Technology Petting Zoos

I often recommend that libraries try to set up Technology Petting Zoos for staff to touch and connect with the plethora of devices that our users are using. Learning by doing seems to work well! We’ve had several of these types of sessions on a larger scale at SLA conferences where gadgets are shown and passed around. I think that these work even better with smaller groups.
Anyway, here are some ideas that I’ve collected.
Start with just one type of device – phones, MP3 players, games, etc.
It will help if you Inventory what your staff and their families have and will volunteer (voluntarily) to bring in and share for a few hours.
1. Have everyone bring in their phones or borrow a phone from their spouses. You should be able to get everything from a plain phone through to a Treo or Blackberry. Bring in the manuals. Play with the cameras, video features, e-mail, texting, calling, voice dialing, etc. Try to download a free ringtone.
2. Have an MP3 petting zoo. Have people (staff, Librarians, trustees or users) bring in what they have. For greater variety ask the teens or pages in the library. You should be able to easily see iPods, assorted MP3 players, phones that play songs, car radios, etc. Listen and see how the metadata is organized. Download a song or two from iTunes and from websites and MySpace. Look for podcasts and lectures and listen to them. Share favorite podcast, video and MP3 search engines.
3. Borrow a few games – PS2, PS3, Wii, Nintendo, XBox, etc. Play. You don’t need to do it all at once. You can do one at time. Try to make sure everyone takes a turn. Many library folks like to watch and not play. They can’t learn as much that way. Teens love to demo their expertise. Have everyone play Guitar Hero and/or DDR.
4. Have an eBook or Audiobook event. Buy an iReader and Kindle. Also look at them on phones and PDA’s and PC’s. Call it R&D.
5. Play with digital Cameras. Bring in your own or borrow some. Some are as cheap as $29. I’ve seen disposable video cameras lately too for really cheap. The library should have a couple of digital cameras too. Don’t forget phone cameras. Trade tricks and set up a Flickr account to share ideas and examples. Try to make a YouTube video.
6. Have a scanner party. Start scanning things and adding them to databases and documents. Have some fun making posters. Try scanning 3D objects and body parts. Have fun. Be artistic.
7. Some libraries need to play with stuff like using USB drives, handheld scanners, headphones, PC microphones, etc. is needed in some libraries. Sometimes the whole PC needs to be petted! Laptops too. Buying an ASUS or XO OLPC might be interesting too and they’re quite cheap for laptops.
Some libraries buy the devices and then make them prizes in library events and library card campaigns.
You can’t really be comprehensive and have all the toys but you can probably get enough variety to learn a lot.
David Lee King at Topeka & Shawnee PL posted his Techie ToyBox here:
http://www.davidleeking.com/2007/10/23/topekas-techie-toybox/
As for costs, it depends how many things you might want to own, rather than borrow. I know some libraries have had local businesses in to do demos of the equipment they sell – phones, PDA’s, gaming, etc. It could even be a tabletop event to support a local business…
Anyway, there’s some thoughts of the top of my head. Any ideas from you in the comments would be welcomed.
Good luck,
Stephen