Well it has been a very long time since a post has been made to this blog. In the beginning, I had high hopes to make a post on a frequent basis; However, that has not happened. With life and other things that take precedence this blog has been put off to the side for more important things.
Most of my time during the past several months has been dedicated to creating a new course called Emerging Technologies and Libraries. After getting steering committee approval back in March was just the beginning to getting ready to teach during the first Summer session hear at Indiana University in Bloomington. I really enjoyed putting the course together because it gave me the opportunity to do several things that are really of interest to me teaching and learning about new technology.
Doing all the preparatory work before the class started made it easier for me during the session to concentrate on grading and answering questions. As it turned out, I had more information and things to talk about then there was time. On the positive side, I learned quite a bit and was able to look at things from several different perspectives. It was an opportunity to talk with other people and discuss how technology can be used within the library environment. Patrons and librarians may not be ready for everything that is available so therefore we need to make decisions on what to use or not use.
In putting together the class and teaching the underlining theme that came out of everything are people. People in this scenario reefers to everyone that is affected by technology within and outside of the library. For example, the information technology department needs to be able to maintain the equipment that is used throughout the library. The IT department along with librarians are always learning new things and have different priorities and concerns. The largest community of people affected are the patrons themselves. We need to find a balance between technology and people.
This is just a short explanation about my experience during the past several months. To find out more about the course please visit the course blog at http://www.patrickrunfit.com/s603.