Library Technology Basics

After reading only one chapter of John J. Burke’s Neal-Schuman Library Technology Companion:  A Basic Guide For Library Staff, I was not surprised by how technology is such an integral part of my life. Nevertheless, I did learn that I have inadvertently accepted and disseminated erroneous information about what technology really is.  According to the Technology Companion, technology has been defined as “a practical or industrial art that involves both products and processes invented by people.” That being said, I have always thought of technology as some kind of mechanical instrument--computer, calculator, radio, television, etc.--created by masterminds to somehow make our lives better.

I surveyed myself and found that I use a considerable amount of the technologies or technology skills listed in Table 0-1.  E-mail, word processing, web searching, instant messaging and (using) scanners and similar devices top the list.  For the past couple of years, I have seen my mother became more “tech savvy”—she even bought herself a laptop—and her life has improved greatly.  She has become more connected with friends and family out-of-town, and she has a newfound source of entertainment.

Upon reading Burke’s section on key developments in information technology, I was taken aback by his statement that the library itself is a technology. Had I not begun to study Library Science, I wonder how long it would have taken me to learn that. Burke explains that library is a technology that is used to deal with the storage and retrieval of information. That makes a lot of sense!

Currently, the most important technological development in my school library is audiovisuals.  This is my 15^th year at Hibbard School; this is only my 3^rd year as school librarian. Slowly, but surely, I am getting rid of the massive televisions on carts, the VCRs that do not work,  as well as the warped VHSes, or videocassettes, that have been accumulated over the decades. My school has acquired iPads for classroom use, and the administration and I have been encouraging teachers to rely more on online resources like Safari Montage and www.readingrockets.org for video and podcasts.  A great deal of in-class and after school instruction has been computer-related which has transformed the way students and teachers think about and respond to education.