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College amp UndergraduateLibrariesPublication details including instructions forauthors and subscription informationhttpwwwtandfonlinecomloiwcul20

Brazen Self-Promotion andthe Case of The ResearchingLibrarianKerry J Smith MLS a b ca Indiana University Indiana USAb Western Kentucky University Western KentuckyUSAc Mississippi State University Libraries MississippiState MS 39762 USAPublished online 11 Oct 2008

To cite this article Kerry J Smith MLS (2001) Brazen Self-Promotion and the Caseof The Researching Librarian College amp Undergraduate Libraries 82 53-57 DOI101300J106v08n02_05

To link to this article httpdxdoiorg101300J106v08n02_05

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INTERNET INSIDER

Brazen Self-Promotionand the Case of The Researching Librarian

Kerry J Smith

ABSTRACT Aggressively promoting a Web site is the best way to ensurethat colleagues and information consumers are aware of the resourcersquos exis-tence A strategy that worked well for one such resource The ResearchingLibrarian is discussed Methods such as submitting the site to search en-gines announcing the site to members of relevant listservs and informingthe media will increase awareness of a resource and usage for sites providinguseful and needed content [Article copies available for a fee from The HaworthDocument Delivery Service 1-800-HAWORTH E-mail addressltgetinfohaworthpressinccomgt Website lthttpwwwHaworthPresscomgt copy 2001 by The HaworthPress Inc All rights reserved]

KEYWORDS Promotion publicizing Web sites electronic resources

The Web site The Researching Librarian was released on June 15 2000Five weeks after its appearance The Researching Librarian had garneredthree noteworthy awards numerous e-mails of appreciation and helpful

Kerry J Smith (MLS Indiana University MA Western Kentucky University) is As-sistant Professor and Library Instruction Services Coordinator at Mississippi State Uni-versity Libraries Mississippi State MS 39762 (address e-mail to ksmithlibrarymsstateedu)

The author is the editor of ldquoInternet Insiderrdquo a new feature of College amp Under-graduate Libraries Authors may submit manuscripts directly to Kerry

College amp Undergraduate Libraries Vol 8(2) 2001 2001 by The Haworth Press Inc All rights reserved 53

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feedback and over 9000 hits After four months that figure had climbed tomore than 20000 and the site had received additional recognition It wasnot through happenstance that thousands of users discovered the siteRather it was good old-fashioned blatant self-promotion that did it

The site was developed after the discovery that no site existed for thesole purpose of supporting librarians in their research endeavors Itspurpose is to supplement the print resources available (and substitute aspossible for those not available) in library collections gathering links toselected WWW resources useful for research including freely search-able citation databases funding information relevant journals infor-mation on statistics and statistical methods and other useful researchtools Since its initial publication The Researching Librarian has ex-panded to include current awareness sources and a discussion boardand other features are being considered

Although similar results cannot be guaranteed for every Web sitewhat follows is the approach to promoting The Researching Librarian

TELL THE SEARCH ENGINES

Since it takes a while (several days to several weeks) for a site toshow up in their databases informing the search engines is a creatorrsquosfirst task after which word-of-mouth advertising can begin Sub-mitting a site to search engines is a painless straightforward processSome of the most powerful and popular engines include AltaVista Di-rect Hit Excite FAST Search Google Northern Light and Open Di-rectory each of which provides a convenient submission form

Although opinions differ regarding its effectiveness adding metadatato Web pages may help searchers find them For example here is themetadata segment of the HTML coding for the home page of The Re-searching Librarian in context

54 COLLEGE amp UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARIES

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Whether pages are hand-coded or created with an HTML editor addingmetadata is easy More information about using meta tags can be foundin Danny Sullivanrsquos article ldquoHow to Use HTML Meta Tagsrdquo

TELL THE LISTSERVS

There is no substitute for spreading the word especially to a cap-tive audience The only caveat here is to ensure that the captive audi-ence is also a relevant and receptive audience one whose membersprobably will share an interest in the site In determining whichlistservs might be appropriate for a given site the Directory of Schol-arly and Professional E-Conferences or Library-Oriented Lists ampElectronic Serials are both very useful For The Researching Librar-ian three especially appropriate listservs were chosen BI-LLIBREF-L and NEWLIB-L

Each of these was selected for very specific reasons Members ofBI-L the bibliographic instruction list are typically concerned withissues such as evaluation and assessment surveys publishing andso on It was therefore suspected that the list members would findThe Researching Librarian apropos for their work LIBREF-L waschosen due to its broad audience whondashit was hopedndashwould share in-terest in the site as supportive of their own research or their clien-telersquos NEWLIB-L a list for new librarians was selected for tworeasons first the creator of The Researching Librarian was still newenough to the profession to identify with NEWLIB-L subscribersrsquoconcerns (such as trying to get onersquos research program off the groundas soon as possible) and second it is generally recognized that sup-port and advice from onersquos peers is a good way to foster a career in li-brarianship

TELL THE MEDIA

After informing the target groups a very brief message mentioningThe Researching Librarian was sent to the editors of popular currentawareness services and ldquowhatrsquos newrdquo e-mail services The message sentappears below

Internet Insider 55

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Mr [or Ms] So-And-So

You might () be interested in the following Web site

ldquoThe Researching Librarianrdquohttpwww2msstateedu~kerjsmittrl

Best regardsKerry Smith

Considering the hectic schedules of editors and webmasters extremebrevity was deemed desirable since the length of an e-mail message isinversely proportional to the likelihood it will be read

There are numerous current awareness and media services that mightbe interested in hearing about a new Web resource including librar-iannet Librariansrsquo Index to the Internet New this Week Library JuiceLISNewscom Neat New Stuff on the Net and ResearchBuzz

It should be remembered that no amount of promotion will disguise asite that fails to provide material or resources that people want to con-sult As far as could be determined no one had created a resource likeThe Researching Librarian The creator needed it and suspected thatothers did too Web resource builders should find their niche and fill itwith high-quality carefully selected content

For Web site creators it is enormously gratifying to see the counterclimb steadily to receive thankful e-mail and to know that onersquos workis needed accepted and appreciated If it cannot be found out there agood Web resource should be built and the world will beat a path to itsserverndashbut only if people know it exists

REFERENCES

ldquoAdd Your URL to Googlerdquo lthttpwwwgooglecomaddurlhtmlgt (8 March 2001)ldquoAltaVista AddRemove a URLrdquo lthttpwwwaltavistacomcgi-binquerypg=addurlgt

(8 March 2001)ldquoBI-L Bibliographic Instruction Listservrdquo lthttpwwwlibrariesrutgerseduisbil

htmlgt (8 March 2001)Block Marylaine Neat New Stuff on the Net lthttpmarylainecomneatnewhtmlgt (8

March 2001)

56 COLLEGE amp UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARIES

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014

Whether pages are hand-coded or created with an HTML editor addingmetadata is easy More information about using meta tags can be foundin Danny Sullivanrsquos article ldquoHow to Use HTML Meta Tagsrdquo

TELL THE LISTSERVS

There is no substitute for spreading the word especially to a cap-tive audience The only caveat here is to ensure that the captive audi-ence is also a relevant and receptive audience one whose membersprobably will share an interest in the site In determining whichlistservs might be appropriate for a given site the Directory of Schol-arly and Professional E-Conferences or Library-Oriented Lists ampElectronic Serials are both very useful For The Researching Librar-ian three especially appropriate listservs were chosen BI-LLIBREF-L and NEWLIB-L

Each of these was selected for very specific reasons Members ofBI-L the bibliographic instruction list are typically concerned withissues such as evaluation and assessment surveys publishing andso on It was therefore suspected that the list members would findThe Researching Librarian apropos for their work LIBREF-L waschosen due to its broad audience whondashit was hopedndashwould share in-terest in the site as supportive of their own research or their clien-telersquos NEWLIB-L a list for new librarians was selected for tworeasons first the creator of The Researching Librarian was still newenough to the profession to identify with NEWLIB-L subscribersrsquoconcerns (such as trying to get onersquos research program off the groundas soon as possible) and second it is generally recognized that sup-port and advice from onersquos peers is a good way to foster a career in li-brarianship

TELL THE MEDIA

After informing the target groups a very brief message mentioningThe Researching Librarian was sent to the editors of popular currentawareness services and ldquowhatrsquos newrdquo e-mail services The message sentappears below

Internet Insider 55

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Uni

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014

Mr [or Ms] So-And-So

You might () be interested in the following Web site

ldquoThe Researching Librarianrdquohttpwww2msstateedu~kerjsmittrl

Best regardsKerry Smith

Considering the hectic schedules of editors and webmasters extremebrevity was deemed desirable since the length of an e-mail message isinversely proportional to the likelihood it will be read

There are numerous current awareness and media services that mightbe interested in hearing about a new Web resource including librar-iannet Librariansrsquo Index to the Internet New this Week Library JuiceLISNewscom Neat New Stuff on the Net and ResearchBuzz

It should be remembered that no amount of promotion will disguise asite that fails to provide material or resources that people want to con-sult As far as could be determined no one had created a resource likeThe Researching Librarian The creator needed it and suspected thatothers did too Web resource builders should find their niche and fill itwith high-quality carefully selected content

For Web site creators it is enormously gratifying to see the counterclimb steadily to receive thankful e-mail and to know that onersquos workis needed accepted and appreciated If it cannot be found out there agood Web resource should be built and the world will beat a path to itsserverndashbut only if people know it exists

REFERENCES

ldquoAdd Your URL to Googlerdquo lthttpwwwgooglecomaddurlhtmlgt (8 March 2001)ldquoAltaVista AddRemove a URLrdquo lthttpwwwaltavistacomcgi-binquerypg=addurlgt

(8 March 2001)ldquoBI-L Bibliographic Instruction Listservrdquo lthttpwwwlibrariesrutgerseduisbil

htmlgt (8 March 2001)Block Marylaine Neat New Stuff on the Net lthttpmarylainecomneatnewhtmlgt (8

March 2001)

56 COLLEGE amp UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARIES

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ded

by [

Uni

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ity o

f B

oras

] at

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ctob

er 2

014

Mr [or Ms] So-And-So

You might () be interested in the following Web site

ldquoThe Researching Librarianrdquohttpwww2msstateedu~kerjsmittrl

Best regardsKerry Smith

Considering the hectic schedules of editors and webmasters extremebrevity was deemed desirable since the length of an e-mail message isinversely proportional to the likelihood it will be read

There are numerous current awareness and media services that mightbe interested in hearing about a new Web resource including librar-iannet Librariansrsquo Index to the Internet New this Week Library JuiceLISNewscom Neat New Stuff on the Net and ResearchBuzz

It should be remembered that no amount of promotion will disguise asite that fails to provide material or resources that people want to con-sult As far as could be determined no one had created a resource likeThe Researching Librarian The creator needed it and suspected thatothers did too Web resource builders should find their niche and fill itwith high-quality carefully selected content

For Web site creators it is enormously gratifying to see the counterclimb steadily to receive thankful e-mail and to know that onersquos workis needed accepted and appreciated If it cannot be found out there agood Web resource should be built and the world will beat a path to itsserverndashbut only if people know it exists

REFERENCES

ldquoAdd Your URL to Googlerdquo lthttpwwwgooglecomaddurlhtmlgt (8 March 2001)ldquoAltaVista AddRemove a URLrdquo lthttpwwwaltavistacomcgi-binquerypg=addurlgt

(8 March 2001)ldquoBI-L Bibliographic Instruction Listservrdquo lthttpwwwlibrariesrutgerseduisbil

htmlgt (8 March 2001)Block Marylaine Neat New Stuff on the Net lthttpmarylainecomneatnewhtmlgt (8

March 2001)

56 COLLEGE amp UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARIES

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014

Carver Blake LISNewscom Library and Information Science News lthttpwwwlisnewscomgt (8 March 2001)

ldquoExcite Info Add_url_formrdquo lthttpwwwexcitecominfoadd_url_formgt (8 March2001)

Kovacs Diane K Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-Conferences lthttpn2h2comKOVACSgt (8 March 2001)

Leita Carole ldquoLibrariansrsquo Index to the Internet New This Week Mailing Listrdquolthttpwwwliiorgsearchfilemailinglistgt (8 March 2001)

ldquoLIBREF-Lrdquo lthttpwwwlibrarykentedulibref-lgt (8 March 2001)Litwin Rory Library Juice lthttpwwwlibrorgJuicegt (8 March 2001)ldquoNEWLIB-L The Discussion List for New Librariansrdquo lthttpisduscedu~scheiber

newlibhtmgt (8 March 2001)ldquoNorthern Light Help Register URLrdquo lthttpwwwnorthernlightcom docsregurl_

helphtmlgt (8 March 2001)ldquoResearchBuzzrdquo lthttpwwwresearchbuzzcomgt (8 March 2001)Smith Kerry J The Researching Librarian 15 June 2000 lthttpwww2msstate

edu~kerjsmittrlgt (8 March 2001)ldquoSubmit Your Site to Direct Hitrdquo lthttpwwwdirecthitcomutiladdurlhtmlgt (8 March

2001)ldquoSubmit Your Siterdquo lthttpwwwbos2allthewebcomadd_urlphp3gt (8 March 2001)ldquoSubmitting a Site to the Open Directory Projectrdquo lthttpwwwdmozorgaddhtmlgt

(8 March 2001)Sullivan Danny ldquoHow To Use HTML Meta Tagsrdquo Search Engine Watch lthttp

wwwsearchenginewatchcomwebmastersmetahtmlgt (8 March 2001)West Jessamyn librariannet lthttpwwwlibrariannetgt (8 March 2001)Wu Wei Library-Oriented Lists and Electronic Serials lthttpwwwwrlcorg

liblistsgt (8 March 2001)

Received 1200Accepted 030901

Internet Insider 57

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