Orla2012

transcript

Light ‘em UpThe Future of Libraries:

Stephen Abram, MLOregon Library Association Conference

Bend, ORApril 26, 2012

These slides are available at Stephen’s Lighthouse blog

Change

We Only Get So Many Once-in-a-Lifetime

Chances To Do Great Things

News Flash “The Internet and technology have now

progressed to their infancy”

Lies we tell ourselves

Libraries are a big market for fiction Libraries are closing in large numbers Teens don’t read anymore & Boys don’t read The education issue is intractable We serve everyone People want to search Free is all-important Social institutions don’t need their staff to

embrace the social tools

Speaking of e-

Books...

Borders Kobo, B&N Nook, Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad, Sony, etc. . . .

Pottermore

On a limb:There is no scenario where public library circulation will increase.

Can we frame the e-book issue in libraries so that it can be addressed

rationally?

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Be More Open to the Users’ Paths - Filtering

So how must library strategies change?

First:1. Focus on memberships and audiences

2. Then focus on penetration though engagement

3. Measure (and communicate) impact

Conclusions Up Front

1. Prioritize Programs not Collections (align)2. Drive ‘Reference’ with Data and Know Your Top Questions3. Re-Balance of Physical and Virtual4. Invest Time in Demographics & Analytics (Measurements

not Stats)5. Put the newer Technological Tools in Context6. Build Recreational Reading Away From Effort and Get Real

About the eBook Issue7. Homework: Deal With It8. Transliteracy is a Key Opportunity9. Partnerships are everything and essential

Specific Challenges

1. Setting Priorities and Making Sacrifices (Program Hiatuses)

2. Innovation Culture, Pilots and Diffusion3. Fix our Backroom and Front Room Balance through

more Cooperation4. Alignment with Community Goals & our Values5. Measuring the Right Stuff - Impact6. Investing in HR Development & Generations7. Admit we have Sacred Cows (desks, books, …)8. Promotion, Marketing, Communication, Advocacy

Change can happen very fast

Sensemaking

What is an EXPERIENCE?What is a library experience?

What differentiates a library experience from a transaction?

What differentiates public libraries from Google/Bing?

The Evolution

of Answers

Why do people ask questions?

Is your library experience conceptually organized around answers and programs?

Or collections, technology and buildings?

Why do people ask questions?

Who, What, When, Where How & Why Data – Information – Knowledge - Behavior To Learn or to Know To Acquire Information, Clarify, Tune To Decide, to Solve, to Choose, to Delay To Interview, Delve, Interact, Progress To Entertain or Socialize To Reduce Fear To Help, Aid, Cure, Be a Friend To Win A Bet

What are your top 10-20 questions?What is the service portfolio model

that goes with those?

The Baker’s Dozen: 1 Library System’s Top 13

1. Health and Wellness / Community Health / Nutrition / Diet / Recovery

2. DIY Do It Yourself Activities and Car Repair 3. Genealogy 4. Test prep (SAT, ACT, occupational tests, etc. etc.) 5. Legal Questions (including family law, divorce, adoption, etc) 6. Hobbies, Games and Gardening 7. Local History 8. Consumer reviews (Choosing a car, appliance, etc.) 9. Homework Help (grade school) 10. Technology Skills (software, hardware, web) 11. Government Programs, Services and Taxation 12. Self-help/personal development 13. Careers (jobs, counselling, etc.) 14. Readers Advisory was 14th

Knitting & Needlecrafts

Arts & Crafts

Television Shows

Gardening

Traveling, Tourism & Vacations

Exercise, Cycling & Walking

Movies & Film

Computers

Cooking & Recipes

Recreational Reading

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Top 12 Patron Hobbies

Top Hobbies?Top Homework Questions?

Top Travel Destinations?What do you know?

What are your demographics?

Did you know… The dominant household is singles Next is couples Then families with children Poor neighborhoods use smartphones and

broadband at higher levels Poor neighborhoods use the library more Hispanics have more smartphones, etc. Virtual user is dominant and different than in-person

Challenge all assumptions . . .

News Flash

Tech Shift Happens

Seth Godin on Decisions (June 8, 2011)

o Which of these are getting in the way?o You don't know what to doo You don't know how to do ito You don't have the authority or the resources to do ito You're afraido You believe that money matters mosto Once you figure out what's getting in the way, it's far

easier to find the answer (or decide to work on a different problem).

o Stuck is a state of mind, and it's curable.o Turn Excuses into Reasons

Deer in headlamps slide here.

What Are Libraries Really For?

• Community & Social Glue• Learning• Discovery• Progress• Research (Applied and Theoretical)• Cultural & Knowledge Custody • Economic Impact

What Are Librarians For?

• Expertise (We ARE Experts!)• Relationships• Transformation• Professional Service (not servant)• Vision & Leadership• Economic Impact

Columbus, Cook, Magellan and Libraries: Searching for the corners of the earth, the edge of the

oceans and discovering dragons ...

Columbus, Cabot, Cortes

Magellan Columbus Cook

Questions for Libraries Today:

1. Are our priorities right?2. Are learning, research, discovery changing

materially and what is actually changing?3. What is the foundation of future library

success . . . Books? Meh…4. What is the role for librarians in the real

future (that is not an extension of the past)?

Grocery Stores

Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

Let’s chat

What is a meal in library end-user or education and learning terms? End users want to find Their goal is a transformational experience They don’t see the library as inventory and

logistics Our generational assumptions need updating Sometimes they don’t need help Listen to the stories

The new bibliography and

collection development

KNOWLEDGE PORTALS

KNOWLEDGE,LEARNING,

INFORMATION &RESEARCHCOMMONS

What are your user’s real goals?

Chefs, counsellors, teachers, magicians

Librarians play a vital role in building the critical connections between

information , knowledge and learning.

Programs

What are the components of a program focus?

What lifts Libraries beyond our foundations?

You have the tools.

Stop Making it So Hard!

Trans-Literacy: Move beyond reading & PC skills Reading literacy Numeracy Critical literacy Social literacy Computer literacy Web literacy Content literacy Written literacy

News literacy Technology literacy Information literacy Media literacy Adaptive literacy Research literacy Academic literacy Reputation, Etc.

100%Failure

is not an Option

Steal This Idea

E-Learning

Do you know the new

curriculum and the goals?

E-Learning

List of content farms and general spammy user generated content sites:

All Experts (allexperts.com) Answers (answers.com) Answer Bag (answerbag.com) Articles Base (articlesbase.com) Ask (ask.com) Associated Content (associatedcontent.com) BizRate (bizrate.com) Buzle (buzzle.com) Brothersoft (brothersoft.com) Bytes (bytes.com) ChaCha (chacha.com) eFreedom (efreedom.com) eHow (ehow.com) Essortment (essortment.com) Examiner (examiner.com) Expert Village (expertvillage.com) )

Experts Exchange (experts-exchange.com) eZine Articles (ezinearticles.com) Find Articles (findarticles.com) FixYa (fixya.com Helium (helium.com) Hub Pages (hubpages.com) InfoBarrel (infobarrel.com) Livestrong (livestrong.com) Mahalo (mahalo.com) Mail Archive (mail-archive.com) Question Hub (questionhub.com) Squidoo (squidoo.com) Suite101 (suite101.com) Twenga (twenga.com) WiseGeek (wisegeek.com) Wonder How To (wonderhowto.com) Yahoo! Answers (answers.yahoo.com) Xomba (xomba.com)

The nasty facts about Google &

Bing and consumer search:

SEO / SMOContent Farms

Advertiser-drivenGeotagging

StrategicAnalytics

What We Never Really Knew Before (US/Canada)

27% of our users are under 18. 59% are female.

29% are college students. 5% are professors and 6% are teachers.

On any given day, 35% of our users are there for the very first time!

Only 29% found the databases via the library website. 59% found what they were looking for on their first search.

72% trusted our content more than Google. But, 81% still use Google.

We often believe a lot

that isn’t true.

2010 Eduventures Research on Investments

58% of instructors believe that technology in courses positively impacts student engagement. 71% of instructors that rated student engagement levels as “high” as a result of using technology in

courses. 71% of students who are employed full-time and 77% of students who are employed part-time

prefer more technology-based tools in the classroom. 79% of instructors and 86 percent of students have seen the average level of engagement improve

over the last year as they have increased their use of digital educational tools. 87% of students believe online libraries and databases have had the most significant impact on

their overall learning. 62% identify blogs, wikis, and other online authoring tools while 59% identify YouTube and

recorded lectures. E-books and e-textbooks impact overall learning among 50% of students surveyed, while 42% of

students identify online portals. 44% of instructors believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on

student engagement. 32% of instructors identify e-textbooks and 30% identify interactive homework solutions as having

the potential to improve engagement and learning outcomes. (e-readers was 11%) 49% of students believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on

student engagement. Students are more optimistic about the potential for technology.

What do we need to know?

How do library databases and virtual services compare with other web experiences?

Who are our core virtual users? Are there gaps? Does learning happen? How about discovery? What are user expectations for true satisfaction? How does library search compare to consumer

search like Google and retail or government? How do people find and connect with library virtual

services? Are end users being successful in their POV? Are they happy? Will they come back? Tell a friend?

Emboldened Librarians hold the key

So how must library strategies change?

What is Changing?

1. Evidence-based Reference Strategies2. Experience-based Portals: The New Commons3. Personal Service on Steroids4. Quality Strategies: Consumer vs. Professional

Search5. Social Networks and Recommendations6. Trans-literacy Strategies7. People-driven Strategies8. Curriculum and Research Agenda9. Service and Programs

Recommendations

Strengthen Your Personal Brand Reposition the Library and Librarian Don’t Tie Yourself directly to Collections or

Physical Space Network with Your Users Socially Measure, Don’t Count Engage in partnerships Know Take Risks

Technology Context

Cloud (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS) Laptops and Tablets Mobility / Smartphones Bandwidth (Wired, WiFi, Whitespace) Learning Management Systems Streaming video and audio vs. download HTML5 and Apps – the battle Advertising auction models and ‘product’ New(ish) Players (Amazon, Apple, G, B&N, Uni’s,

states/provinces/nations)

Book Challenges

Format Agnosticism Browsers: IE, Chrome, Firefox, Safari Devices: Macintosh, PC Desktops & Laptops Mobile: Laptops, Tablets (iPad, Fire, etc.) Mobile: Smartphones (iPhone, Blackberry, Android,

Windows, etc.) Container: PDF, ePub, .mobi, Kindle, etc. Learning Management System: Blackboard / WebCT,

D2L, Moodle, Sakai, etc. Purchasing (Amazon, B&N, Chegg, CengageBrain,

Apple Store, University Textbook Store, etc.)

Should we tie users and students to a specific and proprietary device or operating system?

This era will see a Fundamental Reimagining the Book

For the present there will be those who resist and the resisters will be the majority.

Reimagine Service

Reference and Research

Consider the differences . . .

Computer Commons Mall Service Commons Information Commons Knowledge Commons Learning Commons Science Commons Centre or Central? Physical / Virtual Hybrid

Mobility

A 1965 iPhone

What Would You Attempt If You Knew You Would Not

The power of libraries

A Third Path

SmellyYellowLiquid

Appeal?

Consider the Whole Experience

There are no knights on horses in technology.

‘Reading’ trumps print books . . .

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLAVP strategic partnerships and markets

Cengage Learning (Gale)Cel: 416-669-4855

stephen.abram@cengage.comStephen’s Lighthouse Blog

http://stephenslighthouse.comFacebook, Pinterest: Stephen Abram

LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen AbramTwitter: @sabram

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