[LM_NET] Freebies, Great Deals, and Administrators

[Shonda Brisco <sbrisco@GMAIL.COM>]

With the thread about the "free books" that one administrator approached his
librarian about checking into, do many of you find your administrator coming
back from conferences, workshops, or other administrator-only conventions
with "great ideas" from vendors who offer free or "better than the library"
programs or services?

How are you handling these types of situations?  Do you prepare your
administrator for the types of programs that they might hear about that
offer to "replace the library" or "increase test scores"?  Or do you wait
until you're approached with a program or service by the administrator after
s/he has returned?  Is there a way to approach administrators with this
information or do you think it's better just to wait until the situation
arises?  How do you educate your administrators about these types of
programs and services and do you think that, like our instruction to
students about ways to evaluate good and bad information on the Internet,
our administrators need instruction in how to evaluate good and bad
resources / vendors at educational conventions?

Finally, what vendors or services do you find your administrator comes to
you about (either after a conference or after talking with / working with
other administrators) that you know aren't "the answer" to your school's
current library program?

You may respond to me off-list and I'll post a HIT if others are interested.

Thanks!

~Shonda

-- 
Shonda Brisco, MLIS
Technology Librarian /
Independent Library Consultant
Fort Worth, Texas
sbrisco@gmail.com

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