In her post about Computers in Libraries this year, Meredith discusses the ever-widening technology gap between haves and have-nots. There must be some cruel irony in that as technology has in theory become more accessible, the projects that are often most talked about seem to cost more and more. At ALA last year, I loved the presentation on NCSU’s new catalogue. I loved it less when I learnt that it cost an enormous amount of money.

At the same time, some of us may be working in larger organisations that are supportive of new technology, but we may not be in a position ourselves to do anything about it: I work in reference, and though I do get to work on some technology projects, it’s not the focus of my job.

This can be frustrating, but I’m not about to change career tracks and move into Systems (I love what I do!). So there’s a few things I do to not get bogged down by these frustrations:

Talk to other people

This may sound trite, but it’s amazing how talking to people in other organisations can be reassuring and help solve problems. Last year, I attended a conference with many librarians from Eastern Europe and South America, where libraries are sometimes, but not always, not as well funded or have different usage cultures. It was actually a great experience to be in a position to give advice to those librarians, who are struggling with the universal issues we all face - like getting people to actually use the library.

I have also found that talking about technology to other librarians, not through their blogs, but one on one, face to face even!, to be a great way to work through questions, problems and frustrations. The group behind Libraries Interact are a great example of this.

Take a step back

What is the problem, really? Is it really that I’m jealous (yes, jealous!) of some other library’s accomplishments? Or is there some other impediment in my way - like funding, or skills? Earlier this year, I was very fortunate to attend Aurora which helped me to gain skills to see above the immediate situation. This has been really great to put things in perspective and to seek different approaches to solutions. Seeking out books, blogs and articles on strategic thinking are a great start to gaining this perspective.