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Librarians and Archivists in a fast-changing digital lanscape
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School libraries changing with move to digital resources, By Laura Devaney | eSchool News

School libraries changing with move to digital resources, By Laura Devaney | eSchool News | The Information Professional | Scoop.it
As schools across the nation move from printed books to digital books, school #libraries are adapting to keep pace http://t.co/A7rqftJE...

 

"One of the biggest parts of the library is the learning studio, which is a place where students can go to create different digital resources such as audio and video recordings, multimedia pieces, or link up to share ideas and brainstorm. The learning studio offers facilitators and tech specialists to help students when necessary.

“People often say that the library is going away,” McConnell said. “It’s really not—it’s a critical piece. It’s a place for community, collaboration, and it’s a place to find partners to help you in whatever literacy you’re trying to increase. That may be literacy in resources, media creation—those services are all there.”

And the stereotypical librarian is evolving into someone who knows how to locate reputable online resources and can help students learn how to use those resources in their research.

“I see librarians as media specialists,” McConnell said. “We still have literacy, whether it’s reading or research…the librarian is the perfect partner for the classroom. The role of the librarian has shifted” for the digital age, he said."

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Is Your Library Ready for a UX Librarian? | The User Experience  | Library world, new trends, technologies

Is Your Library Ready for a UX Librarian? | The User Experience  | Library world, new trends, technologies | The Information Professional | Scoop.it

"Bringing a UX librarian onboard before your organization is ready can backfire. A UX librarian unable to help an institution will feel defeated, and UX thinking will get a reputation for being ineffectual.

 

User experience isn’t something that can be sprinkled onto a library to make it relevant and engaging to its users. To have a meaningful impact, user experience thinking must be integrated into all aspects of a library. This means that everyone in the organization needs to consider how the decisions they make relate to other parts of the organization and impact users. This isn’t easily achieved, and it won’t magically happen by hiring someone with a neat job title.

 

Unless everyone on staff is already on the same page about this kind of design mentality, preparing for a UX librarian means creating organizational change.

 

Starting small

Before thinking about a UX Librarian position, consider forming a cross-departmental UX Team. Include frontline and administrative staff from all departments. The purpose of this team is just as much about creating an organizational culture that supports UX design as it is about making direct improvements to the library. Make sure to scope this team’s charge realistically, and guarantee that its recommendations aren’t met with undue ­resistance.

 

SIGNS OF READINESS

Your library might be ready for a UX Librarian if:
• it holds regular cross-departmental meetings that people find productive
• people in the organization put ideas before their egos
• the library is ready to research its community
• change isn't a dirty word
• there's a widespread genuine desire to improve the library"

 

Author Information
Aaron Schmidt (librarian@gmail.com) is a principal at the library user experience consultancy Influx (influx.us). He is a 2005 LJ Mover & Shaker. He writes at walkingpaper.org

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