http://www.davidleeking.com/2006/09/19/making-time-for-web-20/
David King posts about one of the phrases I hope to never hear in libraries again when it comes to social software: “We don’t have time for ____.” I’ve also heard it as “we don’t have time tio post to a blog” or “It adds another click…”
David writes: Library administrators and managers need to lead this change in their organizations. One way they can do this is to provide time, equipment, and training in order to successfully implement these new tools into the library’s digital space.
What does that mean, practically? Here are some examples:
Time:
Time to play and experiment
time to read about new tools and technologies
time to read blogs, wikis, to IM with colleagues, etc.
time to do the actual work – time to post to blogs, record and edit podcasts and videoblogs, time to take photographs and manipulate them in graphics editing programs, etc.
Folks, these changes do need care and feeding from above to be successful. Front line staff, also addressed in this excellent post, can implement, experiment and explore Web 2.0 tech, but buy in and approval from above seals the deal, if you will.
So before you say, for example, “We don’t have time to implement IM reference in our academic library — who will staff it??” stop and think about these tips. Think about making such services part of the flow of reference work with admin support, make it part of the culture up and down. Look at what processes may not be needed anymore or what systems social software can streamline (What’s New blog, anyone?). But don’t let a worry about time be a barrier to innovation.
Thanks David. If you haven’t added David Lee King’s blog to your aggregator of choice, please do see. He is in the trenches and communicates it all oh so well.