Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln

 

Date of this Version

3-2012

Citation

Published in Technical Services Quarterly 29:2 (2012), pp. 150-155; doi: 10.1080/07317131.2012.650952

Comments

Copyright © 2012 Taylor and Francis/Routledge. Used by permission.

Abstract

The LITA ETIG (Library & Information Technology Association Emerging Technologies Interest Group) was hosted by Patrick Griffis of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Griffis reminded attendees that the LITA Emerging Technology Interest Group exists as a forum to share ideas about, and discuss the use of, emerging technologies in libraries. Conversation then turned to the ETIG sponsored, and highly attended, ‘‘Lost in Translation’’ panel discussion, which was held the previous morning. The panel focused on the question of how libraries are addressing emerging technology issues and consisted of four individuals ranging from administrators to technical services staff who discussed the obstacles to implementation, communication issues, and how organizations are dealing with, assessing, and implementing emerging technologies. Key issues revealed in the discussion were that emerging technology implementation takes staff time and costs money both for implementation and ongoing maintenance. In addition it’s important that there is good communication between those who are charged with completing technical tasks and those who are requesting projects. For example, if the size of a project increases, it is important that administrators are made aware of the increased staffing needs due to increased staff time requirements and/or increased costs of equipment so that they can prioritize and decide whether to add staff and funding, or alter timelines or workloads, to take new additions to the project into account.

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