Comments on: How To Lose Your Tech People http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/ K.G. Schneider's blog on librarianship, writing, and everything else, since 2003. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:18:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Gina Emory http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2156 Gina Emory Fri, 24 Mar 2006 00:55:31 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2156 Thankfully, most of these tips don't apply at my library. The only thing that comes close is the underfunding part. My director gives me free rein to run my department, for the most part. I have equal say in what happens in our organization as do the professional librarians. Sure, many members of the staff could make an effort to learn more troubleshooting techniques, which I encourage and teach frequently, but overall, we have a pretty good thing going here. Sounds like I am really, really lucky! Thankfully, most of these tips don’t apply at my library. The only thing that comes close is the underfunding part. My director gives me free rein to run my department, for the most part. I have equal say in what happens in our organization as do the professional librarians. Sure, many members of the staff could make an effort to learn more troubleshooting techniques, which I encourage and teach frequently, but overall, we have a pretty good thing going here. Sounds like I am really, really lucky!

]]> By: Prairie Storm http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2155 Prairie Storm Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:13:57 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2155 9. Take a bright idea from a techie. Give it to a non-techie to implement. Or conversely, take an idea for operations improvement (statistics gathering for example) from non-tech line staff. Give it to a techie to implement. In neither case, give the implementer a requirements specification. In neither case, allow the person who had the idea to be involved in its implementation. And, the academic version of Karen's #3: Make sure there are no faculty positions in the library IT department. 9. Take a bright idea from a techie. Give it to a non-techie to implement. Or conversely, take an idea for operations improvement (statistics gathering for example) from non-tech line staff. Give it to a techie to implement. In neither case, give the implementer a requirements specification. In neither case, allow the person who had the idea to be involved in its implementation.

And, the academic version of Karen’s #3: Make sure there are no faculty positions in the library IT department.

]]> By: Laurie the Librarian's Blog http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2157 Laurie the Librarian's Blog Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:15:33 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2157 <strong>Ways to Lose your Techie Librarian</strong> You know how sometimes certain topics touch a nerve and gets everyone talking? Ways to Lose your Techie Librarian

You know how sometimes certain topics touch a nerve and gets everyone talking?

]]> By: kgs http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2154 kgs Mon, 13 Mar 2006 01:49:25 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2154 Jessamyn, #8 hits home too. Make sure it's a cubicle near a frequently-used door--really great when you're scripting. On the single-staffing, I remember a moment Elsewhere when I was single-staffing the reference desk and the proxy server went down. No proxy server, no web access. I had to dash back to the server area and get it restarted, which I was attempting to do at top speed, as I couldn't find anyone for the desk. The head of reference followed me back to the server area and began berating me. That was the tipping point at that job. Jessamyn, #8 hits home too. Make sure it’s a cubicle near a frequently-used door–really great when you’re scripting.

On the single-staffing, I remember a moment Elsewhere when I was single-staffing the reference desk and the proxy server went down. No proxy server, no web access. I had to dash back to the server area and get it restarted, which I was attempting to do at top speed, as I couldn’t find anyone for the desk. The head of reference followed me back to the server area and began berating me. That was the tipping point at that job.

]]> By: jessamyn http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2153 jessamyn Sun, 12 Mar 2006 23:52:53 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2153 "be sure to single-staff them on the ref desk at peak times" Hey, I didn't know you came to visit me at my old job! Here is my addition and then I'll link them all sometime later. 8. make sure their workstation is in a busy area where they willl be regularly interrupted and make sure they see you staring at their screen. Ask frequently "is that work?" “be sure to single-staff them on the ref desk at peak times”

Hey, I didn’t know you came to visit me at my old job! Here is my addition and then I’ll link them all sometime later.

8. make sure their workstation is in a busy area where they willl be regularly interrupted and make sure they see you staring at their screen. Ask frequently “is that work?”

]]> By: kgs http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2152 kgs Sun, 12 Mar 2006 16:05:04 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2152 Ruth, I fully understand what you're saying, but from a technology professional's point of view, I'm trying to leave open the area of discussion that the expectation has to go beyond training and trust. Library professionals have to be accountable, as well, so it's understood that some tasks are not reasonable for library tech staff to perform. What some of us working in technology have seen repeatedly is not simply the obtuseness of management in failing to empower, but a commensurate unwillingness to require library workers to perform new tasks and to hold them accountable if they refuse to perform them. Incidentally, I wrote about that for Library Journal in 1993, I think it was. Ruth, I fully understand what you’re saying, but from a technology professional’s point of view, I’m trying to leave open the area of discussion that the expectation has to go beyond training and trust. Library professionals have to be accountable, as well, so it’s understood that some tasks are not reasonable for library tech staff to perform. What some of us working in technology have seen repeatedly is not simply the obtuseness of management in failing to empower, but a commensurate unwillingness to require library workers to perform new tasks and to hold them accountable if they refuse to perform them. Incidentally, I wrote about that for Library Journal in 1993, I think it was.

]]> By: Ruth http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2151 Ruth Sun, 12 Mar 2006 06:27:31 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2151 Karen, I'm by no means dumping this on the tech workers. I think the point I was trying to make is that the decision-makers (not the tech people) are burdening the tech people by not trusting or training the non-tech staff to handle basic trouble-shooting. Karen, I’m by no means dumping this on the tech workers. I think the point I was trying to make is that the decision-makers (not the tech people) are burdening the tech people by not trusting or training the non-tech staff to handle basic trouble-shooting.

]]> By: kgs http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2150 kgs Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:50:06 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2150 I think most of us baring our feelings about attitudes toward tech workers "get" the vulnerability of networks (and most of us, including me, have had direct responsibility for maintaining networks), but what makes networks seriously vulnerable is not asking someone to plug a computer back into the wall, but underfunding and understaffing networks and then on top of the mountain of work any network requires, expecting the tech staff to do things like drive across a county to plug a computer back in. I think most of us baring our feelings about attitudes toward tech workers “get” the vulnerability of networks (and most of us, including me, have had direct responsibility for maintaining networks), but what makes networks seriously vulnerable is not asking someone to plug a computer back into the wall, but underfunding and understaffing networks and then on top of the mountain of work any network requires, expecting the tech staff to do things like drive across a county to plug a computer back in.

]]> By: Ruth http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2149 Ruth Sun, 12 Mar 2006 00:08:22 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2149 "is there really a library system that forbids librarians from plugging computers back in?" Well, maybe not that extreme. But close. And it's understandable - networks can be vulnerable. Control over them is important. But sometimes I think the caution turns to paranoia. “is there really a library system that forbids librarians from
plugging computers back in?”

Well, maybe not that extreme. But close. And it’s understandable - networks can be vulnerable. Control over them is important. But sometimes I think the caution turns to paranoia.

]]> By: kgs http://freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2148 kgs Sat, 11 Mar 2006 21:17:27 +0000 http://www.freerangelibrarian.com/2006/03/10/how-to-lose-your-tech-people/#comment-2148 Fahren, what gets me about that is how common it is, and how UNcommon for other library departments. Fahren, what gets me about that is how common it is, and how UNcommon for other library departments.

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