at the internet librarian conference this year in monterey i heard sarah houghton-jan’s (a.k.a. the librarianinblack) presentation on cultivating technologically savvy staff. as a person organizer (i.e., boss) with quite savvy staff already, i listened eagerly to see what tidbits sarah had to offer. it turns out that what she was talking about was not so much about encouraging just those who are already technologically inclined, but rather creating an environment in which everyone has their own bar to reach.
it’s a brilliant idea, really. the library as a group gets together and decides what everyone who works there needs to know about technology to do their jobs confidently, and then figures out how to train each other to make sure they get the correct information. it serves to offer training to those that may be too shy to ask, and it creates an opportunity for those that know the stuff to show off a little bit. by requiring that everyone adhere to the competencies no one gets out of the training. at the end of the day everyone’s technology knowledge is raised a bit (or a lot, depending on what you didn’t know at the beginning of the day!).
so now it’s time to begin shopping this idea around at my library, making a mental list of things we all need to know, and figuring out how to get started.
Thank you for your kind comments about my presentation. Let me know if I can be of assistance at all in getting this going at your library 🙂 An entire book on the subject that I am just finishing up now will be published in the spring as a Library Technology Report from ALA, so that may help you on your way too.