Library Technology Planning For Today And Tomorrow

Library Technology Planning for Today and Tomorrow is a practical LITA guide that helps librarians achieve success in selecting, implementing and managing new technologies. This step-by-step manual walks readers through each step of creating and carrying out a plan that is customized to meet the needs of their community.

In Information Tomorrow, Rachel Singer Gordon brings together 20 of today's top thinkers on the intersections between libraries and technology. They address various ways in which new technologies are impacting library services and share their ideas for using technology to meet patrons where they are. In addition to a preface by the editor, the book's foreword by Stephen Abram and 16 chapters feature insights and opinions from these library leaders, bloggers, and futurists:

To help meet the challenge of using technology effectively, The Public Library Association offers a comprehensive and practical guide to preparing a technology plan. Wired for the Future aids in preparing a plan that positions the library to meet its objectives for the community, its staff, and its best future. Authors Mayo and Nelson provide the raw materials to build, implement, and evaluate a workable technology plan. All the necessary tools are provided to determine technology needs, identify technology options, select a technology infrastructure, and implement the plan. Reproducible workforms enable librarians to customize key steps to specific situations. Technotes explain various technologies and applications available to libraries.

Managing Library Technology introduces library workers (including non-technical managers, tech administrators and even “accidental technologists”) to core concepts in technology management and provides strategies that will enable them to master the basics of library tech. The content of the book is taken from the author’s popular American Library Association -approved Certified Public Library Administrator course, “Management of Technology,” and is geared to the needs of all kinds of libraries. The book contains easy-to-follow exercises and tools that have been tested in real-world situations with students as they tackled their own evaluation, planning and management challenges. Readers are also given a roadmap to create a technology plan for their library—even if they have no direct technology background themselves. This book helps library workers understand the underpinnings of technology and how to powerfully manage tech to serve patrons and staff alike. Readers will learn: How libraries fit into the overall technology market Strategies to future-proof library technology efforts Approaches to technology planning that stick – and strategies to keep the plan on track Skills to understand technology investments by understanding the total costs of ownership and the specialized library return on technological investment How to collect and use useful data and statistics without being overwhelmed How to stay current, knowledgeable and comfortable with rapid technological change

Organized around the structure of a technology plan, this book explains each subject area and how each part of the plan is related. Individual chapters cover: The Purpose and Need for a Technology Plan, The Description of the Library, Challenges Facing the Library, Emerging Technologies, Current Technology Environment, Assessment of the Current Environment, Evaluation of the Library's Web Site, Recommendations, and Evaluation of the Plan.

This thought-provoking collection will challenge librarians at every kind of institution to start planning today for the library of tomorrow.