Internet Librarian 2009- Meredith Hammons

m.hammons — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:05:06 +0000

The second session was on how technology can either drive initiatives or result in information overload. The first part of the session was led by Lizzy Burns, author of Pop Goes the Library: Using Pop Culture to Connect with Your Community. Lizzy defined pop culture as anything your community is interested in and uses. She pointed out that if your community is texting, but the library demands that staff lock their cellphones in their offices/lockers for the day, we are not relating to our community. She also pointed out that while we may allow users to watch TV shows on hulu, we aren’t truly doing our jobs if we don’t advertise that resource to people who may not be aware of it. Her last point emphasized the need for trendspotters, preferably a committee of people, both comfortable and uncomfortable with technology, to keep the library ahead of trends. She used a great example of not being afraid to be betamax (the video cassettes that were supposed to better than VHS, but lost the popularity war way back in the 80s). What she meant by this was that betamax set the stage for the concept of watching TV and movies when you wanted to, which is a concept we continue today, though the technology has changed. This idea repeated the theme I’d heard earlier in the week that technology is going to continue to change, but the needs it meets will not, so changing technology is not a reason not to start using these tools.
Sarah Houghton-Jan followed with a presentation on how to avoid information overload. She offered 10 tips:
1) General organization.
2) Filter your input.
3) Use RSS and Twitter wisely.
4) Use “interruptive” technology wisely (i.e. turn off your phone when you need to focus, don’t set your e-mail to alert you every time one comes in, don’t be available on IM if you don’t want to be).
5) Manage your phone and keep work and home calls separate.
6) Manage e-mail (schedule times to check e-mail, keep your inbox nearly empty, delete and archive).
7) Print media – recycle catalogs, weed books you’ve already read. Multi-media- choose TV thoughtfully.
9) Schedule your social network time.
10) Practice time and stress management.
A lot of these things can help save time (and sanity) and it was nice to hear, in the midst of all this technology, encouragemnet to unplug once in a while.

The PLA Blog » texting

Internet Librarian 2009- Meredith Hammons