Discussions

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has examples of, or suggestions for, innovative position titles and department names for a combined library and technology team?

As a someone who started (and still lives) in the library, I would love for the department name to not be shortened to "tech", and try to be more inclusive of ALL we do - "information literacy" strikes me as a good phrase, but also doesn't include technology? 

Any ideas or examples for 1) Entire department name 2) Title for someone who does both library and educational tech

Thank you! 

Kelly
#General

------------------------------
Director of Library Services • The Overlake School
20301 NE 108th Street • Redmond, WA 98053
425 – 602 – 7099 • kvikstrom@overlake.org
She/Her/Hers Pronouns
------------------------------

Hi Kelly,

A few years ago, I renamed our department, which is IT, EdTech, and libraries combined, from "Information Resources and Library Services" (commonly shortened to "IR") to "Technology & Library Services."

I realized that old habits die hard. Even newbies look for "IR," which cracks us up. My title is Director of Technology & Library Services. We have the following titles for positions on my team:

• Instructional Design & Innovation Specialist
• Technology Innovation Specialist & Maker Mentor
• Technology Support Specialist
• Librarian
• Systems Analyst
• Scheduler

We are certainly not siloed and pop into other's roles as help is needed, but we do make a distinction with roles among the two areas. There is more overlap with the IT and EdTech sides in terms of who gets to work on what.

Take care,
Dan

------------------------------
Dan

Daniel C. McGee, M.A., M.Ed.
Director of Technology & Library Services

dMcGee@LaurelSchool.org
Direct: 216.455.3051

Laurel School
One Lyman Circle
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
LaurelSchool.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2022 04:49 PM
From: Unknown User
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has examples of, or suggestions for, innovative position titles and department names for a combined library and technology team?

As a someone who started (and still lives) in the library, I would love for the department name to not be shortened to "tech", and try to be more inclusive of ALL we do - "information literacy" strikes me as a good phrase, but also doesn't include technology? 

Any ideas or examples for 1) Entire department name 2) Title for someone who does both library and educational tech

Thank you! 

Kelly
#General

------------------------------
Director of Library Services • The Overlake School
20301 NE 108th Street • Redmond, WA 98053
425 – 602 – 7099 • kvikstrom@overlake.org
She/Her/Hers Pronouns
------------------------------

I am interested in this as well.  I come from outside the school sector (museums) and we also struggled with department names and position titles.  I favor using industry 'standard' titles like; systems integrator, network admin, database admin, analyst, designer, etc.  These can be further described in the job descriptions.  Keeping them generic helps in some ways to break down the silos.  If someone is labeled instructional technology, no one might as them a question about something else.  A group of technology staff can work on different types of projects and doesn't need to be dictated to a certain technology outcome.  

I would be interested in seeing organizational structures in other schools and associated department names.  

Bill

------------------------------
Bill Weinstein
Montgomery School
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2022 04:49 PM
From: Unknown User
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has examples of, or suggestions for, innovative position titles and department names for a combined library and technology team?

As a someone who started (and still lives) in the library, I would love for the department name to not be shortened to "tech", and try to be more inclusive of ALL we do - "information literacy" strikes me as a good phrase, but also doesn't include technology? 

Any ideas or examples for 1) Entire department name 2) Title for someone who does both library and educational tech

Thank you! 

Kelly
#General

------------------------------
Director of Library Services • The Overlake School
20301 NE 108th Street • Redmond, WA 98053
425 – 602 – 7099 • kvikstrom@overlake.org
She/Her/Hers Pronouns
------------------------------

I can say, I have found when I have had job openings, it's sometimes challenging to find candidates who apply with relevant experience. Making the titles aligned with industry standard titles makes this easier, especially if a candidate is looking to switch to an educational environment. I've found that the more edtech-centric jobs could have some more flexibility with titles, because those seeking faculty-based roles will find the jobs; it's the IT roles that need to be a bit more standardized with titles.

Dan

------------------------------
Dan

Daniel C. McGee, M.A., M.Ed.
Director of Technology & Library Services

dMcGee@LaurelSchool.org
Direct: 216.455.3051

Laurel School
One Lyman Circle
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
LaurelSchool.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2022 09:10 AM
From: Bill Weinstein
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

I am interested in this as well.  I come from outside the school sector (museums) and we also struggled with department names and position titles.  I favor using industry 'standard' titles like; systems integrator, network admin, database admin, analyst, designer, etc.  These can be further described in the job descriptions.  Keeping them generic helps in some ways to break down the silos.  If someone is labeled instructional technology, no one might as them a question about something else.  A group of technology staff can work on different types of projects and doesn't need to be dictated to a certain technology outcome.  

I would be interested in seeing organizational structures in other schools and associated department names.  

Bill

------------------------------
Bill Weinstein
Montgomery School

Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2022 04:49 PM
From: Unknown User
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has examples of, or suggestions for, innovative position titles and department names for a combined library and technology team?

As a someone who started (and still lives) in the library, I would love for the department name to not be shortened to "tech", and try to be more inclusive of ALL we do - "information literacy" strikes me as a good phrase, but also doesn't include technology? 

Any ideas or examples for 1) Entire department name 2) Title for someone who does both library and educational tech

Thank you! 

Kelly
#General

------------------------------
Director of Library Services • The Overlake School
20301 NE 108th Street • Redmond, WA 98053
425 – 602 – 7099 • kvikstrom@overlake.org
She/Her/Hers Pronouns
------------------------------

Media Specialists were used at a prior school I was with.

------------------------------
Larisa Luca
Manager of Technology Support Services
The Lawrenceville School
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2022 04:49 PM
From: Unknown User
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has examples of, or suggestions for, innovative position titles and department names for a combined library and technology team?

As a someone who started (and still lives) in the library, I would love for the department name to not be shortened to "tech", and try to be more inclusive of ALL we do - "information literacy" strikes me as a good phrase, but also doesn't include technology? 

Any ideas or examples for 1) Entire department name 2) Title for someone who does both library and educational tech

Thank you! 

Kelly
#General

------------------------------
Director of Library Services • The Overlake School
20301 NE 108th Street • Redmond, WA 98053
425 – 602 – 7099 • kvikstrom@overlake.org
She/Her/Hers Pronouns
------------------------------

We call ours Innovation Specialists (for network we say Innovation and Network Specialist).

------------------------------
Jason Kern
Assistant Head of School for Innovation and Learning Officer
All Saints Episcopal School - Tyler, Tx
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2022 09:39 AM
From: Larisa Luca
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

Media Specialists were used at a prior school I was with.

------------------------------
Larisa Luca
Manager of Technology Support Services
The Lawrenceville School

Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2022 04:49 PM
From: Unknown User
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has examples of, or suggestions for, innovative position titles and department names for a combined library and technology team?

As a someone who started (and still lives) in the library, I would love for the department name to not be shortened to "tech", and try to be more inclusive of ALL we do - "information literacy" strikes me as a good phrase, but also doesn't include technology? 

Any ideas or examples for 1) Entire department name 2) Title for someone who does both library and educational tech

Thank you! 

Kelly
#General

------------------------------
Director of Library Services • The Overlake School
20301 NE 108th Street • Redmond, WA 98053
425 – 602 – 7099 • kvikstrom@overlake.org
She/Her/Hers Pronouns
------------------------------

Some ideas:
The Overlake Research and Discovery Center
The Overlake Leisure, Research and Innovation Center

Or something less definitive but related to the school name:
The Loch - Library of Community Habitudes :-)
The Reservoir - Research and Technology Center
The Pond
The Basin

------------------------------
Jennifer Lamkins, Ed.D.
Coordinator of Member and Technology Support Services
she/her
Northwest Association of Independent Schools
5001 California Ave. SW (Ste. 112), Seattle, WA 98136
Office: 206-323-6137
Direct: 206-323-7005
jlamkins@nwais.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2022 04:49 PM
From: Unknown User
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has examples of, or suggestions for, innovative position titles and department names for a combined library and technology team?

As a someone who started (and still lives) in the library, I would love for the department name to not be shortened to "tech", and try to be more inclusive of ALL we do - "information literacy" strikes me as a good phrase, but also doesn't include technology? 

Any ideas or examples for 1) Entire department name 2) Title for someone who does both library and educational tech

Thank you! 

Kelly
#General

------------------------------
Director of Library Services • The Overlake School
20301 NE 108th Street • Redmond, WA 98053
425 – 602 – 7099 • kvikstrom@overlake.org
She/Her/Hers Pronouns
------------------------------

Hello,
I too struggle with titles and as a result have had several  title changes in recent years, both for myself and my team. Part of the issue is that we have been transitioning from a traditional library program to a combined ed tech and library program over the past 4 years and this includes our librarians now acting as ed tech specialists as well. There is still confusion as to what our roles mean and the titles do not really seem to help with clarity. In response to this we have been leading a think tank with our faculty to help determine together the purpose and direction of the ed tech library team as well as the physical space. 
Here are the titles we have at the moment:

Director of Educational Technology and Library: Instructional Technology and Library Program Administration

Lower School Digital Literacy Teacher : K-5 digital literacy instruction 

Educational Technology Librarian:  Educational Technology and Library program support for faculty and students

Academic Research Technologist and Archivist: Digital and Information Literacy integration, support and instruction for faculty and students. 

Librarian Technician: Acquisitions, Circulation, Cataloging, Early and Lower School Program support

------------------------------
Angela Mackenzie
Director of Library and Digital Literacy
St Margaret's Episcopal School
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-04-2022 04:49 PM
From: Unknown User
Subject: Innovative titles and department names?

Hello!

I am wondering if anyone out there has examples of, or suggestions for, innovative position titles and department names for a combined library and technology team?

As a someone who started (and still lives) in the library, I would love for the department name to not be shortened to "tech", and try to be more inclusive of ALL we do - "information literacy" strikes me as a good phrase, but also doesn't include technology? 

Any ideas or examples for 1) Entire department name 2) Title for someone who does both library and educational tech

Thank you! 

Kelly
#General

------------------------------
Director of Library Services • The Overlake School
20301 NE 108th Street • Redmond, WA 98053
425 – 602 – 7099 • kvikstrom@overlake.org
She/Her/Hers Pronouns
------------------------------