, UK
[email protected]
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Introduction
Contents
Introduction
• About Me
• About the Talk
• About You
• Web 2.0 Context
What’s It All About?
• Overview
• Example of Museum Blogs
We Should Be Doing This!
• Reasons For Having a Blog
• Technical Infrastructure
• Policies & QA
• Sharing Best Practices
Where Do Social Networks Fit In?
• What are Social Networks?
• Using Social Networks
Conclusions
• What Next?
• Questions
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Introduction
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About Me
Brian Kelly:
• UK Web Focus: a national advisory post
• Long-standing Web evangelist (since Jan 1993)
• Based at UKOLN, University of Bath, with remit to
advise HE/FE and cultural heritage sectors
• Interests include Web 2.0, standards, accessibility and
deployment strategies
• Blogger since November 2006
• Awarded the IWR Information Professional of the Year
in December 2007
• Facilitated half day blog workshops on Using Blogs
Effectively Within Your Organisation at Museum &
Web 2008, Using Blogs Effectively Within Your
Library at ILI 2007 conferences and Introduction To
Blogs And Social Networks For Heritage
Organisations yesterday
Introduction
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About The Talk
By the end of the talk you should:
• Be aware of key blogging concepts and tool
• Have learnt about ways in which blogs can be used
within a museum environment
• Have identified potential barriers to the deployment of
blogs within an institution
• Have heard about and discussed strategies for
overcoming barriers
• Have learnt about tools and techniques for measuring a
blog’s impact and success.
• Have heard about and discussed best practices for
developing a sustainable blogging service
• Have had the opportunity to make plans for launching or
enhancing your blog service
Introduction
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About You
In brief:
• Do you have a work-related blog?
• Do you have a social blog?
• Do you use social networks (e.g.
Facebook, MySpace, …) for work-related
purposes or for social purposes?
• Is your organisation intending to set up a
blog?
• What you hope to gain from this talk?
Introduction
Web 2.0
What Is Web 2.0?
Marketing term (derived from observing 'patterns') rather
than technical standards - “an attitude not a technology”
Characteristics Of Web 2.0
• Network as platform
• Always beta
• Richer user interfaces (e.g.
AJAX)
• Software that gets better
the more people use it
• Remix and reuse
 Syndication (RSS)
 Mashups
Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly,
6 2005
Introduction
The Social Web
“The social web is a term that can be used to describe
a subset of interactions that are highly social,
conversational and participatory” Wikipedia
Characteristics
• Trust and openness
• The long tail
• Architecture of participation:
 Blogs & wikis
 Social networks
 Social sharing & tagging
Examples Of Social Web
• Facebook, MySpace, ..
• Twitter & Jaiku
Web2MemeMap, Tim O’Reilly,
7 2005
Blog Concepts
Key Blog Concepts (1 of 5)
What Is A Blog?
A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where
entries are written in chronological order and commonly
displayed in reverse chronological order.
Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular
subject such as food, politics, or local news; some
function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog
combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web
pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability
for readers to leave comments in an interactive format
is an important part of many blogs.
See also handout
Wikipedia definition
Note that blog software can be used for other purposes (including
building conventional Web sites). We will focus on conventional
understanding of a blog.
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Blogging
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Key Blog Concepts (2 of 5)
Providing a Blog
Blogs can be provided by:
• Installing software locally (open source or
licensed)
• Using an externally hosted service (Blogger.com
and Wordpress.com are popular)
• Using existing systems (e.g. a VLE, a CMS, etc.)
which has blog functionality provided
• Using social networking services (e.g. Facebook,
MySpace) which providing blogging or similar
functionality
Blog Concepts
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Key Blog Concepts (3 of 5)
Reading Blogs
Blog readers can:
• Visit a blog site (conventional approach)
• Use an RSS reader, which can be web-based
(e.g. Bloglines, Google Reader, etc.) or a desktop
RSS reader (e.g. Blogbridge)
• Via a blog aggregator – view posts from lots of
blogs
• Use a mobile device (e.g. PDA, mobile phone,
etc.)
• Have blog posts delivered using email
Blog Concepts
Key Blog Concepts (4 of 5)
Finding Blogs
I find blog posts (including
links to my posts) using:
• Technorati
• Google blogger web
comments
• Blog directories
• Referrer links to my
blog
• …
Technorati is to the blogosphere what Google is to Web space
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Key Blog Concepts (5 of 5)
Twhirl Twitter app used at
MW 2008
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Since last year we now have
‘micro-blogs’:
• Form of blogging that allows
users to write brief text
updates (usually < 200
characters) and publish them,
either to be viewed by anyone
or by a restricted group which
can be chosen by the user.
• These messages can be
submitted by a variety of
means, including IM, SMS,
email or the Web
Micro-blogging helps to focus on
the question: is a blog a
publishing or a communications
tool?
Museum Blogs
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Museum Blogs
Typically “the museum Web site” is:
• “official”
• formal
• marketing-driven and branded
• impersonal
Whereas typically, “the blog” is:
• “un-official”
• informal
• away from brand pressures
• personal
Note see
MuseumBlogs.org
for a directory of
over 270 museum
blogs, an
aggregation of
90,000+ posts and
a search across the
blogs
Acknowledgment to Mike Ellis, Eduserv
Museum Blogs
Why Have A Blog?
Reasons individuals & organisations have blogs:
• We want to communicate
• We have something to say
Reasons museums might use blogs:
• Blogs are great at the niche or long tail
• Museums are great at the niche or long tail...
• There is a compelling mystique about museums:




“why do they collect that and not this?”
“what made them choose that exhibition?”
“why is this particular object special?”
“how do they make their money?”
• Museums want to connect with audiences …
• … and blogs allow you to communicate with your
most loyal and enthusiastic visitors
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Acknowledgment to Mike Ellis, Eduserv
Museum Blogs
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What Makes A Good Blog?
Want to be a successful blogger?
• Blog with passion and because you want to!
• Have a personality, a defined tone of voice
• Find a niche (or at least well-defined) area of
interest
• Build your community: two-way engagement
• Create well written, intelligent posts
• Don’t just regurgitate, but find a new angle (be a
thinker not a linker)
• Link a lot, and read the links you link to 
Like all simple rules, these can be broken – but may
be a useful guide for your planning
Acknowledgment to Mike Ellis, Eduserv
Examples of Museum Blogs
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
blog:
• Engages with its
audiences
• Reflects
museum’s
mission
• Part of wider
use of Web 2.0
services (Flickr,
…)
Papers about approaches published at MW 2007 and
MW 2008 conferences
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Examples of Museum Blogs
fresh and new(er) – Seb Chan /
Powerhouse
fresh + new(er):
• Technology
focussed
• A way of
showcasing and
“launching”
• A “sounding board”
for discussion
• Strikes a good
balance between
institutional and
personal
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/dmsblog/
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Thanks to Mike Ellis
Examples of Museum Blogs
English Cut
English Cut blog:
• Not a museum
blog!
• It’s about a tailor!
• It’s “behind the
scenes” – all the
things you wanted
to know but never
asked
• Personal,
engaging, different
• Has caused
considerable stir,
not to mention
traffic (and hence
business...!)
http://www.englishcut.com/
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Thanks to Mike Ellis
Examples of Museum Blogs
Bowers Museum Blog
http://bowersmuseum.blogspot.com/
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Bowers museum
blog:
• Showcases the
“object of the
week”
• Gives focus to
posts
• ...and a defined
“check back in X
days”
• But not enough
commenting or
linking!
Thanks to Mike Ellis
Examples of Museum Blogs
Reflections
Thoughts on these examples:
• Varieties of different approaches
• Personal aspect is what makes these tick
• .. finding out about the people behind the
formality
• Perhaps that is what people want from
museums?!
Do you now what to set up your own blogging service?
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Establishing A Blog
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The Purpose Of Your Blog (1)
Why have a blog for your museum?
• See suggestions made at blog workshop at
Museums and the Web 2008 conference
Establishing A Blog
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The Purpose Of Your Blog (2)
Establishing A Blog
Reflecting Current Views
CEO at HLF
argued the need to:
• Demonstrate
that users are
“really …
engaged” with
digitised
services
CEO at MLA, on a
NOF-digi project:
• “How they
would engage
with it?”
Blogs would appear to provide a means (a) for users to engage with digital
content and (b) to demonstrate such engagement 
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Establishing A Blog
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Overcoming Barriers
You may need to
identify & then
overcome institutional
barriers:
• It’s a fad
• It’s not our job
• I’m too busy
• It will bring the
museum into
disrepute
• I feel threatened
• …
Establishing A Blog
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Quality Assurance
Establish:
• A blog policy
covering scope,
target audience, …
• Editorial processes
• Processes for
handling problems
• Identify & address
training requirements
• …
Establishing A Blog
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Technical Infrastructure
You’ll need to establish
the technologies to be
used:
• In-house blog
software or
externally-hosted?
• Dedicated blog
software or
functionality
provided by CMS,
…
• Selection of the
software
Establishing A Blog
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Measuring Impact
How do you:
• Measure the
impact of your
blog service?
• Use metrics to
identify what
works & what
doesn’t?
• Justify ROI?
• Report to
funders?
See Seb Chan’s
paper at MW 2008
Social Networks
Social Networks
What can social
networks such as
Facebook offer?
User groups – which may support you, or not
Support for museum Aprofessionals
presence for your institution
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But note need to
be aware of:
• Privacy issues
• Ownership of
data
• Dangers of data
lock-in
•…
See Introduction to Facebook: Opportunities and Challenges For The
Institution slidecast on Slideshare for further information
Micro Blogs
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Micro Blogs
Micro blogging:
• Started off as “what
you are doing”
• Restricted to ~ 140
characters
• Popularity of use in
Facebook status
led to other
applications
• Find out what your
friends &
colleagues are
doing, without the
intrusiveness of
email
Micro Blogs
Twitter
Twitter:
• Best known of the
micro-blogging
applications
• Web application,
with desktop &
mobile clients
Uses:
• Communitybuilding
• Support from your
peers
• Marketing
• …
See <http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/category/twitter/>
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Video Blogs
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Video Blogs
Seesmic:
• Described as a video
micro blogging service
• Web-based or desktop
clients
Advantages:
• Talking is easier (easier
than writing)
• Popularity of Web cams
• Possible growth for
mobile phone access
Building a Community
Social networks
provide a great
opportunity to support
the development of a
community of practice.
Variety of options:
• Ning group(s)
• Facebook
• Blogs (comment on
your peers)
• …
The social networks can be used to facilitate formal and informal contacts
with your peers as well as engaging with your user community
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Support For The Community
UKOLN is engaging with
the cultural heritage
sector:
• Dedicated cultural
heritage area of Web
site
• Briefing documents
for culture heritage
sector
• Possibilities of joint
project work
• Exploring possibilities
of workshops, etc.
• …
Send email to
[email protected]
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Conclusions
To conclude:
• Blogs are starting to be used within
museums and cultural heritage
organisations
• There’s a need to clarify the purpose and
establish best practises
• There may be institutional barriers to
overcome
• But it’s worth it – isn’t it?
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Questions
Any questions or comments?
What will you do differently?
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