A list of ideas and resources on Technology Support Ideas collected from the Rural Library Sustainability workshops, training institutes, and from other discussion areas on WebJunction.
: - City/county government
- Local schools
- Local College or Vo-Tech; recruit interns for classes
- Computer Science majors
- Internet Service Providers (ask if they will provide connection for free if you give them credit)
- Local Businesses
- Use the local phone/cable company for support
- Students - High School, local college or Vo-Tech (Ask teachers to recommend students and make a personal invitation to them and/or work to create an internship program, where students receive training from the county IT staff and then assume responsibility for supporting the library's computers)
- Computer Companies and Vendors
- Chamber of Commerce
- Computer magazines
- Retired Techies
- Local community leaders
- County certified tech person
- Family members willing to help
- Community members who are upgrading their laptops
- Tribal IT department
- Contact Gateway (or any computer company) to see if the library could be a test site for new products
- Contact retailers such as Best Buy/Circuit City/Radio Shack to conduct a "techno-gadget" demonstration program for the public or for a staff training day. They can bring in all of the gadgets and talk about how they work. Free publicity for the company and free training for the library
- Find common goals with local schools or community organizations and apply jointly for grants. One library wrote a grant that involved two school districts and another library to get access to online homework tutorials for students. The joint effort is impressive to a lot of grantors
- Become a project for high school computer club
- Ask local tech school students to re-design the library's website as a class project
- Look for free software that clean hard drives- Darik's Boot and Nuke
- Have town re-negotiate its cable TV contract and include a provision for free cable TV/computer hook-up for the library
- Find a company that turns over computers every two years to donate them to library
- Local computer shop tech support in exchange for pr for their business
- Senior Center
- JobCorps
- Create a list serv for questions and bouncing back and forth
- Maintain contact between tech support staff- names and phone numbers
- Use the system admin listserv to post IT related questions
- Share Resources like an IT person or a network with partners
- Other libraries - meet once a month to discuss common technology issues
- Regularly scheduled staff development days--keep all staff knowledgable about tech upgrades, etc...
- Form a technology committee to brainstorm
- Start a computer club in the library to share ideas
- Create a query sheet to identify persons with computer skills
- Have technology staff members report something interesting they heard about a technology related subject during staff meetings. Doesn't have to be 100% library related, keep it light and fun
- State Libraries
- Partner with neighboring libraries to invest in new technologies that are still pricey or likely to get limited use in the beginning
- Publish a list of known skills for patrons to view
- Create a database of software vendors and contact numbers
- Hire someone to help in grants and funding for technology issues
- Establish a budget line item in your technology plan (hardware, upgrade and maintenance)
- Make a Wish list on your website for technology needs (computers, software, volunteers to teach classes)
- Establish a local lab that is sponsored by local computer vendors and businesses to provide classes to the community and their employees
Video helpdesk from public access computers Encrypted Wireless network - Add more children's programs on computers
Instant messaging for providing service Write troubleshooting "cheat sheet" for staff - Add scanner and fax connections
- Invite IT staff to "muffin mornings" for a get to know you session
- Buy extra tech support from Dell, etc...
- Subscribe to Wired, other periodicals and read them
Think about incentives… why would a person or organization want to be a part of supporting technology in libraries? Please use the comments field below to add your suggestions. |
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