TechEssence.info: 100% technology, 0% hype

I’m a nuts and bolts kinda gal. I like books, articles and conference sessions that give me real, concrete ideas for how I can do good things in my library. I think a lot of librarians are like that. We’re all busy people and many of us only have time for professional development outside of work time (and some of us might even want to make time for family and friends too). I can only imagine what it’s like for decision-makers at libraries. It’s easy for me to have my head in the clouds and be all technolusty. It was pretty much in my job description to be that way (really! examine new technologies and report on them). I can just throw out one crazy idea after another to my director, but she has to sift through those and decide what is viable. Library administrators have to not only understand technologies and their potential applications, but also how the technologies will affect all of the library stakeholders. And I think when some people hear others waxing poetically about bleeding edge technologies instead of examining how they can practically be used in libraries, they can become skeptical of all new technologies. Decision-makers don’t have time for the hype.

TechEssence.info is designed for busy decision-makers in libraries who want the low-down on the big technologies out there. But really, it’s useful for anyone who is interested in practical information about technology sans hype:

You’re busy. You don’t have time for a lot of jargon, techie posturing, or attitudes. You’ve come to the right place. We don’t put you down, we don’t talk down to you, we just give it to you straight. Come here for accurate, understandable explanations of important information technologies for libraries. Go elsewhere for the hype.

TechEssence consists of a collaborative blog and white papers on different technologies (what they are, what can be done with them in libraries, and who should be thinking about using them). So who is involved in this endeavor? It’s an eclectic bunch: Roy Tennant, Andrew Pace, Dorothea Salo, Eric Lease Morgan, Jenn Riley, Jerry Kuntz, Marshall Breeding, Thomas Dowling and ME! So it’s basically six men who are really well known and respected in the field and have never had blogs and three young upstart female bloggers. Rock on! Roy organized this shindig, so I’m sure he knew what he was doing. 😉 And I was beyond thrilled to be asked.

So subscribe to our RSS Feed or stop by for a visit! With our diverse skills and interests, I’m sure we’ll be covering a wide range of technologies and ideas.

So what does this mean for good old Information Wants To Be Free? Absolutely nothing. I’ll keep on blogging here just like I did before. The majority of the posts on this blog aren’t exactly the sort of stuff I’d write for TechEssence. But as soon as Roy told me about this opportunity, I realized how much I wanted to write stuff like that (pretty much the same sort of stuff I’m writing about in my book). I like the balance. For TechEssence I can write about the stuff I think about at work and for Information Wants to be Free I can write about the stuff I think about when I read blogs and ponder the future of the profession. No matter what, posts are going to be sparse over the next three months as I struggle to finish my book, but I’ll do my best to keep on keeping on. 🙂