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