October, 2007

In the spirit of this spooky season, I wanted to address some Wireless Horror Stories – potential issues and problems with wireless. Remarkably, I’ve had a hard time finding stories of real horror. Especially in the last few years, during which time wireless has become more prevalent and therefore implements more smoothly. The usual response from libraries has been “the wireless project went just fine." So much for horror...

Use this "Quick Look" checklist to make sure you’re covering your bases when it comes to crafting a wireless policy for your library. For more information on wireless policies, check out an earlier post on the topic.

If you answered yes--even with a bit of unease and hesitation--read on, this webinar is for you.

Stephanie Gerding, a talented author, trainer, and librarian, will be sharing her immense knowledge of training techniques with those who didn't expect to have training listed on their job description (or for those who want to learn more!).

Never fear, Stephanie is here!

Using a theme can make technology training more compelling and downright fun!!

In March 2007, the Tuolumne County library in Sonora, CA held a wildly successful "Techknow Rodeo" that introduced the community of 5,000 to the many electronic resources available through the library, and set the stage for future training sessions

"We wanted to make it a fun environment and take away any intimidation," said library director Connie Corcoran.

Recently I wrote a post about marketing your wireless service. It sparked a number of excellent comments, including some questions on policy. I decided they were worth answering in a longer form, including some helpful tips cribbed from my book on Wireless Networking for Libraries which I thought would be helpful.

Seems like each day I talk to someone, or learn of someone, who should be awarded the PLA Polaris Innovation in Technology John Iliff Award. In a nutshell, the award:

In the latest issue of American Libraries, I learned of the attempts of David Burdick, from the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System to make visible the lack of broadband access in Arkansas public libraries through hearings at the Senate Commerce Committee in Little Rock.

Whether formal or informal, planned or unplanned, most libraries offer some variety of patron training. Call it what you may, when a librarian bends over a public computer and offers help to a puzzled patron, that’s training, too.

“Yeah, we have wireless at our library…but we don’t tell anyone about it!”

When I began looking at wireless for my library, I heard this more than once from other libraries. I found this very odd. If you had a new storytime format or some new DVDs, would you keep them a secret?

I'm happy to announce that Louise Alcorn, Reference Technology Librarian at the West Des Moines (IA) Public Library and author of Wireless Networking: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (Neal-Schuman, 2006) has graciously offered to share her know-how on this blog!