Public libraries still hold a superior position in the learning space as one can obtain central information from this center of learning.
However, as technologies are taking a front seat in every sphere of life, modern libraries too have to keep up with technological advancements and integrate more of advanced technologies in its working environment.
The deployment of technology in public libraries has consequently led the librarians to make utmost use of their smartphones and tablet apps to complete their tasks and perform jobs more quickly and efficiently.
So let’s take a look at some of the best tools designed to specifically help the librarians to keep up with the pace of work with the help of these modern technological aid.
Open Source Tools for Librarians
It is an open source subject guide tool with which librarians can manage several interrelated parts of their library website effectively. This tool can assist librarians to add staff (or guide managers) and resources (print, databases, links and more) to easily publish a handy subject guide for the patrons. Until tools like Subject Plus was developed, librarians had to work on a series of hard coded pages that contained in it full of links that turned out confusing at times. But now with this tool in hand, much of the heavy lifting work of coding and arranging is sorted out effectively by it.
This tool is a public kiosk management system that helps the librarians to manage the public computers in the library (or any public setting) with very few settings requirement. The utility of this tool assists librarians to keep a track on how much time users have spent on public machines, issue visitors IDs with different rules. Earlier to the development of such kind of technological aid, librarians had to depend to reserve machines and check the ids that was used in authorizing the machines for various purposes.
It is a tool that allows the librarians to manage reservations for a library’s public spaces and allows easy solution with which librarians can easily customize themes and create room reservation through a web form and quickly set-up rooms and or groups of rooms.
It is a useful guide with which librarians can quickly create online, interactive tutorials based on principles of authentic and active learning environment. Here in this tool, librarian can write-up their own tutorials in the Guide on the Side Interface and with it also tell which URL to display on the right of the screen.
Apps that Enhance Productivity & Organization at Work
It is an application that will help one to organize and maintain appropriate structure for projects and planning while working at the library.
It is a tool that helps in creating documents for many purposes, one being library newsletters or documents for handouts. One can create documents and store it to take a print out of it later with the help of this mobile word processor.
The tool helps the librarian to organize work and helps users to save ideas. The ideas can be saved in the form of snap photos, take notes, make voice reminders and scan of business cards.
It is a tool with which librarians can access information from across the globe. Through this tool, one can easily access, search and navigate Wikipedia entries.
This tool helps in copying docs to the iPad, iPhone or any iPod Touch to take them with someone anywhere. With the help of this tool, documents (be it Word file, PowerPoints, Excel Sheets, PDFs) can be easily secured and safely transferred.
Apps for Better Reading
It is one of the most comprehensive e-reading App globally used by readers. It contains a huge selection of books for readers to select from multitude of categories.
It is an academic reading tool that allows users to access scholarly articles and documents which users can save it in their mobile device for later viewing.
It is a very popular e-reader tool that retains a host of large assortment of books. It is a very popular reading tool and is the second most used e-reader tool in the world just after Kindle.
It is an App specially designed for the Windows based mobile devices to browse and read their favorite books anytime, anywhere.
Thus, we would want the librarians to use at least one of the tools mentioned above and experience the benefits of using technological aid as it makes work more convenient, interesting and sorted out. And if you are already using a tool that’s mentioned above or wish to suggest any tool that we have not mentioned in the list and holds much importance for the librarians, please feel free to share it with us through your comments.
