I also took part in the InfoPeople course, Staying on Top of Technology Trends. What I appreciated the most from this course was that the instructor provided examples of how to keep up with general technology changes and how to keep up with the changes specific to libraries as well. The course material was extremely helpful to begin a trendwatching experience, by providing a plethora of updated sites and blogs which all discuss changing technology.
Keeping up with trendwatching blogs was definitely the key described in this course. Though I had been familiar with sites such as trendwatching.com, I had always been intimidated by the pure amount of information on developing technology available online, and so had been ignoring most of the sites. The best way to help keep up and organize the information is to use an RSS reader. While this may seem like old hat to most tech-savvy gurus, I personally cannot express how much easier it is to peruse internet articles with an RSS reader. I had been reluctant to use one, but at the advice of the instructor, I created a Feedly account and there was no turning back for me. Even though I only follow a few blogs, it really makes it easier to sift through the new information and preview articles before reading them.
The other helpful information I found in this course was the lists of suggested websites and librarian blogs which specialize in library technology, or even general technology. At the end, a Resource File was provided which concisely lists these blogs for convenience. I included the link to the resource file because I believe everyone can benefit from following even a few of these sites.
One of the key trends mentioned in the course was the use of cloud technology in library systems. I am not very knowledgeable about what uses we have here in Western Maryland for cloud computing at the library (outside of ILS storage), but I think it is definitely a direction we should look into.
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