Got a library? Got any money to run it? Yeah, me neither.

I’ve just finished setting up five new workstations here at the museum, including one here in the library. It’s a bigger job than it sounds because whenever we get new equipment, then there’s a game of “musical computers” to be played, where one person’s now-replaced computer is passed down the staff food chain to whoever is currently using a machine that’s older than that one, and so on. I keep a chart, to know who’s where in the technology scheme of things.

I can’t do much about getting free hardware. Yes, companies will donate their old computers to you, sometimes. We’ve done that in the past. But — look, not to be ungrateful, but if Bank of America figures this desktop is too old for someone to run a few programs on & they’ve replaced it, chances are we can’t really use it to do our cataloging & graphics work here. So we find ourselves needing to scrape together the $$ for the actual machines, and then we’ve got a software problem.

Luckily, a few years ago I learned about TechSoup Stock, a great site for non-profits. There you can get your hands on donated and discounted technology products, generously provided by corporate and nonprofit technology partners, for a very small administration fee. For example, Microsoft Office 2007 Standard, the stand-alone version? $16. It retails for $399. Norton 360 3.0? $8, and it retails at $79. It’s pretty awesome. There’s some rules and regulations, and you really do need to be a 501(c)(3) organization. But worth checking out if you are.

Just today I came across a great blog post that talks about ways to save on technology for libraries: 13 Ways (and 147 Tools) to Help Your Library Save Money on Technology. Lots of great ideas, many of which could be useful for even you sad non-librarians.

Honestly, with the way costs have risen, and how much Microsoft software companies charge for basic computing necessities, a lot of people are turning to free or open-source solutions. I use an open-source system for our ILS (though I pay to have it hosted) — OPALS, who’s a small player in the library open-source trend, but nice guys — and I’ve been told by more than one IT guy I know that their businesses/schools/governments are thinking abotu ditching MS and going with OpenOffice. I’m all for paying for something you need, if it fills a niche, but there are just too many other solutions for the big stuff these days. It really does pay to be creative and to hunt around, you find a lot of new options.