Rebecca L. Lubas
Associate Dean, Library
Claremont Colleges
Sam Kome
Director of Strategic Initiatives & Information Technology, Library
Claremont Colleges
Kim Eke
Director of Teaching, Research, and Learning Services
The University of Pennsylvania
Weaving Technology into the Fabric of Library Innovation (Lubas, Kome)
Connecting library staff with technology tools and their use is mission-critical in a library’s success, and doing so requires as much management skill as it does technology knowledge. Involving individuals in technology planning requires knowing not only the staff member’s level of skill but also how much direction and structure they need to succeed. At the Claremont Colleges Library (CCL), our goal in the creation of a technology working group was to create infrastructure to help individuals and teams realize their goals using technology at all comfort levels and skill as well as build and solidify relationships across the library and the colleges. So far, the group has seen successes in fostering innovations that turned into pilot projects for larger initiatives, creating an atmosphere to encourage calculated risk-taking. For example, a group study room technology makeover became a building block for the CCL’s new Collaborative Commons. We’ve also built bridges to IT personnel to help library staff understand scoping and possibilities. Lessons learned include a better understanding of how to match technology skilled staff with service, program, and content experts. We’re actively working toward a future of subject matter expertise paired with technology comfort and fluency. Our discussion will cover how we provided and adjusted structure to make staff successful from planning to implementation, and how we have moved pilots to production. Audience members are welcome to bring their own technology skill matching challenges for discussion and suggestions.
Digital Fluencies: New Skills for a Changing Academy (Eke)
With rapid advances in globally networked information technologies, new types of fluencies are emerging, especially in the area of scholarly inquiry. Fluency implies mastery and effortlessness in acting within a community of practice. Literacy is essential and emphasizes individual skill. Both are needed. At The University of Pennsylvania Libraries, we have been developing an openly available curriculum intended to help librarians, academic staff, administrators, faculty, and students engage with new methods and platforms related to new scholarly competencies (and services we offer in the library). Fluencies include information literacy, media literacy, digital pedagogy, digital research methods, digital publishing, and data management and literacy. This session provides an overview of the work done to date and invites further conversation to strengthen a collective understanding of emerging skills in the academy.
http://digital-fluencies.kimeke.org
http://tinyurl.com/digital-fluencies
Presentation (Eke)