Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Lied Library
My main take away from this article was the enormous costs of information technology. When I was teaching (around 1998,) a family donated a large number of computers to our school, enough so each classroom received three. Unfortunately, there was no money for support, networking, additional training, etc, so the computers were almost useless. At Lied Libary, in just four years, they had seven new major system installations, 600 PC units replaced, an air conditioning upgrade from a three-ton system to a 10-ton system and additional security cameras and a central security monitoring system installed. "Extensive documentation is regularly provided to Library Administration to help predict budget costs necessary to maintain the library’s technology." How important is it to remember that the cost of the system is only the beginning of the costs of maintaining a well-functioning library.
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In regards to Lied Library, I have to say that costs of maintaining the system is so important, especially in schools. I worked in a high school library for years and we were constantly wasting money on new equipment, catalogs, email programs... and then not training the staff or students to use them. Sometimes, students didn't even know they had their own email account at school to help them access their assignments, talk to their teachers or whatever else. The school system would then go on to the next big thing and again, not teach us how to use it.
ReplyDeleteWhat you bring up is SO important!
The point you bring up about not having any money to maintain the computers your school received or to train people on how to use the computers is really interesting in relation to this article. Lied Library seems to have received an enormous amount of funding not only to purchase new computers but also to keep updating its system. But what about organizations that do not receive very much money for this purpose? Do they fall behind as other institutions upgrade their systems or do they try to maintain the resources they have? The enormous cost of constantly upgrading technology is a difficult problem to solve.
ReplyDeleteLied Library is very fortunate to be able to do this in just four years, not many of us can do that but it makes you realise that it is possible! Hats off to those assisting to make this a reality because the benefits to users must be enormous.
ReplyDelete