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<h2 id="feedbackishardtocomeby">Feedback is hard to come by</h2>
<p>It’s easy to feel like the only programming feedback you get is the
number of people who register. That one number. Were people interested
in the event but couldn’t come, or was no one interested at all? Who
knows?</p>
<p>It would be great to know more. Did people read the postcards you
sent out? Did they click on the web banner or the link in your email?
Did students use the link to LibGuides that you sent to their teachers?
Did they type in the link you put on a flyer? Is all this work worth the
effort? <strong>You need more data.</strong></p>
<p><strong>An easy (and free) way to get some answers to these
questions is to use a URL shortening service, like <a
href="http://www.bitly.com">Bitly.com</a></strong>. When you paste a web
link into Bitly, it condenses it to a shorter link that looks like
this: <a href="http://bit.ly/1qzK3gf">http://
bit.ly/1qzK3gf</a>. Bitly then tracks all the times that people click on
that link and shows you when they clicked it as well as the total
number. Suddenly, you’re getting feedback!</p>
<p>A shortened link works fine when people can click it, but it’s less
easy if people need to type in the URL, especially since shortened
links are case-sensitive. <strong>Bitly lets you customize the name of a
link so that it’s easier to remember, like this one: <a
href="http://bit.ly/data-driven-mtg">http://bit.ly/data-driven-mtg</a>.</strong>
(We use all lower-case letters in custom-named links. When we’ve
included upper-case letters, people guess that capitalization doesn’t
matter and the link they type in doesn’t work.) That’s certainly easier
to make sense of than the calendar link: <a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=1926&lib=">http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=1926&lib=</a></p>
<p>If you use the same shortened link on a postcard and in a
newsletter, you won’t know which source led people to your website. The
easiest work-around is to create another short link from a different URL
shortening service, like <a href="http://www.tiny.cc">Tiny.cc</a>. That
way you can compare which link people clicked to get to a page.</p>
<p>You can spend a lot of effort and resources on promoting your
library’s programs and services and really not know what is getting that
audience’s attention. Collecting traffic data through link-tracking is
an easy way to start getting answers.</p>
<h2 id="learnotherwaystogetanswers">Learn other ways to get answers</h2>
<p>However well we know some of our patrons and some of the ways they
use library services, there’s always more we don’t know. And people’s
needs change, as class assignments and library catalogs and patron
interests change. Asking questions (and finding ways to answer them)
helps us stay in step with their needs, which also builds stronger
community relationships that support strong libraries.</p>
<p><strong>Learn more about answering those questions at SWON’s spring
luncheon, “<em>Data Driven Innovation</em>.”</strong> We’ll serve lunch
at noon and the interactive innovation talk is from 12:45 to 3:15. Then
stay for SWON’s brief Membership Meeting, where you’ll hear about
SWON’s plans for the upcoming year. Register now: <a
href="http://bit.ly/data-driven-mtg">http://bit.ly/data-driven-mtg</a></p>
<hr><span style="font-family:
arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family:
arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Connect to SWON online: <img
name="image.png" src="cid:part1.00040005.00050901@swonlibraries.org"
data-mce-src="imap://info%40swonlibraries%2Eorg@mail.oplin.org:143/fetch%3EUID%3E/Sent%3E37836?part=1.1.3&filename=image.png">
<a href="http://www.swonlibraries.org/" title="Website" target="_blank"
data-mce-href="http://www.swonlibraries.org/">Website</a> : <img
name="image.png" src="cid:part2.02080804.06070106@swonlibraries.org"
data-mce-src="imap://info%40swonlibraries%2Eorg@mail.oplin.org:143/fetch%3EUID%3E/Sent%3E37836?part=1.1.4&filename=image.png">
<a href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/eventcalendar.aspx"
title="Calendar" target="_blank"
data-mce-href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/eventcalendar.aspx">Calendar</a>
: <img name="image.png"
src="cid:part3.04000504.04090803@swonlibraries.org"
data-mce-src="imap://info%40swonlibraries%2Eorg@mail.oplin.org:143/fetch%3EUID%3E/Sent%3E37836?part=1.1.5&filename=image.png">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SWONLibraries?sk=wall"
title="Facebook" target="_blank"
data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/SWONLibraries?sk=wall">Facebook</a>
: <img name="image.png"
src="cid:part4.06060008.07080408@swonlibraries.org"
data-mce-src="imap://info%40swonlibraries%2Eorg@mail.oplin.org:143/fetch%3EUID%3E/Sent%3E37836?part=1.1.6&filename=image.png">
<a href="http://twitter.com/swonlibraries" title="Twitter"
target="_blank" data-mce-href="http://twitter.com/swonlibraries">Twitter</a></span><span
style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"
data-mce-style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span
style="font-family:
arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" data-mce-style="font-family:
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color: #000000" data-mce-style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;"><div style="font-family:
arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"
data-mce-style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:
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arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"
data-mce-style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:
12pt; color: #000000;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight:
normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; font-family:
Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;" data-mce-style="color:
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font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div
style="font-family:
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font-size: 10pt; color: #000000;"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;
font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"
data-mce-style="color: #000000; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal;
text-decoration: none; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" data-mce-style="font-family:
arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;"><hr><span
style="font-weight: bold;" data-mce-style="font-weight: bold;">Calendar
excerpts from the next two weeks. (</span>Please register for online
classes at least two days before they take place.)
<ul>
<li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=917">Improving
Your Organizational Skills – Dealing with Your Desk, Calendar and Files</a></strong>
- (5/1/2014) - Online</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=897">Instruction
Librarians (SIG) Meeting</a></strong> - (5/5/2014) - Southern State
Community College, Wilmington</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=919">Collection
Management Policies</a></strong> - (5/6/2014) - Online</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=918">Your
Organizational Skills Journey One Step at a Time</a></strong> -
(5/8/2014) - Online</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=732">ROYAL
Book Review (SIG) Meeting</a></strong> - (5/9/2014) - Kenton County PL,
Covington Branch</li><li><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/1gQYQwy">Young
Children, New Media & Libraries, An ELF 2.0 Webinar</a></strong> -
(5/8/2014) - Online</li><li><strong><a
href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T5T3">Take Five! An Ohio Youth
Services Dialogue</a></strong> - (5/9/2014) - Akron-Summit County Public
Library</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=915">Getting
Started with Reader’s Advisory</a></strong> - (5/13/2014) - Online</li><li><strong><a
href="http://bit.ly/1jMsO74">Innovative & Engaging Teen Programming</a></strong>
- (5/13/2014) - Online</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=713">ROYAL
Book Review (SIG) Meeting</a></strong> - (5/13/2014) - SWON Meeting
Room</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=732">ROYAL
Book Review (SIG) Meeting</a></strong> - (5/13/2014) - Kenton County
PL, Covington Branch</li>
</ul>
<span>SWON Libraries - <a href="http://www.swonlibraries.org"
target="_blank" data-mce-href="http://www.swonlibraries.org">http://www.swonlibraries.org</a></span><span><a
href="http://www.swonlibraries.org" target="_blank"
data-mce-href="http://www.swonlibraries.org"></a></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><span></span><div><div><span
style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">10250
Alliance Road, Suite 225<br> </span></div></div><div><span
style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;">Blue Ash,
OH 45242<br>phone (513) 751-4422 - fax (513) 751-0463<br> To subscribe
or be removed from SWON's Events list, click here:<a
href="http://lists.swonlibraries.org/mailman/listinfo/events"
target="_blank"
data-mce-href="http://lists.swonlibraries.org/mailman/listinfo/events">
http://lists.swonlibraries.org/mailman/listinfo/events</a></span><br></div><span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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