"When you can send a text message from under the covers and your parents will never hear your voice .... when you can exchange instant messages with your pal across the room while your professor is lecturing, we need to re-think our ideas of what it means to 'be with' others." ~ Lee Rainie
"Libraries have always faced a shifting world of materials, new models alongside old, the increasingly complex matrix of commodity and open-source publications -- published, self-published and unpublished, paper and digital. Now they must also manage content that is unbound from any sort of identifiable container." ~ OCLC
"The top-down flow of information in all sectors of the industry has been disrupted for good. In the past, information users in every field followed authoritative sources -- and those sources were treated like oracles. ... Now, instead of looking 'up' to oracles, users are looking sideways -- to peers and to social contexts on the Internet, where published information is instantly unveiled, vetted, praised, condemned, correct, and altered through the 'wisdom of the masses.'" ~Outsell
"Increasingly, consumers are participants instead of passive audience members, and this mega-trend manifests itself in a variety of ways." ~ Trendwatching.com
"When you have 100 good ideas to choose from, the critical skill isn't choosing five, but sacrificing 95. Learn the skill of temporary sacrifice." ~ Stephen Abram
"In this new Web-enabled (Web-dominated) world of information service and delivery, we are dealing with a technology that is still in grade school (less than ten years old), and many of its major players range from pre-school to primary grade age. ... We are in a continuous development state, and this state will likely last for many years." ~ Stephen Abram
The future is just around the corner. It is also now, very much in the present. The library of the future is the library of today in flux. Flexibility is the key to a successful future. We must be flexible in our collections and services. We must be flexible in knowing what to keep and what to leave behind.
Steve Abram says that there are five big questions to drive strategic thinking:
Further, he adds that we must understand user:
Monitor new hardware/software/technology that receives buzz. Read the blogs and subscribe to the discussion lists that will keep you informed of what's hot and what's not. For example, you should have been one of the first in your community to understand the potential of RSS, wikis, and blogs. Talk with patrons about these developments, especially the early adopters.
Remember that we "sell" benefits so focus on the benefits of technology. For example, how does the patron benefit from a library blog? From a RSS feed? From a personalized library web page?
"The Pope died only about 24 hours ago and yet Amazon had already gathered together a series of links to books by him, books about the pope and his papacy, about papal elections, the Roman Catholic church and to nine DVDs. The list of books by the Pope had been viewed over 5000 times." ~ Alice
How quickly do we move to let the community know that we are THE source for good information about hot topics?
More than two-thirds of adults and teens are Internet users. A rapidly growing number use broadband to connect to the Internet. More and more of our users and the content that they need or want will be available on the Internet.
If more and more users interact with the library via its website, what do they experience? Will they find fresh content and images each time?
Does the library have weblogs so that staff specialists can share their thoughts on new content, new ideas, and the like? For example, advisory services might include book reviews, forthcoming books, booky websites, author tidbits and news about the publishing world.
The Internet provides many opportunities:
How many of these opportunities are seen in your public library?
More than three-quarters of U.S. teens use instant messaging. About half have cell phones and the percentage is increasing. More and more of our users have wireless, mobile access to the Internet. Ubiquitous wireless broadband is likely to have a dramatic impact on libraries.
Immediacy and interactivity are increasingly expected and that means a quick response 24/7. Few libraries are organized to provide service beyond traditional hours.
What impact will this trend have on adult public services?
About half, and the number is increasing rapidly, of all Internet users create and share content via the Internet. The Internet is a dynamic, interactive communications medium. More and more of our users will be content creators and not just content consumers. Social publishing as seen in blogs and wikis is growing rapidly in popularity and in use. Such publishing creates communities. The public library should be a leader in providing the local community with opportunities to create and share information, perhaps by being a model with its own blogs and wikis. With RSS feeds, content can easily be syndicated. If anyone can be a publisher and create [given the wide-spread availability of professional quality hardware, software and equipment] and distribute text, audio, image, or video content, then the amount of content available to the public and to the library has expanded dramatically. Who will attempt to capture and provide some access to locally created content? Is that a role for the public library-- a local content repository?
The ease of finding content on the Internet has established the "long tail" phenomenon where less popular and more specialized content accounts for a considerable portion of the content sold on the net [not just the "best sellers."]. More and more of our users will want access to more specialized and less popular content. Providing such content will be quite a challenge unless there is more collaboration and more funding.
More and more content is "unbundled" or not found in one fixed format. For example, a novel may be found in print, audio, or digital format. Consumers may prefer one format over the other or find each acceptable. In the same way, content may be sold in "chunks" rather than in a whole. For example, you might purchase a recipe rather than a cookbook. More and more of our users will want the right "chunk" [their content] at the right time rather than the container.
What impact might this trend have on adult services?
On demand services via cable or broadcast reduce the need for the traditional exchange of physical media. Netflix expects that digital downloads will replace mail out DVDs in the near future. Whether libraries will be able to download digital content will depend on the future state of DRM, but it will be necessary to remain competitive.
What happens to adult services when popular content is downloaded rather than placed in a container? What role for the middleman?
A traditional role that is likely to see more emphasis is that the
library should be seen as the source of authentic, accurate, and true copy
information. This has been more of an academic library than a public
library role. It is also controversial since many public libraries
supply "wanted" information that may not be authoritative. In addition,
what is authoritative is often unclear. At the same time, users are
increasingly frustrated by too much and most are ready for
filtered content. This provides an opportunity for libraries.
How would you insure that the public library is seen as the place for AAA information?
Users increasingly expect to be able to personalize content and services much as they have "their own" Yahoo! page. For example, each adult user should be able to create her own personalized page on the library portal. Why not RSS feeds for new fiction and new non-fiction or selective dissemination of information where users are alerted when their favored content becomes available? If Amazon can provide personalized advisory service, why can't we?
Users increasingly expect content to be available when they want it and in the format that they want it. They are less and less willing to have to go to the physical library, wait, and then endure a transaction before they receive their content. Self checkout, self initiated holds or reserves, and self-initiated ILL are examples of patron independence.
There is increased interest in collaboration space, both real and virtual. This is an opportunity for the library to become a community communication and collaboration center. Is your library well integrated into the community? Is it highly visible within the community?
How might the public library provide physical and virtual
collaboration space?
How might or should the 21st Century library be different in:
As you ponder, will adult services in the future be similar to those of today, somewhat different, or notably different?
