Communicating with IT folks

I read a great article in Computers in Libraries this weekend by Lisa Ennis a Systems Librarian at University of Alabama-Birmingham. It's about the different languages library folks and IT folks speaks and offers some solutions. Ennis cites Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion and then provides 10 tips for communicating more effectively with IT folks. They seem so simple but really could make life easier.

1. Is everything plugged in and is the power on?
2. Make sure ALL the cables are properly seated.
3. Try rebooting.
4. Write down the error or problem as exactly and with as much detail as you can.
5. Keep things clean.
6. Install software responsibly.
7. Learn some basic terminology.
8. Realize that sometimes the technology doesn't do what you want it to do.
9. BACK UP YOUR DATA!
10. Follow the golden rule and be nice.

The complete article, Talking the Talk: Communicating with IT, is in the September issue of Computers in Libraries.

Other resources she sites (and one from me) -

• Tech Tips for Every Librarian column in Computers in Libraries
• Peachpit Press (http://www.peachpit.com) QuickStart and QuickPro guides on all sorts of topics
• HowStuffWorks (http://computer.howstuffworks.com)
• WebJunction (http://www.webjunction.org/do/Navigation?category=325)
  
• CNET Network (http://www.cnet.com)
• MaintainIT - Communicating with Techies and Non-Techies