PewInternet.org
Networked libraries servingnetworked patrons
Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet Project
04.19.2012
Biblionext: Rome
Email: Lrainie@pewinternet.org
Twitter: @Lrainie
5 questions for librarians as theyconfront change
1.What is the future of knowledge?
- Created? Disseminated?
2.What is the future of reference expertise?
- Literacy? Search?
3.What is the future of public technology?
- Knowledge containers? Divides? Access/lending models?
4.What is the future of learning spaces?
- Collaboration? Alliances? Ownership?
5.What is the future of community anchor institutions?
- Knowledge economy/ecology?
Digital Revolution 1Internet (80%) and Broadband at home (66%)
71%
66%
Networked creators are everywhere(two-thirds of adults; three-quarters of teens)
•70% of internet users are social networking site users
•59% of cell owners share photos or videos
•37% contribute rankings and ratings
•33% create content tags
•30% share personal creations
•26% post comments on sites and blogs
•15% have personal website
•15% are content remixers
•16% use Twitter
•14% are bloggers
•Of smartphone owners: 11% location services – 15%allow location awareness from social media – 64%maps/directions
Big challenge for librariesAtoms bits
Collections
are
disrupted
Digital Revolution 2:Mobile phones – 88% of adults
327.6
Total U.S.population:
315.5million
2011
Smartphone tipping point -- 46%
Big challenge for librariesPeople come to us We go to people
The library as
place becomes
the library
as placeless
resource
Digital Revolution 3Social networking – 52% of all adults
% of internet users
Big challenge for librariesExpertise and influence emerges innetworks and algorithms
Share the
stage with
amateur
experts
Back to those 5 questions:How librarians can be evenmore valuable inthe digital age
1) What is the future of knowledge?-- Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communities”
New:
Learning as a process
Knowledge isobjective andcertain
Old:
Learning as transaction
Knowledge issubjective andprovisional
1) What is the future of knowledge?-- Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communities”
New:
Learning as a process
Learners receiveknowledge
Old:
Learning as transaction
Learners createknowledge
1) What is the future of knowledge?-- Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communities”
New:
Learning as a process
We learn bestpassively, bylistening andwatching
Old:
Learning as transaction
We learn bestactively doingand managingour own learning
1) What is the future of knowledge?-- Shana Ratner (1997) “Emerging Issues in Learning Communities”
New:
Learning as a process
Our “intelligence”is based on ourindividualabilities
Old:
Learning as transaction
Our “intelligence”is based on oursocial networks
2) What is the future of referenceexpertise?
“Embedded librarian” in learning communities
•Librarian as scout for relevant material
•Reviewer and synthesizer
•Organizer and taxonomy creator
•“On call” for just-in-time information
•Organizational “steward” of bonding capital
•Organizational “steward” of bridging capital(especially to outside experts)
2) What is the future of referenceexpertise?
“Knowledge concierge/valet” in learning communities
•Librarian as teacher of social media
•Librarian as fact checker, transparency assessor,relevance arbiter
•Librarian as aggregator and curator – follow JeffJarvis rule: “Do what you do best, and link to therest”
•Librarian as “node” in networks attuned to perpetuallearning
Good source: Bill Densmore at
20
3) What is the future of publictechnology?
21
Are hot new gadgets evident now?
Hot gadgets and apps thatwill capture theimagination of users in2020 will often come “outof the blue” and not havebeen anticipated bymany of today’s savviestinnovators.
81% experts
80% full sample
The hot gadgets andapplications that willcapture the imaginationof users in 2020 arepretty evident today andwill not take many oftoday’s savviestinnovators by surprise.
16% experts
17% full sample
22
Themes
•iPhone, iPhone, iPhone
•Innovation ecosystem will change: bandwidth /processing
•Still, there are basic trends evident now and somegroundwork that has been in place for years that will yieldinnovation.
–The internet of things - sensors proliferate
–Mobile connectivity and location-based services grow
–Interface changes: Bigger/thinner screens -- 3D displays
–“Consolidated,” all-purpose gadgets and apps
The rise of e-reading
•28% have e-reading device
•21% of adults read e-book inpast year
•Read more now (including oncomputer and smartphone)
•Prefer e-book for quickaccess, convenience, variety
•Prefer printed books forreading to children andsharing books
4) What is the future of learningspaces?
Attuned to networked individuals/learners
•More self directed, less top-down
•Better arrayed to capture new information inputs
•More reliant on feedback and response
•More inclined to collaboration
•More open to cross discipline insights and creatingtheir own “tagged” taxonomies
•More oriented towards people being their ownindividual nodes of production
5) What is the future of communityanchor institutions?
Amer. Library Association
Confronting theFuture
Strategic Visions forthe 21st CenturyPublic Library
Be notafraid