emerging technologies

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Emerging Technologies Librarian Jobs

Posted on by Andy Burkhardt

In the past month or two there have been a lot of jobs for Emerging Technologies Librarians (at least six that I’ve seen). I find it interesting that we are seeing more and more of these positions. Looking at the ads there are some commonalities in what employers want out of an emerging technologies librarian:

  • Plan and implement appropriate technology to improve services and access to resources
  • Stay current on new technology
  • Web-design skills
  • Innovative
  • Ability to work in a team and collaborate across campus (e-learning, IT, etc.)
  • Share technology knowledge with library staff

I love seeing that more jobs of this nature are being created, and I feel it’s important that libraries are creating positions that are focused on thoughtfully planning and implementing technology. Anyone should be able to come up with ideas for a new technology in the library and then implement it, whether they’re a reference librarian, cataloger or director. But having a dedicated position like an emerging technologies librarian shows that the library is committed to staying current and trying innovative solutions to the new problems we are all facing.

Any of these jobs look really fun and interesting and it makes me wonder: now that these jobs are becoming commonplace, what will future library positions look like? What will be library job titles in the future?

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What are Emerging Technologies?

Posted on by Andy Burkhardt

I attended an Emerging Technologies interest group yesterday co-facilitated by my new friend Bohyun Kim. It gave people a chance to talk about things that they had been using or implementing such as open source solutions, ebook readers, Google Wave, and mobile technologies. But what interested me more were some of the bigger questions the interest group was asking, such as “what do we mean when we say ‘emerging technologies,’” and “what is the role of an Emerging Technologies librarian?”

Since “Emerging Technologies librarian” is my job title, I of course have an opinion about such things. To me the phrase “emerging technologies,” in the context of libraries does not necessarily refer to the very bleeding edge stuff. Examples of bleeding edge include things like augmented reality, location based services, or other technologies mentioned in the Horizon Report. It can also refer to things that have been around for a while, but are used in new and creative ways in libraries. An example of this is IM reference. IM was around for a while before libraries started using it to help their patrons. Emerging technologies in the context of libraries, can be any tool that is being used in a novel way to serve your users.

This brings me to the role of an Emerging Technologies librarian (ETL). First, it is simply a title. Many librarians are doing amazing things with technology, but you’d have no idea from their title. The words are not that important. But the actual role of an ETL involves innovation and service. An ETL stays abreast of trends in technology and implements new and existing tools in order to better serve their patrons.

The most important thing for ETLs or anyone to keep in mind when implementing technology are the users, who they are, and what their needs are. Bleeding edge stuff might not work for your users because they are still getting used to the “old” stuff. Mobile apps might be really cool and useful, but how many of your patrons actually own smart phones to run them? Maybe a lot…maybe not. Twitter was really hot last year, but if your patrons aren’t on it (ours are) what is the point? It’s good to come up with inventive ways to use technology to promote the library and deliver library services, but you also can’t force things. ETL’s and anyone interested in emerging technologies should be thoughtful in their implementation of technology, while constantly asking, “how does this benefit the library and our patrons?”

What are your thoughts? Join the conversation or present your thoughts at ALA Annual in DC.