Virtual Library Notes

From Morningstar Library Notes:

Many libraries took part in our first virtual patron training session earlier this year. In an attempt to help provide you with some marketing ideas for the next patron training session in September, I talked with longtime client Orange County Library System, which is located in the Orlando, Fla., area, which took part in the first session.

Through various marketing activities, Orange County had an excellent number of registered patrons for our virtual tour. Librarians such as Jane Tracy put a lot of work into getting the word out. Tracy remarked, “As a librarian with a strong interest in the Morningstar Investment Research Center I was thrilled to offer patrons the opportunity for training directly from Morningstar.”

The librarians’ enthusiasm paid dividends in the form of registered patrons. A brief list of marketing efforts by OCLS includes:

The Business Team partnered with IT staff to market the event to online customers, specifically targeting those interested in business and investment.

OCLS posted an ad on its Twitter account: Improve Your Finances! Sign up for the free Morningstar Personal Finance Web Training, April 29, 4 p.m.

April’s Web site promotion featured Morningstar Live Web Training in the News box in the center of the OCLS home page, http://www.ocls.info.

The Web training was also listed on the Advanced Classes/Programs Calendar and highlighted on the database description page.

The Community Relations Department put an ad in the OCLS eNewsletter, and our Computer Resource staff promoted the event in the electronic Tech Newsletter.

Library branch staff used Morningstar personalized posters to create bookmarks and flyers to promote the event at branches.

IT staff sent out 630 e-mails promoting the event to people who dropped off business cards at library promotional tables at business conferences.

E-mails were also sent to customers who recently checked out materials on investing.

Questline, the library’s call center, promoted the event directly to customers throughout the month of April.

Whether your library is big or small, there are a number of ways you can promote events, classes, and training. Hopefully, you can incorporate some of these ideas and come up with similar creative ways to spread the word about training classes in the future.

Visit the Client Site (http://library.morningstar.com/tracking) for posters, table tents, training announcements, and more.

If you would like further marketing ideas or material to help promote Morningstar Investment Research Center at your library, please do not hesitate to contact us at libraryservices@morningstar.com.

The next patron online training session is Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009, at 3 p.m. Central Time (1pm Pacific Time). Any patron can sign up by simply sending an e-mail to librarytraining@morningstar.com. The session will be similar to April’s session, with audio by phone and online viewing. The signup link is also available on The Librarian’s Brain starting June 22, 2009.