On Wednesday afternoon of the Evolving Library Services for Digital Natives program, participants were presented with the “expert panel.” The panel included Aaron Schmidt, Sarah Houghton, and Stephen Abram. They were facilitated by Alane Wilson from OCLC. Each panelist was provided a few minutes to talk about what they believe are the most pressing issues facing librarians in serving digital natives.

Aaron

The technology is not separating us from other people. The technology is social in nature. Even when people are playing video games, they are likely playing games with someone; possibly someone who is physically near them. Even though they email and IM, teens have most interaction face to face.

This group of users we are talking about are very good at collaboration. They like to work together and help each other out. They need flexible space that will allow them to do that.

Digital natives need a Non “Shhh” space.

The Digital Divide is real, but some day it is going to be closed. When everyone has broadband, the key will be how to effectively use it.

We need to think about how digital natives are using technology. We need to translate our services to their behavior instead of changing their behavior to match our services.

Have 20 graphic novels on the shelf does not mean that you are serving digital natives.

Sarah

There is a real misperception that digital natives are kids. They are also in their early 20s, they may have kids of their own. We are behind; we need to catch up to serve these people.

We need to get off our our high horses that somehow face to face interaction is superior or more real or better than online interaction.

Support technical competancies for staff. If you work in a particular position, you need to have certain skills (or learn them). We need to provide opportunities for staff to learn those skills.

Pay attention to digital natives on your staff. Listen to them; ask them what they want.

Aaron adds: location – We heard it from the panel of teens that joined us in the morning, it is hard to get to the library. We need to be accessible.

Stephen

Some words we use in the library are not working, such as “users” and “patrons.” These are people; we need to treat them as such. If we go to the doctor, don’t we expect the receptionist to ask our name and refer to us by our name? Why don’t we do that at the reference desk?

Why are we marketing to people who already come into the library? They are already there.

The people in the library are not necessarily the demographics of the community. When we hear, “most people in my community don’t have broadband access,” they might be true of the people in the library that are there to use the Internet, but there are those who have access that are not coming to the library.

Look at your marketing materials, how many of the words on them tell the target audience how they will feel as a result of using the library or its services?

Walk into your library, what kind of signs are there? Not just the actual signs, what does the place say to the customer?

Set up your physical space to be approachable to the audience you want to reach. Example: skateboards. How big a problem are skateboards in libraries? For $20 we can buy a skateboard rack that shows we want these people to use the library and that we respect their tools and them.

Three things you can do that cost almost nothing:
1. Create an IM account for your library
2. Have a gaming night
3. Create a weblog