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Some themes heard over the past few days at ALA

gina.persichini's picture
2005 27 Jun

One of the great things about ALA is the opportunity to step back and see the larger picture of what is happening in libraries. It’s great to learn about other libraries, and even better to find out that they all share common challenges. I attended a couple different programs on Saturday that addressed the future of resource sharing. Add to that the content of the “Mining the Long Tail” presentation, the OCLC Environmental Scan, and pretty much anything written about the behavior of next generation library users and now I’m all riled up! Some major themes keep coming up:

It’s about Content, not Containers. Library users, and potential library users, are becoming more interested in the information they need, and not so much concerned about the format or the source.

It’s about Access, not Ownership. As much as next generation users are interested in the content, they want the content delivered to them. Whether it comes from on online database, a random website, a book at their local library, or a book from another town’s library; they don’t care–as long as the information is delivered to them. Libraries are moving away from the idea that we “own” a specific group of materials, and leaning toward more fluid housing of materials. I heard some say on Saturday, “If a book hasn’t been checked out in 2 years, it’s gone. We discard it.”

And speaking of Access, it’s about bringing the library to the patron, not about getting the patron to the library. We live in a world where technology allows us instantaneous access to the information we need. We can build upon the existing technology and put the library front and center in the users’ (and potential users’) lives. With RSS we could deliver a notice of new materials available in the library. Even better, we it could be customized to the patron’s specific interests. With instant/text messaging capabilities, we can provide reference and referral assistance to patrons while they are on the go.

It is no longer about educating the customer as to how the library works, it’s about creating library services that address how the customer works. Between Amazon and Netflix, we are creating a society of users that are used to getting what they need delivered right to them in a specified period of time. They have and use pay per view. They communicate using portal devices. They download songs (not necessarily entire CDs) and books on demand. They are digital natives—this is the only way of life they know. How do we create library services to meet their information needs? How do we make the library a necessity in their lives? When they vote on library issues at election time, what services are they voting “yes” to support?

    gina.persichini's picture

    In Addition

    Commenting on my own post. Partly because I failed to mention some things (7am - central time - is not my peek productivity hour). Also, partly because I am still processing information. The processing, really, is a good thing. As I consider library services, I’m conscious that there is no one correct answer to it. A lot of people are making some best guesses for the future. We’re constantly learning, constantly evaluating, and always seeking to improve services for an ever-changing customer base. Frankly, it’s exhausting for everyone involved and we are hugely privileged to have a library community that is passionate about providing quality services.

    As I think about all the themes a mentioned in the original post, I’m reminded that these have come about from research studies, life experience, and some really good forecasting for the future. But forecasting is what it is. We’re making our best guesses as to how things turn out. And we still need to regularly evaluate and tweak. When we think of next gen users, well, they are changing, too. So we just keep at it with best guesses.

    Still, we have other generations using services. Our immediate challenge seems to be balance. How do we balance serving the needs and styles of multiple generations… at the same time?

    While much of what is above speaks to styles of accessing information, I’m reminded that we need also to pay attention to (1) the styles of our other generation users, and (2) the other purposes for our library. A lot goes on in the library, information access is big, but the balance equation will need to address the whole spectrum of library services.

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    Submitted by gina.persichini on Mon, 06/27/2005 - 9:48am.