New Workshop—Tracking Technology Trends: Staying Current in a World of Information Overload

CHICAGO—ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions announces an exciting new workshop, Tracking Technology Trends: Staying Current in a World of Information Overload with Nicole Hennig. This workshop will last 90 minutes and take place at 2:30pm Eastern/1:30 Central/12:30 Mountain/11:30am Pacific on Wednesday, October 18, 2017.

As trends come and go, you may feel overwhelmed by the constant change in technology and where best to invest your time and budget. In this workshop, Nicole Hennig helps ease your worry by providing you with the best resources to stay up to date on the latest trends and by sharing practical strategies you can implement to evaluate emerging technologies. Hennig looks at two types of people, visionaries and implementers, and describes where you fit on the continuum between them as well as offers strategies for each type. Hennig provides advice on how to ensure the technology you’re investing in is inclusive and accessible for all users, useful tips to know when to experiment with different trends, suggestions for library staffing, and approaches for how you can bring promising new technologies that meet your user needs into library services.

Learning outcomes:

After participating in this workshop, you will:

• Be introduced to specific methods for keeping up and be inspired to try them
• Learn what types of sources to follow (and get a list of recommended sources for each type)
• Have a framework for thinking about where you and your colleagues fit on the continuum between “visionary” and “implementer” along with best practices
• Come away with ideas for how you and your staff can evaluate new technologies and set up experiments with them
• Learn how to bring promising new technologies into library services that meet user needs

About the Instructor

Nicole Hennig is an expert in mobile technologies for libraries. In her 14 years of experience at the MIT Libraries, she won awards for innovation, and worked to keep academics up to date with the best mobile technologies. Now she has her own business helping librarians stay current with new technologies. She is the author of several books and technical reports, including Keeping Up with Emerging Technologies, Apps for Librarians, and “Podcast Literacy: Educational, Accessible, and Diverse Podcasts for Library Users.”  Like most librarians, she is passionate about access to information for all. Mobile apps are empowering for all ages and abilities, and librarians who take her courses are becoming technology experts for their communities. To stay current with the best technologies for education and productivity, sign up for her email newsletter, Mobile Apps News, and follow her on twitter @nic221, where she tweets about libraries, apps, and emerging technologies.

Registration for this ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions Workshop is available on the ALA Store. You can purchase registration at both individual and group rates.

ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions Workshops offer a convenient, hands-on learning experience that will help you and your colleagues make the best decisions for your library. This workshop is licensed for use by staff or users of the purchasing institution or library organization.

ALA Publishing eLearning Solutions (ELS) produces high-quality professional development events and materials for the library profession. ELS events cover modern issues on a wide variety of topics in formats that include live workshops, asynchronous eCourses, and print publications. We help ensure that today’s library employees have access to the professional development opportunities they need, whether they are brushing up on the basics or expanding their horizons with cutting-edge tools. Contact us at elsmarketing@ala.org.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.