IU’s School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) merged with the IU School of Informatics and Computing (SoIC). The merging of these top-ranked schools created one of the largest and most prestigious informatics schools in the United States.
Despite the strength of their degree program, many alumni and donors have felt disengaged now that their School of Library and Information Science has been rolled into the School of Informatics and Computing. This feeling was evidenced by a decreasing number of donors to the ILS program.
Leaders from the IU Office of the Vice President for IT and CIO, the IU Libraries, and the IU School of Informatics and Computing charged our team with creating a publication that resonates with alumni and donors, signals to them that library education and innovative librarianship is alive and well at IU, and spurs them to re-engage with IU.
What’s the best way to get folks to re-engage? Our team agreed that profiles of successful alumni with impressive careers was the way to go. Dubbed “Faces,” this theme enabled us to tell IU’s library education story through interesting people, and weave impressive facts about the ILS program, facilities, and opportunities into the profile copy. Building on the “Faces” theme, we designed the booklet to allow readers to play with alumni portraits, mixing and matching them for interesting results.
Excellent photography was a vital element of the project, and we flew our photographer around the country to snap headshots and workplace portraits of the profile subjects.
In addition, we sought re-engagement through a strong call to action with a social media twist. The back page of the booklet urged readers to get in touch because “We miss your face!” alongside mirrored paper to reflect their own face. We encouraged readers to snap a selfie and show us how they’re part of the changing face of library science—and then upload it Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with the hashtag #MyIULibFace.
Project Manager: Daphne Siefert-McCanse
Design: Maria Morris
Photography: Jenn Taylor
Writing: Ceci Jones