Ouch. This was a remark that I heard several times at ALA and one that really bothered me. I don’t think that your IT department should be holding your library system back. Actually the opposite – as my IT department manager says, we should be leading the library system in making technology-related decisions.
But there are some considerations that come into play. A must-read for people in IT, as well as librarians, is Michael Stephens’ article Into a new world of librarianship.
Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the institution, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status. Technology is put to the test: Does it meet the users need in a new or improved way? Does it create a useful service for putting users together with the information and experience they seek?
One of the most often repeated concerns in an IT department is why are we doing this? Is it just because its the latest and greatest thing? But here’s the thing. If the IT department doesn’t keep up with the changes that are happening so rapidly in the way libraries are communicating and collaborating with their customers, then how can they know why these services are important? How can they prepare for offering these services, and even more important, how can they prepare to support them in the long run?
There needs to be a balance between saying the cautious NO to keep things manageable and sane from the IT perspective, and saying YES to technology that leads the library system into the future with a good plan for new services; services that meet the mission of the library on the front end but also have well-thought out support for the back end.
Me: Learning Library 2.0 
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