QR Code Roundup: 10 Resources for Librarians and Educators

Ellyssa Kroski — May 5, 2011

By now you’ve probably heard about QR, or quick-response 2-D barcodes. These nifty little images make scanning in website URLs and contact information a snap are already being adopted by innovative librarians and educators around the world. They’re incredibly easy to create and offer a quick and interactive way to promote library events and services as well as engage students and patrons. If you’re still getting up to speed, these 10 resources should get you started:

 

1. How To: Make Your QR Codes More Beautiful

Hamilton Chan, CEO and founder of Paperlinks, writes a quick guide for Mashable about How To: Make Your QR Codes More Beautiful. This excellent article offers tips and techniques for making these useful barcodes more attractive, including adding color, rounding edges, and incorporating 3D impact.
 

2. QR Code Quest: a Library Scavenger Hunt

Gwyneth A. Jones, Teacher-Librarian at the Murray Hill Middle School, aka The Daring Librarian has created an exciting QR Code Quest: a Library Scavenger Hunt. This innovative use of QR (quick-response) barcodes was created as a library learning experience for 35 middle-schoolers in an ESOL program. What a great idea!
 

3. Scanning Library Cards on Smartphones

Brian Herzog at the Swiss Army Librarian writes about Scanning Library Cards on Smartphones. This is a very interesting article about how we can offer convenience for patrons who want to store their library card barcodes on their phones.
 

4. How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business (or Library!)

Jeff Korhan at the Social Media Examiner writes about How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business. This is an excellent guide to quick response barcodes, what they are, and how to use them for your organization.
 

5. 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Use QR Codes

John Paul Titlow at ReadWriteBiz suggests 5 Ways Small Businesses Can Use QR Codes. All of these recommendations can be easily adapted for libraries such as:

  1. Turn Foot Traffic Into Web Traffic
  2. Build Up Social Media Followers
  3. Business Cards
  4. Print Advertising
  5. Scavenger Hunts and Other Games

 

6. QR Code Comic Tutorial

Gwyneth Jones, The Daring Librarian, presents an excellent QR Code AT-A-Glance Comic Tutorial. This helpful infographic summarizes facts and potential uses of Quick-Response barcodes in the library and classroom.
 

7. QR Codes 101: Make Links to Your Website from Anywhere

Charles Hamilton at GigaOm provides a brief explanation of quick-response barcodes in QR Codes 101: Make Links to Your Website from Anywhere. This quick post suggests three different ways that you can leverage these mobile-friendly codes including:

  • To transfer contact information.
  • To drive traffic to special offers.
  • To drive traffic to websites from display ads.

I can think of many ways that libraries could use these QR barcodes including:

  • To provide links to stacks guides and maps.
  • To provide the library’s text reference phone number.
  • To provide links to the library website, blog, and social media profiles.
 

8. Use QR Codes and Dropbox to Share Event Photos

Matthew Rogers at Lifehacker suggests that the next time you’re planning an event you should Use QR Codes and Dropbox to Share Event Photos. What a great idea!
 

9. QR Codes in the Classroom

Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers suggests some exciting ways to make use of QR Codes in the Classroom.
 

10. QR Codes and the Library: The Library Audio Tour

Michael Whitchurch, Information Commons Section Head at Brigham Young University, presented about QR Codes and the Library: The Library Audio Tour at this year’s ACRL 2011 conference. His paper is now available online along with over 60 top-notch papers from the event.