An introductory guide to library technologies, now in its fourth edition!

Monday, January 08, 2007

Balance and innovation

Two articles in the January 2007 American Libraries caught my eye. "Balancing the Online Life" (pp. 42-45), by Meredith Farkas, introduces a new AL column of hers called "Technology in Practice" -- highlighting stories of technological innovations and success stories from libraries. The article itself is a good read on the current state of Web tools that many in the library community have brought into our daily lives (and she also touches on the issue that while we may have a generation divide in these technologies, that may be narrowing).

Also, Stephen Abram's short piece "20 Tips to Inspire Innovation" (pp. 47-48) is a quick read of thoughts on approaching changes in your library. Not all of them are technological in nature, but I think they can be applied to the larger picture of our library services. Three, "1. Good not perfect," "3. Prefer action over study," and "17. Cheap is expensive," really spoke to me.

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