Sensible Technology Trends in Libraries
Woot! Jessamyn West speaks at WLA! I found my own spot in the back of the room with a power plug, and I am set to blog away.
Her presentation slides are online at http://www.librarian.net/talks/wla/.
Appealing to all of your patrons, including those who don't use technology and those like Jessamyn who are looking for things like wifi and higher-end technology is one of the tricks of modern librarianship.
Most people think they are bad with computers, but it is just a new way to think and new things to understand.
Library 2.0 = the library is no longer the box where the books are. Library websites are becoming more and more interactive.
"Only librarians like the search, everyone else likes the find." Great quote!
Email is a great way to interact with patrons. Ask yourself how accessible you want to be.
Create a generic trustee email address, generic director address, generic department address, and forward when you go away to someone else to handle it.
Offer email classes to patrons. Explain advertising banners to people!
Instant Messaging: patrons can chat with librarians, departments can chat with one another. Use Trillian to chat with all types of IM clients. Meebo for websites and to get around any blocks at libraries/schools against chatting.
RSSCalendar offers a script that pulls the top ten items from a calendar and puts them on a website. Sweet!
Wikipedia is very popular, but still controversial. Discussions about authority are important.
You can use Blogger to edit and maintain sites/blogs on other domains. Definitely something to explore!
Social software like MySpace carry concerns still, but it is also a place for networking among adults. Libraries are creating MySpace accounts. Yes! Social software is no longer the flavor of the month. Make sure that as a librarian you understand what social software is, and what DOPA legislation is threatening. It's not just MySpace, but may be your own library website if it contains any social elements.
Open source allows you access to the original code. Look for open source codes that help librarians. There are choices to be made with open source vs for-profit software. There are open source and free alternatives.
Mash-Ups are very useful. Use Google Maps on your website to provide local info. Will OPAC Mash-ups ever come? It would require ILS vendors to offer their databases to users.
Wifi can be offered in small libraries for $30 in 30 minutes. Yes! This has been done throughout our library system already. Splash screens can be very useful. Some libraries offer their access policy and then a choice of filtered or unfiltered. Consider lending laptops at a library as a way to minimize the digital divide.
Start playing with beta sites. You can try on new web sites like you are trying on hats.
Wonderful speaker with warmth and humor! Glad I get to cross the hall and hear more!