New Technology Challenges & Successes

A look at technologies that are being utilized in our newest branch library, with emphasis given to the role that RFID, wireless access, blogs and wikis all play in daily library operations, including the real world benefits that such technologies can provide.

• Michael Casey, Branch Manager, Gwinnett County Public Library

• Chris Hall, IT Coordinator, Gwinnett County Public Library

Computers In Libraries22 March 2006

Casey & Hall, Computers In Libraries. 22 March 2006

UnConference

Fundamental Law of Conventional Conferences

The sum of the expertise of the people in the audience is greater than the sum of expertise of the people on stage.

Dave Winer at http://scripting.wordpress.com/2006/03/05/what-is-an-unconference/

So……please participate, ask questions!.

Building a New Library

From the ground up…

July 2005

Choosing Technologies to Advance the Library

So many factors to consider…

• Community needs

• Library needs for service delivery• How do you deliver your materials and services?

Decision Making Considerations

• Library’s strategic plan

• Organizational culture

• Library’s budget

• Size of building

• Expected return on investment

Library’s Strategic Plan

What are your strategic goals?• If technology serves no goal then it serves no purpose• Must operate within the framework of your mission and vision

What tools serve those goals?• Input from all parties required• Bleeding Edge vs. Leading Edge vs. Close Follower

Always looking, always alert• Emerging Technology Team or some outward looking group that matches technology with library needs

Questions?

Comments?Casey & Hall, Computers In Libraries. 22 March 2006

Organizational Culture

What is your library’s technology culture?• Buy it off the rack?• Build it yourself?• Piece it together using existing parts?

What place does IT have in the organization?• Do they play a part in all levels of planning and decision making?• Are they brought in early or only after the idea has been decided upon?• Or, worse, are they only brought in after the product has been purchased?

What is your library’s comfort level?• Single vendor versus best of breed• “We’ve bought from them before, we’re buying from them again.”

Questions?

Budget

• Finite resources• Firm ROI expectations

Size of Building

• Finite amount of space• Community needs should take priority

Return on Investment

• How does this technology impact your library• customer service• staff efficiency• bottom line numbers

• circulation• library visits (real or virtual)• votes in the upcoming election

• Set your expectations before implementation and stick to them during the review!• Be willing to change or discard anything that’s not giving you what you need.

• It’s easier to change now than later!

Questions?

Technolust

“Technolust - an irrational love for new technology combined with unrealistic expectations for the solutions it brings.”

Technoplans vs. Technolustby Michael Stephens

Library Journal, November 1, 2004

No discussion of new technologies would be complete without mentioning:

How to avoid this?

Technolust

Keep it grounded

Always ask…

How can it allow us to best serve our customers?

Good Use of Technology

How Do We Serve More With Less?

Efficiency

Does it make better use of staff energy and time?

Effectiveness

Does it reach more users with equal or less effort?

What Tools Did We Choose?

RFID – Radio Frequency Identification

WiFi – both staff and public wireless network access

Blogs – internal and external communications

Wikis – knowledge management

What Tools Did We Choose?

Two Views

• Internal and External Benefits of the technology

• Actual Implementation • Installation• Maintenance

Internal Benefits

• Efficiency• Role in new branch opening

• more work upfront with tagging• mobile tagging – taking it to the shelves

• Check-out and Check-in time reduced• Less material handling• Material quickly placed back into the stream• Self-service customer use• Greatly improved inventory control• and more…..

RFID is new! There will be growing pains! Long term savings will be there!

External Benefits

• Staff have time for direct customer service to more users• Customer’s more independent when completing simple tasks• Customer satisfaction and empowerment

•RFID is new! There will be growing pains! Long term savings will be there!

Implementing

Test, test,

retest

Questions?

Internal Benefits

• Un-tethered network access to serve anyone anywhere with the right tool

• Going to the customer

• Expansion or remodeling freedom – only power and space are required to move computers

• Customers utilize own equipment, not library’s hardware or software

External Benefits

• Customer’s more independent when completing simple tasks

• Their hardware, their software, our data

• Access to WiFi in surrounding parks or seating areas

Town or citywide WiFi?

Implementation

• Staff WiFi • security

• Customer WiFi• coverage• maintenance• simplicity for user

Questions?

Internal Benefits• Communications in general – speaking to different people about different issues

• Horizontal and vertical communications

Horizontal

Staff Staff

Vertical Management

• Trust issue – should names be used on posts? We do.

New staff New branch

Stressed management?

External

Customers Administration

• Library news that allows for easy feedback• Public / open communications• Direct communication with board• Get your message out

Implementation

• WordPress• Movable Type

• Blogger• WordPress.com• TypePad

Questions?

Comments?

Internal Benefits

Knowledge management

• Captures valuable and fleeting information• reference desk questions

• Reduces the excuse of “the guy who knew that is gone”

• Digital repository for library documents

• Improves staff comfort with library history and philosophy

• policies and guidelines – history behind their creation• mission and vision – what was the thought process

External Benefits

Community knowledge management• local history• geneology• shared user knowledge

Implementation

• MediaWiki• TWiki• Kwiki

• PBWiki• JotSpot• Socialtext

Questions?

Comments?

Review

RFID – Radio Frequency Identification

WiFi – both staff and public wireless network access

Blogs – internal and external communications

Wikis – knowledge management

Review

Only one way to do more with less…

Efficiency

Does it make better use of staff energy and time?

Effectiveness

Does it reach more users with equal or less effort?

New Technology Challenges & Successes

Contact Info

Michael Caseyhttp://www.librarycrunch.commichael@librarycrunch.comAIM: librarycrunchSkype: michaelcasey

Chris Hallchall@gwinnettpl.org

Thank youCasey & Hall, Computers In Libraries. 22 March 2006

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