I saw this article on my Shifted Librarian blog & thought I would share it with you guys.
Keeping up when you don’t have the time
Keeping Up When You Don’t Have the Time By Jenny
I recently got a call from a former boss (one of the best I’ve ever had!) asking for advice on how to stay current about technology when you’re a public library reference librarian, you just don’t have a lot of time or money, and you don’t want to become a “techie.” I believe that staying current these days means reading blogs, so that is my core recommendation, and I’d recommend tracking 10-12 of them if possible, just to get a broad enough view.
My major criteria for the blog recommendations are consistent posting over time, frequency (more than once a week), sticking to the topic, and a general sense of value to a public librarian. This could have been a very long list and it’s very subjective (it is not a “best of”), so this truly is a baseline - add on from here.
Read some blogs using an RSS reader/aggregator (NetVibes, PageFlakes, Google Reader, Bloglines, more at AllRSS).
At minimum, you should be reading:
Librarian in Black
Library Garden
Library Link of the Day
LISNews
Tame the Web
You can also find a blog relevant to any work-related subject interests you have - Library Law, Pop Goes the Library (popular culture), The M-Word (marketing), ResourceShelf (reference), Library Grants, etc. - so check the list at LISWiki.
Read Library Journal and Computers in Libraries. Read USA Today’s Tech section (which you can read via RSS feed).
Watch the SirsiDynix Virtual Institutes. Read the biweekly Carnival of the InfoSciences.
Read AL Direct in your email inbox each Wednesday. (Disclaimer: I work for ALA, but I honestly believe that George Eberhart consistently provides a great roundup of news, blog posts, and events.)
Read the reports (or at least the summaries) from the Pew Research Center.
