Technology for the Rest of Us

A. Can Librarians Be Techies? Today, most are. Are these also high-tech? May be, many are wearing this hat!
B. Can Techies be Librarians? Today, most are not. Are these willing to wear this hat? May not!
Are Librarians and Techies tuned to the same frequency when they communicate with each other? Sometimes, yes.
Then, who connects (A & B), or fine tunes to avoid the noise (or entropy)? D.K.
Speaking semantically, may be taxonomy, ontology and metadata facilitate this communication!
Anyways, the nexus between librarians and techies is visualized in my Webliography. The following book attempts to show how one can move from "low tech," to "high tech" and fine tune this nexus, albeit technologically.

Technology for the Rest of Us: A Primer on Computer Technologies for the Low-Tech Librarian, by Nancy Courtney., ed. (Libraries Unlimited, 2005) 184 pp.
ISBN: 1-59158-233-4

FROM THE PUBLISHER: Librarians are affected by technology in every aspect of their jobs, yet often have little understanding of the technologies underlying the systems they use every day. Nancy Courtney and 15 well-known contributors discuss such technologies as Wireless LANs, Radio Frequency Identification, OpenURL and other essential technological innovations in everyday language. Source

A Review: "The essays here are not meant to make you an expert but to give you a basic introduction to some of the current technologies impacting libraries and their patrons..." Library Journal (www.bn.com)
Synopsis: Aimed at librarians in non-IT positions, this introductory guide discusses some of the essential concepts and tenets of the computer technologies they encounter every day. Eleven contributions from library and technology professionals use plain language ... Annotation © 2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR www.bn.com

My comment: A book coming from an academic conference and based on academic librarians' best practices will be good for only a few non-slackademic* librarians. Hence, a low-tech librarian, such as a traditional, semi-professional, or library technician working in other types of libraries, may have difficulty in connecting these dots.

P.S. See for more books in this area of New Media,
H.W. Wilson's Collection Development: For Librarians @ Standardcatalogs.com
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* slackademic, noun
A perpetual student who prefers the safety and comfort of academic life over the trials and tribulations of the real world. source

Technorati tags: Techies Librarians