1. Shannon Tennant
Carol Grotnes Belk Library, Elon University
STAYING RELEVANT IN
TECHNICAL SERVICES

2.  Founded 1889; located adjacent to Burlington, NC
 2013-2014 Enrollment: 6,305 (including graduate students)
 Around 350000 print volumes, 44000 e-books, 13000 DVDs, 150+ online
databases
 Carol Grotnes Belk Library opened in 2000
ELON UNIVERSITY – A PROFILE

3. Then… And now.
TECHNICAL SERVICES @ BELK LIBRARY

4. THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING
TECH SERVICES DEPARTMENT
3
5
3
4
5
1
3
1
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2000 2005 2014
Students
Librarians
Paraprofessionals

5. Budgets
Technology
Shifting collection formats
Because nothing ever stays the same…
REASONS

6. WHAT CAN I DO?

7. Public Services
Archives
“Other duties as assigned” in Tech Services
BE FLEXIBLE
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8.  Library technology/trends
 ALCTS webinars
 Other technologies
 Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint), web searching, scanners
 “Personal development”
 Time management
 Leadership
 Language classes
DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR IT!
All they can do say is no.
GET TRAINING
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9.  Public Services
 Meetings
 Committees
Library
Campus/Town/County
 Presentations
 Conferences
STOP HIDING AND BE VISIBLE
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10. Are you: Then try:
Detail-oriented? Editing metadata
Good at organizing? Displays, database management
Good with people? Working with the public
Good with your hands? Book repair, MakerSpaces
Good with Facebook and Pinterest? Library social media outreach
IDENTIFY MY STRENGTHS AND USE THEM

11. HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
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12. QUESTIONS?
SHANNON TENNANT
STENNANT@ELON.EDU