This article presents a content analysis of academic library Instagram accounts at eleven land-grant universities. Previous research has examined personal, corporate, and university use of Instagram, but fewer studies have used this methodology to examine how academic libraries share content on this platform and the engagement generated by different categories of posts. Findings indicate that showcasing posts (highlighting library or campus resources) accounted for more than 50 percent of posts shared, while a much smaller percentage of posts reflected humanizing content (emphasizing warmth or humor) or crowdsourcing content (encouraging user feedback). Crowdsourcing posts generated the most likes on average, followed closely by orienting posts (situating the library within the campus community), while a larger proportion of crowdsourcing posts, compared to other post categories, included comments. The results of this study indicate that libraries should seek to create Instagram posts that include various types of content while also ensuring that the content shared reflects their unique campus contexts. By sharing a framework for analyzing library Instagram content, this article will provide libraries with the tools they need to more effectively identify the types of content their users respond to and enjoy as well as make their social media marketing on Instagram more impactful.
The University of Idaho Library seeks the support of a National Digital Infrastructures and Initiatives Planning Grant in the amount of $99,873 to refine, test, and promote CollectionBuilder, a lightweight, flexible tool for creating digital collection and exhibit websites driven by metadata, and powered by modern static web technology.CollectionBuilder programmatically generates polished and engaging websites from spreadsheets of collection metadata, creating interactive visualizations for users to discover content and understand context-from maps and timelines to data downloads. Unlike currently available platforms, CollectionBuilder is uniquely focused on providing information professionals with the mechanisms and support needed to independently create digital collections and exhibits without highly specialized IT systems or expertise. The project is guided by the values of GLAM institutions, and pragmatically designed to lower barriers to development, deployment, and participation in digital initiatives.The project team will use the IMLS grant over the course of one year to 1) refine and expand the development of CollectionBuilder, focusing particularly on optimizing the code base and developing workshops, documentation, online tutorials, and other content to facilitate the tool's use; 2) build a community of collaborators and advisors to test CollectionBuilder and contribute to its refinement; and 3) map the creation of future web publishing tools that situate libraries and information professionals at the forefront of their development and implementation.At its core, CollectionBuilder leverages librarians' specialized skills in metadata creation and subject analysis to create web publications, shifting the focus from click-on buttons and forms to creating high quality structured data. Following a "collections as data" model, the tool processes collection data, exposes it in reusable formats, and consumes it to generate accessible user interfaces and interactive discovery methods. Powered by modern static-web technologies and deployed on minimal infrastructure, CollectionBuilder uses Jekyll and a " JAM " stack approach to build complete websites from three basic components: a spreadsheet with well-formed metadata, a directory of digital objects, and a configuration file. This data-driven, minimal computing-based approach offers secure and sustainable solutions for libraries and cultural institutions that lack the resources, time, and expertise required to implement commercially marketed library platforms for digital collections and related web publications.To make this tool as widely accessible and usable as possible , we intend to collaborate with 3-4 institutions, including one that serves diverse communities, during the grant period. These institutions will receive a stipend from the grant in return for installing and using the tool and allowing us to visit the institution in-person to assist and observe their usage. We have also assembled an advisory board whose members have a broad range of experience i...
This article seeks to provide an example of a scalable and achievable born digital ingest workflow for cultural heritage institutions of any size, including those with limited funding. Like many small archives, the University of Idaho (U of I) Library Special Collections and Archives (SPEC) has accepted born digital material when it arrives as part of analog collections for the last 20 years. However, the Library has faced numerous challenges similar to those of other small institutions when developing workflows for born digital preservation and ingest. These include lack of funding, systems, and policies. Despite a growing number of resources that support digital preservation work, among current best practices it is difficult to find scalable workflows for institutions with limited staff and funds. By implementing accessible open-source software and prioritizing preservation tasks, U of I Library has developed a low-cost way to implement systems for digital preservation with responsibilities that can be spread out among librarians and archivists with varying technical expertise.
This is a peer-reviewed article in Digital Studies/Le champ numérique, a journal published by the Open Library of Humanities.
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