virginia sept21 2012

Stephen Abram

Gale Cengage Learning

Prince William County Library, Virginia

Sept. 21, 2012

FrankenLibraries:Driving Forces for Change

Library Megatrends

All will be affected to a greater or lesser degree by these trends and the impact will be different but all are relevant to:

• Public Libraries

• Academic Research Libraries

• Community College Libraries

• School Libraries

• Specialized Libraries

• Consortia

Trends Differ by Library Sector

Digitization’s real impact – non-fiction

Format

Print, ePUB, PDF, Kindle, etc. etc.

CD, DVD, USB, etc. etc.

Streaming

Licenses, Open Access, Creative Commons, etc. etc.

eBooks

eJournals

eContent

Copyright Issues (NatGeo, Tasini, TPP, ACTA, SOPA, etc. etc.)

Author Lawsuits

Citation fragmentation

Content Fragmentation

Text

Graphics & Charts

Formulae

Pictures

Maps

Video

Audio

Gamification

Deep Data Mining

Sharing – notes, highlights, reviews, opinions, correcti0ns, commentary

Assessments

Soundtracks

Etc. etc.

Beyond Text

ILS

CMS

Cloud(s)

Device dependencies

Format dependencies (e.g. Kindle or PDF)

Amazon

Apple

ADVICE . . .

Walled Gardens

Textbooks

eLearning

Learning Management Systems

Cohort Learning Environments

Presentation Systems

Virtual Conference Environment

Personal Learning Environments

Collaboration Software

MOOCs

Learning Object Diversificationand Fragmentation

Teens / Post-Millennials

Millennials

Other demographics

Business versus Consumer

The Device Divide

Mobility

Haves and Have-nots

End User Fragmentation

Consumer Search

Specialized Search

Professional Search

Semantic, Sentiment, Suggestion Search etc.

Mobile search

Social search

Augmented Reality

SEO

SMO

Content Spam

Geo-location

Search Fragmentation

Feature Phones

Smartphones

Tablets

Laptops

Desktops

Gaming stations

Television

E-Readers

Internet of Things

Browsers

Technology Fragmentation

The polarization of discussion

Black and White

Dogmatic vs. Professional positions on: eBooks, access, copyright, etc.

Black & White

Recognize key shifts

Recommendations (LibraryThing for Libraries, BiblioCommons, BookPsychic (Portland (Maine) PL)

eBook issues and device training

Community Glue

Economic Impact

Patron-driven acquisitions

Experience Portals

Programs

Partnerships

Education and Learning

Literacy of all kinds

Public Libraries

DPLA

Library Renewal

EveryLibrary Advocacy PAC

OCLC Linked Data

CULC eBook Project

Decline of Library & Archives Canada

3M e-books (Califa / Douglas County initiatives)

Cloud initiatives

Consortia: Next Step Cooperation

Where are the real pain points?

So what is the answer?

Grocery Stores

Grocery Stores

Grocery Stores

Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

Meals

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 Evolutionof 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?

Reference Facets of the Library of Virginia Story

September 2010 Survey Data

62 of 91 LVA library systems (68%)

Thank you!

The Baker’s Dozen: 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

Yep – You Get QuestionsHealth and Wellness / Community Health / Nutrition / Diet / Recovery DIY Do It Yourself Activities and Car Repair Genealogy Test prep (SAT, ACT, occupational tests, etc. etc.) Legal Questions (including family law, divorce, adoption, etc) Hobbies, Games and Gardening Local History Consumer reviews (Choosing a car, appliance, etc.) Homework Help (grade school) Technology Skills (software, hardware, web) Government Programs, Services and Taxation Self-help/personal development Careers (jobs, counselling, etc.) Reading Choices and recommendations, books & authors Travel and Vacation, Tourism Support Supporting College credits, Distance Education, and Adult Continuing Education Personal Finance and Investments / Financial Literacy Religion and spirituality Retirement and Seniors Services General Reference / Quick Answer Questions (e.g. telephone numbers, addresses, definitions, locations, library hours and services, etc.) Coming to America or our Community (Immigration, Moving) Book Clubs / Community Reading / Summer Reading Business. Leadership and Management Parenting and Child Development Adult Literacy / ESL Entrepreneurship and Consulting Small and Medium-sized Business Support World Cultures/Understanding Our World History Studies (Civil War, WW2, etc.) Choosing a School, Program/Degree, College or University / College Planning Finding People / Biographies , language learning

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

Genealogy

Legal Questions (including family law, divorce, adoption, etc)

Local History

Homework Help (grade school)

Government Programs, Services and Taxation

Careers (jobs, counseling, etc.)

Travel and Vacation, Tourism Support

Personal Finance and Investments / Financial Literacy

Retirement and Seniors Services

Coming to America or our Community (Immigration, Moving)

Business. Leadership and Management

Adult Literacy / ESL

Small and Medium-sized Business Support

History Studies (Civil War, WW2, etc.)

Finding People / Biographies

0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

Relative Patron Interest in Various Areas

Top 13

Hobbies and Gardening

Consumer reviews (choosing a car, appliance, etc.)

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

Local History

Homework Help (grade school)

DIY Do It Yourself Activities and Car Repair

Genealogy

Legal Questions (including family law, divorce, adoption, etc)

Test prep (SAT, ACT, occupational tests, etc.)

Technology Skills (software, hardware, Internet/web)

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

88.3%

83.1%

81.7%

75.9%

72.9%

67.8%

60.0%

60.0%

58.3%

51.7%

10.0%

15.3%

16.7%

22.4%

25.4%

30.5%

31.7%

35.0%

41.7%

48.3%

1.7%

1.7%

1.7%

1.7%

1.7%

1.7%

8.3%

5.0%

0.0%

0.0%

Resource Levels for Top Ten Areas of Patron Interest (Question 1)

EnoughNot EnoughNot Applicable

History

/ Socia

l Studies

Scien

ce / S

cience

fairs)

Biographies

Litera

ture

Speci

al Ev

ents

(Black (

or Hisp

anic,

Asian, N

ative

American

) Hist

ory Month)

Women

’s Studies

Religio

n0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

45.0% 46.7% 46.7%

32.2% 33.3%

5.2% 3.4%

43.3% 38.3% 38.3%

42.4%35.0%

12.1% 11.9%

10.0% 13.3% 13.3%22.0%

20.0%

22.4%

39.0%

1.7% 1.7% 1.7% 1.7%11.7%

56.9%

44.1%

0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.7% 3.4% 1.7%

Student Homework Support - Level of Requests by Area

N/ANot at all CommonSlightly CommonCommonVery Common

Euro

pe

Middle Ea

st

United Kingd

omAfri

ca

World

Cultures

/Unders

tanding O

ur World

Australi

a /New

Zeala

nd

China / Fa

r East Asia

Easte

rn Eu

rope

Latin Ameri

ca

India / P

akist

an

Cuba & Cari

bbean

Russia

Asia Paci

fic0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

18.97% 20.00%

6.90% 8.62%14.04%

1.72% 5.00%10.53%

1.89% 3.39% 6.90%0.00% 0.00% 1.69%

39.66% 38.33%

37.93% 32.76% 22.81%

24.14% 20.00%14.04%

18.87% 16.95% 10.34%15.25% 13.79% 8.47%

34.48%28.33%

36.21% 41.38% 47.37%

56.90%50.00%

57.89%

49.06%55.93%

51.72% 52.54%46.55%

45.76%

6.90%11.67%

18.97% 17.24% 14.04% 17.24%

23.33%

17.54%

28.30%22.03%

31.03% 30.51%39.66%

42.37%

0.00% 1.67% 0.00% 0.00% 1.75% 0.00% 1.67% 0.00% 1.89% 1.69% 0.00% 1.69% 0.00% 1.69%

Areas of World Which Generate Most Questions

N/ANot at all PopularSlightly PopularPopularVery Popular

What is a meal in library end-user or research, and learning terms?

Let’s think

Think: Are you thinking food, courses, days, weekly plan, or nutrition overall?

The new bibliography and

collection development

KNOWLEDGE PORTALS

KNOWLEDGE,LEARNING,

INFORMATION &RESEARCHCOMMONS

Library Space

First Impressions: Security, Circ Desks, Signage

Cleanliness

Retail models

Displays (return carts, colour blocking, …)

Signage

Community Commons

Boundaries

Parking lots and the skirts as public programming space

Street fairs

Partnerships

Gardens

Wireless

Technology commons . . . Smart Rooms

Library Space Concerns

What are the real issues?Craft versus Industrial Strength

Pilot, Project, Initiative versus Portfolio Strategy

Hand knitted prototypes versus Production

e.g. Information Literacy initiatives

Discovery versus Search versus Deep Search

eLearning units

Strategic Analytics

Value measures

Behaviours

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.

Be More Open to the Users’ Path

What Would You Attempt If You Knew You Would Not Fail?

My Humble Recommendations Focus on the user, I mean really

Pilot and experiment with mobile social cohorts

Classes (mobile training or extended learning)

Reading cohorts and book clubs

Patron-driven strategies first

Associations

Fundraising

Meetings

Teams (business or sport)

My Humble RecommendationsActively lobby and educate to ensure that the emerging mobile ecosystem supports the values and principles of librarianship for balance in the rights of end users for use, access, learning and research.

Support vendors and laws to be as agnostic as possible by ensuring that, as far as possible your services and content offerings support the widest range of devices, formats, browsers, and platforms.

eLearning

Mobile

Distant

Tools

Get to where the user is.

My Humble Recommendations

Design for frictionless access using such opportunities as geo-IP and mobile ready websites

Test everything in all browsers – mobile or not – all devices.

Invest in usability research aimed at the user experience and test and learn from it and share your learning.

Don’t prioritize the librarian experience first

Watch key developments in major publishing spaces – retail, kiddy lit, textbooks, e-learning, fiction, etc. Sport the differences and opportunities

My Personal Hobby Horses

This is an evolution not a revolution

The REAL revolution was the Internet and the Web.

The hybrid ecology is winning in the near term for operating systems and content formats.

This is good since competition drives innovation and we’re in a Renaissance not an end game right now.

Engage in critical thinking not raw criticism. Be constructive.

Critical thinking is not part of dogma or religious fervor or fan boy behavior.

My Personal Hobby Horses This is an evolution not a revolution

Perfectionism will not move us forward at this juncture.

Really understand the digital divide and remove your economic and social class blinkers

Get real about teens and Boomers

Get over library obsession with statistics and comprehensiveness.

Get excellent at real measurements, sampling and understanding impact and satisfaction. (Analytics, Foresee, Pew)

My Personal Hobby Horses

This is an evolution not a revolution We need to revisit the concept of preservation, archives, repositories, and conservation from an access and linked data view. Check out new publishing models like Flipboard. Watch for emerging book enhancements and other features that will challenge library metadata, selection policies, and collection development.

The power of libraries

A Third Path

SmellyYellowLiquid

OrSex

Appeal?

Consider the Whole Experience

Until the lion learns to write her own story, the story will always be from the perspective o the hunter not the hunted.

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

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