public libraries are too easy to ignore, one idea
25 Aug, 2010 • posts i've written • 5 comments
The public library here in the US is one of those amazing governmental services that people tend to completely ignore. And if you speak to most librarians, these days local libraries are predominantly relegated to serving as internet cafes and DVD rental services to a dwindling stock of customers while legions of books stay frozen in place on shelves.
Unfortunately, the library is easy to ignore.
And in comparison, book stores like Barnes & Noble and sites like Amazon.com have made the public library seem a bit shabby. Many of us are spending a personal fortune on books while they’re actually FREE just down the street. And those that can’t afford to spend money on books are given much more interesting things to spend their attention toward rather than think about the library.
The public library deserves better care.
“Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.” – Lady Bird Johnson
The library needs a good deal of help – most of it entails spreading the successful practices of some libraries (along with bookstores & dot-coms) around the country. But stealing a line from Lady Bird Johnson, here’s a quick idea to capture some attention for the Library from a person’s expressed interest.
Libraries should use Adwords. It’s that simple. Libraries should connect their local shelves to my local searches. If I search for ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ one of the results should be from my local public library with a link to check availability. If Libraries focused on the long tail of titles, they could cost-effectively advertise across a ton of daily searches.
Moreover, to aid organic search, libraries should compete or cooperate with Wikipedia or Google Books with an about page for every title they have on their shelves. This page could include a short synopsis, a list of auto-suggested books (a la Amazon), a way to reserve the book at your local library, and even affiliate links to purchase the book from Amazon or B&N (to pay for those Adwords).
And Google should consider priority ranking those pages in results, just as it does with Wikipedia. Ultimately, Google Books might be an incredible project for the US Public Library system to support and partner with to offer these services. But, admittedly, I’m no expert on the Google Books project.
And just FYI, public libraries aren’t shy to advertising. And the government isn’t shy to using AdWords.
Got an idea to make public libraries less easy to ignore? Drop it in the comments.
how to follow this blog
23 Aug, 2010 • posts i've written • No comments
A quick reminder about a couple easy ways to follow this blog outside its dot-com.
- Follow @whatconsumesme on Twitter
- Subscribe via RSS. I highly suggest subscribing to the individual feeds themselves instead of dumping the main URL into your feed reader to sniff. Here are links to the individual feeds (collect ‘em all!):
(my personal twitter is @bud_caddell)
If you can see this post, then thank you. Thank you for reading and thank you for making this more than the sound of one hand clapping.
If you love something, spread it free. Please consider dropping a link to my site on your blog or giving it a tweet. But even if you don’t, even if you skim over this post, or even if you hoard the site like your personal treasure trove, I like you. And if you’ve got a beef with the site, or an idea about how to make it better, and you share that idea or concern, I like you, too.
would you pay for google reader?
18 Aug, 2010 • posts i've written • 6 comments
If you’re a Google Reader user like me, would you pay for the service? How much? What would you pay extra for, if anything?
If you’re looking at this post inside Google Reader right now, please hit Share With a Note, and leave a comment there with your opinion. If you’re looking at the post on my blog, well, hit the comments.
drowning in SXSW panels
18 Aug, 2010 • posts i've written • 6 comments
According to the SXSW Panel picker, there are over 2300 panels to pick from this time around. Good luck sorting through those before the Mayan-predicted end of civilization or the election of Sarah Palin (same thing).
Instead, just let me do it for you. Or at least, let me get you started.
These panels are all BudApproved™ for your voting pleasure:
- Better Crowdsourcing: Lessons Learned From the3six5 Project
- FTW: Building a Killer Professional and Personal Network
- The FIve Elements of Hip-Hop/Content Strategy
- Too Many Options: Choosing a Digital Media Platform
- Scratch Your Niche! How “Digital Dimensionality” Builds Influence
- Genius Steals: Remix Culture IS Culture
- The Death of Viral
- Second Screen: TV Meets The Web Backchannel
- Good News: Apps, Paywalls, Publishers and Content
- “Daddy, You Should Tweet That”: Parenting Goes Digital
- The Last of the Launch-and-Leave ‘Ems
- Writing Workshop with @BettyDraper: Saying It Short
- Younger Than Pete Cashmore
- People Are Stupid, and How to Fix Them (here’s a sick infograph to go w/ this one)
- (MINE) Community Thunderdome – Branded vs Unbranded, You Decide (Mike & I were ranked the 15th best panel last year by attendees … just sayin’)
In all seriousness, these folks (myself included) could really use your vote. Competition is fierce, popularity & ego seem to be winning the day so far, and all of these panels would help make SXSW better. Voting ends soon, so please take a moment or two to flex your clicking finger.
Did I miss your awesomeness? Drop a link and short description in the comments.
one minute portraits
17 Aug, 2010 • posts i've written • No comments
A couple weeks back I shared a post from Cool Hunting about a nifty little project from artist Benjamin Hammond where you submit a photo of yourself and he whips up a portrait in under a minute. Well, I submitted my photo and what you see above is Ben’s rendition. Good times.
Visit One Minute Portraits
