Hardcore technology for softcore librarians
Kendra Levine, Amy Buckland
“Technology is anything that wasn’t around when you were born.” — Alan Kay
Don’t be scared of it.
It’s not about the tools, fools. If you have a problem, look for tech to solve it. Not the reverse: you have a cool tech tool and look for a problem to use it on.
Moore’s Law: smaller chips, cheaper hardware.
Raspberry Pi: very small, very cheap Linux computer, very programmable. Size of a credit card, $35. Apps, video output. Transportation people thinking about putting them in public places to give info.
Arduino: microcontrollers, monitors. c. $20. Using as air quality monitors. LED displays.
Piratebox / Librarybox: lightweight server that shares files with the public. On WiFi, but not connected to the Internet. Could use it as a digital library.
All things mobile: smartphones, tablets. Smart watches connected to smartphones.
Some kids are disconnecting to get more privacy.
Google Glass.
3D printers.
Project Management (web-based, relatively cheap and easy):
* Asana
* Basecamp
* The old Gantt chart
* Jira
* Trello
Collaboration:
* Google Docs (Back up your data, though)
* Dropbox
* Microsoft 365
Data analysis / visualization:
Have to have good, clean data
* R (programming language for statistics) + D3 (JS library that NY Times uses)
* Excel
* Many Eyes: See what others have done
* Voyant: Wordle on steroids
* Starlight: pinpoint maps (download, not free)
* Pro-cessing
* Google Charts
Civil War in Four Minutes
Networking:
Social media: Use it as a professional to carve out your space on the Internet. Be genuine, be helpful. Make it more of a conversation. It’s OK to have it be a one-way medium, but make it clear that’s what you’re doing. Follow your users.
* Google Hangout / Skype / Facetime: meetings just got real
* 5A7: French-Canadian meet-up site. “Time to actually MEAT up.”
Make library a collaborative space. Only rule is you can’t have a formal meeting with projectors, etc.
Some libraries have couches and whiteboards.
Timelines:
* Tiki Toki
* Chronozoom
* Neatline for Omeka: GIS photos, works with WordPress
Mentors:
They don’t have to be:
* at your org.
* in your association
* in your industry
* in libraryland
Go to a non-library conference.
Associations: Shared brains are good things. Other folks have same problems, don’t reinvent the wheel, harness your network.
Conversations: The best thing ever. Especially if you’re a solo librarian in a big org.
Yer mama or other people in your life. The oldest researcher in your organization: they know the history.
You! You work with info everyday, you know what you need, sleuthing is fun, look to other industries for inspiration.
Bamboo DiRT – Suggestions for “digital research tools.”
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