The Library of Congress is piloting the distribution of its content through various Web 2.0 platforms like Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, and iTunes U in order to increase awareness of and engagement with its collections. The pilots aim to provide content where users are interacting online and communicate about LOC news and events. Early assessments found high engagement on platforms like Flickr, with millions of views and thousands of user comments tagging photos. However, challenges include moderation costs and maintaining authoritative context and cataloging alongside user contributions.

1. Life After 2.0 ?
Library of Congress Pilots
Michelle Springer
Office of Strategic Initiatives, Library of Congress
Office of Strategic Initiatives | July 11, 2009

2. Library of
Congress Web 2.0
Pilots
Key LOC Web 2.0 Strategies:
 Offer Web 2.0 tools on loc.gov (where the content is)
 Provide content via additional channels (where the
users and more Web 2.0 tools are)
 Communicate at the point of need--where people are
interacting and looking for information on the Web--
about LOC news, events, lectures, collections, and the
Library generally
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3. Library of
Congress Web 2.0
Pilots
Pilot distribution of LOC content to sites that
use Web 2.0 technologies
 Set Clear Objectives
 Identify Distribution Channels
 Make Agreements/Legal Stuff
 Develop and Refine Processes to Create and Load
Initial Content
 Launch Sites
 Assess Quantitative and Qualitative Outcomes
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4. Library of
Congress Web 2.0
Pilots
A clear understanding of objectives will guide
pilot management and resource allocation
LOC Objectives:
 Increase awareness of Library collections
 Increase engagement opportunities
 Develop new communication channels
 Develop relationships
 Reach new audiences
 Experiment and explore new technologies
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5. Library of
Congress Web 2.0
Pilots
Assessment of Outcomes:
 Quantitative Measurements/Metrics
• Views and Visits
• Downloads
• Referrer Traffic to loc.gov
• Subscriptions & Contacts/Friends/Fans/Followers
• Activity Measures--Rate of Comments/Tags
 Qualitative Measurements/Engagement
• Positive Word of Mouth
• Relationships with New Communities
• Secondary Referral Traffic (ex: ReTweets, Blog Posts)
• Being Part of the Conversation
• Building Connections (Press, Returning Commentors)
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6. Library of
Congress Web 2.0
Pilots
LC Hosted:
 RSS Feeds (2006)
 Library of Congress Blog (2007)
External sites through which the Library is
communicating and/or distributing content
in pilot projects:
 Flickr (2008)
 Twitter (2009)
 YouTube (2009)
 iTunes U (2009)
 Facebook (2009)
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7. Flickr
Pilot
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/flickr_report_final.pdf
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8. Flickr
Pilot
Three Objectives
Increase awareness by sharing
photographs from the Library’s
collections with people who enjoy
images but might not visit the
Library’s own Web site
Gain a better understanding of how
social tagging and community
input could benefit both the Library
and users of the collections
Gain experience participating in the
emergent Web communities that
would be interested in the kinds of
materials in the Library’s
collections.
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9. Flickr
Pilot
www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress
Launched Jan.16, 2008 with
3100 photos; over 6,400
images today
18.4 million views total;
800,000+ views a month
High User Engagement:
23,000+ contacts
16,000+ user comments
19,149+ unique tags
84,600+ total tags
78,670+ made favorites
769 in Flickr groups
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10. Flickr
Pilot
Unexpected Outcomes:
Flickr Commons Initiative
www.flickr.com/commons
26 Libraries, archives, and
museums are adding
collections with no known
copyright restrictions to the
Flickr Commons
International Participation:
U.S., Australia, Canada France,
Great Britain, New Zealand,
Portugal, Scotland, Sweden,
and The Netherlands 10

11. Flickr
Pilot
Unexpected Outcomes:
Huge outpouring of appreciation
for old photos
Major search engines are giving
added weight to the photos
loaded onto Flickr
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12. Flickr
Pilot
“Power commenters”
provide corrected place
names, precise dates, event
names, and fuller names for
individuals
History detectives contribute
historical info & links to NYT
archive, Wikipedia, and http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/368183
highly specialized Web sites
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13. Negro boy near Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo by
Flickr John Vachon, 1942-3
Pilot
Discussions of
Historical Context
General discussions of
history, changing times, and
perceptions documented in
the language of
accompanying captions
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179172498/
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14. Flickr Then and Now Comparisons
Pilot
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179042198/
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15. Flickr Then and Now Comparisons
Pilot
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18. Twitter
Pilot
www.twitter.com/librarycongress
Launched Jan. 27, 2009
11,950+ followers and growing
– Press, library community,
general public
Short posts designed to build interest
in LOC events, news, jobs,
announcements, lectures,
collections, and exhibits
Links to LOC web pages
Redistribution of LOC RSS feeds
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19. Twitter
Pilot
Engagement of the
Twitter community,
“re-tweeting” LOC
messages and
reaching beyond LOC
followers
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20. YouTube
Pilot
youtube.com/loc
Pilot launched April 6, 2009 with
75 videos
148 videos as of July 6, 2009
– 483,933 Video views
– 73,277 Channel views
– 3960+ Subscribers
Branded LOC “Home” page
Mix of historical films and videos
of recent events at LOC
New uploads each month
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21. YouTube
Pilot
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22. YouTube
Pilot
No Advertisements
No Promoted Videos
LOC Branding:
• Bumpers on videos
• Branding on
individual video
pages
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23. iTunes U
Pilot
LOC on iTunes U
Launched June 30, 2009
40,133 Track Downloads in
First Week
1, 679 Subscribers
Branded LOC “Home” page
Mix of podcasts, historical
films, videos of recent
events, cataloging courses
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24. Library of
Congress Web 2.0
Pilots
Challenges:
 Moderation and associated resources
 Disrespect for collections and smart aleck chat
 False perception that formal cataloging is not
valuable or needed
 Loss of meaning (authoritative, contextual
info)
 Responding to reference queries submitted
via these external channels
 Sustainability--incorporation into existing
workflows
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25. Library of
Congress Web 2.0
Pilots
Benefits:
 Make collections available (Core mission)
 Gain information about collections
 Increase the visibility of specific items (photos,
video, etc.)
 Win support for cultural heritage organizations
 Mix past & present for a better informed world
 Being present at the point of need and where
conversations are taking place and users are
looking for information
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26. Life After 2.0 ?
Library of Congress Pilots
Michelle Springer mspringer@loc.gov
Office of Strategic Initiatives, Library of Congress
Office of Strategic Initiatives | July 11, 2009
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