Update: To see the complete draft of the technology plan, please read this post.

This week I'm engaged in writing a long-term technology plan for the library. This is an extremely challenging endeavor, not least of all because it's the first time I've been charged with composing such a document. Furthermore, there's no way to predict exactly where technology will lead in the next several years, at least not in any meaningful detail. As a result, I have to make sure to use language that is specific enough to give us a distinct direction in which to move but is vague enough not to lock us in to any specific tools that may become obsolete before we can even implement them.

The document's first goal involves remote access. A colleague of mine who works for a state court library is continuously frustrated by the fact that her library's website is maintained entirely by a separate department that handles PR duties for the government. This is precisely the mindset I want to avoid. Patron expectations have advanced to the point where a library website has to be much more than a PR tool for promoting the physical structure and the physical collection. The website needs to evolve into a full fledged branch location of the library. The website *is* the library. In laying the groundwork for this to happen, I've tried to ignore what is currently possible, both technologically and economically, and instead focus on what we would provide to patrons if anything was possible.

Here's my current draft of Goal #1:

Goal 1. The Law Library website will serve as a branch location of the library, offering any and all possible items and services to remote patrons.

Priorities:

• Integrate all remote library information and services into single unified web presence.
• Provide remote access to library collection and documentation.
• Develop unified searching and browsing mechanisms for all library resources.
• Adapt all content into formats usable by leading and emerging platforms.
• Implement emerging systems for communication with and among patrons.
• Permit patrons to complete library transactions remotely.
• Allow and encourage patrons to enrich, remix and reuse library content.

There is no mention of specific tools, no blogs, IM, RSS, mobile devices, etc. It is certainly my intent that those kinds of tools fall logically from the priorities listed (assuming they are the best tools available to accomplish these priorities), but those kinds of specifics can be outlined in detail in the plans for each individual technology project we undertake. And should better tools emerge in the meantime, this plan already provides for their implementation, too.

That's not to say this document is intended to cover all foreseeable events. The final goal in the technology plan will outline a procedure for re-evaluating the plan on a regular basis (quarterly? semi-annually? annually? I don't know yet), and providing for the capability to revise it as necessary.