Tuesday, April 24, 2012
New patrons and technology
We are so used to all of our technological advances at the libary, that we may forget that new patrons may not know all of the technology available to them.
I have made a habit of giving a brief tech intro to all new patrons. It's basic and simple, and everything we already know, but I'm always surprised by the oohs and aahs I get.
However you choose to put your own spin on technology, just be assured it is appreciated by patrons more than we realize. I always begin with a tour of the Ald website, then show the down-loadable books and music, do a quick driveby of the new dvds available, show them evanced and the free classes and programs available, and finish with our databases. Then I ask if they have any questions, which device they own for downloadable books, and make them aware of our book a librarian service in case of snags. Patrons seem to appreciate the overview, and I enjoy sharing.
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Good ideas ... I may have to expand my intro speech to include some of them. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI recently had a conversation with a mother who was checking out audiobooks for her children. They were planning on taking a road trip and she was trying to find something that all of her kids would enjoy. She was not aware of exactly what the Playaways were (because they had only checked out books on cd) and I told her that each child could listen to his/her own book by using a Playaway. This little bit of extra education on our materials helped her make the decision to check out numerous Playaways and make their road trip more peaceful!
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