Tweeting Tennessee's Collections: Where Bots & Special Collections Meet

This project demonstrates how a Twitterbot can be used as an inclusive outreach initiative that breaks down the barriers between the Web and the reading room to share materials like postcards, music manuscripts, photographs, and cartoons with the public. Once in place, Twitterbots allow our physical materials to converge with the technical and social space of the Web. Twitterbots are ideal for busy professionals because they allow librarians to make meaningful impressions on users without requiring a large time investment. This poster covers my recent implementation of a digital collections bot (@UTKDigCollBot) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and provides documentation and advice on how you might develop a bot to highlight materials at your own institution. This content was presented at the 2018 Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Conference in New Orleans, LA.