Michael Stephens Visit

Dominican University instructor and library technology guru Michael Stephens of Tame the Web (http://tametheweb.com) met with some St. Kate's LIS students for a talk about technology in libraries and professional blogging on May 18. After four days of whirl-wind touring of greater Minnesota presenting on Library 2.0, Stephens rallied for an engaging late evening conversation over tea and coffee in Eden Prairie.

The topic for the evening was how technology is changing library service through breaking down space, time, and policy barriers. New librarian jobs that require tech skills such as blogging, podcasting, and wiki experience are certainly on the minds of library students such as those who gathered for the talk. How to hone these skills when formal training in our programs is sometimes lacking is an ongoing concern. However, it's likely that librarians entering the field will not only determine the extent to which their libraries are able to employ these powerful communication tools, they will also likely need to train their peers and hopefully their patrons. These efforts can meet resistance though, stemming from fear of change, the generation gap version of the digital divide, or even from a desire to provide good service through other means. Examples of the "No Cell Phone" signs often found in libraries were another topic of discussion. Providing library services to the tech savvy generation of teens who will be funding our libraries someday in the not-too-distant future may be one of the biggest challenges facing us as budding librarians. This is also, of course, a tremendous opportunity to link more patrons to more information. People in the field now, such as Stephens have been blazing. And, thankfully, will now be helping a new generation of librarians continue on the path.