Comments on: Something’s Gotta Give

By: tummytime

tummytime — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:42:56 +0000

In my library system, a few of us have been trying to get blogs & facebook pages for our branches not so much because we’re “frusties”, but more because we have a horrible & antiquated website that our admin refuses to update. We’re just looking for any technology that we can use to circumvent such an inept interface and at least show people that we’re not stuck in 1996.

By: small

small — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:39:56 +0000

I won’t jump on every new techno bandwagon. It’s irresponsible to spend my limited budget and my time just to attempt to look “cool”. Most of us are smart enough to consider new technologies and quickly assess if they have value. Automated systems were embraced becuz we quickly saw the value. Twitter ? Give me a break.
Web pages – you betcha. Newbies and some lazy veterans like the techno stuff cuz they can pretend to be “working” but they are not truly contributing to the organization. There, I said it.

By: 2n6nd

2n6nd — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:06:55 +0000

Making generalizations about men vs. women. How juvenile. You sound like my middle school children. The individual can be a good worker or bad. But to say all men or all women? Ridiculous. Grow up.

By: TwoQatz

TwoQatz — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:22:44 +0000

Thirty-one years in various para and professional library positions – Auntie Nanuuq is right on the money. The group of men I work with now is the laziest I’ve come across. Our manager is cleaning house in more ways than one now and the men are too stupid to see what’s happening. They’ve been told to weed and they sit and bloviate about how important the dust-covered tomes in a dead ready reference and reference collection. If they’re covered with dust, how important can they be? If you’re tasked with developing a new interface for students and all you do is complain about how hard it is, just how valuable are you? In this library, we could lose the men and do just fine, thank you very much. The women are doing their work anyway.

By: I Like Books

I Like Books — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 14:31:42 +0000

Re: Name Tags

How are customers supposed to identify staff? Unless they have name tags, they pretty much have to wear bright vests or funny hats.

Here’s one of those lessons from the business world for our libraries: if you’re going to do the customer service thing, identify to the customers those that will be servicing them.

By: Fig

Fig — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:37:14 +0000

What are we giving up? The Reference desk! Over my past 4 years @ 2 academic libraries, our fearless leaders are OBSESSED with clearing out the physical reference desk. They rather we bore the students of the handfull of instructors who bother to schedule “information literacy” sessions (how to look up a book class). We spend the rest of the time brushing off a barage IM reference from our cubicles. No one will notice when the desks are completely wiped out.

By: Oh The Humanity

Oh The Humanity — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:00:59 +0000

To “…I’m a volunteer tech consultant for my library. I develop & maintain the website and do other tech functions. …”
You need to not be a volunteer tech consultant. You are occupying a position that needs to be a paid position. Spread your largesse to the Junior League or something.

By: reads_a_lot

reads_a_lot — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:28:22 +0000

Thank you, Annoyed Librarian, for a great laugh when I read your article. (I think technically it is a BLOG, which is a fairly recent technological innovation.) Anyway, I’ve been around long enough to remember the wailing and gnashing of teeth when libraries started collecting phonograph albums and added listening stations. Staff meeting discussions at my library went something like this – “How will we ever get our “real” work done when we are expected to be disc jockeys to anyone who wants to listen to a record? How much of our budget can we afford to media? We could spend all our budget on LPs and it still wouldn’t be enough! Something has to give! We can’t be all things to all people!” etc. etc. You know what? Phonograph albums went away, so did vertical files, card catalogs, due date cards with people’s names, and more. Libraries and librarians are adaptable and continue to be a vital part of their communities.

By: Post Postmodern Librarian

Post Postmodern Librarian — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:23:53 +0000

kattherripper Its not so much young people whiney as people who have lost focus of a libraries mission to educate not entertain. This argument has been going on for years and will go on as long as libraries are still here. Should you have adult, young adult and children programs that are both entraining and educational yes, should you have programs that are just entertaining I would say no. (remember some programs last all week so you can mix and match activities) The problem with technology more so then anything before in libraryland is it blurs the line and thus easily abuse. I pick on those who have abuse technology in the name of education when its really just screwing around.

By: kattheripper

kattheripper — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:15:40 +0000

I’m sorry for everybody’s frustration level, but honestly most of what I got out of this post was, “Young kids these days are so whiney, now listen to me whine about kids these days.” As others have pointed out technology and libraries are not mutally exclusive but also our budgets do not allow us to offer patrons every piece of shiney new technology. The key is setting priorities for our library services. A DDR tournament is not a viable option for some brances but perhaps a Yugioh card tournaments would cost little to nothing at all (kids bring their own cards, just need supervision, that’s it). There’s always an alternative low cost option and if there isn’t, be creative! And for the people who still won’t budge from their “technology bad” mindset, library programs in grad schools are incouraging their students to embrace a marriage to technology with our core values, and that’s what finally sold me to start going to school to become a librarian. If I’m out of line on this please tell me so I can stop shelling out thousands of dollars on a program that has no relevance past a certain generation.