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Come Fly With Us: Librarians’ Internet Index

Come Fly With Us: Librarians’ Internet Index. Karen G. Schneider http://lii.org kgs@lii.org Public Library Association March 2006. Who We Are And Why We Rock. What is LII (Librarians’ Internet Index)?. A website and a newsletter Over 18,000 websites you can trust

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Come Fly With Us: Librarians’ Internet Index

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  1. Come Fly With Us:Librarians’ Internet Index Karen G. Schneider http://lii.org kgs@lii.org Public Library Association March 2006

  2. Who We Are And Why We Rock

  3. What is LII(Librarians’ Internet Index)? • A website and a newsletter • Over 18,000 websites you can trust • Websites vetted, described, and organized by librarians • Funded primarily by California • Additional funding from Washington state • Content: everything! With a special focus on California and Washington state

  4. Brag Page • 10 million hits per month to LII website • 16,000 email subscribers to “New This Week” • 15,000 Bloglines subscribers • Many more RSS subscribers and thousands who read us on the website • Publicity through Google Newsletter, PSAs on NPR, Voice of America, Feedster, The Week Magazine, Real Simple Magazine…

  5. Comment Email View Detail

  6. Newsletter: New This Week • 60+ annotated websites every week • Free (well, you paid for it already!) • Often features useful tips for using LII • Subscribe by email or RSS

  7. LII: Change in Motion,2001-2006

  8. Goals for LII, 2001-2006 • Make it more attractive • Improve and maintain content quality • Make LII more user-friendly • Market LII better • Get a better search engine (in work) • Reach out to new funding partners

  9. Washington State Partnership • Started as a separate website and newsletter, “Wally,” with some of the labor contributed by librarians from libraries around Washington state • Succeeds today as a content partnership with content integrated into LII website and featured in weekly newsletter

  10. Benefits to Washington • High-quality regional websites added every week (500 per year) • Conveniently organized browsing pages for regional Washington content • Contextual links throughout LII for Washington-related content • Washington content broadcast to huge Web email and RSS communities through LII newsletter

  11. Partnering: Lessons Learned • LII has a distinctive, trustworthy brand • It’s cheaper and better with staff • Users like regional content. But users love general content. • Users respect the concept of the “library brand” and find LII valuable and trustworthy

  12. Our Newest “Opportunity”

  13. Money: A Familiar Story • “Too much month at the end of the money” • All California state projects and program funding cut • Projects with potential for funding from external sources encouraged to seek alternate sources

  14. Team’s hours reduced by almost 50% Newsletter cut in half Weeding reduced by 1/3 No new featured collections No new development …Even had to give up the staff BMW! 50% Budget Cut for FY06-07

  15. LII’s Response • Survey users re ads, sponsorships, and other cost-recovery mechanisms • Reach out to our users for funding and support • Prepare the Crisis Budget--but strap ourselves to the stern of the ship, and hang on!

  16. Who Loves Us, Baby? We’re hoping you do!

  17. Three Levels of Buy-In • We ♥ LII: You provide cash support to keep our site going, restore Featured Collections, restore lost weeding hours, and return our weekly newsletter to full status • We’ll feature you on our Partnerships Page • Show Me the Content: We produce regional or other special content, optionally featured in our newsletter and on our site. • Example: California Digital Library • Example: Washington State Library • Example: California State Library • Host Me Baby: We are “silent partners” for your state or regional Web portal

  18. Recap: LII’s Five Services • Weekly newsletter • Searchable site • Browsable site • Featured collections • Other Search Tools

  19. LII Brought to you by… • Karen G. Schneider, Director • Wendy Hyman, Senior Editor • Jennifer English and Maria Brandt, Associate Editors • Pat Fell, Senior Cataloger • Tom McGibney and Charlotte Bagby, Weeders • The Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Library Services and Technology Act, via the California State Librarian • Washington State Library • And… why not YOU?

  20. Contact us: AIM/Skype: liichief Cell: 510-932-5565 Office: 650-251-9637 lii @ lii dot org

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