Submitted by schwarz on
Statistics, numbers, data... they're important info to convey to a library's customers, trustees, and the public. But how can you communicate the value of your library if those reports look dry and daunting?
Try this: create an infographic (a.k.a. information graphic) to make a visually-appealing & easily-comprehended way to get your message across. People like to view images rather than just plain text. You know the old saying — "A picture paints a thousand words."
Infographics...
- are visual presentations of information that use the elements of design to display content
- blend images and words to create an informative story
- communicate complex data quickly and clearly
- compress and display information in a visually pleasing way
- put data into a format that's easy to understand
To get inspired, look at these great infographics:
- One week at Appleton Public Library
- E-reading Trends
- Colorado School Librarians: Improving Student Achievement
- U.S. Public Libraries Weather the Storm
- Anatomy of a Librarian
- some more viewable at these Pinterest boards curated by Ye Olde Fortress of Awesome and Cindy Huskey
Create your own infographics with these free tools:
- Piktochart — customize one of the 5 free templates by adding shapes, graphics & text with drag & drop; customize the fonts & color scheme to suit your taste; then save the image in .png format to share anywhere
- Infogr.am — choose a template; add text, edit a chart, add a picture; then share it on your Facebook page or grab the code to embed it on your website
- Easel.ly — pick a theme; drag & drop objects or upload your own; then copy & paste the link to point to or grab the embed code to add to your website
- Visual.ly — another free tool where you choose & edit a template, but you must connect to either your Facebook or Twitter account to authorize the Create app
- The DIY Guide To Infographics — walks you through choosing an idea to illustrate and deciding how to visualize the data
- A Few Rules for Making Homemade Infographics — 6 tips for infographics success
And if you want to print a loooong infographic, I suggest using the free Block Posters service. Sources:
- Telling Your Story With Visual Power
- The Anatomy Of An Infographic: 5 Steps To Create A Powerful Visual
- A Picture is Worth 1,000 Gigabytes: Creating InfoGraphics with Middle School Students
- Over 100 Incredible Infographic Tools and Resources (Categorized)
- Infographics for Librarians, Educators, and Other Cool Geeks
- InfoGraphic Labs
- schwarz's blog
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