The Big Technology Picture; Early Childhood Literacy

News April 25, 2008 (mp3 file: 4.98 MB; 5:19 min.)
The Big Technology Picture; Early Childhood Literacy



This has been yet another of those weeks during which various articles, e-mails, and questions have come together with a common theme--technology. That's a pretty common theme these days, I admit, but the articles, questions and e-mails have seemed to really boil down to how we view technology, how we deal with it, and plan for it. I have long wished for the day when technology would become just another tool, almost transparent, that we use to get the job done. We aren't there yet--maybe it seems to be changing too fast for that to happen just yet--but I think we are getting that much closer to it. I don't see librarians fighting it anymore; we seem to be expecting that it's a part of how we do business. But often it's the technology that we're focusing on, and less on what we can choose to do with it.

Now, many of you know me, and I love technology--I'm a gadget girl from way back. But there are some "technologies" that colleagues are raving about and getting behind that I just can't bring myself to get excited about. They just don't seem to be technologies that "get the job done" for me. (And, incidentally, that reminds me to understand when colleagues don't get excited about all the same technologies that I am!)

The bottom line to it all: does this technology, whether it be hardware technology or a web technology, have the potential to help us to do our job better? Does it make it easier for us to do the behind the scenes work more efficiently or effectively? Does it allow us to provide better service, more service, service to more people? Does it expand their horizons--and ours? Will the time and effort we would need to implement this technology result in service better enough to warrant the time and effort that it might take away from something else? Is there a different technology that will better serve our patrons? In what ways might we use this technology in libraries to reach more people? These aren't always easy questions to answer because it's difficult to see the big picture, the picture down the road, when we're right in the middle of the short-term picture. When we're trying to learn how to blog and wiki and podcast it's easy to lose sight of the long-term *point* of the blogs and the wikis and the podcasts--better communication and interaction with our patrons, and opening to new patrons. Keeping the big picture, and the purpose, in mind helps us to weather the storms of new technologies, that change just about the time we figure them out and get used to them. New technologies come along every second. We should try to make the best use of them for our purposes as we can, knowing that somewhere in the future, probably more near than far, there will be an improvement or a change or a new technology that will be even more useful for our purposes. Think about automation systems--we cry for improvements and changes and enhancements that we want so they can be more useful to us. We should have the same outlook for all these technologies.

A former trustee sent me a link to a Wall Street Journal column about optimism and digital technology. Two of L. Gordon Crovitz's points struck chords with me--well, maybe 3: First, that as information becomes more accessible, individuals gain choice, control and freedom. Secondly, "Genies don't go back into bottles," and finally, "This is the Information Age, yet we're just beginning to gather the information and understanding to know how it changes our lives." [end quote] Let's not forget to keep our eye on the big picture as we take the short term snapshot. -Karen

Links from today's podcast

• "Optimism and the digital world," by L. Gordon Crovitz, Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2008, Page A15.
• Early Childhood Literacy website

What's New This Week at SWILSA & "Distant Fire" Flannelboard Set

News April 18, 2008 (mp3 file; 3:19 min.)



Links from Today's Podcast:

• CE Catalog
• ECL "Build Awareness" webpage
• SWILSA "Displays & Events" page

Reviewed by Marcia on Today's Podcast:
"A Distant Fire" Flannelboard Set

"Greying of the Internet;"

News April 11, 2008 (mp3 file: 4.98 MB, 5:19 min.)
"Graying of the Internet;" "Dia" and other special youth events; "Miss Rumphius" storytelling kit


Last week I talked about an Internet librarian presentation about change, specifically technological change. This week I'm back to an Internet Librarian presentation, this time about "The Greying of the Internet," a presentation by Allan Kleiman. We in libraries are doing what we can--and rightly so--to reach our young users, in traditional ways but also via the Internet and the web and the other technologies with which they are so comfortable. In the process of doing that, however, let's not forget that boomers and older adults are also a large group and they use the Internet more than we sometimes realize. (Check out the presentation to see who is the fastest growing group using the Internet--you might be surprised.)

I hear quite often from librarians that their older patrons just don't use the Internet. I believe that that's not true--and usage studies are showing that. I like to use my 87 (soon to be 88) year old father as an example--he uses the Internet a LOT, downloads ebooks and audiobooks to his Palm pda and his iPod shuffle. We use iChat every night to do videoconferencing with him, and he checks in with us every morning using instant messaging. "Well, yes, but he's YOUR father," people say to me, as if I have anything to do with it. There are many other people's fathers and brothers and cousins who are older than we might typically think of as Internet users--we can't forget them.

In some ways the Internet is a vital resource for them--they can communicate with family, keep up to date and continue learning, look for information on the web. Maybe they are more comfortable with technology than we give them credit for. I KNOW most of them are more capable of learning than they are sometimes given credit for. And aren't we in a great place to be able to assist them, if they need and wish it? We can help them find reliable information on the web, show them how to do e-mail and download photos from digitall cameras to send to their children and grandchildren....They've seen a great deal of tremendous change in their lives, and they have handled it quite well, thank you. We owe a lot to generations older than we; let's not forget them in this wonderful world of technology resources.

Links from today's podcast:
Allan Kleimann's Internet Librarian presentation "Cranky? Boomers and Older Adults are Greying the Internet!"
ALA's "Dia" webapge
Nick, Jr. website
SIWLSA Youth Services page (for flyer to advertise special events at your library)

Change; "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" Activity Kit

News April 4, 2008 (mp3 file: 4.63 MB, 5:-03 min.)
Change; "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" Activity Kit

Everyone seems to feel differently about change--some love it, some dread it, some can take it or leave it, some like certain kinds of change but not others. When talking with librarians the change that they talk about most often is technological change, perhaps because it seems so pressing, and to be happening so quickly.

Now, I actually like technological change--I find it exciting. (Other kinds of change...not necessarily so much.) Regardless of how we feel about change I think it's universal that we find it frustrating, for one reason or another. If we like technological change it's frustrating to learn about new things but not have the money or time to use them. If we don't like technological change, we're frustrated because, after taking the dive--we have to, after all--we barely figure out one piece of technology before it's replaced by something else. Or perhaps we are enthusiastic about change but co-workers or bosses or boards aren't quite so enthusiastic about it.

It's no news that change is inevitable, and my experience with librarians is that they are willing to take on technological changes, even when they aren't very comfortable with it, because they know they need to do it in order to provide good service. But are there ways to alleviate some of these frustrations?

Just saying that change is inevitable, live with it, do it, and get over it isn't much help--though many people think that should do it. I've been trying to keep my ears tuned to ideas for getting comfortable with technological change, and I found a great resource in a presentation, "Tips for Effective Technology Change Agents," given by Roy Tennant at Internet Librarian last fall. I wasn't able to attend IL last year but the presentations are posted on Info Today's website. (There's one of those technological changes that I embrace!) While I would have loved to hear him and all the details I was able to glean some great ideas--and helpful thoughts--from the Powerpoint presentation. (Given technology these days I'm hopeful that one year soon we'll have digital video recordings of the presentations themselves but they aren't doing that yet at Internet Librarian.)

Tennant suggests that "the 'right' technology is one that helps you fulfill your mission for a reasonable period of time." Sometimes we fear making changes because we think we have to find the right solution for years and years to come. Understandable, since library funding will not support a lot of wrong turns. But we can't put off the changes forever, for fear that the technology we choose will go out of date. It WILL go out of date, that's all there is too it. Tennant says that all you can ask for is: to be right for a time, know when to move on, and manage change well.

He talks about the seven common characteristics of change agents (yes, that's us..), building a basic technical skill set, and how individuals can be organizational change agents. (Yes, that's us.)

He suggests that you find someone more experienced than you to show you only 3 important things. I like that. I hope that the LSA can help you with that sometimes; we are in a position to be able to focus more on the new things coming down the pike and pass them along to you. But also look to your colleagues in other libraries--and think about becoming the librarian that your colleagues turn to for information about some aspect of technology. We don't all have to know everything about everything, as long as every someone knows enough about some one thing that we can draw on the pool to learn what we need.

I encourage you to take a look at the presentation; you'll probably find different things helpful and important than I did. And look over the other presentations; I have no doubt that you'll find others of interest.

And a last piece of advice from Tennant's presentation: "Use what you learn, write it down, or kiss it goodbye."
--Karen

LInks from today's podcast:
"Tips for Technology Change Agents" presentation by Roy Tennant
Internet Librarian 2007 Presentations
Internet Librarian 2008 (October 2008)

Storytime Resource:
"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" Activity Kit