University of Washington
The focus of the course is on the intersection of technology and management in the library information world. As information professionals, you will be involved in automation projects and managing technological change that best meet patron and organizational needs. You will need to develop numerous skills, both technological and managerial, to successfully meet these challenges. This course will provide a foundation for this skill set to develop and acquaint you with a broad understanding of the issues involved in library technology systems.
Although a major topic of this class is the integrated library systems (a fundamental cornerstone of most library technology), we will also explore new library technologies that have a potential place in the library technology world. This class is geared to the thinking and planning processes for library technology, rather than on the specific programming and development of library systems.
Along with the theoretical knowledge that you will obtain on library technology, you will also have some hands-on experience with a library system set up for class use. This will translate some of the concepts that we discuss in class to a real-world situation, providing you with some practical working systems experience. Whether you will be working in a large public or academic library or small school library system, the concepts that we discuss should prepare you for your new career in whatever type of library setting you choose.
No required textbook.