Technology Management Instructor: Carson Block Twitter: - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Technology Management

Instructor: Carson Block Twitter: @CarsonBlock http://www.carsonblock.com

Hello Illinois!

• Who I am
• What I believe
• What I do

Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.

…today you won’t be doing much sitting.

Overview

It’s time to start thinking about the broader context of library technology.

• Among other things, we will:
• Establish the importance of vision for technology
• Define library technology within the context of the greater technology market
• Show pathways to bridge library goals with technological possibilities
• Strategies to make wise implementation choices
• Methods to evaluate success
• Use the chat window to ask questions or make comments as we go –

Louise will moderate a Q&A at the end of the presentation.

Poll: who is here?

• Public Librarians
• School Librarians
• Special Librarians
• Academic Librarians

Poll: who is here?

• Tiny Libraries
• Small Libraries
• Medium Libraries
• Large Libraries

Technology Vision is important to help guide us through a basic challenge…

Modern libraries are driven by many of the things that technology provides…

• Electronic content
• New communications technologies
• New physical technologies
• Statistics
• Content creation tools
• Rapid and ongoing change

…but our institutional missions tend to have a different focus…

• Mission components may

include

• Education
• Enlightenment
• Community service
• and the technology piece acts

in a supporting role

MISSION T E C H

Ideally, the role of technology is to first support those institutional missions, as well as to suggest new approaches and opportunities.

But some technologies are so seductive that we can easily get confused…

The Big Picture (V (Vision): Start With the End In In Mind

• First, understand what you hope

to accomplish

• Then, determine how

technology can help you meet those goals

The fi first step in assessment

(your only homework :0 :0)

 Who we are serving with technology  What services we are offering via technology  What resources we have  What resources we desire  Who helps deliver technology  What equipment we use to deliver technology services  What infrastructure we use to deliver technology services

(worksheet)

Businesspeople? Seniors? Families? English Language Learners?

Who do you serve?

Kids? Students? Government?

(worsheet)

What do you do?

What do you have? What do you want?

(worksheet) And, what else? What did we miss?

Technological Approaches

• Proactive folks are the ones who

look ahead. Planners at heart, they are typified by the old carpenter's expression: "measure twice, cut once."

• Reactive folks are usually quick

thinkers and are equally quick to

• action. They love the heat of

battle, and often say "let's try it and see what happens."

The Cart and the Horse (a (and Who's Driving?) ?)

• Drivers are equivalent to your

high-level objectives.

• Drivers are not obstacles or

challenges in delivering your

• bjectives.

Computing Platforms – Faith and Agnosticism

…and that guy

How Does Library ry Technology Fit In Into The Greater Technological Ecosystem?

What About The Role of f Training?

How Much Does This All Cost?

• I'm often asked "How can I save money

with technology?"

• My answer, admittedly a little cheeky, is

"You don't save money with technology. You spend it.”

Technology Policy

Tying Technology into Existing Library ry Efforts and Plan

Tying Technology into Existing Library ry Efforts and Plan

Here are a few areas to explore:

• What official or unofficial

strategic plans, efforts exist?

• What vision does library

leadership have for Technology?

• Is the role of technology

understood by you – board, staff, community, others?

Technology Budget—a Closer Look

Managing your Technology Budget

Items to consider:

• Ongoing monies
• New projects
• New technologies
• Free technologies

Ongoing Monies

New Projects

New Technologies

Free Technologies

Determining Total Cost of f Ownership

One of the first questions that comes up when considering a technology expense is “how much is this going to cost?”

Expense Amount Staff Time - Research $0.00 Vendor Quote $0.00 Hardware $0.00 Software $0.00 Installation (not covered by vendor quote) $0.00 Training (not covered by vendor quote) $0.00 Ongoing support (ie.maintenance contracts) $0.00 Licensing $0.00 Insurance $0.00 Construction costs $0.00 Labor costs (incl. project management) $0.00 Total $0.00 Simple TCO Worksheet - Library IT (It's ok to use rough estimates - if you don’t know, leave amount blank)

Determining the Total Cost of f Ownership

There is no one way to determine TCO, but here are a few elements to consider:

• Research (including creation of “Requests

for Proposals” or “Requests for Information”

• Vendor Quotes (may include some of the

items below)

• Hardware
• Software
• New processes (including security,

backup and restore, etc.)

• Installation (including any retro-

conversion or migration expenses)

• Training
• Ongoing support (including warrantees,

annual maintenance contracts, etc.)

• Licensing
• Insurance
• Construction costs
• Any new labor costs (including project

management, IT staff time, testing, etc.)

• Any downtime due to transition
• Replacement costs (over time – expected

lifetime of initial investment)

• Any other long-term expenses

What gets measured gets done!

(o (or at t le least gets th the most attention)

Lots Of f Other Things Get Done Too – Should You Continue Doing Them?

Un-memed original by Allie Brosh: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-why- ill-never-be-adult.html

What are the most im important thin ings to measure?

Readings on the topic: Statistics

Public Library Data Service Statistical Report

• http://www.plametrics.org/

ALA Office for Research and Statistics

• http://www.ala.org/research/home

Library Research Service

• http://www.lrs.org

Pew Internet and American Life Project

• http://www.pewinternet.org/

Library Edge

• http://www.libraryedge.org

Measures Related to Your Technology

There are other basics that are helpful to know - here are a few that you may already

• measure. If not, you should consider adding them to your annual tally.
• Number of items circulated

every year

• Number of active patrons

registered

• Number of hours patron

computers are in use (or number of user sessions)

• Number of users of your

wireless systems

• Number of annual page views of

your web site, or specific web pages

• Number of searches performed

annually within your ILS

• Use (in number of searches or

number of documents accessed)

• f subscription databases
• Anything useful you can imagine

What Options Do You Have To Measure Technological Effectiveness?

Advanced Statistics

Addictive Statistics

Things Change: Methods of f Course Correction For Your Efforts

Things Change: Methods Of f Course Correction For Your Budget

It can be helpful to think of your technology budget in three broad chunks:

• Maintenance - keeping your current stuff

going

• Growth - new stuff you know you'll need
• Innovation - new stuff you don't yet know

you need

Maintenance Growth Innovation

Maintenance

Growth

In Innovation

Computer and Data Security

Questions? Thank You!

@CarsonBlock www.carsonblock.com