The name says it all. Computer technology was always something to be considered for the future when I was at school and really held no interest for me. However my work in public libraries regularly throws me into the deep end to face the constantly changing world of technology and how it affects our daily lives. I like to avoid using computers at home because all my time at work is spent dealing with internet, data bases, library system programs, email, word processing etc etc. I am well aware, however, that it is very necessary to be receptive to all learning processes relating to the way technology improves service delivery in public libraries and in day to day living.
Being part of a Library service that is operated in an area of low levels of literacy I can already see the benefits of encouraging feedback from the public in a more informal situation that allows the customer to express themselves in their own language. This would be an extremely valuable tool for general staff to improve the level of service we can offer clients who perhaps would normally be reluctant to try and communicate because of poor English skills. From a management perspective blogging would allow interactive surveys with this same group of customers who often seem reluctant and uncomfortable to answer formal surveys in traditional formats.
Online 'chatting' seems to be a very popular reason for people to access the internet and the amount of children/teenagers booking computers on a daily basis for games is paramount. Both of these groups could easily be encouraged to interact with library activities online that encourage people to blog responses, entries, etc that would breath new life into what we offer across the board as a library.
I can also imagine that libraries that offer to train people in the new technology that we are addressing here with Learningfast 2.0 would be opening up a whole new educational process for people who are reluctant to self train online. Seniors for example may be reluctant to do an online training course by themselves because of the fear factor and a lack of technical advice for any problems encountered. If public libraries were to introduce them to something like blogging they could participate in online bookclubs if they were not always able to come to the library physically. There are a number of seniors who are more housebound and quite lonely and this could provide them with a much needed social link as well as invaluable community information. The information is all their on the internet but this slightly more informal, chatty type of format could be a good way of introducing those who are indeed techophobic. After all if I can do it anybody can.
