THE CURATION OF KNOWLEDGE AS A PUBLIC GOOD IN THE NETWORKED SOCIETYChris BattPhD ResearcherUniversity College London

Problem domain

How will digital technologies change the creation,

management and exploitation of public collections?

Museums

Libraries

Archives

UniversitiesColleges

Schools

Public service

broadcasters

COLLECTING, CURATING,

DISCLOSING

CREATING SKILLING

CONNECTING

INTERPRETING CONNECTING

POPULARISING

CollectionsKNOWLEDGE INSTITUTIONS

Public policy

Knowledge

collections

Boundaryexchange

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGEResources that enable people to

understand and learn more about themselves and the world

LEARNINGThe apprehension of knowledge to advantage

Systems model

If we did not

have libraries,

would

someone

invent them?

Widely accessible

Highly regarded

Increasingly under threat

Library: the Traditional

model

Tools of public policy

THE WORLD HAS CHANGED

60 hours

1,700

0

20 minutes

200,000+

+300

1850 2005

Cost of a bookPeriodicals

Other media

Looking forward, not backwards

Willing to try new ideas

Adopted and adapted to technology

UK public libraries

How to take advantage of the

future?

Reactive not

reflective

STATUS QUO 2.0

Three reasons to

plan for radical change

…strong and simple collective mission

LACK OF

…precise policy direction…powerful advocates in Government

1. POLICY INVISIBLITY

…strong and simple collective mission

LACK OF

…precise policy direction…powerful advocates in GovernmentLEADING TO

…failure to be heard…inability to demonstrate collective value …death by a thousand cuts

1. POLICY INVISIBLITY

…market failure

TRADITIONAL PUBLIC VALUE MODEL

…economies of scale…trust

2. CONTESTABILITY

…market failure

TRADITIONAL PUBLIC VALUE MODEL

…economies of scale…trust

EXTERNAL COMPETITION - 24/7

2. CONTESTABILITY

3. DIGITAL DETERMINISM

MOBILE PLATFORMS

…always on…recorded music revolution

…reading habits – books and newspapers

Research Intentions and Methodology

In what ways will digital technologies and use of the Internet channels to collect, curate and exploit knowledge change approaches to public policy formulation, implementation and delivery?

Knowledge and learning in 2050

In what ways will digital technologies and use of the Internet channels to collect, curate and exploit knowledge change approaches to public policy formulation, implementation and delivery?

New architecturesNew policy frameworks

New professionals

Knowledge and learning in 2050

That the delivery of public value through knowledge and learning based on the binary relationship between institution and user will become more and more ineffective and expensive as online channels become the preferred user choice.

PROPOSITION ONE – silos bad

COLLECTING, CURATING,

DISCLOSING

CREATING SKILLING

CONNECTING

INTERPRETING CONNECTING

POPULARISING

Individuals and communities

Museums

Libraries

Archives

UniversitiesColleges

Schools

Public service

broadcasters

Who owns the third

place/space?

“Megaphones of informal learning”Martin Bean

Convergence = competition

Who owns the third

place/space?

That public value will best be achieved by strategic policies that treat end user value as the product of managed flows across institutions rather than as actions based on classes of institutions: the integration of unrelated institutions into a co-ordinated strategy.

PROPOSITION TWO – VALUE GOOD

Content first, institution

second

Institutional architecure

Value flows

Exchange relationships

Museums

Libraries

Archives

UniversitiesColleges

Schools

Public service

broadcasters

Colleges

COLLECTING, CURATING,

DISCLOSING

CREATING SKILLING

CONNECTING

INTERPRETING CONNECTING

POPULARISING

How to st

art a colle

ctive and

radical debate about a

shared

future?

Public policy

Knowledge

collections

Boundaryexchange

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGEResources that enable people to

understand and learn more about themselves and the world

LEARNINGThe apprehension of knowledge to advantage

Value flow: systemic/ecosystem view

Hypothesis

Ecosystem model

Testing

Evaluation/outcomes

INSTITUTIONAL SNAPSHOTSINSTITUTIONAL SNAPSHOTS

Fitness for the futureFitness for the future

External driversExternal drivers

Professional PreparednessProfessional Preparedness

Relevance to public policyRelevance to public policy

SWOTSWOT

Public knowledge ecosystem modelPublic knowledge ecosystem model

Value flowsroles and relationships with the ability to test ideas and scenarios

Boundary exchangesProcesses and theories (learning behaviours, cognitive artefacts, autopoiesis) Key external trends policy priorities, social and technical change, new skills sets

Two parting challenges

How would you market setting up a library service in the current age of austerity?

From librarian to knowledge

warrior

Leaders of the wider knowledge sectorA mission to break down barriers to accessDefining, managing, mediating

Integrating knowledge and learning into everyday life, every day!