I just finished a class called Staying on Top of Technology Trends. It was offered by Infopeople and was a four week webinar. Because I am part of WMRL's Technology Interest Group, WMRL was kind enough to foot the bill for the course.
I learned where to go to find out the latest and greatest in the technology, specifically for libraries. If I choose trend watchers wisely, I won't have to weed through dozens of sites sending me information.
One thing that particularly interested me was the concept of Makerspaces. They sound like a great idea. We have trouble getting teenagers to come to the library, and if we had some makerspaces, I think we could attract more of them. The only problems would be finding space and money!
I also thought the idea of '23 things' was interesting. This is a program developed by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. The staff was given a list of 23 technologies they should be aware of such as RSS feeds and blogs. I think this is a good idea. I know our system would benefit from having all staff competent in basic technology skills.
I hope I can use some of the ideas I learned about in this course to help bring staff in Allegany County up to date on technology trends.
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