The Role of Libraries in a Networked World

Thursday, April 17th, 8:00 - 9:20

• speaker: Lee Raines, Pew Internet

 

(apolized for the speed of his speech: New Yorker living in Washington, DC)

his slides will be up on the TLA website

 

"Who's blogging this?"

• myself ("geeky artist librarian" and TLA blog)
• "The Top Shelf"

 

most consistent finding of the project:

• librarians rock!
• librarians are one of the most beloved constituencies for the Pew Internet Project's work
• librarians now listed as they number one stakeholder

 

Eight hallmarks of the new digital ecosystem

1) media and gadgets are ubiquitous parts of everyday life

• changing home ecology for media (generational comparisons)
• red arrows are those Lee added within the past year
• always inventing new devices and applications
• green arrows represent a larger point about role of internet
• fewer than 3% of Americans who use computers don't also use the internet

 

2) (check these slides--missed a few)

• chart on internet and broadband adoption
• broadband at home changes how people use the internet: becomes the first place they check for information (mindset changes)

 

3) growth of wirelessness means this can happen anywhere

• very easy to access non-voice info on phones (wifi isn't just laptops)
• 59% of Americans have used non-voice data on their cell phones
• major entry point for internet access
• brought back email use (its death was prematurely reported)
• wireless ecology of college students... see slide
  • some of the most eager adoptors
• our old library services are still relevant, but now we have to add new skills, services
  • our lives are more complex
  • "they want you to do it all, they want you to do it well--I'm sorry" :)

 

4) the public can create content

• ordinary people can be publishers, broadcasters, etc.
• close to 2/3 (62%) of teens have created content and shared it online
• 34% of all users have done this
• growth in social networking sites; but it's not all teens
• blogs are also a large part of the online participation picture
  • blogging features on social networks aren't often thought of as "blogs"
• video uploads
• personal websites/pages (apart from social networks)
• 26% of young adults may help other people or organizations with their web presence
  • 13% of online adults do this
• 20% of online youngs adults produce mashups (remixing content)
  • copyright doesn't figure into this very directly
  • in general, young people have a loose concept of intellectual property
  • they in turn are happy to share their work with others to be re-posted, re-mixed, etc.
  • as librarians, we can sensitize them to the original reasons behind copyright and media literacy
• 19% of online young adults create/use avatars (very social)

 

5) all content creators have an audience--even more internet users are accessing this created material

• 54% of all college students read blogs
• 36% of adults do
• hard to define "blogs" in many cases, because they don't necessarily look like them--users may not realize they're reading a blog
• 44% of young adults online use Wikipedia
  • many realize it's not authoritative, but that it's a good place to start
  • also a great place for topics without many sources, like pop culture
• 36% of all adults use Wikipedia
• podcasts

 

6) online sharing what they know and what they feel

• ranking sites like http://www.rankmyprofessors.com
• book and movie reviews
• tagging content (esp. on flickr)
• comment features
• customizing their experiences with Web 2.0 tools (like myYahoo and iGoogle)
• RSS feeds - customizing content pushed to them by subscription in aggregators

 

7) (see slides)

 

8) different people use these technologies in different ways

• no single, linear path
• why a tech user typology?
  • talked to over 3,000 people (nationally representative sample)
  • what tech did they own?
  • how did they use this tech? (games, IM, etc.)
  • their attitudes about technology?
    • this is a big indicator of how they use technology and how they think about it
  • divided adult population into 10 groups

 

Tech Typologies

high-users

• omnivores
  • 8% of population
  • lots of tech, broadband, wireless devices
  • usually late 20s
  • more men; racially diverse
  • tend to be students
• connectors
  • 7% of population
  • 30's
• lackluster veterans
  • 40-ish
  • note excited by tech
  • time stressors in their life
  • 8% of population
• productivity enhancers
  • 8% of population
  • productivity enhancers
  • directly tied to helping with their job/career
  • 40ish

 

mid-tier users

• mobile centrics
  • 10% of population
  • don't have broadband
  • like their devices
  • not early adoptors
  • early 30s
  • most into their cell phones and ease of social connecting
  • larger percentage of minority groups
• connected but hassled
  • have broadband
  • but hate technology--reluctant users
  • mid-40's
  • female dominant, white dominant

 

low-tier users

• inexperienced experimentors
  • in 50's
  • more female
  • 8% of population
  • don't have a lot of tech, but do okay if they are coached through it
• light but satisfied
  • latest adoptors
  • mid-50's
  • no broadband, love traditional media
  • 15% of population
  • happy to email, but you have to call them to check it
  • your oldest relatives
• indifferents
  • don't care about it at all
  • late 40's
  • time-pressed
  • 11% of population
  • element of pride to disdain from using it
• off the network
  • 15% of population
  • don't have a cell phone or an internet-connected computer
  • poorest group; may be a resource issue
  • more female and minorities

 

Q: can we help kids learn how to self-edit, when they don't seem to realize the repurcussions of things they may post online?

A: They think they're writing/uploading for a small group of friends--may be shocked that everyone can access this content. There's a role for librarians, particularly school librarians, for personal literacy. Even if they delete it later, once posted, things will often stay out there and stay searchable (Internet Archive).

 

what all this technology/connectivity does to us

• volume and velocity of informatino grows
• "continuous partial attention"

 

What does this leave for libraries?

• you can plug into people's social networks

(see more slides)

 

Pam Berger's list (infosearcher.com)

1. graphic literacy
2. navigation (transition to non-linear format)
3. context / connections
4. focus (reflection, leisure produces culture)
5. skepticism (evaluation)
6. ethical behavior (responsibility)

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