Tuesday, November 29

 

Is your library ready?

I just read a great post over at LibraryCrunch entitled: 3 Degrees of Separation: Libraries, Technology, and Administration. I haven't read all of the other articles & posts that are referred to in this post, but it got me thinking about all the work I've had to go through to get my library Web 2.0 ready.

A line from a post at Tinfoil+Racoon caught my attention:
As much as I love learning about Library and Web 2.0 and finding ways to make technology work for patrons and colleagues, I'm not sure that many (most) libraries are ready to take even the baby steps suggested by Michael.
and I have to agree ... but that doesn't mean we don't keep pushing.

The one thing that Michael (from LibraryCrunch) mentions that I can't empethize with is that the administration is the force to be reckoned with ... in my library that is not the case. Our administration is all about upgrading, it's the librarians (not all of them) that needed the pushing.

Over the last 2 years I have slowly introduced bits & pieces of Web 2.0 technology into the library ... our librarians are now doing more and more online ... so much so that we just had a discussion with our IT staff about creating a back up machine for our Intranet in case the machine it's on goes down ... without our Intranet (which includes modules to allow the librarians to add research links, research tips, blog posts, document delivery orders and much more) our staff would be crippled.

In January I will be releasing our first database driven Intranet, complete with Project Blogs, News Blog, Wiki pages, Shared Calendar and Membership module (specifically for our staff). I have spent the last 4 months sharing tid bits with different staff members, getting them excited about what they'll be able to do ... and it has worked. I have heard from more than one librarian that they can't wait for the new Intranet - that it sounds "exciting".

It took time, and a lot of pushing, but we are on the road to Library 2.0 ... and the librarians are right ... it is very exciting!

Comments:
I didn't mean to imply that we shouldn't keep on keepin' on, if my post was so perceived. It's just that you gotta crawl before you walk, and I think we've still got a lot of crawlers out there! So, to extend the baby analogy: let's make sure there are lots of low pieces of furniture without sharp corners so that no one gets hurt, and the crawlers can think about pulling themselves up. Lots of encouragement and praise are essential, too!
 
I didn't think you meant that :) I was just putting some encouraging words out there for the crawlers ;)
 
I will agree and say that selling to staff is difficult. For me, getting admin onboard is the first hurdle, and selling to staff comes after that (and may be cause for another post!). Hurdles everywhere.
 
I was just putting some encouraging words out there for the crawlers ;).........
 
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