Assignment Tips Don’t assume; document your findings Watch jargon Be specific What sets yours apart Exceed requirements It’s a research paper; content.

Assignment Tips

• Don’t assume; document your findings• Watch jargon• Be specific• What sets yours apart • Exceed requirements• It’s a research paper; content & style

– http://lib.trinity.edu/research/citing/APAcitationstyle.pdf– http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Meet me at the Fair--Online Exhibits

Barb KnottsSt. Louis Public [email protected]

http://slpl.org

Goal

• Create virtual exhibit of interest to citizens of City of St. Louis

– Present inviting, intriguing options – Keep people clicking – Ability to move laterally, not hierarchically

Why

• Uncover rich collections

• Provide enhanced virtual experience

• Introduce more people to St. Louis Public Library

• Create link between the virtual and physical

Getting going

• Staff chosen -- work together

• Materials selected -- interest, variety, value, condition– photos, stereographs, postcards– maps, brochures, tickets– copyright

We move along• Materials scanned

– Outside vendor -- RFP/contract; going with the materials, quality control

• Records created -- (For Exhibit this takes the time)

– some information about the artifact BUT– importance of interesting stories about subject of

the image -- not an archive

• Themes evolve along with the stories to illustrate & interpret

Words meet pictures

• Design firm hired -- RFP/contract (keep control)--reusability

• Communicating the vision

Finishing touches

• Revise, revise, revise

• Dublin Core compliant

Spreading the word

• Tell (and show) the staff

• Bookmarks and banners

• Virtually Missouri

• Search engines

• Interviews

• July 4th celebration

We go live

• Celebrating the Louisiana Purchase– http://slpl.org

• Open House -- invite the right people (and yes, they kept clicking)

We get hit

• First 28 days averaged 45 visits per day

• More interesting for our goal– 459 visits 4-14 minutes (54%)– 329 visits 15-60 minutes (39%)– 60 visits over 60 minutes (7%)

May we have permission

• We anticipated, but still are surprised– Local– National– International

May we have permission - Local

• Newspapers (Suburban J & Post-Dispatch)

• Sauce Magazine & German Cultural Newsletter

• National Parks Services & Probation Office

• Teachers & Library Staff

• Local authors -- books too good to miss

• Invitation for attorney’s office

May we have permission - National

• ShowMe Missouri (we work a deal)

• ABC News, NPR, and Iowa AAA

• Scholarship dinner

• Authors - University of Nevada- Reno, Textbooks (Texas)

• Lots of reference questions

May we have permission - International

• Center for the Filipino (Britain)

• Independent on Sunday (Britain)

• BBC programs (Britain)

Requests in 2008/today

• PBS TV documentary & home DVD

• Paris Museum (among many)

• Philippines TV show seeking to raise cultural awareness

• Elementary schoolbook in Norway

• College textbooks/eBooks (US and UK)

• Brad Pitt??

New Discoveries