The Machine is Us/Using Us.

Dr. Michael Wesch, an anthropology professor at Kansas State University, has developed several YouTube videos outlining the changes in computing and society. His video entitled "The Machine is Us/Using Us" delves into the ways that computers have changed us, and the ways in which we have changed computers. I like his title because it describes how we seem to be controlled by technology. We are lost without our connection to the internet, as if it is a body part that we can't live without. It has all happened so fast that I think we sometimes feel, as least those of us over 4o who didn't grow up with the computer, that we are being pulled along by some huge machine and we have to keep up or become irrelevant. Professor Wesch also points out that we are the change, we are the machine, almost like pulling back the curtain on the "wizard of Oz" and finding ourselves at the helm. Our need for communication, in a world that has increasingly become people inside houses inside fences with little communication between neighbors, has driven the technology of the computer to create neighbors and friends that we can access inside our fortress. The technology of the computer and the internet changes according to what we try to find the most often, use the most often, depend on the most often. We,in turn, change when we have so much access to people, places and ideas, even if we are just connecting to society through a satellite link.

Budgeting for Handheld Devices in my Library

If I were given a $10,000 budget as a librarian for the purchase of handheld devices, I would begin by purchasing 15 e-readers. I would purchase five Sony Readers, five Amazon Kindles , and five Barnes and Noble Nooks. The 15 e-readers would cost approximately $3,500. I believe the e-readers would be a good library purchase because it is becoming increasingly apparent that we will one day become a paperless society, and as librarians we need to keep up with this trend in order to provide our patron with access to the most information available. Since there is more text available to users of e-readers than could be housed in any one library, it would be an opportunity for many of our patrons to read material they would never have had access to otherwise. I think it would be a good idea to begin by making two of each e-reader available to check out by patrons on a trial basis to see how well the loaning process is going to work. The other e-readers would be available for library use with access to subscriptions purchased by the library.

I would purchase ten Ipads to be used by patrons inside the library. This would free up some of the wait time for access to the existing desktop computer in the library. The bonus, however, would be the patrons' access to an extensive list of applications purchased by the library, as well as many free applications. The cost for the Ipads would be approximately $5,000.

I would use $1,000 to buy Iphones for use by three library staff members and another two . The availability of the Iphones for staff members would also require the staff to use their phones not only for business purposes, but also to teach some community classes instructing senior citizens, low income patrons, or any other person interested in learning how to use "smartphone" technology. The remainder of the $1,000 would be used for the purchase of two Iphones for class member use during training. The trend seems to be the ever increasing use of the "smartphone" by the majority of the population, so I believe it would be an asset to teach library patrons without access to this new technology its many uses.

Finally, I would use the remaining $500 to buy digital subscriptions and applications for use on each of the new handheld devices.