Your central library

By Adrian Toon, director of a2n.

A central library is perhaps not seen today as an important knowledge hub – as this mantle has been taken by the internet – but we should consider that idea when we think of a central storage of images within our businesses.

Why is this important? Using social media, an image captures attention and can reveal a great deal in a very small space of time, often leading a viewer to read on.

We all take images on our phones, but rarely place these in a central, shared library. With today’s technology it is easy to create shared location and store images.

In print, or online, editors like to see fresh, new images with PR copy as they are more likely to use a PR piece with a relevant new image. It is amazing as a reader how we remember a past image and then associate the news as being repeated as well.

As we have discussed in this column in the past, smartphones can produce some very good images of products, premises, processes, people and projects. The key is to encourage all employees to copy these to a central library which is easily searchable.

Not only is the library good for PR copy but the images can be used for a wide range of purposes.

For what could take a short time to organise, a central library of images can become a valuable and free-to-use resource within your business.