The Open University Library - Conversations with Students

Conversations with students: raising awareness through social media

Claire Jopson, Communications and Promotions Officer

Debbie Sheehy, Business Support Officer

14th November 2014

Presentation outline

• OU background

• Introduction to the online library

• Project summary

• Objectives

• Tools

• Project impact

• Low cost

• Lessons learned and taking it to the next level

• Any questions

OU students

http://www.open.ac.uk/about/main/strategy/facts-and-figures

Resource

richness474 databases,

90,000 electronic

journals and over

500,000 ebooks

85%surveyed in the 2014

National Student

Survey agree library

resources and

services are good

enough for their needs

2.4

millionvisits to Open Research

Online. The Open

University's open

access repository of

research publications

52,000Unique visitors to

the OU Library

website per month

Award

winningDigital and information

literacy tools for

students

1stUK HE to provide

a 24/7 webchat

service

Project summary

Promotional objectives

Increase student exposure to library content (i.e. videos and educational resources) in social media posts

Improve student engagement and conversation on social media

Move further away from using social media as an informational resource to one that was conversational, and developed relationships with students.

Post content to social media platforms 3-5 times a week

To evaluate the impact of posting regular content on student engagement and return on investment

Tools used

Infographic

#throwbackthursday

Social media trends

Competitions

Impact

Increased engagement with

resources

Increased conversation

Budget

Lessons learned

Moving forward

Any Questions?

www.facebook.com/OULibrary

www.twitter.com/OU_Library

www.open.ac.uk/library