Thing 15: Widgets

Hi everyone!

Woohoo, widgets!  Widgets are spectacularly useful.  They're sort like the kid from the popular group that you invite to your party for status.  With a widget, you can take information from one site (like your Twitter account, Facebook account, chat, or something else random), and place it in a different site.  We actually already did this when we looked at Meebo, and I embedded the MeeboMe widget on the blog.  [--->] 
I've also got a counter on here, and a link to follow me on Twitter @Archivisitation.

From Twitter, you can install a widget that will display your most recent Tweets.  This can be added to a site or to Facebook.  It's a great way to get more of your repository's networking directly accessible from a single location (your site, Facebook page, etc.).  Also from Twitter, you can add a widget that will search Tweets, one that will display your favorite Tweets, or one that will display your favorite followers.  Any of these would be helpful for engaging folks into the online community of the repository.  From Facebook, you can add a Profile Badge or a Page Badge to your site, and this will let people know that you have a presence on Facebook.  It's definitely more noticeable than a link.  If your repository is on LibraryThing, or your repository is part of a library that is, you can add a LibraryThing account widget that will display your favorite books, or a particular collection, or books with reviews.  This widget would be a great way to get those staff recommendations out of the stacks and into your online community.  The LibraryThing widget is also customizable.  This 3jam widget allows users to send a message to a mobile account, without exposing the phone number.  It could be helpful if your repository does text/SMS reference.  This widget from del.icio.us allows you to display your new links-- which could connect users with related collections, other repositories, information about your or other archives, etc.  Google has all sorts of widgets/"web elements" that can be tacked onto a site.  The Maps widget could be helpful for pointing out the origination of a collection or document.  ...And there are many more widget suggestions on Stan Shroeder's article, recommended by 23 Things.

These are another way to engage users and to make the archives visible.  An invisible archives falls quickly by the wayside, and this technology is usually free, except for the cost of labor and upkeep.  If your repository has the time and means (or, okay, realistically, can make the time or means), then networking can reap real, tangible benefits for your repository, staff, and patrons.