About

About Me
About This Site
Speaking and Consulting

About Me

My name is Sarah Houghton and I am working as the Director for the San Rafael Public Library (California), a two library system serving our town of 60,000. And, of course, I write this Librarian in Black blog website thing which has been around since 2003.

photograph by Peter Martin Jørgensen

I have worked in libraries for the last 15 years, as a librarian for 10.  I’ve worked with state and national library advocacy organizations including Infopeople, California Library Association, American Library Association, and the Library and Information Technology Association–including a three-year stint as a member of  LITA’s Top Technology Trends Committee and working on the OITP eBooks Taskforce).  I was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker as a Trendspotter in 2009.  I speak internationally at live and online events for libraries and other institutions.

I am a big technology nerd and I believe in the power of libraries to change lives.  Combined, they make a fearsome cocktail.  I have been called an iconoclast, a contrarian, a future-pusher, and a general pain in the ass.  I take great pride in each.

I received my MLIS from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and an MA in Irish and English Literature from Washington State University.

About This Site

Years ago, this site was born out of my displeasure at having to wade through dozens of websites, blogs, & RSS feeds related to librarianship, technology, web services, and current trends to find those few posts that applied to my work.  I hope this site can continue to help others find information on library web & digital services.

The views expressed on this site and in individual posts are not those of the San Rafael Public Library, the City of San Rafael, or any related agency.

Speaking and Consulting

I am always happy to speak to libraries and other organizations about a variety of library and technology topics. I also am available to consult as an instructor on a wide variety of topics, teaching everything from one-hour to multi-day classes as required, both in-person and virtually. I also consult regularly with libraries in an informal advisory capacity on numerous technology topics. Here are some of the topics I can teach, train, and speak about (if your topic isn’t on the list, just ask–I may have simply forgotten to list it):

  • augmented reality
  • blogging
  • cloud computing
  • databases in libraries (marketing, training)
  • Drupal
  • eBooks, eMusic, and eVideo
  • eResource metrics and collection development
  • filtering (internet filtering, studies, tests)
  • Flickr and digital imaging
  • free and open source software for libraries
  • future of libraries
  • information architecture
  • information overload prevention
  • ‘keeping up’ strategies
  • Library 2.0 / Web 2.0 (& Web 3.0!)
  • marketing online for libraries
  • mobile library services
  • mobile websites and applications
  • online catalog systems including open source and retail ‘overlay’ software
  • podcasting
  • project management
  • reference resources and websites
  • search techniques and tools, including federated search
  • social media
  • technology competencies
  • technology training
  • technology for small libraries or libraries with few resources
  • text messaging
  • usability
  • user experience design
  • videocasting
  • virtual reference, including instant messaging, text messaging, and VOIP/video reference
  • web design
  • web redesigns (including project planning)

Please contact me for more information about my availability! I <3 helping people!