1. Developing and maintaining a good relationship with IT
The technology person oversees all of the technological issues for the entire town. At our library, there is no tech person with the capability or with precedence over the town tech person. This poses as an issue because when our computers get viruses, printers stop working or we want to add something to our web page through the town, we can’t do any of it. It is imperative that the library develop and maintain a good relationship with IT so that all of these things will get done and get done quickly.
2. Look at what other libraries are doing
This is an important piece for any library or institution. It doesn’t matter if the library is bigger or smaller, they all have different ideas, concepts and ways of doing things. It is important to see what is working and to develop best practices for your library. One of the Harvard libraries started something called the “awesome box” that many other city libraries are now adding to their own libraries, I am also in the process of setting it up for my own library. Looking at other libraries is a great with to stay current, to try news things and to see what works.
3. Know your users (asking for collection dev. requests on FB)
Knowing your users is paramount in developing and maintaining library services and for collection development. How else would you know what books and materials will circulate without knowing what is popular with your particular patrons. I have found that even though a book is on multiple best-seller lists, doesn’t mean it is something your patrons will want to read. This concept is also true when it comes to social media. If you know that 85% of your users are above the age of 65 and come into the library to request books and find out about programming than developing a Facebook page may not make the most sense for your particular population.
4. Question everything you do ( sitting at ref desk with no patrons)
This is a really important question for librarians of today to be thinking about. Meredith makes an excellent about having a librarian sitting at a reference desk with no patrons coming up to her. What else could the person in this position be doing, would she be more valuable in a different location, should she move towards become a virtual reference librarian along with doing some outreach? The nature libraries and of our positions are changing rapidly because of technological advances, it is more important than ever that we are forward thinking.
5. wikis or bookmarking tools for subjects or projects
I really liked this idea of using wikis or social bookmarking tools for school assignments and projects. I see this as especially useful for young adults. Teens are very comfortable with the online environment and aren’t always familiar with the library. Using a wiki would be a great way to share information for their projects and tie in the resources available within the library.
Social Networking for Information Professionals - INF506 