I have seen lots of “must have” lists for libraries and librarians especially when dealing with technology. Well, the list I’m starting isn’t anything new but just demonstrates my particular bias. This list is a mix of skills, services, applications, and gadgets. To be a successful librarian in the next ten years and beyond is going to require some new competencies that are specifically tied to gadgets and digital services. Some seem basic but we’re dealing with an age when a lot of twelve year-olds often have better skills than public librarians.
If I were going to flesh this out, which I still might, I would explain each one and what skills are involved and why they were important. The bottom line is that I desperately want to share my knowledge and train my fellow librarians. When we are faced with important decisions about how we are going to serve the public, we must have the confidence and knowledge to push for the right computers, the right networks, and the right tools to be relevent and to do our job of providing access and guidance.
- USB Flash Drive – 512 MB
- A computer with built in USB (points for a laptop with wi-fi card) & updating security/anti-virus/anti-spyware software
- Cell phone w/ texting & email service
- Web space, web site or a blog, or all of the above
- Free web email accounts
- Instant Messaging
- RSS reader(at the least Bloglines)
- DSL or any reliable high-speed access to the internet from home that is not dial-up
- CD or DVD writing ability
- Digital Camera
- iPod
My co-worker, Sarah, discovered a freaky, dark yet not so sinister story scrawled inside the library’s copy of McKay’s Modern Portuguese-English English-Portuguese Dictionary by E. L. Richardson, M. de Lourdes Sa Pereira and Milton Sa Pereira, 1943, Reprinted March 1958. The story is an examination of a young anonymous girl’s infatuation with her Brazilian cousin, his reckless driving and the social constructs of ethnocentricity. It’s really not great writing but it is written across dozens of pages in the margins and whitespace of the letter headings. She deciphered most the handwriting. Page numbers and word entries are included in case there is some significance.