| Follow @ncbaratta
Austin, TX
Nicole C. Baratta (Engard) is a Senior Content Strategist at Red Hat. She received her MLIS from Drexel University and her BA from Juniata College. Nicole volunteers as the Director of ChickTech Austin. Nicole is known for many different publications including her books “Library Mashups", "More Library Mashups", and "Practical Open Source Software for Libraries". Nicole can be reached at ncbaratta@gmail.com.
Authored Comments
I appreciate your opinions and comments. I will say that once I get in the door to give the workshop people don't so much care what computer I'm using and can't tell what software I used to create the slides (if I have any) because that's not advertised on the screen.
The fact of the matter is that people are pragmatists and you can't go in the first time preaching that they are all wrong for using the software they know and love. Instead you need to start small with definitions and examples and applications that they can find that they maybe didn't know about before.
I also don't bring up money - what I was saying before was that people heard 'free' and think $$ - I instead talk about what the software can do for them, how it can make them more efficient or allow them to offer services they couldn't before.
The example in my original post was a group that wouldn't even consider learning about a different software model because of the FUD they had been fed all these years - not a group who ignored what I taught them after seeing that I too was a pragmatist :)
I do agree though, that we have to show those we're training that we too are practicing what we preach and are using what we recommend them to use and in my case I do use the software that I recommend in my workshops and I always show examples of how these applications work.
It's about baby-steps.
Eric,
What a great question! First I would make a meeting with the director or head of technology (maybe the systems librarian). I would talk to them about your problems with their systems and findability. I would bring in suggestions for better options. If they're resistant I would remind them that you pay their salary with your taxes. Also, I offer free webinars for libraries all the time on Koha and open source in libraries - almost always free of cost to attend - that you can share with them if they want to learn more.
In the end, if you have the time, you might even volunteer to help the staff learn to use Firefox or Chrome and/or LibreOffice or something else open source. Libraries also like facts and research, so bringing in the research that shows that IE is horrible for security and Koha great for usability might help your cause as well.
Let me know how it goes!! and if I can help.
Nicole