1. LIB 620 Library Management
Fall 2010
Media and Technology Management

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Media?
What do you mean, media?
– Not mediums (that‟s spiritualism)!
– Nor:
• When the media ask him [George W. Bush] a question, he
answers, „Can I use a lifeline?‟
~ Robin Williams
– 2media 1 : a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or
expression; especially : MEDIUM 2b
1me·di·um 2 : a means of effecting or conveying
something:
b plural usually media (1) : a channel or system of
communication, information, or entertainment

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Library definition of Media?
medium
– In information storage and retrieval, the
physical substance or material on which data is
recorded (parchment, paper, film, magnetic tape
or disk, optical disk, etc.) or through which data
is transmitted (optical fiber, coaxial cable,
twisted pair, etc.). In a more general sense,
the material or technical means by which
any creative work is expressed or
communicated, in print or nonprint format.
Plural: media.
• http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_m.cfm#medium

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How About Technology?
A Definition of Technology
– The human process of applying resources
to satisfy our wants and needs to extend
our capabilities.
– Technology is defined above as the
process we use to solve problems and
extend our human capabilities. We can
also think of technology as knowledge and
as hardware (artifacts).
• http://cseserv.engr.scu.edu/NQuinn/ENGR019_301Win
ter2002/ADefinitionofTechnology.htm

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Media and Technology
Media are for communication
Therefore, technology applications in media
extend our communication capabilities
– In developing this site, we, the students of the
Vancouver Film School-Multimedia, first had to
define what the term media involved. It was our
belief that the word itself implies the notion of
communication. Therefore, anything that was
once used to relay a message would be applicable.
• What is Dead Media? The Dead Media Project
http://student.vfs.com/~deadmedia/dedmedia.html

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Dead Media?
– “. . . some media do, in fact, perish. Such as: the
phenakistoscope. The teleharmonium. The Edison
wax cylinder. The stereopticon. The Panorama.
Early 20th century electric searchlight spectacles.
Morton Heilig's early virtual reality. Telefon
Hirmondo. The various species of magic lantern.
The pneumatic transfer tubes that once riddled the
underground of Chicago. Was the Antikythera
Device a medium? How about the Big Character
Poster Democracy Wall in Peking in the early 80s?
– Never heard of any of these? Well, that's the
problem.
• Bruce Sterling Dead Media Manifesto
Read about dead media enthusiasts (“necronauts”) in a USA
Today article Dead Media list tracks forgotten revolutions

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Telephone History
http://www.telephonymuseum.com/
TELEPHONE HISTORY PAGES
http://www.sandman.com/telhist.html

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Computing History
http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/
http://www.computerhistory.org/
http://www.hitmill.com/computers/computerhx1.html

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Another Computing History Site
http://www.thocp.net/

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Internet History
http://www.archive.org/
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
http://www.pbs.org/opb/nerds2.0.1/
http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.html

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What do libraries have to do with
media?
History of Libraries
– THE COLLECTION OF written knowledge in some sort of
repository is a practice as old as civilization itself. About 30,000
clay tablets found in ancient Mesopotamia date back more than
5,000 years. Archaelogists have uncovered papyrus scrolls from
1300-1200bc in the ancient Egyptian cities of Amarna and
Thebes and thousands of clay tablets in the palace of King
Sennacherib, Assyrian ruler from 704-681bc, at Nineveh, his
capital city.
– The name for the repository eventually became the library.
Whether private or public, the library has been founded, built,
destroyed and rebuilt. The library, often championed, has been
a survivor throughout its long history and serves as a testament
to the thirst for knowledge.
• Survivor: The History of the Library

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Other library history sites

– http://www.libraryhistorybuff.org/
Library History >
http://memory.loc.gov/ Carnegie Libraries
http://www.libraryhistory.org/

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Media in School Libraries
Stone tablets?
• Wax tablets?
• Slate tablets?
• Silicon tablets?

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Applications of media & technology
What are the applications of various
types of media and technology in the
classroom or the school library media
center?
– Tablets
– Paper-based media
– Electronic media
– Multimedia
– Etc.

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So, what is management, then?
management, n.
– 1. a. Organization, supervision, or direction; the
application of skill or care in the manipulation, use,
treatment, or control (of a thing or person), or in the
conduct of something.

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What is media and technology
management?
Adapting the Oxford definition:
– Application of skill or care in the
manipulation, use, treatment, or control of
media and technology
Basically, this is described in library
jargon as:
– Collection management AKA
Collection development

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What Is Collection Management?
Collection Management
– Includes setting and coordinating
selection policies; assessing user
needs and studying use; selection,
evaluation, and weeding; planning
for resource sharing.
• How to Speak Librarianese, part of
Jana Varlejs‟s website for 610:501
Introduction to Library and
Information Professions

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What about collection development?
What is collection development?
– Collection development is a cycle that involves a
number of phases that are repeated over time
including establishing an area of need through
some formal or information community and
collection analysis, examining the existing
collection for materials, developing a selection
policy containing specific criteria, and
recommending a set of materials that would
address the need.
• Information Access & Delivery: School Library
Collections

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Another definition
Defining Collection Development
– Collection development (also known as
collection management, materials
management, or information resources
management) involves the identification,
selection, acquisition, and evaluation of
library resources (e.g., print materials,
audiovisual materials, and electronic
resources) for a community of users.
•

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Standard requirements
Program Administration
– Librarians serve as cultural
facilitators. Therefore, a core
activity within the profession is
resource management: selecting
and collecting resources, storing and
organizing them for retrieval and
use, and maintaining that collection.
• Program Standards for School Library Media
Specialist Preparation, Program
Administration: Supporting Explanation, p. 22.

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Mission of media management
To support the curriculum
– A collection is developed to meet the curriculum
outcomes of the school and to support literacy
achievement and lifelong learning goals. This means that
collection development serves the instructional goals of
the school library program and the classroom teachers‟
curriculum. These collections don‟t just happen with
everyone throwing in a few resources; they must be
planned and developed by someone with training and
expertise, not only in finding and acquiring quality
resources, but in integrating those resources into the
school‟s curriculum.
• Ray Doiron, An Administrator‟s Guide to Collection Development

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What is a collection?
– A collection is a set of resources
brought together for a particular
audience or to serve a specific
function.
• School Library Collections
http://eduscapes.com/sms/access/cd1.html
• ©2004-2007 Annette Lamb and Larry
Johnson.

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Components of collection management
. . . [the] management of print and
physical audiovisual resources . . . can
be organized into the following,
semichronological, areas:

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An important point
Create a collection
development plan (or
strengthen an existing
one)!

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A plan is like a policy
Why have a policy?
– It clarifies policy decisions
– It provides a forum for limited and specific
conversations with faculty members
– A written policy can also provide a basis for
institutional continuity over time and through
personnel changes.
– a policy that is regularly reviewed and updated can
help the curator weather the vicissitudes of budget
woes
• A Practical Approach to Writing a Collection Development
Policy

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The functions of a policy
Use as a planning document
Use as a selection tool
Use as a means of protection
Use as a decision-making tool
• Writing a Collection Development Policy

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Elements of the Collection Development Policy
 Community Profile
 Community Needs Assessment
 Collection Goals
 Selection Responsibility
 Selection Criteria
 Acquisitions
 Collection Evaluation and Assessment
 Weeding
 Reconsideration of Library Materials
 Policy Review and Revision

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More from Kentucky

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What about technology?
How do teacher librarians use technology?
– The teacher librarian uses technology for
information, instruction, administration,
collaboration, and communication.
• Information
• Instruction
• Administration
• Collaboration
• Communication
– Overview: Technology & the Learning Community

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Technology includes Web 2.0
Blogs and podcasts, oh my!
– Blogs and podcasts are changing the way we interact
with information on the Internet . . . These are part of a
reinvention of the Internet, referred to as Web 2.0,
which is focused on using Internet technologies to
connect people and information.
– While the idea as a whole extends into social
bookmarking, collaborative development, and other
tools, Web 2.0 is firmly rooted in the basic ideas of
blogs.
Read Harris’s blog Infomancy

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And assistive technology

34. The End