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Marketing Idea: Swine Flu Flashback
One of the things I think documents librarians can do to market their resources is to try and match current events to their collections.
A case in point is the current outbreak of swine influenza. Did you know that there was an outbreak in the 1970s that threatened to explode into a pandemic? Emergency supplementals were made and vaccines were rushed out into the field — possibly too early, according to some reports.
Using a combination of WorldCat and the Catalog of Government Publications, I came up with this list of publications:
United States. (1976). Emergency supplemental appropriation bill, 1976: Hearing before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session … swine influenza immunization program. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). Emergency supplemental appropriation bill, 1976 Swine influenza immunization program : hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session, Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor and Health, Education, and Welfare. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). National swine flu immunization program of 1976: Report to accompany S. 3735. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1984). Patty Jean Tipton and her husband, Ronald Tipton: Report (to accompany S. 1488). Washington, D.C.?: U.S. G.P.O.
United States. (1976). Preventive health services and employment programs emergency supplemental appropriations Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Swine Influenza Immunization Program, Department of Labor, Community Services Administration, Public Employment and Summer Youth Programs : hearing before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session, on H.J. Res. 890. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). Proposed national swine flu vaccination program: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session … March 31, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). Public Law 94-380: 94th Congress, S. 3735, August 12, 1976 : an act to amend the Public Health Service act to authorize the establishment and implementation of an emergency national swine flu immunization program and to provide an exclusive remedy for personal injury or death arising out of the manufacture, distribution, or administration of the swine flu vaccine under such program. Washington: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1977). Review and evaluation of the swine flu immunization program Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session … September 16, 1977. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1978). Review and evaluation of the swine flu immunization program: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Ninety-fifth Congress, first session … September 16, 1977. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). Supplemental appropriation for production of swine influenza vaccine: Communication from the President of the United States … March 29, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). Supplemental appropriation for production of swine influenza vaccine: Message from the President of the United States … March 29, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1977). Suspension of the swine flu immunization program, 1976: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Labor and Public Health Welfare, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session … December 17, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1977). Suspension of the swine flu immunization program, 1976: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session … December 17, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). Swine flu immunization program, 1976 Hearing before the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session … April 1 and August 5, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). Swine flu immunization program: Supplemental hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment…Ninety-fourth Congress, second session…June 28, July 20, 23, and September 13, 1976. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1976). Swine flu immunization program: Supplemental hearings before the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, second session. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
United States. (1977). The swine flu program: An unprecedented venture in preventive medicine, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare : report to the Congress. Washington: U.S. General Accounting Office].
United States. (1976). Swine flu vaccine. FDA consumer memo. Rockville, Md: U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
For a hyperlinked version of this list, please see http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/dcornwall/lists/697063/.
As far as I could tell, none of these items are currently available on the internet. So now we’ve not only highlighted stuff in depositories by creating and posting this list, we’ve made some basic metadata accessible to the web for researchers who may never visit a catalog or worldcat.org.
Finally, I’d like to point out that this list was easily compiled because we have structured databases with controlled vocabulary and the ability to easily limit by date. Try searching “swine flu 1970s hearings” on Google and see if you get authoritative results. Cataloging matters!
Give Your Feedback on FDL Video
Today, thanks to subscribing to the “fdlp” tag on del.icio.us, I was introduced to the first video that GPO produced as part of it’s “Easy as FDL” campaign:
Since GPO is allowing ratings and comments on this video, I really want you to go and watch, rate and comment. You need to have a YouTube account to rate and comment, but it’s easy to set up. If you’d prefer not to set up a YouTube account, please leave your name and comment and I’ll post it for you.
I rated the video a 3 out of 5. It’s a great video for people already interested in the Federal Depository Library program. If I weren’t a former depository librarian, I don’t think I would have hung out until 3 minutes in when they started talking about what the program could do for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated all the librarians and GPO staff who appeared in the video. Plus the production values were excellent and light years beyond what *I’ll* ever come up with. It just didn’t feel user oriented until the middle. And today’s potential users won’t wait that long.
Here are the suggestions I left at YouTube:
I’d strongly recommend flipping the content of this video and lead off with Cindy Elkins talking about the types of questions that can be answered at an FDL, then Mary Alice and the others highlighting material (Adventures of Echo the Bat, etc) that’s available. Then end with background on the program. Hook people first, then explain. Finally, the end URL should be to the Depository Directory and not GPO Access. Though you should make videos about GPO Access!
GPO also posted several versions of the video and more background information at http://www.fdlp.gov/promotion/easyasfdlvideo.html.
Watch the video for yourself and let us know what you think, preferably at YouTube, but here will do.
Finally, despite the comments above, it is a GREAT THING that GPO is producing videos and other promotional content. Let us, the librarians who work with users every day, help them tweak what are decent products into real user creation machines. But bless them for giving us something to work with!
Happy 50th to Paul Meek Library at Univ of TN!
According to govdoc-l poster Ania Lasota, the Paul Meek Library had a terrific 50th anniversary as a Federal Depository Library:
This week we have celebrated 50th Anniversary of our depository status. We did great: we had coverage by a local radio station, and also Jackson, local and college paper. We ran information about the docs anniversary on the web, and the campus main electronic marquee. The staff put together a nice display of government documents and posters, and we had a great reception – which went really well! Our guests included Congressman and Mrs. John Tanner, Mayor, Chancellor, and others. As an extra enticement for students to attend our event, we had a bunch of door prizes which local businesses graciously donated to us.
Our hats are off to Ania and others at the Paul Meek Library who did such a terrific job ensuring visibilty for their event!
It looks like it impressed Rep. Tanner as well who is reportedly planning to return to the library to give a lecture.
Daniel’s Docs Videos now at Internet Archive
As you should know by now, Free Government Information maintains a listing of video spots promoting government documents and government information. Most of these videos are available at YouTube and the Capitol Hill Broadcasting Network.
But we recognize that a number of organizations ban "commercial/consumer video" sites like YouTube. So I have posted the videos on the list that I personally created over at the Internet Archive, which most filters seem to treat as an educational site and often left unblocked:
- Air Force at Your Library (3 min) – US Air Force documents and other resources set to the official Air Force Song.
- Army at Your Library (1 min) – Selection of Army resources set to Army Song.
- Best Titles Ever! The Video – 13 titles from FGI’s Best Titles Ever page set to electronic music.
- Documents on Parade: Criminal Edition – Web sites and Dept of Justice documents set to music familiar to boomers.
- FDLP – The Final Frontier (Approx 2 min) – Space. The final frontier. Available at your Federal Depository Library since the dawn of the space age. Music by Victor Stellar courtesy of Podsafe Audio.
- Marines Get Around! (approximately 1 min, posted 12/24/2006) – Roundup of documents showing how active Marines have been in our nation’s history.
- Navy at Your Library (39 seconds) – Sampling of Navy documents and web sites set to music.
- Shield of Freedom (2 min, posted 12/30/2006) – USCG documents set to the tune Coast Guard’s Chief Petty Officers March.
Placing these videos in the Internet Archive has another virtue. They can be downloaded, burned onto CD/DVD, remixed, whatever. These videos are under a noncommerical Creative Commons license, so free to use them in your own promotional materials. And if you create your own videos, we at FGI encourage you to upload them to the Internet Archive now that the IA has simplified the upload process. If you need a walkthrough or have other questions, just drop me a line at dnlcornwall AT alaska DOT net or leave a message here in comments.
Book Review: Made to Stick – Info advocates must read
The book discussed below doesn’t have much to do with government information, but I think it can be a powerful guide to those of us who our passionate about the cause of freely available government information.
Crossposted from Alaskan Librarian:
I feel fortunate that my library participates in a downloadable audiobook project called Listen Alaska through Overdrive, inc. It’s given me the chance to do try out books on my mp3 player that I might not have picked up to read but turned out to be great books.
Such is the case with Made to stick : why some ideas some ideas survive and others die by Chip and Dan Heath. I downloaded the audiobook version from Listen Alaska, and was so impressed I ordered the paper copy for my library. If you’re a librarian, you should too. Then read it. You can read the introduction right now by going to the companion web site at http://www.madetostick.com/.
Why do I think this book should be read by every librarian? Because the authors carefully lay out the elements needed to convey a compelling message and provide many examples of messages that work. Many well-intentioned people tell us librarians to "tell our stories." The Heath brothers show us HOW to tell our stories. Consultants tell libraries it is important to have a mission statement, but the Heath brothers demonstrate how to generate a "core value" that can actually guide decision making.
The authors start the book with a common and unforgettable urban legend and dissect the "stickiness" aspects that keep the legend in circulation. They suggest that every successful message has characteristics that spell out SUCES:
Simple
Unexpected
Credible
Emotions
Stories
The rest of the book examines how to make messages simple, unexpected, credible, have emotional content and how to tell stories. This is both simpler and more complex than it sounds. The books messages are made clearer by frequent "message clinics" where the brothers provide several ways of getting a message across and let the choose the one that seems most compelling.
Authors Chip and Dan Heath are the first to tell you that this isn’t a cookbook. It’s not a matter of following SUCES and having success every time. But they and I say that if you do put these elements into your messages, they’ll have a fighting chance of being heard and remembered.
One of the things I regret about Library school is that there were no courses in communication or public relations. This is a particularly glaring deficiency because as a group librarians tend to be introverted and self-effacing. We don’t have much experience in getting our stories out and tend to lapse into jargon and statistics, two things guaranteed to lose our audience. Made to Stick could help turn that around and make us effective advocates for our libraries and other causes in our lives.
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