Metrics are an important part of any business, content management system, or library. This important topic was addressed in the Special Libraries Association article, “Incorporating Metrics into Your Mission.”

When it comes to mission statements,  aspirational language can often leave out the accountability factor.  Measuring activity and demonstrating value is an important part of any strategic plan.

In this article, Heather Kotula, vice president of marketing and communications for Access Innovations, talks about finding the why and communicating the mission of your library. She reminds us to go further and plan a campaign to share the mission with the organization as a whole – as in a marketing plan. Visuals are far easier to broadcast to the larger community. Consider this when developing your materials.

Developing a concise and clear message can be hard. It will likely take several attempts, but never fear. Once you have a final version, share, share, and share. Find a variety of ways to share the message – at least five – and be prepared to quantify the effectiveness of that campaign.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in taxonomies, metadata, and semantic enrichment to make your content findable.