Thing 24: Infographics
Honestly, I had looked at this topic some months ago and I wasn't enthusiastic, but a fresh look today and I can see where it could be very useful. I reread 10 Traits of Amazingly Awesome Infographics and tried to take some of the tips to heart.
I decided to use Easelly because it was One of AASL's Best Websites for Teaching and Learning in 2013 and because I saw the example of the Memorial Library Monthly Report. I thought that I could make something like that to summarize my library's collection and usage. I have written formal Library Reports to the Board of Education and the Superintendent in the past with no feedback. A quick snapshot of the library might be a better venue to promote the program.
Using that theme as a backdrop, I started a report of my own. You can see it here: http://easel.ly/infographic/4xh19d
I spent a lot of time trying to locate the statistics in my catalog with partial success. Since I am not at school, I don't have access to many of the numbers needed to complete this project. I will have to work on it further at school when I have the time. In particular, I want to add statistics on how many new materials were added this year as well as how circulation has changed.
The program was not particularly intuitive. Not difficult, but not as easy as I might have expected. I'm not sure how much better it is than creating an infographic in a more traditional software package, such as PowerPoint or GoogleSlides. I guess that the advantage is in the inspiration that seeing their examples provides and in the fact that it is automatically assigned a URL.
If I can get the circulation program to give me the statistics in a more usable format (Note to self: email Gina!), then I think that I could develop some other infographics to encourage and inspire the students. I also think that they really probably need more education in reading infographics so that they are no swayed by a slick layout with questionable statistics.
I decided to use Easelly because it was One of AASL's Best Websites for Teaching and Learning in 2013 and because I saw the example of the Memorial Library Monthly Report. I thought that I could make something like that to summarize my library's collection and usage. I have written formal Library Reports to the Board of Education and the Superintendent in the past with no feedback. A quick snapshot of the library might be a better venue to promote the program.
Using that theme as a backdrop, I started a report of my own. You can see it here: http://easel.ly/infographic/4xh19d
I spent a lot of time trying to locate the statistics in my catalog with partial success. Since I am not at school, I don't have access to many of the numbers needed to complete this project. I will have to work on it further at school when I have the time. In particular, I want to add statistics on how many new materials were added this year as well as how circulation has changed.
The program was not particularly intuitive. Not difficult, but not as easy as I might have expected. I'm not sure how much better it is than creating an infographic in a more traditional software package, such as PowerPoint or GoogleSlides. I guess that the advantage is in the inspiration that seeing their examples provides and in the fact that it is automatically assigned a URL.
If I can get the circulation program to give me the statistics in a more usable format (Note to self: email Gina!), then I think that I could develop some other infographics to encourage and inspire the students. I also think that they really probably need more education in reading infographics so that they are no swayed by a slick layout with questionable statistics.
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