PLA Board of Directors

Annual Conference 2013

2013.73

Date: June 12, 2013

To: PLA Board of Directors

From: Steven Hofmann, Manager, Web Communications

Re: Technology

ALA Web Management Group

PLA’s Manager of Web Communications, Steven Hofmann, has been selected to serve for one year as the Division representative on ALA’s new Web Management Group. This Web Management Group (WMG), which replaces the now dissolved Web Working Group, will be responsible for supporting ALA’s mission by developing the ALA website into a 21st century communications and marketing tool. The WMG will consult with member groups and convene staff taskforces as needed to:

·  Develop and maintain the site’s objectives and strategic plan.

·  Assist ITTS with the technology development roadmap for the site.

·  Review usability studies and make recommendations.

·  Approve homepage and/or theme changes.

·  Assist when site microsite stakeholders require assistance with planning and change management.

·  Identify areas where improvements in site organization and communications would be beneficial, and either work directly with stakeholders or convene a task force of individuals with expertise and interest in a specific area.

·  Evaluate proposed best practices and recommend their adoption.

·  Oversee the ongoing progress of special projects, such as homepage redesigns.

Positions on the WMG will be tied to staff roles:

·  Advocacy (to rotate annually between Washington Office, OIF, OLA, Diversity, and OLOS; Lynne Bradley)

·  Division (to rotate annually)

·  ITTS: Sherri Vanyek, Louise Gruenberg (convener)

·  Membership: Ron Jankowski

·  Marketing: Mary Mackay

However, the old Web Working Group’s existing Website Redesign Taskforce will continue its work on the ALA homepage redesign.

PLA On-Demand Webinars

The archived recordings of PLA’s webinars went on sale as on-demand webinars (http://www.ala.org/pla/onlinelearning/webinars/ondemand) via the ALA Store on February 13, 2012.

FY13 to-date gross sales (September 1, 2012–June 10, 2013) were $4,636, which is an increase of $1,225 since sales were reported at the Spring Board Meeting. Life-to-date gross sales (February 13, 2012–June 10, 2013) of these products were $7,065.

FY2013 / Life-to-Date
On-Demand Webinar Title / Amt / Qty / Amt / Qty
Right on the Money: Financial Literacy @ your library / $28 / 1
Right on the Money: Financial Literacy @ your library (group)
Creating a User-Centered Website for Your Library / $28 / 1 / $168 / 6
Creating a User-Centered Website for Your Library (group) / $119 / 1
Cracking QR Codes / $28 / 1 / $112 / 4
Cracking QR Codes (group)
Transforming Our Image Parts I & II / $84 / 3 / $196 / 7
Transforming Our Image Parts I & II (group) / $238 / 2 / $357 / 3
Dive into a Good Book / $84 / 3
Dive into a Good Book (group)
Check Out E-Readers! / $56 / 2 / $84 / 3
Check Out E-Readers! (group) / $119 / 1 / $119 / 1
Intro to E-Books / $140 / 5
Intro to E-Books (group) / $119 / 1
Building Community: Online Tools for Spanish Speakers / $28 / 1 / $56 / 2
Building Community: Online Tools for Spanish Speakers (group)
Laying the Groundwork for a Successful E-Book Collection / $84 / 3
Laying the Groundwork for a Successful E-Book Collection (group) / $119 / 1
Powering Up Your E-Book Program / $56 / 2
Powering Up Your E-Book Program (group)
Strategies for Sustaining Your Library's E-Book Program / $28 / 1
Strategies for Sustaining Your Library's E-Book Program (group)
Fully Engaged Customer Service at Your Library / $364 / 13 / $672 / 24
Fully Engaged Customer Service at Your Library (group) / $476 / 4 / $714 / 6
Creating a Digital Media Lab at Your Library / $168 / 6 / $308 / 11
Creating a Digital Media Lab at Your Library (group) / $119 / 1 / $238 / 2
Quick Fixes for Library Displays / $56 / 2 / $112 / 4
Quick Fixes for Library Displays (group)
Implementing "Choose Civility," a Community-wide Campaign / $56 / 2 / $112 / 4
Implementing "Choose Civility," a Community-wide Campaign (group)
E-Books 101 – A Look at Devices, Platforms, and Training Ideas / $196 / 7 / $252 / 9
E-Books 101 – A Look at Devices, Platforms, and Training Ideas (group)
Stretching Your Library’s E-Books Budget
Stretching Your Library’s E-Books Budget (group)
E-Books and Customer Service at Your Library / $56 / 2 / $56 / 2
E-Books and Customer Service at Your Library (group) / $119 / 1 / $119 / 1
E-Books and Libraries: What’s Next? / $112 / 4 / $280 / 10
E-Books and Libraries: What’s Next? (group) / $119 / 1 / $119 / 1
Copyright: What You REALLY Need to Know / $56 / 2 / $56 / 2
Copyright: What You REALLY Need to Know (group) / $119 / 1 / $119 / 1
Screentastic! Using Screencasting / $114 / 3 / $114 / 3
Screentastic! Using Screencasting / $119 / 1 / $119 / 1
Are Your Mental Models of a Library Holding You Back? / $84 / 3 / $84 / 3
Are Your Mental Models of a Library Holding You Back? (group) / $476 / 4 / $476 / 4
Alternative Reads
Alternative Reads (group)
Make Way for Makerspaces in the Library / $28 / 1 / $28 / 1
Make Way for Makerspaces in the Library (group) / $238 / 2 / $238 / 2
The State of E-books in Public Libraries and Publishing / $56 / 2 / $56 / 2
The State of E-books in Public Libraries and Publishing (group) / $238 / 2 / $238 / 2
The Elusive Library Non-User / $112 / 4 / $112 / 4
The Elusive Library Non-User (group)
On Life Support, But Not Dead Yet! Revitalizing Reference / $252 / 9 / $252 / 9
On Life Support, But Not Dead Yet! Revitalizing Reference (group) / $119 / 1 / $119 / 1
The Thinking Person’s Guide to Stress Management / $56 / 2 / $56 / 2
The Thinking Person’s Guide to Stress Management (group) / $119 / 1 / $119 / 1
How to Be a Webinar Superstar / $28 / 1 / $28 / 1
How to Be a Webinar Superstar (group)
Early Literacy Programming in the Digital Age
Early Literacy Programming in the Digital Age (group)
Totals / $4,636 / 93 / $7,065 / 157

PLA Website

Statistics reported by Google Analytics for the PLA website between April 13, 2013* and June 10, 2013:

·  12,440 unique visitors

·  20,947 visits, with approximately 47% being new visitors and 53% being return visitors and an average visit duration of 2 minutes, 17 seconds

·  42,178 pageviews, for an average of 2.01 pages per visit

·  82.71% of visits were from the U.S., 2.98% from Canada, and the remaining from countries including India, the U.K., Australia, China, Malaysia, Spain, and the Philippines

·  Top 10 pages by pageviews were:

o  Homepage – 8,494 pageviews

o  Conferences & Continuing Education – 2,484 pageviews

o  RFID Technology for Libraries (Tech Notes)** – 1,950 pageviews

o  Results Boot Camp – 1,051 pageviews

o  PLA at ALA Annual Conference – 1,015 pageviews

o  Public Libraries Magazine (not Public Libraries Online) – 1,002 pageviews

o  On-Demand Webinars – 989 pageviews

o  Online Learning – 950 pageviews

o  PLA 2014 Conference Call for Proposals – 856 pageviews

o  Street Smart: Urban Fiction for Public Libraries (PLA Webinar) – 835 pageviews

·  Primary source of visits to the site was search engine results (58.7%), followed by users entering URLs directly in their browsers or using bookmarks (22%), then links from other sites or e-mail communications (19.3%)

·  Top 10 sources of visits by visits were:

o  Google – 11,253 visits

o  entering URLs or bookmarks – 4,602 visits

o  Bing – 568 visits

o  Facebook – 269 visits

o  Yahoo – 253 visits

o  americanlibrariesmagazine.org – 223 visits

o  libraryjournal.com – 193 visits

o  turningthepageonline.org – 166 visits

o  lj.libraryjournal.com – 127 visits

o  PLA e-mail newsletters and e-blasts – 91 visits

* The PLA Technology report submitted at 2013 Spring Board Meeting included site statistics through April 12, 2013.

**Although all of the PLA Tech Notes have been removed from the PLA site, these pages still exist on the ALA server. However, this particular Tech Notes article again received enough pageviews to rank it among the top 10 viewed pages.

PLA 2014 Conference Website

The PLA 2014 website at placonference.org officially launched in early May, when special registration opened. Statistics reported by Google Analytics for the PLA 2014 website between May 10, 2013 and June 10, 2013:

·  1,857 unique visitors

·  2,197 visits, with 84.6% being new visitors and 15.4% being return visitors and an average visit duration of 1 minutes, 33 seconds

·  4,189 pageviews, for an average of 1.91 pages per visit

·  90.81% of visits were from the U.S., 3.78% from Canada, and the remaining from countries including the U.K., France, Australia, India, South Korea, Indonesia, and Germany

·  Top 10 pages by pageviews were:

o  Homepage – 2,140 pageviews

o  Register – 714 pageviews

o  For Exhibitors – 115 pageviews

o  News: Submit a PLA 2014 Converstation Proposal – 114 pageviews

o  Big Ideas Series – 103 pageviews

o  Audio Publishers Association Dinner – 100 pageviews

o  Closing Session – 75 pageviews

o  News: David Sedaris is Coming to Indy – 74 pageviews

o  Explore Indianapolis – 63 pageviews

o  News & Announcements – 41 pageviews

·  Primary source of visits to the site was links from other sites or e-mail communications (44.8%), followed by users entering URLs directly in their browsers or using bookmarks (35.2%), then search engine results (20%)

·  Top 10 sources of visits by visits were:

o  entering URLs or bookmarks – 773 visits

o  ala.org (this would include the PLA site) – 630 visits

o  Google – 357 visits

o  fountas-and-pinnell.wikispaces.com – 169 visits

o  Bing – 50 visits

o  PLA/ALA e-mail newsletters and e-blasts – 27 visits

o  Yahoo – 26 visits

o  Facebook – 19 visits

o  goeshow.com (proposal management site) – 9 visits

o  a2zinc.net (exhibits management site) – 7 visits

1 of 5