library programs and emerging tech: essential reading?

It’s 4.21 as I start writing this post, and I’ve been growing increasingly aware of the fact that I’m lacking ideas for a post today. Evidently, working from your lounge room with only Twitter for company is not conducive to coming up with little bits of fun trivia to write blog posts about. Ho hum.

The next thing on my to do list for today is to finish compiling the reading list for a unit I’m teaching next semester. So I thought I might blog about it – not only will this give me a blog post for the day, but I’m hoping you might have some fabulous ideas for must-read books.

Here’s the background: The unit is focused on library programs, products and services. While it aims to provide a general overview of service development, delivery and evaluation (with all the content necessary to underpin these topics – like, for example, user needs analysis and programming for target markets), it’s also focused on emerging technologies and their applications for programs, services and products. The unit is taught in a blended mode, with the majority of the learning activities taking place online, supplemented by some workshops. Each week, students will experiment with technologies and think about the applications of these technologies in their personal lives, their personal-professional lives, and in information practice. Essentially, we’ll be learning about emerging technologies by using emerging technologies. We’ll be playing, experimenting and experiencing emerging tech for the sake of playing, experimenting and experiencing, but we’ll also be using emerging tech as our primary communication and collaboration channels for the unit. Content will be delivered using emerging tech, assignments are built around use of particular online tools, and students will develop and interact with personal learning networks within the course.

You can imagine that compiling a reading list for this sort of unit is not a particularly easy task. Well, actually, it’s really easy to compile a huge reading list. It’s not so easy to compile one that is actually a manageable amount of reading to undertake in a semester.

I’m taking two approaches to addressing this problem. The first is that I’m trying to compile a really tight list of essential reading (and boy is that hard!). The second tactic I’m taking is to embed sharing about the readings into the assessment. Inspired by the One Minute Critic, I’ve prepared an assignment that requires students to provide a short (2-3 minute) precis and critical discussion of one of the books on the reading list, and also of an article of their choosing. We’ll create a schedule for the semester, and run our own internet radio show. That way, we’ll all get an overview of all of the readings, hopefully whetting our appetites and encouraging us to read all of the books ourselves.

So, this list I’m compiling is the list of books that students will choose from. So far, my ‘dream’ reading list is way too long. WAY too long. (So long that I’m not going to post it here in case I unduly scare off any students who are planning on taking this unit next semester, and who might happen upon this blog post!)

I’m breaking the list into categories:

• Technology / technology in society
• Emerging tech in libraries
• Social theory
• Library programming and/or community engagement
• Service development/management

If I had to pick just one book across all these categories to set as a reading for the semester, it would probably be Born digital by John Palfrey and Urs Gasser, because I think it’s fundamental that new professionals have a clear picture of this new generation, and that they begin to grapple with the digital native world view. Even if some of these new professionals might be on the cusp of the ‘born digital’ generation themselves, this book still has valuable insight to offer, particularly on how the perspective of a digital native differs from that of a digital immigrant. It’s crucial that we understand where this digital generation is coming from, because as a cohort, they’re going to shape the world. And we need to shape our collections and services to fit their needs.

What about you? If you had to pick a single book that falls into one of the categories I’ve listed (or perhaps, a book for each category), what would it (they) be, and why?