4. Try various paths or tools to find the best fit. Don’t just say “we must have a library blog because Michael says so”, or “an article in American Libraries says many other libraries are doing great things with a blog.” Your purposes may be better served with other technologies or tools. Prototype new sites and services, and ask for and respond to feedback. Try out a blog or wiki on a limited basis. Learn from your successes and failures. Tech decisions cannot be made in a vacuum. What failed a year ago offers a learning opportunity and might help you make a better plan today.
5. Spot trends and make them opportunities. Scan the horizon for how technology is changing our world. What does it mean for your AV area if iTunes and Apple are offering downloaded rental movies? What does it mean for your reference desk if thriving online answer sites are helping your students? What does it mean when Starbucks or Panera Bread becomes the wi-fi hangout in town for folks looking for access? Read outside the field—be voracious with tech magazines like Wired and Fast Company. Monitor some tech and culture blogs. Read responses to such technologies as Amazon’s Kindle, and ponder if it’s a fit for your users and your mission. Being a successful trendspotter is one of the most important traits of the twenty-first-century librarian. Be aware, for example, that thriving, helpful virtual communities, open-source software platforms, and a growing irritation with what integrated library system and database vendors provide libraries could converge into a sea change for projects like Koha and Evergreen. Who knows how close we are to that tipping point, but trendspotting librarians will be far ahead of the game.
6. Offer opportunities for inclusive learning. One of the first steps of successful planning is learning the landscape. We can’t deny the unparalleled success of the Learning 2.0 model of staff education as a means to inform and engage all levels of staff. Created by Helene Blowers at the Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County in the summer of 2006, the system has been replicated all over the world. It works when staff are encouraged to explore and learn on their own and communicate that learning via blogs. Such a program will not fly if managers and administrators don’t support it or participate as well. Middle managers: please realize that you set the tone for your department or silence it. You can make it or break it when it comes to participation in training or planning activities. One librarian recently told me that Learning 2.0 failed for her because her manager saw no use for it. Library administrators: even more rests on your shoulders. The staff know if you don’t care about emerging technologies and the opportunities they bring or if you don’t see the value in learning new things. Set the stage with your own participation. Mess up and learn from it. Be the poster child for the change you want for your institution. Also, create a physical and virtual sandbox for staff to play with the technologies and tools that figure into your plan. Hands-on experience equals an understanding a path toward buy in.
[...] Summer2008, Vol. 47 Issue 4, s. 314-317 CBS Link via fjernadgang | eller via den frie adgang hos RUSQ SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Klap lige hesten – lad ikke 2.0 teknologierne løbe af med dig”, [...]
[...] point plan for implementing new technologies whilst negotiating technolusters and technophobes in this article in Reference and User Services Quarterly. It’s long but worth a read; I particularly liked [...]
Let’s move #7 to #1. This is all too common in libraryland.
[...] of “Reference & User Services Quarterly” features a guest post entitled “Taming Technolust: Ten Steps for Planning in a 2.0 World” that the editor of the journal — M. Kathleen Kern– introduces with the [...]
[...] Technology Planning Article by Michael Stephens An excellent article in RUSQ from last month by Michael Stephens is worth pointing out: Taming Technolust: Ten Steps for Planning in a 2.0 World. [...]
[...] Taming Technolust: Ten Steps for Planning in a 2.0 World by Michael Stephens, Reference & User Services Quarterly, vol.47 no.4, Aug. 2008 http://www.rusq.org/2008/08/18/taming-technolust/ [...]