The Power of Transmedia Storytelling

The closing keynote address at this year's Netspeed Conference was delivered by Kevin Franco. The subject matter of the address was transmedia storytelling - a unique and interesting concept that I thought should be shared.

Kevin was one of the creators of the "Transmedia Storytelling Thriller" One Child - an online book released in real time through a variety of media. The author of the book is Jeff Buick, and Kevin is the marketing genius who brought the book to life through transmedia storytelling. Jeff wrote the story which follows the lives of several people, seemingly un-related, over a 30 day period in the summer of 2010.

The basis of transmedia storytelling is that it uses multiple story threads that intersect to create a full story. In the case of One Child the story was released in real time as it would have occurred. Here are some of the different ways in which the story came to life:

• A soundtrack for the book was created
• Social media was used to support the characters and the storyline - online profiles were created for characters in the story so that readers could interact with them
  
• An online radio station was created to support the storyline - it broadcast fresh audio everyday with news reports that incorporated actual events happening in the world, coupled with the news and events happening within the story (each new day in the story begins with a radio broadcast).
  
• Websites were created for 4 fictitious companies from the story - you could go online to learn more about the companies and how they would be perceived in a real world situation.
  
• 4 scenes from the story were recreated on film - so when readers read one of the news reports in the story they could click it and actually watch the news report right there on their iPad or desktop reader.

The really interesting part of this whole project was that the different media used did not simply duplicate the story. In fact the different threads of the story may or may not have been mentioned in the original narrative. The way in which the storyline and characters were supported created a real blending of fact and fiction which gave readers a completely different kind of reading experience - one that they became truly emotionally invested in.

You can learn more about the story and even purchase it at http://www.enthrill.com/onechild

Ebooks: The New Normal

On Wednesday, October 12, I had the privilege of attending the second annual virtual conference on eBooks, “Ebooks: The New Normal.” While the summit did not inspire me as much as the last year’s, I wanted to share with you the best of the many unique ideas presented.

As one of the opening keynote speakers, school librarian and author of the The Unquiet Librarian blog, Buffy Hamilton, had a lot to say about equality, access, and how libraries need to take advantage of a situation of confusion. She asserted that libraries need to make themselves an integral part of the eBook learning experience. She also voiced concerns about a lack of a standard DRM (Digital Rights Management), meaning all eBooks would work in exactly the same way, and about privacy issues with patrons using Kindles in the States. (If you would like to know more, Librarian by Day has written an amazing article on the deal that U.S. libraries cut with Amazon.)

In the session “Ebooks: Strategy (Not) Required,” Susan Lyons, Learning and Engagement Manager of the Richmond County Public Library talked about an amazing outreach program called “The EReady Takeover.” After noticing a number of customers in a restaurant using portable reading devices, Susan partnered with the venue and spent a day teaching people how to download library eBooks. To do so, her library created a mobile lab and gathered a team of 8 librarians. Since their first outing, the library has partnered with 12 other local business. Susan said that it has been a great opportunity to dialogue with non-library users, as only 10% of those helped were aware of the library’s eBook collection.

Lastly, Eli Neiburger, who was part of a panel presentation entitled “The ebook Evolution: How They’ll Change Public Libraries,” spoke passionately about how libraries need to focus on diversifying their value. He cautioned that we are currently in an eBook pricing bubble and that at some point disruptive technologies will cause this bubble to burst. Therefore, libraries should be creating content and services that are unique to their communities. Besides programming and working with local groups, he said libraries could be circulating items which could not be found elsewhere. Due to current licensing models and the fact that libraries do not actually own their digital content, Eli felt that this strategy would be the best way hedging against rapid demand shifts.

Snapshot Day 2011 Highlights

Well, Snapshot Day/week is once again complete for the Chinook Arch Regional Library System, but it's still happening throughout the province. We were very excited this year to incorporate some new ideas and new libraries. This year, we had 17 libraries in the region participate. In addition, we had libraries participating in 5 other regional Systems! The final numbers aren't in yet, but it should be impressive.

This year we offered an option for online patrons to participate. Online participants were able to fill out the patron comment card online, as well as upload their own 'snapshots' to our Flickr account. Uptake of this option was ... limited to say the least, but this year we can include online visits in our stats too (for the first time in a number of years).

For those of you who might have already 'liked' Brooks Public Library on Facebook, you may have seen some of the wonderful things they did for their Snapshot Day on October 6th. Here's a sampling:

• Hourly door prizes
• Words on the Window community art project - patrons were invited to write why they love the library using window markers on all the library windows
• Scavenger Hunt - winners received a pack of books
• Wii Gaming for Tweens and Teens
• E-book and Library-to-go training sessions
• Senior's Outreach
• Friends of the Library raffle
• Free cupcakes (handmade by library staff)
• Grand prize draw of a Kobo Touch e-reader

My favorite post on Facebook from this library yesterday was "Pssst. The first person to come into BPL and scream "I LOVE THE LIBRARY!!!" before 12 Noon will win a prize. Hurry hurry!"

The library promoted the event in the newspaper, on the radio, and via Facebook and Twitter. They tweeted and posted on Facebook live all day, and decorated the library with a giant book, a Giller display, a Brooks Reads display, and lots of balloons.

And here are just some of the results of their efforts:

• 302 people visited the library
• 26 people used the computer lab
• 600 reference questions were asked! (wow)
• 98 comment cards completed
• 29 scavenger hunt participants
• 12 Wii game participants
• 4 training attendees

Congratulations to the Brooks Public Library and their staff for putting on such a great event. If you haven't 'liked' their Facebook page yet, go do so now, and learn more about what they did on Snapshot Day: https://www.facebook.com/BrooksPublicLibrary

Chinook Arch libraries, please don't forget to submit your Snapshot Day stats via SurveyMonkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SnapshotDaySystemSurvey

You can also upload your snapshots to our Flickr site at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/albertasnapshotday2011/

Congratulations everybody on a great job this year!