As promised last week, we've got more quotes and advice on the communications conundrum. This time, we've got some advice for library tech gurus who occasionally have to struggle to make themselves understood. Following are some ideas from librarians and library techies across the country. Look for these quotes, along with other tips and techniques in the next Cookbook!

Do you:

We’ve already posted several times about communication between techies and non-techies in the library. Matt Beckstrom wrote about his communication philosophy, Sarah posted several quotes, and we published a case study about Loren MccRory at Yuba County Library. Well, the great ideas keep pouring in. This first post contains advice for librarians who want to build better relationships with their techies. I’ll write about the flipside -- advice for techies who need to talk with non-techies – in a later post.

I just came out of a meeting with our Tech Department Director and am finished with my victory lap around the library. I thought it might make a good blog to mention a small success (that's taken 3 years) for the library's web presence. I mentioned before that the attitude from IT in the recent past has been "it's just a government website" and that we were limited by incredibly strict formatting templates.

Seems like everyone we talk to has a story about communication between techies and staff. Here are a few of the latest...

Eric Brooks, from Placer County Library in Auburn, CA is the system-wide techie department of one:

"Some people think, ‘I don't know anything about computers,’ and they just kind of clam up when they want to talk about them. And you try to set them at ease."

Becky Heil, from Dubuque County Library in Farley, IA said:

Open entering the Nevada County Public Library, the first thing I noticed were the names on the public computers--“Groucho,” “Gummo,” “Zeppo,” “Chico,” and “Harpo”-–a fun way for the patrons to select the public computer they want to use, and a great way for staff to keep track of patron usage. No numbers to remember, or tech-specific codes, just names that are memorable and offer a human aspect to a sometimes cold and distant technology.

Today I spent an informative (and fun!) day at the Placer County Library in Auburn, CA. I met the entire staff, and spoke at length with the Director of Library Services, Mark Parker, and Eric Brooks, the sole tech person responsible for all 12 branches. (check out photos of our visit)