Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies Course
Identify, Evaluate, and Recommend the Best New Technologies for Library Services
Excellent course. Thought-provoking, mind-expanding, and fun!
How do we keep up with new technologies in this rapidly changing world?
If you’ve been an information professional for any length of time, you’ve heard over and over that technology is changing quickly (and exponentially) and that it’s very difficult to keep up.
You’ve likely felt overwhelmed at times. You’ve seen trends come and go, and wondered how and where to invest your limited time and budget.
Learn the best methods and strategies
In this course you’ll learn the best methods and sources for meeting this challenge.
We’ll look at two roles or types of people, visionaries and implementers, and we’ll offer strategies for each type.
You’ll learn about the best resources for keeping up, how to evaluate what you’ve learned, the importance of experimenting with new technologies, and how to plan for implementation of new technologies that meet user needs.
This course is for you if…
- You are a professional in any field who needs to evaluate new technologies and decide which ones are candidates for useful services.
- You are a library school student who would like to develop trend-spotting expertise.
- You are an “emerging technology librarian” or have this role as part of your job description.
- You want to know the best methods and resources for keeping up with new technologies
This course was fantastic. Very relevant, informative, and engaging. I found it worth the time, and plan to implement much of what I learned in my own workplace, even though I’m not technically an Emerging Technology Librarian. Many concepts covered can easily be applied universally.
This course is based on my book: Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies
Begins Oct. 13, 2020
$200
4-week course
Outstanding course filled with excellent ideas, resources, and hands-on practice!
By the end of the course you will …
Know Methods
Have methods in place for keeping up with information on new technologies.
Curate
Begin to curate technology info for your peers.
Have Sources
Know the best types of sources to follow.
Experiment
Have a plan for experimenting with new technologies in your library.
Understand User Experience
Be familiar with user experience research and know how to learn more.
Persuade
Have methods for persuading decision-makers to approve your tech projects.
What’s Included
Videos
A total of 16 video lectures on specific topics.
Readings
Interesting readings on each topic.
Discussion Forum
Thought-provoking questions about the readings and a forum where you can discuss these with your fellow students.
Resource Guide
A resource guide for continuing your learning.
Course Outline
- Gathering Information – Methods and Sources
- Your tech personality
- Methods: channels, scanning, and reading later
- Types of sources to follow
- Strategies for your type (visionaries or Implementer)
- User experience methods overview
- Evaluating & Curating Information
- Following ethical debates
- Diversity, accessibility, the digital divide
- Evaluating: trends vs. fads
- Letting ideas percolate & note-taking anywhere, anytime
- Curating technology info for your peers
- Testing New Technologies
- How to come up with ideas for implementing tech that will meet the needs of your users
- Experimenting with new technologies
- Fear of new technologies
- Implementing New Technologies
- Persuading your decision-makers
- Emerging Technology Librarian job roles
- Setting up your ongoing curation project
What You'll Need
- The ability to install a few free apps on your computer and mobile device. (Android or iOS, Mac or Windows)
- Enthusiasm for learning about new technologies and sharing that information with others.
This course gave me the confidence I needed to propose technology projects at my institution. I no longer feel like I have to be a tech wiz to do so! I am so thankful for this course and how it has opened my mind to keeping an eye out for changing technology that will benefit my students.
Begins Oct. 13, 2020
$200
4-week course
I learned about a lot of wonderful new tools and a new process for keeping current and sharing, I will be applying these – I got exactly what the course description offered. The digital divide is obvious in the library users I work with, so I liked the additional attention to ethics and accessibility – I will apply this. The course is well designed for professional development. The videos are short and the supplemental readings are manageable length. This course is fully relevant to my work today and the content and the delivery are well done. Thank you Nicole!