When the discussion topic the impact of the Internet on libraries came up I was delighted to look through my notes from the CLA Conference last weekend. In the panel, Generation Z: preparing your library for the next generation, Univ. of Tenn. library IT pro, Jason Griffey, and library designer and visionary, Joan Fry-Williams, had much to say about the influence of the Internet on libraries.

Griffey pointed out that the next generation will value access not ownership of information and they are all about content consumption. When quantifying usage in the University of Tennessee library, he found that 42% of all the Internet traffic is in streaming video. These kids are not collecting the movies, they're just watching them. This exemplifies the point: It's the access to the content that they value, not ownership. Because "information" is something they can get for free, and they don't understand the value of content credibility or the expertise of the librarian skills.

Joan Fry-Williams pointed out that "libraries invented the access not ownership business" so we should make ourselves meaningful by enhancing the library experience by making the library a welcoming place aimed toward the local interests. Our patron's personal devices used to access the Internet are not used to exclude their friends and environment: just the opposite. Our present (and future) patrons use the Internet to enhance and augment their environment, not to reject it. "If you want to create an inviting library environment for your patrons, you must welcome their devices". Providing an abundance of electrical drops and free wifi Internet access are what our patrons want and library designers would do well to keep that in mind.

In summation: library patrons will value access over ownership and the libraries of the future will provide content not container. The next generation of taxpayer will be going to library databases for reliable, easy to access information when it is easy to use. They will be comfortable attending online classes because it will fit into their "accessing content online" mindset. Librarians will again be information specialists- just with different media. The physical library building will remain and will achieve relevance through unique community services and identity.

Another Use for Libraries

If e-books make a library obsolete, collection diversification may be the answer. 

UConn will test a bicycle sharing program on campus which allows students and employees with current school ID to borrow one of 20 bikes at the Homer Babbidge Library for use on campus.  The student government purchased the bikes and will purchase more if the program is successful.  Apparently, Yale, Emory, and the University of Chicago have similar programs in place. 

Electronic Textbooks - A Followup

On the heels of my earlier post concerning electronic textbooks comes another from the Chronicle of Higher Education about some colleges considering forcing students to switch to e-textbooks as a cost containment measure.  The full link can be found below.

The plan would be to charge students a course-materials fee which would be used to bulk purchase e-books resulting in a lower cost per item than if purchased individually.  Saving trees and transportation costs is always a good thing, I guess, but what about all those work study students that depended on the bookstore job for spending money?   Taken one step further, what does this portend for the library as institution?

http://chronicle.com/article/The-End-of-the-Textbook-as-We/125044/

Electronic Textbooks

Stumbled across an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Education concerning students reluctance to try electronic books, see the link below.  On one hand, I would have thought the younger generation would have readily adopted e-books. That may be an unfair observation but it's based on the high end phones I see in use by our current students and what they seem to be doing with them.  This dinosaur has only recently attempted texting and found that I can't type very well with my thumbs on a keyboard the size of a credit card.  I haven't a clue what most of the acronyms I receive mean and aren't sure I want to learn a new language. The more I look, I wonder if those high tech phone users are really only a very small, but highly visible, sampling of the overall student population.

I do remember having to haul a backpack with 20 pounds of books and supplies around as a commuter student and thinking there had to be a better way.  I would have liked to trade a 3 lb iPad or Kindle for that burden I found myself with but I also remember taking copious notes in the margins to highlight some point I thought significant.  Since most of my college textbooks still reside on my bookshelf, the resale advantage wasn't a factor for me, but long term retention certainly was.  I wonder what the shelf life of an e-book is? 

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/students-remain-reluctant-to-try-e-textbooks-survey-finds/27866?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

The Future of Books

What will books look like in the future?  Will we still have paper books or will the electronic formats become the primary method of publishing?  Wonder what that will mean for the future of the library as a brick and mortar building?  Want a say in the outcome?  If you were in Australia, you'd have your chance.  I encourage you to visit the link below to see what the Book Industry Strategy Group is doing down under.  I find it interesting that any government formed a focus group to ask these types of questions.  Any parallel undertaking here in the US?

http://www.innovation.gov.au/Section/Industry/Pages/BookIndustryStrategyGroup.aspx

Twitter Survey Report

Stumbled across this report this morning and thought it interesting.  I'd thought of twitter as being more of an informal social interaction medium, but it seems a lot of faculty are using it to share information and research with peers.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/37621209/2010-Twitter-Survey-Report

The future of the library

After watching the video on the future of the book (http://vimeo.com/channels/ideo#15142335) and then watching a couple of other videos from IDEO, I came away with a few thoughts:

• The freedom of having patrons "who are comfortable with BETA" (Paul Bennett at the Economist Conference) who understand and are comfortable with change in progress toward a positive goal....

• Patrons who expect multi (-tasking, -functionality) look forward to "mashups" like the coffeehouse in the library; group rather than individual projects...

• What if our patrons thought of the library as a center of Information/Learning/Ideas with a lot of books rather than just a place with a lot of books....

just some thoughts for my first entry.....

Self checkout of library items

Self-checkout for library patrons of borrowed items is a reoccurring item.  Is it time for the library to allow patron self-checkout?  How trusting do we want to become since self-checkout would allow the patron to desensitize items, potentially bypassing our anti-theft systems.  Based on system cost, what's it worth to us?

http://www.demco.com/goto?BLK100882&ALL0000

Getting Started

Whether the learning curve is forced upon us by job requirements or self initiated by curiosity, learning new technology has become a way of life for most of us.  Or we can slough it off at the risk of becoming hopelessly antiquated.  This blog is an attempt on my part to learn the medium and, hopefully, do something productive with it.  Follow along as I learn.