O. Carteaux
Librarian, archivist
Student Learning Outcome No. 7: Communication, Marketing, and Leadership
Communication and Leadership
During my time at WUAG, I had the oppertunity to finely hone many of my skills in working with professional people, whether it be school administrators, agents, community leaders, or other people that were in similar positions as mine. Up until the point that I got the position, I had not had any managerial experience, and had not had the kind of responsibility I was expected to take on at WUAG in any other way, other than in my experiences in school. I would like to think of myself as a professional person, so the change was not too jarring for me - much of dealing with people in a professional atmosphere is common sense, especially given that how you work with them both directly and indirectly can influence the place where you work, in both positive and negative ways. Because of this added responsibility, I became much more focused on talks and needs of things outside of myself, and allowed myself to concentrate on finding ways to make the station better - as well as keep it working as it had. I learned early on that just getting by was not something that would satisfy me, and I started to go about ways in which to make the station better, which in turn led to me using it in many of my papers and projects in the program - and then to my final independent study.
I have talked quite a bit about that here - mainly because I am proud of the work that I have done for the station, and continue to do with this plan. Although I have searched extensively, I have not been able to find anything similar to what I am proposing for the station, and I think that in itself says quite a bit. I know that most college radio stations are run by students, and undergraduate students at that. Many of them do not have the time to give that it effectively takes to make sure that a station is running well, and often it can be a very stressful experience, especially for student General Managers. Much of their plans regarding digitization of the station are done hastily at best, or not done at all, and sometimes done internally in a way that is not shared with the world outside of the station, so no one else can learn from their experiences. This goes in line with one major thing that bothered me in working as General Manager in college radio - the lack of communication between stations regarding how their stations were set up, and the inner workings of how they kept up on certain aspects - anything from what kind of software they used regarding their streaming, what their best practices were with DJs, training, and organizing their music library. There are many more. At one point while I was GM, I wanted to draft a document regarding training and what actually goes into the position itself, to help those coming in after me - but since I was a graduate student and working way more than I was getting paid for already at the station, that idea never got off the ground. I think similar issues are present regarding why other college stations don't have that information to share with each other. The probelm persists, and I think that the reasons behind the lack of training documents is also present in the lack of other information regarding practices of individual stations.
This is one of the reasons why the plan that I am working on for my independent study is important. Not only is it my goal to see it come to fruition, but I also want to write and publish a paper about my experiences so that other stations, and perhaps academic libraries that the stations have come to for help, that are struggling with what to do regarding their own collections can pehaps take something from the experiences that the station goes through. What better way of giving people access to ideas than publishing, as well as perhaps doing a few presentations regarding my experiences, which is ultimately also part of the plan.
Marketing and promotion
In an age when the internet is becoming increasing important and present in people's everyday lives, there also comes a need for more exposure for libraries, or any institutions, which are attempting to make themselves known in the vertitable sea of other options and miscelaneous information. Because the internet allows people access to more information than ever before, it is that much more important to be present and available on all different kinds of platforms, as well as communicate events and use promotion and marketing more than one would think to alert patrons to the happenings of the library - or even in fact that they exist.
This is a little off the topic, but I think that it illustrates pretty well what I am trying to say. My mother is in the process of starting a business for herself, and wants people to know what she is selling and how to get it. So far, she has gone to various craft fairs and shows, setting up booths where she displays what she is selling, hoping to make out well at these shows, but she rarely sells anything. What she doesn't understand is that, when selling a specific thing that is made for a specific kind of person in mind, you have to make sure that those people know about you - there are only a handful of people that are just going to stumble on somethng you happen to have at a show. In order to get peple to know about you, you have to promote and market your wares. I've told her this before, but she seemed to think that she could rely on word of mouth and her items to sell themselves, without any exposure on the internet or any other platform. Therefore, most of what she has sold has been to people who she knows. She doesn't understand why no one is buying her items. I have told her that it doesn't matter what a great idea she has, how fantastic what she is selling is - if no one knows about it, it doesn't make a difference. You can't just decide you are going to sell things and have it magically happen. I've finally managed to convince her that maybe she should look into having a website and do a little marketing - but that in itself was a feat, and I think she only caved because she was so frustrated.
Granted, my mother is trying to start a business, but marketing and promotion is just as important to libraries as well, if not more so. Because they are not usually making a profit from having events and showcasing materials, the benefits are usually just exposure - which in most cases is enough. If you can prove that an institution is important and promote learning, you have proved that you are still relevant, and therefore an asset to the community that you serve. This can translate to more patrons coming into the library, donations, gifts, and even more funding, which allows the library to have even more events, which can bring in even more patrons.
Much of this echos what I learned at my time at WUAG and promotion and marketing for a non-profit. There are ways in which a business, a radio station, and an institution like a library are different in regards to needs andpromotion and marketing, but the foundations of the concepts at heart of the matter are the same. In order to make sure that something is important and relevant, you have to show how it's important and relevant to people. Sometimes that translates to making sure they are at a physical location to see how relevant something is, sometimes it translates to just giving information about whatever you are trying to promote, and sometimes it translates to having events that showcase the strengths of what it is that you are attempting to market.
All of it is important, and all of it is neccessary, more now than ever before. Now, as the internet becomes more and more complex, institutions have to stand out and be unique in more and more ways - offering things which cannot be found elsewhere. This can be difficult - especially when you can essentially find anything on the internet. But libraries continue to be special and relevant, and librarians will continue to think up new ways to make sure everyone knows it.
LIS 650 Library Management and Administration: Final Treatise
LIS 690 Independent Study: WUAG Vinyl Archive Digitization Plan