A Technology Library of Things Year 2: The Library Technology Integration Lab
Faculty Presentation
This follow-up presentation covers Year 2 of the Library
Technology Integration (LTI) Lab, a partnership between the San
Jose State University School of Information, MLIS students, and
library partners interested in operating a Technology Library of
Things. A year later, the LTI lab continues to experiment,
develop formal curriculum and programming, grow its partners, and
help disseminate technology and teach digital literacy . The
value in providing a Library of Things reflects one of the
traditional roles of libraries – providing resources, services,
and programming that are of interest and value to the patrons and
communities we serve that are cost free. Loaning items through
the library yields extremely high return-on-investment (ROI) as
they will be reused by many people. As ACRL noted in 2019, the
things offered are “…often a piece of technology (like video
game consoles or telescopes) or a luxury that would be
prohibitively expensive for a user to buy outright (like sporting
equipment, museum passes, and musical instruments) or an item
that is intended for infrequent or one-time use, and therefore
not worth the money for an individual user to buy (like specialty
cake pans, Santa suits, or prom dresses) (ACRL Log, 2019).
The LTI Lab and its Technology Library of Things have two primary
goals: 1) Research and development and 2) Education and digital
literacy. These goals directly impact and benefit the partnering
libraries, their librarians, the graduate students that work for
the lab, the users who access the lab online, and, most
importantly, the children and patrons who are eager to learn and
work with technology that they may not otherwise have access to.
In addition, given the rapidly changing technology landscape, LIS
educators must help serve on the frontlines of what and how
technology can be integrated into the day-to-day resources,
services, and programming of libraries.
Our presentation will be part demonstration of technology
(virtual reality, augmented reality, holograms, drones, and
robots) and part progress report on the results of the LTI lab,
its Technology Library of Things, our online learning resource
center, and information on how to participate.
Presenter: Dr. Anthony Chow, Irene
Miller, Dan Lou, Rosine Bingo, Tyler C. Livy, Gayathri Kanth,
James Westen
Date: Sunday, June 25, 2023
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (Central
Time)
Location: 2023 ALA Annual Conference in
Chicago, IL McCormick Place, W184bc