The Nine Tribes of the Internet

Digital Collaborators, Ambivalent Networkers, Media Movers, Roving Nodes, Mobile Newbies, Desktop Veterans, Drifting Surfers, Information Encumbered, or Tech Indifferents - what Tribe of Internet users do you belong to? What tribes do library customers belong to? This presentation from the Pew Internet & American Life Project looks at how the information ecosystem has changed, and why we should use varied digital strategies to serve the needs of different tribes of technology users.

http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2009/21--The-Nine-Tribes-of-the-Internet.aspx

Did you know 4.0

Another official update to the "Shift Happens" video. This version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence...

• During February 2008, John McCain raised $11 million for this presidential campaign through traditional fundraising. During the same 29 days, Obama leveraged online social networks to raise $55 million.
• Twitter played an unprecedented role in sharing information during the 2009 Iranian presidential election.
• 4.0 Prediction: The mobile device will be the world's primary connection tool to the Internet in 2020. I'm guessing 2015.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

A tale of two countries' libraries

A local (GTA) look at the public library sector and how they are adapting to change.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Insight/article/698252

The usual hook about libraries in decline, soon to be extinct, etc. (will journalists ever find a fresh angle?), but overall a good summary of the issues.

And a great quote from Wendy Newman:

• Libraries are not in a terminal state of decline, "they're not even sick....Libraries are back big-time, they're having a renaissance."

The future of libraries, with or without books

(CNN) -- "The stereotypical library is dying -- and it's taking its shushing ladies, dank smell and endless shelves of books with it."An interesting external take on how libraries are changing. Story Highlights:

• As books go digital, libraries are reevaluating their roles
• Some say libraries will soon act more like community centers
• Most say the physical book will stay in libraries, but with less importance
• Some libraries use futuristic tools to attract new patrons

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/04/future.library.technology/index.html?iref=newssearch

Social Networking and Kids

Common Sense Media has released the results of a national poll of teens and parents on social networking behaviors. The poll results showed that kids increasingly connect with friends, classmates and people with similar interests through social networks—and that parents are out of the loop.
Among the poll’s key findings:
- 22% of teens check social networking sites more than 10 times a day, while only 4% of parents believe kids are checking that much
- 51% percent of teens check social networking sites more than once a day, while only 23% of parents say their kids check more than once a day
- 28% have shared personal information that they normally wouldn’t have shared in public
- 25% have shared a profile with a false identity
- 39% have posted something they regretted
- 26% have pretended to be someone else online
- 54% have joined an online community or Facebook/MySpace group in support of a cause
- 34% have volunteered for a campaign, nonprofit or charity

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/teen-social-media

This We Believe - from George and Joan

Some well-articulated statements from George and Joan about the professional responsiblities of librarians in a wrold of change:
http://georgeandjoan.com/about/believe.html

J: I believe that librarians
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Do well to cultivate our innate curiosity. We benefit when we listen to and learn from other people, especially people who aren’t just like us.
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Are responsible for the consequences of our professional choices – including when the choice is to take no action, and even when the consequences are unintended.
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Need to be steadfast in support of our principles, and flexible in pursuit of new techniques for implementing those principles.
G: I believe that to thrive in the future, libraries and librarians must
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Understand our value proposition. What do we bring to our communities that no one else does? Is this valuable to our communities?
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Understand how the roles have changed (reference service, AV).
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Understand how the rules have changed (privacy, open source).
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Embrace the stereotype. Books are our brand. Reading, and by extension learning, is our most important product. Secular transformation is the outcome. But entertainment is OK, too.
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Avoid confusing the community with extraneous details or symbols.
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Avoid antagonizing the community with rules that are a holdover from the age of scarcity.
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Talk to non‐librarians in words that are meaningful to them, not us.
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Develop meaningful ways to measure and describe the work we do.
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Build teams that look like our communities.
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Continue to provide the respite from commercialism, while understanding that adopting a sanctimonious avoidance of the commercial world is not in the best long term interest of the institution, either.

George and Joan

George Needham and Joan Frye-Williams have formed a new consultancy to help libraries in future planning and strategy development.
They have a website:
http://georgeandjoan.com/about/who.html

and a blog:
http://www.georgeandjoan.com/blog/

Their what we believe statement sums it up:
http://georgeandjoan.com/about/believe.html