Are You Experienced? Exploring User Experience

in Public Libraries

Introduction to Module 3

Technology: Improving Library Services by Managing Technology

What this module is not

This module is not about what you may think it is about if you just see the word “technology.” Managing technology does not mean you have to know how to fix a computer or pull network cable.

I assume you are curious about how a little tech knowledge improves your experience and especially the user experience…

You may want to know how integrating __________ * into library services improves the user experience…

* Insert social networking buzzword here (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Foursquare, etc.)

Or you may be interested in what to do with a __________* in a library…

* Insert trending technology here (e.g., 3-D printer, Chromebook, digital media lab, etc.)

Those curiosities are easy to satisfy…

If you can Google or attend a library conference of any size, you can find something about integrating all sorts of "technology" with the library to improve the user bla bla bla bla bla....

It has been a topic for a long time now...

So what am I going to do?

Technology has already been integrated into the library for years – but that topic is not the fashionable technology people like to talk about. Instead, it includes library system software, tech standards, networks, etc. Stuff that library staff and library users have to deal with every day – even if just indirectly.

My approach for this module

Because I know you can already find plenty on how to integrate Facebook, 3-D printers, and whatever with library services to improve the customer experience, I want to get you more familiar with the less popular but more important library technology that is the base of keeping a library going – for both staff and patrons. There would be no customer experience without it.

Why bother?

This area of “not hot” technology is where I see most librarians fail.

If librarians do not understand the technology that allows the library to function on a day-to-day basis, they cannot take advantage of it for themselves – and especially not for the essential customer experience.

Sad but true

I have encountered librarians who…• did not know what a MARC record was• thought that a barcode was a security

system• could not understand why the OPAC did

not locate what they wanted• assumed a wireless network had no wires

and so on…

But enough about them!

You have chosen to discover a bit more about library basic technology so that you know – as a librarian or library user – what is going on about you.

My biggest fears?

I think technology is wonderfully fascinating and exciting. But I have long ago realized that most others don’t feel this way.

I also know that I need to temper anything I tell you with the fact that I can’t take too much of your time. And I must assume you bring to this MOOC little or no tech knowledge. Yes, I need to simplify…

So I will bore some people while also risking oversimplifying to the point of misleading others. A win-win for me!

But, hey, this course was advertised as being “free and fun guaranteed.”

So on to the rest…