When the IT manager is also the library director, children's librarian, and circulation clerk...

As I read “Information Technology and Restructuring in Public Organizations: Does Adoption of Information Technology Affect Organizational Structures, Communications, and Decision Making?” by Theresa Heintze and Stuart Bretschneider, I thought about so many of the smaller libraries and non-profits out there, struggling to keep working technology for their staff and customers. Through the MLIS program and through a state-wide literacy coalition, I have met so many people who wear the hat of "technology coordinator," though that is not their primary responsibility. How do these smaller groups manage their information technology? How do they manage to offer any new services, such as all of the exciting "Library 2.0" possibilities, when one person is in charge of IT, personnel, collections, fundraising, and shelving?

Fortunately, the Internet is full of geek-librarians who love to learn about technology, create nifty things, and then, being librarians, give the information away for free. In "Big Tech for Every Library," Sarah Houghton discusses how even the smallest library can create a snazzy online presence--for free--using EngagedPatrons.org . It may not run the Ethernet through the ceiling or install the wireless network, but it at least offers some web-presence solutions for those libraries strapped for staff, money, and time.

Work Cited:

Houghton, Sarah. 2006. Big tech for every library. Library Journal 131: 12-15. Available from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed September 5, 2006).