2024 ARLIES Submissions

In 2019, UBC Asian Library acquired several rare titles as part of its Japanese Collections, but due to the pandemic and other factors, the acquisition announcement for these titles was delayed until 2023. This video was created by Library Communications as part of a larger campaign, with three main goals: to promote the recently digitized versions of Ikoku jinbutsuzu and Nara ehon dankan and encourage downloads, to promote awareness of UBC Asian Library’s Japanese Collections as a resource for faculty and student researchers, and to publicly acknowledge donor support for these acquisitions. All photography and videography was done in-house by the Library Communications team.

The video has garnered 132 views on YouTube since it was uploaded on November 6, 2023, and continues to draw new viewers. The campaign as a whole generated more than 145 engagements and 3,800k social content impressions, and 1,300 pageviews on the UBC Library website, and was featured on several of the institution’s websites, including the UBC.ca homepage, UBC’s Strategic Framework, and faculty and staff news website UBC Today. Based on usage statistics from UBC Open Collections, both digitized titles saw significant increases in downloads during the campaign period.

This video was created in support of an exhibition in the Archives at the University at Buffalo Libraries that celebrates Buffalo-based architect Louise Blanchard Bethune, FAIA, the first professional woman architect in the United States and the first woman elected to the American Institute of Architects.

The exhibition explores Louise Bethune’s life and work through photographs and architectural drawings selected from the Zina Bethune collection on Louise Bethune, circa 1860–1962.

The video was shown publicly at both the opening and closing receptions for the exhibition and generated positive feedback from supporters across the spectrum (alumni, faculty, students, donors).

There have been 145 views on YouTube since its release on December 3, 2023. The video was also shared university wide via it’s daily “UB Now” email platform and corresponding web presence.

The video generated interest and news stories from Janet Gramza, a reporter from the Buffalo News. Additionally, the exhibit was featured on an “Explore Buffalo Spotlight Tour.”

The purpose of this short film was to clarify what researchers and community members need to do when visiting the Glenbow Western Research Centre (GWRC). The intention was for visitors to know a bit more about the GWRC, including how to book an appointment and the protocols in place for protecting materials in the reading room.Audience was both on campus users as well as community users. So far we’ve had 360 views off of our youtube channel and 1494 views from our embedded links we share from Cortex. We have had a much smoother experience onsite since we started using this film. Users know what to expect and are making better use of their time when they visit us. Overall it has been a very successful promo video for us.

The video is intended to commemorate Women’s History Month and connect the Carey Shuart Women’s Research Collection to research opportunities for University of Houston students and scholars. As of today, on Instagram, the video has garnered 713 views with a total watch time of over 53 minutes since being posted on March 20.

IU Libraries Lilly Library worked in partnership with central communications teams to announce an exciting new collection acquisition. As part of a two-site collaboration, the central team filmed a video to include on a university-wide news distribution (https://news.iu.edu/live/news/33768-lilly-library-works-its-magic-on-newly-acquired). One feature of the story and video was a behind the scenes look at collection processing to educate viewers and set expectations regarding accessibility of the materials. At the same time, IU Libraries published a companion story and linked to the video. Key results were republished stories about the collection by members of the magic community (https://www.oneahead.com/ricky-jay-magic-archive/).

The Slave Societies Digital Archive (SSDA) serves the purpose of preserving and providing access to extensive serial records concerning the history of Africans in the Atlantic World, as well as information about indigenous, European, and Asian populations. It aims to raise awareness within the local Vanderbilt community and globally. The project has been showcased at a campus film festival, featured in the University’s capital campaign, and highlighted on the institution’s website. The SSDA holds nearly a million digital images spanning the sixteenth through twentieth centuries, documenting the lives of an estimated four to six million individuals. Its impact includes increased visibility through exhibitions, contributions to academic research, and engagement with wider audiences.

No deep purpose or content strategy with this effort, which was all in fun and has had 90 views.

This short film’s audience is anyone who believes in the spirit of libraries and how key services like preservation and research are integral to any academic institution. For use by University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press’ development team, this short appeal to donors will help secure the funds needed toward Morris Library’s Second Floor renovation. The Second Floor of Morris Library is home to the Special Collections gallery, historical materials, librarians and instructors.

The video was shared with over 2,000 donors and continues to serve as a catalyst for increased awareness and appreciation of the Barry Bingham, Jr. Courier-Journal Photograph Collection.

“Preserving Cuban Voices” is a short film that serves as a fundraising resource and a powerful testament to the importance of preserving Cuban heritage and history through oral narratives. The film premiered at the “Oral History Archives of the Cuban Heritage Collection Reception” event in the Roberto C. Goizueta Pavilion on March 19, 2024.

Using interviews with experts and scholars and clips from firsthand accounts, the film showcases the stories of Cuban exiles who have made lasting contributions to the community and beyond. From entrepreneurs and professionals to artists, writers, and activists, these voices enrich our understanding of Cuba and its global diaspora.

The primary purpose of the film is to raise awareness about the significance of and the funds necessary for the preservation of oral histories in documenting the Cuban and Cuban American experience. By sharing personal narratives, it aims to foster a deeper appreciation for the resilience, diversity, and cultural legacy of the Cuban community, while emphasizing the vital role of oral histories in preserving cultural heritage.

Having first premiered at a major donor-honoring and stewardship event, “Preserving Cuban Voices” continues to appeal to scholars, students, community members, and anyone interested in Cuban history and heritage who seeks authentic insights into the island as well as the lives of its exiles. The film’s placement within the Cuban Heritage Collection’s online video repository ensures worldwide accessibility for continued research, education, and community engagement.

Description:

The attached video theme and intent is a thank you to donors who supported the University Libraries during the campus-wide giving day campaign, Glow Big Red. Students were recruited to express their gratitude to “receiving a leg up” from alumni and donors.

Background:

Glow Big Red is an annual giving-day fundraising event at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL). All colleges, departments, and student organizations participate and raise money via emails and social media. The University of Nebraska Foundation coordinated the giving day and invited all units to create videos to be embedded in their Thankview system to be emailed to donors.

The University Libraries produced their video to thank the 55 donors who gave support to the Libraries. The video was also shared internally with Libraries staff and faculty for their help in recruiting students to be in the video. We recruited student employees to be our on-camera talent to thank donors directly.

The theme of a “leg-up” was to visually show that students can checkout more than books from the Libraries. The videographer, Erin Colonna, came up with the idea to cut together a sequence of the students passing the leg from one to the other.

Thanking people for their gifts is an important step to make before the next solicitation. The direct impact of the video is yet unknown, however we did receive positive feedback from faculty and staff.

This film has been viewed more than 1,300 times on Instagram and YouTube. It has also been featured in the Campus-wide daily newsletter.

Purpose:
• Inspire connection with the Iowa State University Library and wish our contacts happy New Year
• Showcase spaces and services
• Elicit positive emotional reaction

Audience
• Donors and alumni (via email)
• Students, faculty, and staff (social media)
• Other University Library social media followers

Impact

The video was emailed to 18,800 contacts, more than 7,800 opened, and more than 965 clicked the video link.

Social media reach (video was embedded into each platform):

Facebook:
• 896 post impressions
• 809 users post reach
• 17 likes
• 5 shares
• 10.51% engagement rate
X:
• 8% engagement rate
• 100 post impressions
• 2 likes
• 106 views

Instagram:
• 18.75% engagement rate
• 72 post impressions
• 208 accounts reached
• 13 likes
• 25 shares
• 351 times viewed

Youtube:
• 966 views
• 17 likes

The audience was undergraduates at the University of Minnesota. The purpose was to provide helpful information about the libraries to them in a fun and entertaining way while riffing on a popular cultural icon, Wednesday Addams from the Netflix TV series. Alerting students post-pandemic about the benefits of library spaces was also a goal. We had more than 16,800 views of our Instagram Reel, far more than our average viewership. We had 277 likes and lots of comments, like this one: “Hey! @abby_wilfert How cool is this?! Let’s study at the library sometime soon!”

This video was shared on social media to entertain and delight our followers and keep them engaged over the summer. It was based on a trend at the time and we thought it was the perfect chance to show off our biggest library, The D.B. Weldon Library. The video received over 450 likes, 6,200 views and 100 shares, and a ton of comments from students appreciating the Jac’s creative take on the trend.

This video is an Instagram collaboration between Handsome Dan (@handsomedanyale), the Yale Visitor’s Center (@visityale), and Bass Library, Yale’s undergraduate library (@basslibrary). The reach includes current Yale students, as well as past and prospective students, and the general population (also known as ‘fans,’ especially those of Yale Library and Handsome Dan). Within two hours of posting, the video received 3,500 views, 200 likes, and 26 shares, with further engagement in the comments from current and former students, as well as other Yale University and Yale Library accounts. Overall, the video builds on the recent success of social media accounts at Yale University, with individual departments heightening their collaborations to unpack the real experiences of Yale students, as well as Yale’s ‘hidden curriculum.’ For instance, Handsome Dan’s handler and best friend, Kassandra Haro, approached Kelly Blanchat, Undergraduate Teaching and Outreach Librarian, to collaborate with @basslibrary to further the Bass Library’s goal of lessening ‘library anxiety’ using the digital space of Instagram to promote a welcoming, inclusive physical place. Essential video elements toward this goal include: the water bottle collection (a long-standing @basslibrary joke), the Reading Resilience Project to highlight commonly underrepresented voices in library collections, study space, and the Personal Librarian program. The timing of this video, immediately before both admitted student’s day (also known as Bulldog Days) and final exams, helps to advertise important library services for academic work as well as student wellness through humor. We hope you enjoy this video as much as we do!

This video was created to give users a general tutorial on how to use a record player and to coincide with, Groove at the Library, a day-long series of listening and learning events about vinyl records and vinyl culture hosted by the Media Services department of the library. It has been viewed more than 35,000 times on the library YouTube channel.

We needed a creative way to highlight services that are offered at the BYU Library. The audience is primarily student-focused. We have had over 900 views. These ads are available on YouTube and Instagram and are internally distributed to new students and current student employees of the library for training purposes. This was written, filmed, and produced solely by student employees.

This video was produced for the UCSB Library Student Employee Spotlights campaign, which consisted of a series of videos and static graphics that were published on UCSB Library’s social media accounts (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X/Twitter) and on eight digital displays in the Library building during the 2023-2024 academic year. Campaign videos featured short interviews with student employees from different Library departments that highlighted their job responsibilities and the reasons why they chose to work at the Library and b-roll footage showing student employees performing typical job duties. The campaign was aimed at undergraduate and graduate students at UC Santa Barbara and had the following objectives:

• Inform students of the wide range of job opportunities available at UCSB Library;
  
• Highlight the benefits of employment at the Library for students’ studies and future careers;
  
• Position the Library as a great place to work on campus in support of future student employee recruitment efforts;
  
• Enhance the Library’s brand reputation; and
  
• Recognize the valuable contributions student employees make to the Library.

Campaign content was viewed thousands of times on social media and the digital displays. (UCSB Library averages 62,000 weekly physical visitors this academic year. Visitors encounter digital displays near the main entrances and in other highly trafficked areas of the building.) The submitted video has been viewed more than 3,000 times on Instagram and TikTok, and received 65 likes since it was published on December 18, 2023.

In addition to supporting the campaign objectives described above, the submitted video also improved the visibility of one of UCSB Library’s major special research collections, the Performing Arts Collection. This internationally renowned collection contains more than 400,000 historical sound recordings in a variety of formats that are processed, preserved, stored, digitized and made available to the public and researchers across the world.

Purpose: Highlight a specialty staff member and services of the Smathers Libraries. Audience: Library users, library employees and folks fascinated by preservation and conservation.
Measure of impact: 180 views, used in UF’s Video Storytelling course for instructional purposes, shared internally across library employees.

This video was directed at attendees of McMaster University sporting events, who may be unaware of the full array of services the library can provide. This promotional video was played at the McMaster Marauders Library Night (02/02/2024), during the Men’s and Women’s volleyball matches, with attendance numbers of 800 and 722, respectively. It has recently been uploaded to the McMaster University Libraries’ YouTube page to help promote our services.

The library needed a new online orientation program for (6,000+) new students as the university had moved away from in-person orientation sessions for new students to an online-only orientation. Each unit at the university can post several videos that students must watch as part of the orientation process. We made the “Why The Library” video to set the stage and sit alongside our other orientation videos, which give a more detailed look at the possibilities at the library. Our goal was to do something other than the boring “talking head” video shown by many other units on campus.

The MSU Libraries and MSU College of Music Collaboration video features graduate students from the College of Music playing “Victory for MSU” both inside and outside of the Main Library. The audience for the video is primarily MSU Libraries donors, as the video was created to be used in birthday greetings sent to donors from the Libraries’ development office and as an evergreen resource for future campaigns. The impact of the video can be seen in the email campaign metrics, which show an open rate of 66.7% (with the industry estimated average per MailChimp at 21.33%) and a click-through rate of 31.4% (with the industry estimated average at 2.63%). This video not only exemplifies the strong collaborative relationships that MSU Libraries has with our campus partners, but also highlights the accessibility of MSU Libraries through a humorous lens. The video works to dismantle the idea that libraries are limited to the stereotype of the “quiet librarian” by placing the College of Music students within the library against the “Quiet Study Area” sign. Of course, when instructed, the music students situate themselves outside of the Main Library to play the full MSU fight song, allowing for exterior shots of our iconic campus space. The College of Music is located across from the MSU Libraries, so this placement also works to visually highlight the spatial relationship between the college units in addition to the collaborative partnership.

Live-action Clue is a beloved tradition at UNC-Chapel Hill. The immersive game gently introduces students to the collections and resources of Wilson Library, which many of them tell us can otherwise feel imposing and intimidating.

This video celebrates the return of Clue in 2023 after a 3-year pandemic hiatus and (re)introduces audiences to the fun and excitement. It was filmed by the Office of University Communications, which is especially interested in telling stories of the traditions and activities that distinguish Carolina in order to reach prospective students and their families, and to inspire and engage current students and affiliates.

The video on YouTube reached 7,310 viewers (650 views) and was also viewed 127 times on the University’s homepage. The video has performed well on social media, with 39, 121 Instagram reel plays and 148 shares, plus a reach of 6,433 on Facebook with 1.9K views. Registration for the spring 2024 presentation of Clue at Wilson Library recently opened and closed in the same day without any promotional activity at all; students familiar with the tradition monitor the website and share the opportunity through word of mouth and prior communications such as this video.

Purpose
The end of the semester is always stressful, but Alden Library, Ohio University Libraries’ main campus library, is always here to help.

Audience
Students can check out, “Tips & Tricks to Finals Week,” for advice from students, and filmed by students, about the best ways to successfully get through finals.

Measures
Range of time: November 17, 2023–March 20, 2024
TOTAL IMPRESSIONS: 2,186
• INSTAGRAM: 1,237
• TWITTER: 757
• FACEBOOK: 192

With support from distinguished donors, the University of Ottawa Library launched the Women’s Archives Initiative in 2020 to bring awareness to the history of the feminist movement in Canada as told through the archival record. Part of the initiative was the creation of the Canadian Women’s Movements Portal, a bilingual pan-Canadian inventory of archival materials available in heritage institutions across the country. This portal aims to facilitate the discovery and access to archival materials, to highlight Canadian women’s documentary heritage, and to strengthen feminist research, storytelling, and collaborations from coast to coast to coast.

This video was created to highlight the unique portal and deepen engagement around this important initiative among a diverse and wide-ranging community of interested partners, including its donors. It uses images from the University of Ottawa Library’s Archives and Special Collections holdings and is narrated by the Library’s Storyteller-in-Residence.

The video’s goals were threefold:

To deepen engagement with the donors by helping to raise awareness of the Women’s Archives Initiative and highlight the impact of the work made possible because of the donation across broad and diverse audiences.

To initiate engagement with new and existing audiences around Canadian women’s documentary heritage.

To create an engagement tool that could be used across different channels and in different settings to raise awareness of the Canadian Women’s Movement Portal.

In addition, the video was produced in both French and English, fitting into the proud bilingual heritage and communications framework of the University of Ottawa. Since being uploaded to the University of Ottawa Library YouTube channel (786 subscribers) in December 2023, the English video has reached 161 views, and the French video has reached 61 views. The video link can be accessed via the Library’s Archives and Special Collections’ Women’s Archives Initiative page: https://www.uottawa.ca/library/archives-special-collections/womens-archives-initiative.

The video will become part of a communications strategy led by the team at the University of Ottawa Library’s Archives and Special Collections to engage existing and new audiences around the Women’s Archives Initiative, and more specifically, invite these audiences to discover the Canadian Women’s Movements Portal.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Women’s Archives Initiative donors and network (approximately 75 individuals)

Researchers and students interested in Canadian women’s documentary heritage (at the University of Ottawa alone, these groups account for over 360 individuals)

Potential contributors to Women’s Archives Initiative (countless)

The feedback we have received has been very positive. The donor was very excited about it and it’s potential use. We have yet to solicit feedback from students and researchers and are still in the process of creating a communications plan around the increased dissemination of the video and promotion of the initiative.

The film was created to highlight to our students in a light-hearted and fun way some of the favorite things in the library. In addition to being hosted on our video platform with 162 views, it had 840 views on our Instagram account, 798 on Facebook, and we used it in our holiday email message that was sent to 1,709 Libraries’ staff, donors, constituents, campus partners and others.

This video highlights some of the resources of the Makerspace and the experiences of three individuals who came to craft with others. Students who attended the workshop expressed their love for workshops like this and how grateful they were for the time they were given to come together and create. This video was created for our blog as well as our social media platforms.

The Media Creation Lab opened in 2022 with a small seed grant and has the values of inclusivity and accessibility at its heart. Despite being open for about two years, students are often still unaware of the services and tools we provide – and since we focus on making media creation accessible for beginners, these first-time creators are precisely the people we want to reach. Moreover, the Libraries are gearing up to open a second location at our new Markham campus library in September 2024, making awareness of what we offer even more crucial. This video is intended to centre our accessible, safe-space approach, with a focus on how we put media creation within faculty, staff and students’ grasp, no matter their department or program or how new they are to the tools.

The video is targeted to reach our future users, and to emphasize the warm approach we take to encouraging people to explore digital literacies, whether it be for themselves or for their coursework. We want students to see themselves reflected in the space and to feel that it is an approachable and welcoming place for them to explore and develop a new passion.

The University of Illinois Library created this video with several goals in mind: 1) to raise awareness about preservation and conservation at Illinois; 2) to highlight several projects and services and to illustrate outreach and engagement; 3) to drive traffic to the Preservation Services website (http://library.illinois.edu/preservation); and 4) to make an emotional connection with community members.

The purpose of this film is to raise awareness of and increase engagement with one of the many services that the Hesburgh Libraries offers in support of research, teaching, and learning across the academic enterprise. This vital, yet often hidden, expertise is a core part of the service portfolio, ensuring our most precious items can be preserved, stewarded, and made accessible to our faculty, students, and visiting scholars.

The audience is Notre Dame leadership, faculty, students, and staff; discipline-specific scholars; and the conservation and preservation profession.

Featured on the University’s website homepage
Published on the University’s main website
Featured on the Hesburgh Libraries homepage
Published on the Hesburgh Libraries website
Featured on the University’s social media channels
Featured on social media channels across the academy, including Arts & Letters, Notre Dame Research, and more.
Featured on the Hesburgh Libraries social media channels
Published on Notre Dame’s YouTube channel
Shared internally with library employees and with Hesburgh Libraries Advisory Council Members

The purpose of the film is to highlight the collections, research, and collaboration that informed the curating of the Special Collection Library’s 2024 exhibition “Where Beauty’s At”: Expressions of Black Visual Culture, co-curated by two post-doctoral researchers at Penn State, Adisa Very Beatty and Brittany Frederick. The film will play in the exhibition space from February 1 through September 9, 2024. The audience for the exhibition is the Penn State and local community; the audience for the film, which will live on beyond the physical exhibition, is the world. Impact is narrative at this point—in our guest book, during class visits and public tours, and through visitor experiences shared with us—since we are only now making it publicly available on the web. So far, there have only been positive reactions to and excitement about the exhibition and the film.

Launched in 2021, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives’ Audiovisual Media Preservation Initiative (AVMPI) is the result of decades of media collections care, career-long labor by dedicated staff, and over six years of collaborative planning across multiple museums and research centers. This promotional video was produced in 2022 to highlight the Initiative’s launch, its new staff, and the centralized pan-institutional service role that Smithsonian Libraries and Archives plays at the Smithsonian.

This video streams across SLA social media platforms and the AVMPI website https://avpreservation.si.edu/about where people can learn more about our collections and programs.

“The Scholars Lab at the Perry-Castañeda Library” is a short form informational/marketing video designed to introduce viewers to the new resource which opened in early October 2023. The video includes commentary from faculty, students, and librarians, to offer audiences gain insight into how this dynamic hub fosters interdisciplinary research, technological exploration, and community engagement.

The Scholars Lab was conceptualized almost a decade ago with the goal of providing scholars with access to cutting-edge technology, specialized expertise, and collaborative opportunities, and has quickly become a cornerstone of the university’s research ecosystem thanks to marketing efforts that include use of the video and a series of promotional vignettes that were created simultaneously.

With a primary audience of faculty, graduate students, and researchers from a wide range of disciplines, the Scholars Lab caters to individuals seeking to leverage emerging technologies and digital tools in their scholarly pursuits. But the video has had appeal for general audiences and library advocates who are less familiar with the specialized work of academic libraries, as the visual storytelling is able to convey the potential that such a resource can provide for scholars at all levels.

The video has garnered over 2,500 views on the Libraries’ social media platforms, and has been shown as a complement to presentations on the Scholars Lab at professional conferences by project stakeholders. The film has received positive feedback both from within the university community and beyond, generating excitement and interest in the work being done at the Scholars Lab.

The video was also featured as a complement to the university’s official announcement of the Scholars Lab opening on the university’s main website and social media channels, further amplifying its reach and impact. Additionally, the film has served as a valuable tool for fundraising efforts, garnering support from donors and stakeholders eager to invest in the future of academic innovation.