Do you make the technology decisions in your Library? Every organization, no matter what size, can benefit from simple technology planning. It can assist in getting grants and ensure that you are ready for coming technologies.
NOTE: While these examples may be out of date, they demonstrate different structures and information that can be included within a Technology Plan.
There are five factors critical to effective library technology planning and implementation.
1) Support of library staff, including its management and Trustees
No planning effort will succeed without the full support and commitment of all library staff and management. This commitment should be made before starting a technology planning process.
2) Direct involvement by other parties
The development of a technology plan should be undertaken not by library staff alone but with active participation by the library's trustees and the involvement of other parties such as the local schools, Library Friends, the municipal/county IT department and/or the library system.
3) Service-based technology goals and initiatives
A key factor in the use of any library technology is a realization that technology is not an end in itself but a means to an end. Technology must be viewed as a vehicle to offer more efficient and effective delivery of current services and to add new services, such as digital literacy to help carry out the mission of the library.
4) Staff development
Too often, emphasis is placed on the hardware and software aspects of technology at the expense of staff training and in-servicing needed to help ensure proper and effective use of technology. Without a firm commitment to initial and continued staff development, the benefits of technology and digital literacy will not be fully realized.
5) Identification of funding and development of a budget
Any technology plan must address the need for funds to implement the plan. Funds must be budgeted annually to maintain existing technology, to update or replace obsolete technology on a regularly scheduled basis, and to provide necessary staff support. Budgets should still be planned, even if the funding is not currently available.
