Via iLibrarian: JupiterResearch has released a report showing significant use of widgets and gadgets on social networks.

If only I had known about this last week before my presentation on widgets, gadgets, and badges I could have included some really nice statistics about how much they are used. While the stats are encouraging, they do show that most people do not use widgets. Based on feedback from my presentation, I would guess this is because people do not have a sense of how trivially easy it is to use them, and because they feel that do not have a place to use them. Widgets can be used in more places than just in blogs. The JupiterResearch report focuses on how they are used in social networks, but they can be put on websites, in signature lines and just about any place that you can cut-and-paste a little bit of HTML.

The report also shows that people usually get their widgets from a friend. This could be because of the impact of social network applications and the concentration of information sharing activities there. On the other hand it could be because, people don’t realize that using widgets is as easy as “cut-and-paste” until a friend makes that obvious to them.

During my presentation on widgets last week, I used Calgary Public Library’s use of YouTube videos as example of how widgets can be used in a library promotion. At the time CPL only had two videos but this week they’ve started uploading even more!

This is really great to see. If you share your library promotional videos via YouTube or some other system, your users will be able to share them and promote them for you. If the videos are remarkable then putting them on YouTube allows people to actually remark on them. After all, the point of a library promotion is to get people talking and to spread the word right?

CPL is doing a great job with this. Here’s my new favorite video from CPLibrary:

If you wanted to post that video on your website or blog (or facebook or whatever), all you have to do is copy-and-paste the “embed” code shown on the youtube page for that video.

I had a great audience at Netspeed 2007 last week for my session Widgets, Gadgets, and Badges! I also had many generous responses to my request earlier in the month for examples of widgets used by libraries. I will be following up later this week by posting those examples on this blog. I am also working on a screencast version of the presentation. Look here for more information later this week.

The slides for my presentation at Netspeed 2007 are avaialble for download now. The title of the presentation is Widgets, Gadgets, and Badges for your Library, Website, or Blog. There is also a handout.

See also the page I created with links to widget examples.

Next week I am giving a presentation at Netspeed 2007 titled “Web Widgets, Gadgets, and Badges for your Library Website or Blog”. I am looking for examples of how cut-and-paste content and applications have been used by libraries for any purpose so that I can showcase them.

Most of my presentation will be about introducing the concept of widgets, and demonstrating specific well-known examples. However, I would also like to showcase what many libraries have done already with widgets. I think this will provide some food-for-thought for the audience and generate ideas about they can easily leverage cut-and-paste content for their own purposes. I have seen lots of examples, but I’d like to see many more so that I can also demonstrate which uses of widgets are most popular, most successful, etc.

• Does your library use a widget on this website?
• Have you created a badge to promote an event at your library or in your community?
• Do you post your facebook badges on your blog?
• Do you use flickr, youtube, or some other cut-and-paste media to enhance your web content?

I would like to hear about it.

Please feel free to post your examples as a comment here, or send me email at widgets@syntheticlibrarian.com