Wilson Mericle
Technology- The student applies appropriate technology for effective information services.
Today's libraries depend heavily on technology. It is therefore extremely important for librarians to keep up with current technological trends and at least have a working knowledge of the hardware and software used by staff and patrons. Over the course of my MLIS studies I took two courses focused on library specific technology, LIS 630: Introduction to Information Management Technologies and LIS 644: Digital Libraries.
One of the most important systems in any library is its integrated library system (ILS). One of the newer trends for small libraries and public libraries is to use an open-source ILS. In LIS 630, we were assigned to configure and evaluate KOHA, a popular open-source ILS, for an imaginary library. My partner and I worked together to set up functioning modules, a working online public access catalog (OPAC), and generate reports for our library. My partner worked on the budget and OPAC while I worked on the cataloging and acquisitions modules and generated acquisitions, circulation, and patron reports. Both my partner and I found certain aspects of the KOHA interface difficult to navigate. Tools were not always located in logical places, functions behaved differently than expected, and ease of data entry was inconsistent. Even with these complications we were able to design a working ILS with a functioning OPAC.
Another significant technological innovation has been the creation of digital libraries. In LIS 644, we were tasked to evaluate one such library. I decided to examine one of the most successful iterations of a digital library, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). DPLA is unique in that its collection is derived from shared resources from other institutions around the world. DPLA's entire collection is in the public domain to ensure universal access. Discoverability is a key focus for this collection, and most items can be found within the top results of outside search engines such as Google.
Many libraries have digital collections specifically created to make historical, rare, and archival material available to patrons and researchers online. Over the past year, I have worked with the UNCG Digital Projects department digitizing and providing descriptive metadata for items in the Good Medicine collections. I have specifically worked with the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital Collection and Wesley Long Hospital Collection under the Cone Health Medical library. I also worked on the Richardson-Vicks Collection and Susanne B. Hoskins Papers under the Greensboro History Museum.