The top 10 peeves of a support tech

By Becky Roberts

We all work in different environments, in different industries, with different departmental structures, different installed bases, and different users. But as support techs, we share the common goal of helping people and computers live in harmony. Over the years, I‘ve worked in a variety of industries, from commercial aircraft manufacturing to management consulting, from a chemical plant to a ceramics factory. And although the hardware, software, and people have changed, the irritants have had an alarming tendency to remain the same. So here, in no particular order, are my top 10 persistent peeves

Another Top 10 list off TechRepublic.com

Digital Libraries à la Carte: New Choices for the Future

From 22 to 25 August, this international, modular course will be held at
Tilburg University, the Netherlands.

technological developments, relevant to libraries (lectures)
Library 2.0
technologies to reach out to the customer (hands-on computing)
libraries supporting research and Open Access
libraries and teaching and learning

The course is organised by Ticer, known for its International Summer
School on the Digital Library. The course is recommended by JISC,
DEFF - Denmark's Electronic Research Library, the Swiss National
Library, CBU/KUB - the Swiss Conference of University Libraries,
Helsinki University Library, and FinELib (Finnish National Electronic
Library), part of the National Library of Finland.

Visit the course website for:

the full programme
the complete list of 16 lecturers with short bios
abstracts of most presentations
information about course fee and registration

If you register before 1 June 2006, you will get a Euros 150 discount.

10 user complaints about IT support

One of the lists (they come in 10s) off TechRepublic.com

Being a support pro can entail a fairly high level of aggravation, some (maybe a lot) of which can be laid at the doorstep of the very customer you serve: the end user.

IT pro Becky Roberts advocates taking a step back occasionally and considering the situation from the user's perspective:

"The issue of complaints and their resolution is a perennially hot topic in the virtual world of TechRepublic, with views expressed about the peeves of an IT manager and a support tech and complaints about CIOs. But nowhere in all these discussions have the most important people in our universe--our users--been given a voice.

In an attempt to redress this imbalance and put our own complaints in perspective, I took the liberty of asking my users to provide me with their complaints about us, the IT professionals. So here, in no particular order, are my users' grievances together with a few thoughts about how they might be addressed and/or how they could have been avoided".

Blogging Libraries Wiki

This wiki is off the blogwithoutalibrary.net [libraries, technology, & everything in-between]

Library blogs listed on this wiki are organized into the following categories:

Academic Libraries
"Academic" refers to any post-secondary institution, including universities and colleges. Visit the list of academic library blogs.

Public Libraries
The term "public" needs no explanation, so go ahead and visit the list of public library blogs!

School Libraries
"School" refers to any K-12 institution.

Special Libraries
"Special" refers to any instituion that isn't a public, academic or school library! This category includes corporate, governmental, and library association blogs.

Blogs for Internal Library Communication
"Internal communication" are blogs used for internal staff communication within a library.

Library Associations
This category includes library association, consortia, and conference blogs.

What every librarian should know about knowledge management but might be afraid to ask

Join us at this meeting, co-hosted by the Special Libraries Interest Group (LiSLIG) and the Information and Communications Technology Interest Group (ICTLIG) of LIASA.

We have three speakers.

Gretchen Smith
Is a senior lecturer, in the Department of Information and Library Studies / Centre for Information Literacy, University of Cape Town. Current research interests include: The communication of information and the impact of organisational culture and the electronic environment; knowledge management from a human and cultural perspective; information organisation in the electronic environment.
http://www.ched.uct.ac.za/cil/dils/

Ian Corbett
Knoco South Africa's man on the ground in Africa, Ian is based in CapeTown. He is currently introducing southern African leaders and businesses to the benefits of Knowledge Enabled PerformanceTM He is particularly interested in the role that leadership and socialnetworks play in releasing the innovative potential of people and teams.
http://www.knoco.co.uk/

Ben Fouche
Is the principal of Knowledge Leadership Associates, a network of experts focusing on training, consulting and research services in information and knowledge management, including knowledge management practices in the South African business sector.
http://www.knowlead.co.za/

The speakers will be followed by panel discussion open to the floor.

Date: Wednesday, 31 May 2006
Time: 13:30 for 14:00
Venue: Old Mutual, Pinelands
Cost: LIASA members R30, non LIASA members R50
Payments will be accepted at the venue (preferably cash or cheque)

RSVP: by Friday 26 May 2006 to Caroline Dean
tel: +27(0)21 650 3701















See more of Ken Nash's Techniks and other cartoons