EDITOR'S NOTES
Applying What’s Been Learned to Your Library Initiatives
by Dick Kaser
Computers in Libraries is always about applied technology in libraries. In this, our back-to-school edition, we focus on applications in learning environments. Laura Solomon (Ohio Public Library Information Network) shares her years of experience in web design by emphasizing the so-often-overlooked basics of creating a website that keeps users top of mind. What a difference you can make by following her tips for reducing pain points in the user experience.
Two articles take on this year’s hottest topic: learning how generative AI can be used. In her EDTECH feature, Suzanne LaPierre (Fairfax County Public Library) explains how she researched the ways librarians and educators are using AI in their professional work by surveying published accounts. And Chad Mairn and Shelbey Rosengarten (St. Petersburg College) return this issue to consider how AI can be used in instruction, specifically using AI tools to teach research skills.
Amanda Sweet (Nebraska Library Commission) shares how she used data to build a resource for students and other patrons who want to find a job that contributes to sustainability or other worthwhile social causes. Her Meaningful Impact Hub gathers data into resources that can be used to understand and identify organizations and agencies that are focused on solving a particular problem of interest to the job seeker and narrowing the job search.
Library security expert Steve Albrecht tackles a topic we seldom talk about but that is both a legal and social imperative—namely, the possibility that your library networks are being used for nefarious purposes. Hear what he’s learned about patrons using your Wi-Fi to conduct deep and dark web activities related to pornography and what you can do about it.
As the summer ends and many of us return to work and school, it’s not a bad time to reflect on the lessons this issue’s contributors have shared and apply them to the challenges you face. For more insights on these and other topics, please join us next month for Information Today, Inc.’s virtual event, Internet Librarian Connect.
Dick Kaser, Executive Editor
kaser@infotoday.com
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