I’ve been developing a lot of material for online courses lately and haven’t had a chance to post to this blog. So, I thought I might capitalize on my efforts and rework some of the material for this venue. This is installment one from my four week course on Developing a Library Technology Plan. The course is going to be offered again starting in July 10, 2007. If you are interested in attending, go to this Infopeople page.

What is a Library Technology Plan
A library technology plan is a document that describes the library’s use of technology, the strategy used by the library to make decisions about what technology to use and support, related activities planned for the next three years, and a budget. The technology plan also helps ensure that all aspects of the library technology infrastructure are properly supported.

Technology is defined as the hardware and software associated with the library’s use of information technology such as servers, computers, printers, the wide area network (WAN), any local area networks (LANs), operating systems and application software. It also includes any telecommunications hardware such as phones, phone lines, T1 lines and associated circuits.

Technology plans generally include plans for technology activities in the coming three years. Technology activities are defined as the ongoing work of maintaining the existing infrastructure as well as projects that arise to implement new technology or introduce a new service. A three year view allows the technology plan to keep track of long term plans and plan for trends that are developing. The technology planners may not be able to respond to a new trend in the current year but by placing it in the plan for two or three years down the line, they are able to keep track of it and plan accordingly.

The technology plan brings all the maintenance and project activities together and helps managers and administrators make well-informed decisions. It incorporates all the projects and ongoing support for the library infrastructure that will require library resources and ensures that the library has set aside the necessary amount of money to accomplish them, has the expertise lined up to accomplish them and that the priorities are in line with the service goals of the library.

The technology plan should be reviewed annually to make sure it accounts for expected and unexpected changes. Each year certain technologies will need to be retired and new technologies will need to be introduced and sometimes changes come more quickly than expected. An annual review will ensure that the plan is modified as needed to account for internal library changes, new technology initiatives, and any other unexpected changes about the way technology is used in the library.

Installment 2 from my four week course on Developing a Library Technology Plan. The course is going to be offered again starting in July 10, 2007. If you are interested in attending, go to this Infopeople page.

Supporting the Strategic Plan
The primary planning document for any library is the strategic plan. Therefore, to be a good management tool, the technology plan complements and builds upon the strategic plan (or some other planning document that specifies the library’s service goals).

This kind of technology planning requires the cooperation of the Information Technology (IT) department because of their technology expertise, as well as administrators (who are responsible for establishing service goals) and public service staff (who are responsible for actually delivering the services).

The best technology plans are explicitly tied to the library’s service goals to ensure that no technology is being supported that doesn’t have a direct connection to the library’s strategic plan.

When we talk about service goals, we are talking about our library users. Service is provided to the user. It is the library user’s experience that is used to measure the library’s success. Even infrastructure improvements go back to the user experience. Stable networks, fast Internet connections, excellent computer support: these all improve the user experience in the library by keeping operations running smoothly and ensuring that resources are readily available. As much as possible, the user experience should always be expressed when stating service goals.

In addition to tying the technology activities to specific service goals, the technology plan should provide some indication of when these activities are expected to commence. The goals and activities support the goals should be stated in such a way as to make it easy to determine if the activities were accomplished as planned or not.

Sample excerpt from technology plan’s Supporting the Strategic Plan section:

Strategic Plan Goal: Increase availability of library resources to online customers.

1. Add international newspapers to virtual library by November 2007
2. Add e-book selections to virtual library by Februrary 2008
3. Add anonymous chat option for providing online reference services by December 2007

Installment 3 from my four week course on Developing a Library Technology Plan. The course is going to be offered again starting in July 10, 2007. If you are interested in attending, go to this Infopeople page.

Suggested Outline for the Technology Plan

It is possible to create a technology plan that serves three important purposes: promotes good technology management practices, can be used for E-Rate applications, and can be used for fundraising by showing how technology activities and costs are a necessary byproduct of fulfillling the library’s service goals.

The template for such a technology plan includes the following sections:

• Introduction
• Library Mission
• Technology Strategy
• [Accomplishments from Previous Plan]
• Technology Overview and Assessment
• Professional Development Strategy
• Supporting the Strategic Plan
• Budget
• Review and Updates
• Conclusion

The Introduction provides the context for the library technology plan and includes information about the process used to develop it. It provides any necessary background information about the current year.

The Library Mission is simply a restatement of the library’s mission statement.

The Technology Strategy is a short statement about the relationship between the library’s mission and the technology plan. It should explain how the library intends to utilize technology to further its mission.

Accomplishments from the Previous Plan is a section that only becomes relevant in year two after the library has created a technology plan, implemented it, and comes back to review it the following year. Each time the technology plan is revised, a summary of what was accomplished in the previous period should be reported in the subsequent plan. This isn’t the place to explain why objectives were not met: those should be included in the Introduction. This section is a summary of what did get done as planned.

Technology Overview and Assessment is a summary of the telecommunications equipment, servers, computers, printers, self-check machines, sorting systems, and all other technology currently in use at the library (and all branches). It describes important policies that affect technology and includes plans for significant upgrades, replacements, and migrations expected over the next three years.

Professional Development Strategy is where the plans for maintaining a workforce capable of supporting the library’s technology plan are explained. This will include details about core competencies established for all library workers as well as training activities planned for staff to achieve the target competencies and to ensure that library technology can be properly supported by staff.

Supporting the Strategic Plan is where the library’s service goals are explicitly tied to technology expenditures and activities. New projects, upgrades, migrations, training initiatives, infrastructure improvements, and standard maintenance activities are all tied to library service goals in this section.

The Budget section is a high level view of technology estimated expenditures. It is not an item by item accounting. Generally, planned expenses are separated out into less than 10 categories.

The Review and Updates section includes a description of how often the technology plan will be reviewed and who will be involved in the process.

The Conclusion is an opportunity to mention the library’s recent achievements and emphasize the goals for the coming year.