An example of how the University at Buffalo Libraries select, organize, and present content on social media. Presented to the UB Social Media Circle on January 24, 2013.

1. Curating Content for Social Media:
Behind the Scenes of the UB Libraries
Bridget Schumacher
UB Social Media Circle
January 24, 2013

2. Curate, v. “to select, organize, and
present (content), as on a website.”
--Oxford English Dictionary

3. Behind the Scenes of the UB Libraries:
SELECTING CONTENT

4. Social Media Guidelines
• General account info
• Content
• Monitoring procedures
• Sample tweets/posts
• Design elements
• Gathering statistics/data
• Searching for tweets about us
• Pushing info externally

5. Guidelines are accessible to all library staff.
Store guidelines on an internal communications network or drive.

6. Content should fit into
the following categories:
• Services
• Resources
• Events/workshops
• Alerts and library news
ULTIMATE GOAL:
Bring users back to our Web
site.
Image Source: http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/subjectareas/pe/hper_p195

7. Collect in-house content
• Ask colleagues to share
projects, ideas, etc.
• Regularly send out a call for
content (e.g.: guest bloggers)
• Note announcements made on
department listserv (e.g.: new
exhibits, resources, etc.)
• Monitor frequently asked
questions by library users
• Create a calendar of library
events

8. Go out and find content
• Monitor news sites or blogs for
articles about libraries, reading,
and study habits
• Create a calendar of literary
holidays (e.g.: Science Fiction
Day  how to search catalog
for SciFi)
• Note events on the academic
calendar (e.g.: Int’l Student
Week  promote library Int’l
Student resource guide)
• Retweet and share from other
UB departments/schools

9. Behind the Scenes of the UB Libraries:
ORGANIZING CONTENT

10. Create a
content
schedule for
the semester

11. Track content ideas in Google Calendar

12. Schedule tweets and posts in TweetDeck

13. Schedule posts in Facebook

14. Automatically post blog content via RSS

15. Behind the Scenes of the UB Libraries:
PRESENTING CONTENT

16. When posting content on When posting content on
Facebook: Twitter:
• Include images that grab • Leave enough room for
attention retweets
• Test a post on a private • Use the #ubuffalo hashtag
account to be sure that it • If you want a particular user to
displays properly see your tweet, include them in
• Determine the best times to it (e.g.: news outlets)
post for your audience (e.g.: 9- • Determine the best times to
10am, 1-3pm, etc.) post for your audience (e.g.: 9-
• Shorten lengthy URLs (e.g.: 10am, 1-3pm, etc.)
use TinyURL) • Shorten lengthy URLs (e.g.:
use TinyURL)

17. Questions?
WHAT TIPS WOULD YOU
LIKE TO SHARE?