Women & Technology

Today's Chronicle of Higher Education led me to a great new article by Eva Miller called "The Women Who Drive Library Technology" from the recent issue of Library Journal. Miller's article shows the obstacles that women have faced in technological careers with a note about Darci Hanning, who is now at the Oregon State Library. (I didn't know there was an Oregon State (not OSU) Library). Miller says that Hanning,'s "college experience [in engineering in the 1980's] made her miserable, but she persevered.

“I try to succeed in spite of these things or go to a place that’s better for me,” Hanning explains. “I didn’t doubt myself or my ability.”

Hanning's advice to librarians is good for all of us. Says Miller,

"...keeping pace with change is integral to who [we] are. Hanning calls this “living the digital life”: seeking out and sampling new tools, troubleshooting your own technology, and making time to play. “Everyone can find their level of expertise. Everyone can learn one new thing a month,” she says.

Indeed, keeping up with technology is a great challenge for those of us who teach rhetoric because of all the new discourse communities and aspects of techne we want and need to be proficient with.

With my Del.icio.us account slowly growing, I try to keep a bit current. And today's excellent WIC talk "Read, White Share: Emerging Technologies in the Writing Classroom" by OSU's Undergraduate Services Librarian Anne-Marie Deitering, was a great step forward.

While I know I lag in many areas, in some ways, I am ahead of my students - who today in Business Writing class got a talk from Career Services on how their FaceBook page might jeopardize their job hunt. Which reminds me, too, of another piece I read today - whether Chronicle of Higher Education or Google News - about hoping that technology can learn to forget and not remember every single thing. I do not remember now where I saw it, so if anyone knows, I would like to read this again.