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Technology Planning

5th Birthday, Technology Planning, Webinar
Birthday Wishes from TechAtlas
May 14th, 2008 | Permalink | Comment?

Has anyone seen the celebratory cake and ice cream? Maybe my co-workers are hiding it from me…

TechAtlas (WebJunction’s free technology planning and management tool) hasn’t been on the scene for libraries as long as WebJunction, but we are definitely excited to be part of this five-year celebration. For the past few years, the team at TechAtlas has been working with libraries, spreading the word about our tools and listening to the feedback from our users to help improve what we offer.

A big part of this work includes offering webinars and trainings to provide quick demonstrations of TechAtlas tools and resources. And course, as part of the 5th year celebration, we have a list of our 5 most popular webinars. Here they are (in no particular order):

1) An Overview of TechAtlas
2) TechAtlas Inventory Tools
3) Using Event Tracker as a Help Desk tool
4) Technology Planning with TechAtlas
5) TechAtlas for Grant Applicants

You can catch one of these great webinars in just a few weeks. The “Using Event Tracker as a Help Desk tool” webinar will be held on May 28th at 10am (Pacific)/1pm (Eastern). Details about the webinar and a link for how to login to the session are available at the TechAtlas site. Hope to see you there and at our events in the future!
Conferences, Technology Planning, WebJunction Staff
Technology Planning in Texas
April 22nd, 2008 | Permalink | 1 Comment

When I tell people that part of my job at TechAtlas is to introduce libraries to the idea of writing and developing technology plans - I sometimes get some painful looks. I know, I know, technology planning definitely isn’t the glamorous side of library work (whatever that side might be), BUT it so truly important and I believe that good planning helps to build good libraries. And I’m pretty much a geek at heart and I love what I do. Hopefully I get to reach people that are ready to invest in the future of their library by carving out some time for planning.

This past Tuesday I was fortunate to spend the day with a group of librarians at the Texas Library Association Conference who came to spend the whole day learning about technology planning and how TechAtlas can help them work through the steps. I co-presented with Tine Walczyk from the Texas State Library and Archives and it was really a great experience for me to get to train with her. She brought up some great points for libraries to keep in mind as the work through the planning process.

So thanks to all of the attendees in Texas and I hope that you enjoyed the session!
Library Services, Technology Planning, Webinar
Webinar: Notes from a Laptop Checkout Program
April 15th, 2008 | Permalink | Comment?

The MaintainIT Project is producing a series of free monthly 30-minute webinars focused on topics from the Cookbooks and designed to get you started on a project today. Join the webinar tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16, 1-1:30 pm Central Time (11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern) for Notes from a Laptop Checkout Program focusing on the experiences of Be Astengo and her colleagues from the Alachua County Library District in Gainesville, FL. Find out how ACLD turned a good idea into a successful laptop checkout program, and be sure to share your experiences, too.
Online Collaboration, Question of the Week, Technology Planning
Question of the Week: Tips for Public Scanner Access?
March 27th, 2008 | Permalink | Comment?

Let’s take a break from all this PLA action for a quick Question of the Week, shall we? Can anyone in the community share a policy or best practices for patron scanner use? WebJunction member phenley has found resources on what type of scanner to purchase, but needs some related policy and/or training tips.

Phenley asks:

“We have a scanner for staff (actually in my office, and I’m usually the only one to use it) but would like to put it out for the public, since we do get a few requests. So my question: if you offer scanning for the public, does staff do it, or is the scanner out and available for anyone to use? Do people seem to be able to manage, or does staff usually have to help?“

Please share you best practices, pitfalls, or other comments either in the original discussion or here in the blog as a comment. As always, if you have if you’ve got a question you want to ask the WebJunction community or you see a good question coming in, please post it in the Question of the Week topic.
Library Services, Question of the Week, Technology Planning
Question of the Week: Circulating Laptop Program
January 28th, 2008 | Permalink | Comment?

Does anyone have thoughts to share about creating a program to make wireless laptops available for patron checkout? This question was originally asked by intlfallsdiane in May:

“Our library is hoping to have four wireless equipped laptop computers available for patrons to borrow in the library. …

“… Is anyone else checking out computers for library use? Is anyone willing to share their circulation policies?”

Though the topic garnered some discussion in the months since, tfinney prompted official Question of the Week status by reminding us of the issue’s relevance.

“My library is also in process of circulating laptops. I am also curious to find out circulating polices for laptops in public libraries. “

As laptop prices continue to plummet and wireless access moves closer to ubiquity, this seems like a service many libraries may try. Please respond to this question in the discussion boards or here, in the blog, as a comment.

If you’ve got a question you want to ask the WebJunction community or you see a good question coming in, please post it in the Question of the Week topic.
Technology Planning
E-rate + Technology Planning + TechAtlas = ???
August 15th, 2007 | Permalink | 1 Comment

That’s the problem the TechAtlas team is trying to figure out and we need help from our friends in Libraryland.

With help from consultants (and technology planning gurus- they literally wrote the book) Sandra Nelson and Diane Mayo, we are assessing ways in which WebJunction and TechAtlas can provide tools that would make the technology planning and approval process for E-rate applications easier. As a part of this study, we are soliciting input from libraries on why they do or don’t have technology plans, why they do or don’t apply for E-rate funds, and what tools might make the whole process easier. Please take a few minutes to complete a brief survey about your library’s technology planning environment. The survey should only take about 10 minutes to complete.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DRemHrlG5ksdTz8hPzIVsw_3d_3dnants

Even if you don’t have a technology plan or don’t apply for E-rate, we need to hear from you. The results and suggestions collected from this survey can really help to shape the tools that WebJunction offers to libraries that need to write technology plans.

Thanks!
Design, Technology Planning
TechAtlas for Libraries gets updated
August 7th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

TechAtlas for Libraries version 3.2 was released today. We have a great group of planners, programmers and testers in Seattle and Ohio who have been working fast and furious at their computers to make these changes and make sure things work smoothly – thanks, everyone!

By the way - TechAtlas is free software that helps libraries (like yours) create technology plans and manage technology. Exciting stuff, right?

But wait, you ask…”Didn’t you just release TechAtlas version 3.1 last month?” Yes we did – and there is much more to come! There is a very ambitious list of TechAtlas improvements for the next year and we are hoping to release these updates monthly. Sometimes these improvements will be small, like fixing links or buttons and other changes will be more noticeable – and hopefully for the better. Many of these improvements are driven by requests from our users. We have received great feedback about the functionality of TechAtlas and we have been listening. It’s never too late to share your thoughts and even a wish-list for TechAtlas improvements, just send a message to techatlas@webjunction.org.

You can read about the changes in version 3.2 on WebJunction and you can get a free TechAtlas for Libraries account here.
Library Management, Library Services, Sustainability, Technology Planning
fresh, hot competencies
July 23rd, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

I noted over on the CE Buzz blog the recent sizzle over competencies for library staff. How timely that WebJunction’s Learning Webinar series is spotlighting competencies in this week’s presentation: Core Competencies for Library Staff. With guests Sarah Houghton-Jan, author of Technology Competencies and Training for Libraries, and Karen Strege, project director for Western Council of State Libraries, there should be a rich flow of information on the topic.

Follow the instructions for getting online. And I hope to see you Wednesday!
Tech, Technology Planning
Computers in Libraries (not the conference)…
July 5th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

TechAtlas is a free tool that libraries can use for technology planning and technology management. We think it’s pretty cool software and we’re excited that so many libraries are using it (you can too, http://webjunction.techatlas.org). One of the features in TechAtlas is that libraries can maintain an inventory of the equipment that they own. And because we like number crunching and data analyzing, we made a graph to look at how libraries have changed operating systems on their computers over the past 5 years*.

If you love looking at data, you can look at the actual percentages broken down by year.

Happy Retirement: Windows 95/98 and NT have been mostly retired, but there a few hanging on.

New Kid on the Block: Windows Vista is starting to make an appearance in the library scene, which is great. Libraries are moving ahead with new technology and keeping current.

What’s your library’s plan for upgrading and replacing equipment? Is Vista in your future? Check out WebJunction’s forum on Operating Systems if you have questions or want to know what people are talking about.

*We looked at data from 4,756 libraries and over 67,000 computers.
Tech, Technology Planning
Cooking with computers
June 28th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

TechSoup’s MaintainIT Project has published their much-anticipated Joy of Computing Cookbook, a wonderful collection of resources for librarians charged with looking after public computers. While prepared specifically for those working in small and rural libraries, the content of this “cookbook” is so rich that anyone supporting public computing services in any type of library will be sure to find something of value.

Just be cautious about taking the cookbook metaphor too far - my own experiments with the edibility of computer hardware have produced disappointing results…
Meet Ups, Technology Planning
See you in Albuquerque?
March 9th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

We’re hoping to meet some WebJunction members at the upcoming joint conference of the Mountain Plains Library Association and the New Mexico Library Association, going down at the Albuquerque Convention Center next week.

A couple of folks from WebJunction World HQ in Seattle will be joining our Community Partners from Arizona, Kansas, and New Mexico. You can find us in booth numbers 57 and 58 (one booth alone will not do!) in the exhibit hall.

Better yet, please consider joining us for a presentation on Overcoming the E-Rate Hurdle on Friday, March 16 from 1:30-2:30 pm. For those of you who can’t make the presentation, the MPLA folks have been kind enough to post our materials to the conference handouts archive.

But if you are going to be in Albuquerque next week, we hope to see you there!
Advocacy, Design, Library Services, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Sustainability, Technology Planning
Community Meeting(s)
March 1st, 2007 | Permalink | 4 Comments

What gives? Why haven’t you seen more BlogJunction posts this week? Two words:

1. Refresh!

2. Meetings!

Well, that might be a slight over simplification, but we really have been kicking up some dust ’round WebJunction way lately, both in relation to current projects and in relation to the planning of future projects. Sweet, sweet planning, how we love you (I really mean that btw).

Have you heard any of us say lately that this is the most exciting time ever to work in/with and/or for libraries? The buzz is palpable around the office, the main WebJunction site, the Community Partner sites, and most importantly in lots of libraries all over the place, the very libraries that are the reason we exist in the first place. Sure, I sound like a cheerleader, but I promise you it is genuine and well deserved excitement.

Now, just so you know we are working hard in our many meetings to get the things you need us and want us to get accomplished actually accomplished, I offer you a bit of a visual riddle. Perhaps the riddle might soften the blow of fewer blog posts this week? Sadly, I can’t really jump out there and say the answer to the visual riddle provided below. Still, it might be fun to hear your speculations about this image. What the heck were we doing in this meeting anyway? Rest assured we do know! *snicker* Even though *we* know, it might fun to hear what you might guess. You’ll play nice with this one, right? Here’s the picture (click it for a link to a larger size if you need it):

Anyone care to speculate?
Technology Planning
A new beginning for TechAtlas
February 6th, 2007 | Permalink | Comment?

After many months of negotiations, we are pleased to announce that WebJunction has recently signed an agreement to acquire the TechAtlas technology planning software from our friends at NPower. This isn’t just a purchase of the product, but rather a change in ownership for TechAtlas. WebJunction will be taking over the source code, the database, the works!

We’ll have more to say about this in the coming months, especially after the TechAtlas servers are re-located from NPower’s facilities in Seattle to OCLC’s data center in Ohio (so that they can sit side-by-side with the WebJunction servers, and form a sort of hardware community). But in the meantime, rest assured that WebJunction has every intention of further enhancing TechAtlas to better meet the needs of our members. Stay tuned for more details!
Online Learning, Technology Planning
Rural In Focus Webinar: Wild about Wireless!
January 17th, 2007 | Permalink | 2 Comments

Each month the Rural Library Sustainability Project is presenting a webinar focused on a particular topic of importance to the work of sustaining Rural and Small libraries. Join us next on January 30, 9:30 AM PST/12:30 PM EST for Wild about Wireless! Are you thinking about providing wireless access for your patrons? What are the technical requirements? What are the security considerations? Hear from rural libraries that have successfully implemented wireless access for the public including special guests Chris Peters from the Washington State Library and Sharon Moreland, director of the Tonganoxie Public Library in Kansas. Information on�joining the webinars, upcoming topics, and all archived sessions are available at�Rural In Focus.
Technology Planning
TechAtlas new features webcast archive
November 30th, 2006 | Permalink | Comment?

For those of you who missed the TechAtlas 2.3 new features overview webcast this past Wednesday, we have archived a video (and audio!) recording of the presentation on WebJunction’s TechAtlas Online Learning Materials page. On that same page, you’ll find a link to a brief document listing the new TechAtlas features that we reviewed during the webcast.

Thanks for everyone who did participate in the webcast - we received many good questions and comments from the participants, and we appreciate it!

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Technology Planning

5th Birthday, Technology Planning, Webinar

Conferences, Technology Planning, WebJunction Staff

Library Services, Technology Planning, Webinar

Online Collaboration, Question of the Week, Technology Planning

Library Services, Question of the Week, Technology Planning

Design, Technology Planning

Library Management, Library Services, Sustainability, Technology Planning

Tech, Technology Planning

Tech, Technology Planning

Meet Ups, Technology Planning

Advocacy, Design, Library Services, Online Collaboration, Online Learning, Sustainability, Technology Planning

Online Learning, Technology Planning