I can't believe it

Well, I can't believe it. The Children's Department is embracing new technology. I guess all my talk about Blogger and Twitter finally perked their curiosity. I have been asked to set up a Twitter account for our department! Our manager just came to me today and asked if I was familiar with Twitter because she's been hearing a lot about it. I said "yes, in fact I have used it in some of my library classes." She said "would you mind going online and setting up an account so that anyone in the department can update it." I said of course.

So I went online to Twitter and opened our account and told about our library and who we are. I hope that this will help us increase attendance and awarness of our library programs. We publish press releases in the newspaper but since we have no control over when they are actually printed it has been a major problem for us in the past. In fact we have a huge program this weekend when families can come in and decorate Easter eggs to be on display in our room. This has been a community event for over 30 years. The local paper just put it in yesterday and the event is Saturday. We already had over 50 kids signed up before it was in the paper. I have talked to some upset parents today. But I hope this won't be a problem for us in the future.

I think I am even going to suggest a blog for our department. I think that would be even better because we can describe some of our programs and discuss library issues that the public needs to know about. I think this is a huge step for our department and I hope that the rest of the library will embrace it too. It is great publicity.

Techno-phobia

I don't think I mentioned in earlier posts that I work in the Children's Department at a public library. I have five years experience in academic libraries and I can't wait to get back to one!! i love the challenges of figuring out a research project or question from a student. Especially if the student actually knows what class he or she is in and what the professors name is, it's a miracle I tell you! The atmosphere is one of open-minds and new ways of thinking in the academic world. I love the questions that can have 3 or 4 different answers and students can pick and choose what works for them. When I worked in the library I was exposed to the inter-library loan process for the first time and notifying students of overdue notices using Facebook or Myspace.

You would think that when kids are being taught computers as soon as they can walk a children's staff would be pretty open to learning new technology and embracing it. I am here to tell you that is not the case. The people I work with run from computers and avoid technology like the plague. Not kidding. If I mention something I have learned in this class like when we used Adobe Connect they look at me like I am speaking Klingon or something. Seriously, you will never meet a group of people who want to avoid technology more than my co-workers. I know this sounds like poor taste to be smartmouthing them but librarians need to embrace change, especially children's librarians!! I have tried teaching them about things like Blogger and wikis and I really do get a cold shoulder.

The wiki for work project is really starting to silence any fear that I might have about technology. I was so proud of myself the other day when I uploaded my content so far to the page for Nationwide resources- I am on the federal content team. It surprised me how something so little seemed like a huge accompishment to me. I am sure others in the class would laugh at something so silly but it still made me feel good to try something new and not screw it up!! The technology teams seriously amaze me. Honestly, I bow to your master knowledge of coding a web page by hand even though I have no idea what it means. I am impressed!!

This is why I am happy I took this class. I am glad to know that there are still some brave souls out there who are making all these new advances in technology for our benefit. I sometimes shudder to think about people who will remain afraid of change and new technology. I think those people will soon see the rest of the world and their jobs passing them by. I am happy I will not be one of them!!

Federal team

I am on the Federal content team for our class wiki for work project. I know I am biased but I think our team is awesome! We met and discussed what topics we felt would be appropriate for our part. Since this wiki is going to be used for job and career resources we felt including information on unemployment and how to apply for Federal loans would be a must with the state of our economy and so many workers being laid off. We also discussed including Veteran's benefits since many of our troops are returning from service and are unable to work or unable to return to their previous jobs for one reason or another. Our team works well together and we all understand one another. I am sure we will have a successful outcome.

Holly