It's like spelling... bad spellers just don't know how to fix the problem.
useful
| useless less useful
|
- comparison shop incl. online vendors
- implementation w/ technology plan
- "I'll look it up" [useful in so many ways]
- tech lion tamer
|
- buy what's at the local retailer
- reactive technology. change happens when things break
- "I don't know" [dead end]
- tech victim
|
There will be new things to understand and new ways to understand them. The more you know, the better you help others.
Everyone in the library can help.
We work with and for the public. We can use our public resources to address various sociopolitical concerns, if we decide to. Such as...
- homelessness - library cards for the homeless, safe places to congregate during the day, public restrooms
- unemployment - resume writing books and software, certification tests in online databases, access to daily papers for classified ads
- poverty - limits to fee-based services, equality of access, free programming, free ILL services
- the digital divide - email and technology classes, public computing facilities, free books about technology
What else?
it's all about choices, and choosing FOR one thing often means choosing AGAINST something else.... like the internet being the world's biggest library.... overt rules and decisions often create unforseen and unintended consequences. I'll talk about a few of them
- consider a class for patrons?
- for staff and patrons, consider a domain for email addresses?
- aliases for staff/friends/board/others
- for reference, low cost "ask a librarian" [as you already do]
- note: there are many web-based alternatives to Yahoo/Hotmail that are free and better
responsibility: do you have a privacy policy w/r/t collecting email addresses?
gmail - google's mail solution in beta, lots of storage
ftml - no ads for people who have one account
guide for more options |
email basics |
what my email class looks like
Blogs - These regular doses of links, commentary and discussion are becoming a popular and easy way of sharing information.
- tools are often free or cheap
- templating makes design consistency easy
- very little tech savviness needed for basic set-up
- easy solution to the "how do you get them coming back?" problem
Wikis - Online tools for collaborative whatever, editable by anyone
- simple to install and modify
- easy learning curve
a few blog search engines: daypop, technorati
wikipedia - a collaborative free-content encylopedia,
sacred texts wiki, Koha wiki
definitions of "blog" - from Google
Libraries with blogs & LISNews
Weblogs and Public Libraries ePub article from PLA by Jerseyite Steven Cohen
Books take many forms. We're comfy with books on tape/CD. What about books in
- MP3 format?
- Streaming audio?
- Ebooks in various formats?
Using books in these formats involves not just knowing about technology but also knowing about
licensing. Learn the term
DRM.
project gutenberg has free ebooks &
the wikibooks project is making more
teleread tracks ebook developments
listen ohio & listen illinois are offering plug and play audio book system
trendy: ipods with ebooks. read about it in Wired, macobserver
The good news and the bad news about technology: it is what you make out of it. Some things
you can do even with very low-end tech skills...
- CD listening station with one of your offline computers
- using your voice mail system to have a pre-recorded list of new books
- having a staff intranet as part of your web site with links to frequently-used staff pages.
- Accessibility in web design and use of technology generally.
- Create a nurturing environment where everyone can learn together
For what it's worth, I'm not totally sold on
questions?
Jessamyn West is a librarian, community technology mentor, and the editor of the weblog
librarian.net. She's an elected representative to ALA Council where she tries hard to advocate for sensible technology use at all types of libraries.
IM her at
iamthebestartist.
Thanks to squidfingers for the background patterns. All other images were grabbed hither and yon, if one belongs to you and you object to its use, let me know.
This presentation was created in HTML using CSS. There was no PowerPoint involved in this presentation except as a nagging bad example. The layout and stylesheet are available to borrow via a share and share alike creative commons license. See source code for details.
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An updated way to network. Where we once just had email discussion lists, now we can have "tribes", groups, forums and interest groups. Trusted friends-of-friends and colleagues-of-colleagues can share information in an easier fashion than by waiting to meet up at conferences.