David Lee King has a great post on 10 Questions to Ask New Administrators.
- Do you read blogs. Which ones?
- Do you have a personal blog? What’s it about?
- Do you participate in at least one social network? Which one?
- Have you ever uploaded a video online? What did you use to do it?
- What’s your favorite search engine. Why?
- Have you ever used an online classified service like craigslist?
- Besides making phone calls—how else do you use your mobile phone?
- Have you ever registered a domain name?
- Do you use social bookmarks or tagging?
- Do you use a feed reader of some sort? Which one? Why?
Now, I am a pretty techie director and I haven't done all of those. So I agree with David that you aren't looking for a clear sweep with all positive answers. Rather you are looking for someone who is clearly in touch with these new technologies. The blank stare in response to feed readers will certainly tell you something.
I'll come clean and tell you that I have never done #4 or #8, and that my mobile phone also plays lame video games but that's about it.
But there is another side to all of this that should be paid attention to, and that is what you are telling the applicant. By asking these questions, you are implying to the candidate that you are running a 2.0 library, or at least a library that is striving to bring these tools into the hands of staff and patrons. If I was applying, I would be happily surprised by the questions, eager to share my thoughts, but definitely disappointed if the library wasn't actually interested in going to 2.0. Beware of misleading the applicant, because you want someone who is there for all the right reasons. If 2.0 is a challenge to some staff but enticing to others, then be open about being in a transitional stage. That alone would interest a lot of directors!
I consider the worst thing a library can do to a new director is not be entirely open about the challenges that he/she will face. Transparency and radical trust has to go both ways in a hiring process. Don't sugarcoat everything and then wonder why your new director only stayed for 6 months. Be open, honest and trust that even with your flaws displayed you will find the right person. I don't know of any library director looking for perfection. What in the world would we change then?! :)
