il2008: fostering innovation

Fostering Innovation and Creativity

Frank BlairThomas Kozak

Tom ColePaul DeVillo

Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County


Tech ScholarsFrank Blair



• The PLCMC Technology Scholars Program provides employees with a six-month scholarship opportunity to take innovative ideas that they have for new or expanded library services and make them a reality.

• The program supports two scholars at a time and is open to any full-time employee who has at least one year of service.

• Expanded in 2008 to include a Community Tech Scholar


We are just completing our second set of projects and planning for our 2009 recruitment

Barry Newman-2007Technology Tools for Homeschool and After School

Tom Cole-2007Live Online Learning

Mark Engelbrecht-2008Gaming Creation, Programming and Promotion

Thomas Kozak-2008Learn and Share Wiki


•Technology Scholars are the library’s own mini Fulbright scholars.

•The program is designed to encourage staff to stretch their wings and provide leadership opportunities for ideas that can benefit our customers and the library.


Selecting Candidates

Look for individuals who:

• Question the status quo• Tolerate risk gladly• Exhibit patience• Trust the process• Are open to unexpected outcomes• Demonstrate an ability to ‘leverage resources’

Innovation Cycle

• Idea generation

• Incubation

• Experimentation

• Implementation/Analysis


It is not enough to budget dollars for innovation.

You must also budget time for innovation!


Technology Scholar Hands-On Experience

Learn & Share Wiki

Thomas KozakPublic Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County

Project Snapshot

Sharing information with a wiki

• Share knowledge between departments • Encourage collaboration• Quick access to commonly-needed info

Recruiting Applicants

Ideas are out thereEveryday problems are the seeds for proposals Broaden your applicant baseReach beyond your normal movers and shakers

Mentoring

Provide guidance for working with your organizational structure

• Project-building experience• Strategies for innovation• Resource availability

Planning & Design

Project as a test-bed for learning and explorationBuilding knowledge and testing options

Free & Open-Source optionsFlexibility and low-cost experimentation

Construction

Developing and prototyping the project

• Collaboration with existing services and departments

• Continued learning• Decision-making• Gathering input

Ongoing Development

Implementation & Evaluation

Tool-BuildingContinuing requests for extra features or applications

Connecting with usersFinding a place for new tools in everyday work-flow


Technology Scholar Hands-On ExperienceLive Online Learning

Tom ColePublic Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County

Define your deliverable.

Don’t be a hermit!

Understand Costs

• Know your material

• Listen to your testers

Repeat the test

Implementation


Implementation of Tech Scholar Projects

Paul DeVillo


Digital Times

The Gaming Zone

Live Online Learning

PLCMC Learn & Share


You may review these slides online at

http://tinyurl.com/FosteringInnovation

or

http://www.slideshare.net/thomaskozak/il2008-fostering-innovation-presentation
