March 20, 2009
Brand Monitoring Report – Seattle Public Library
Posted by Site Admin under Class Posts | Tags: Flickr, seattle public library, technorati, Twitter |No Comments
Brand Monitoring Report – Seattle Public Library
Since February 1, 2009, I have been monitoring images and conversations surrounding the Central Seattle Public Library in Seattle, Washington. I decided to monitor the Central Seattle Public Library because I have heard so much about in my classes and from library colleagues that I wanted to explore a bit for myself.
In order to monitor the Seattle Public Library I ran seven searches in Flickr, Technorati, and Twitter, which displayed in my RSS aggregator. Here are the search terms I used for each search.
Flickr – “seattle public library”
Twitter – “seattle central library”
Twitter – “seattle library”
Twitter – “seattle public library”
Technorati – “seattle central library”
Technorati – “seattle library”
Technorati – “seattle public library”
For the past month and a half, I have been getting new shots of the Central Seattle Public Library building via Flickr. I have viewed pictures of everything from the escalators and windows to story times and the library’s collections. The photo above is one of the most recent uploads and captures not only the library collection, but also the building’s unique architecture. What amazed me most about the images was the number of pictures individuals uploaded, some posting multiple pictures of the library, including families posting pictures from a trip to Seattle. In some of my “google-ing” about SPL I came across a review of the library from Frommer’s (travel guide) online! In addition to providing basic information (library hours and location), Frommer’s also says “It isn’t often that the library is considered one of the coolest joints in town, but Seattle’s downtown library is such an architectural wonder that it is one of the city’s highlights.” Even a google image search for “Central Seattle Public Library” returns 698,000 results.
Additionally, many folks are “tweeting” about the Seattle Public Library, everything from their experiences inside the library, library programs, special events, or simply “tweeting” to let the world know where they are. The comments made on Twitter were frequent, sometimes multiple “tweets” in one day. The majority of the comments were positive, focusing on the unique architecture, using words like “cool,” “stunning,” and “inspiring.”
Some of my favorite tweets include:
by
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- Is there anything Seattle Central Library doesn’t do well? Don’t tell me, I want my illusions. by
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- the seattle library opens at 12 on Sundays. not that good for early birds like me… by
Similar to the frequent “tweeting,” many people are blogging about SPL. When reading the posts I tired to focus on bloggers who mentioned an experience, service, or observation and weeded out the ones that just mentioned the library in passing. What I read were posts about the architecture of the library, the library’s increased circulation, and an open house to meet the new City Librarian. In addition, SPL maintains 2 blogs Shelf Talk and Push to Talk for teens. These blogs feature questions of the month, library events, and book reviews.
I liked this exercise because for a few reasons. First, it demonstrated the power of an RSS aggregator. Once I added my searches to the feed, the work was essentially done, all I had to do was and wait for the comments to roll in. Second, the reviewing the comments and photos is a good way for librarians/library staff to get honest feedback at anytime. If library staff follow “tweets” or comments made about their library they can get honest feedback and respond faster. Lastly, this exercise demonstrated that libraries are on people’s minds and they are discussing them in virtual communities.
The image above is taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhwilbur/3369542218/. Click on the image to link to the creator’s other photos of SPL.
