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Imagine the Future
Trends beyond technology
Stephen Abram, MLS
Arizona Library Association
Tucson, AZ
These slides are available at Stephen’s Lighthouse blog Nov. 29, 2011

Don’t Sink into a Climate of Poverty

Symptoms of Dysfunction

 Terrible Advocacy
 Poor response to the e-Book challenge
 Generational disrespect
 Workplace friction
 Slow Technology Adoption

Is there still life in
libraries in a web world?

Yes, but . . .

Change: Are libraries
Future Ready?

1

2.0 Fill That Gap
3

What Are Libraries Really For?

• Community
• Learning
• Discovery
• Progress
• Research (Applied and Theoretical)
• Cultural & Knowledge Custody / Conservation
• Economic Impact

Smelly Or
Yellow Sex
Liquid Appeal?

News Flash
“The Internet and technology have
now progressed to their infancy”

7 Gifts to Libraries, Publishers & Booksellers

1. The book isn’t dead or dying. It is evolving.
2. Our users/customers are improving.
3. Technology is going social and can support social
acts.
4. The PC isn’t dead, but, again, it’s evolving and more
mobile.
5. We know more about our customers than ever
before.
6. Talent, Insight, Community, have social value.
7. Opportunities always exist more in times of change

NextGen Library Staff
They hate the term ‘NextGen’
(or any label for that matter)

Some hints from the research
 Boomer vs GenY
Don’t use family metaphors
 Offer non-compensation rewards, flexibility
 Involve them in decision-making
 Offer real development opportunities
 Prioritize social media freedom, device
flexibility, and work mobility over salary
 Listen, both ways – No telling!
 Respect goes a long way. The right to advise
must be earned

 “I didn’t quite my job because it was too
hard…I quit my job because it was not the best
use of my short life.”
 Social Responsibility
 Green
 Involvement Programs (YPO)
 Grapevine . . . Versus Control
 Make room for mistakes
 and you or your kids . . . What did you dream?

What is an EXPERIENCE?
What is a library experience?

The Book Comet

 Harper Collins fiasco
Amazon “authors”
 Google Bookstore
 Amazon Subscriptions and Lending
 24Symbols
 Bookish
 Pottermore
 Recommendation Engines
 Apple . . . iStore, iBooks

What does all this mean?

 The Article level universe
 The Chapter and Paragraph Universe
 Integrated with Visuals – graphics and charts
 Integrated with ‘video’
 Integrated with Sound and Speech
 Integrated with social web
 Integrated with interaction and not just interactivity
 How would you enhance a book?
 How do Libraries play the game?

Can we frame the e-book issue so
that it can be addressed rationally?

Why do people read?
1. To learn
2. To engage in hearing other’s opinions (to agree or disagree or understand)
3. To develop more knowledge about myself and develop as a whole person
4. To be entertained and laugh, to engage and interact
5. To address boredom and the inexorable progress of time
6. To research and keep up-to-date
7. To participate well in civil society (everything from news to voting)
8. To be informed (and maybe smarter)
9. To understand others (individually and culturally)
10. To escape our day-to-day lives
11. To stimulate the imagination and be inspired or spiritual
12. To write and communicate better through reading others
13. To teach
14. To have something to talk about
15. To connect with like-minded people

List of content farms and general spammy
user generated content sites:
 All Experts (allexperts.com)  Experts Exchange (experts-exchange.com)
 Answers (answers.com)  eZine Articles (ezinearticles.com)
 Answer Bag (answerbag.com)  Find Articles (findarticles.com)
 Articles Base (articlesbase.com)  FixYa (fixya.com Helium (helium.com)
 Ask (ask.com)  Hub Pages (hubpages.com)
 Associated Content (associatedcontent.com)  InfoBarrel (infobarrel.com)
 BizRate (bizrate.com)  Livestrong (livestrong.com)
 Buzle (buzzle.com)  Mahalo (mahalo.com)
 Brothersoft (brothersoft.com)  Mail Archive (mail-archive.com)
 Bytes (bytes.com)  Question Hub (questionhub.com)
 ChaCha (chacha.com)  Squidoo (squidoo.com)
 eFreedom (efreedom.com)  Suite101 (suite101.com)
 eHow (ehow.com)  Twenga (twenga.com)
 Essortment (essortment.com)  WiseGeek (wisegeek.com)
 Examiner (examiner.com)  Wonder How To (wonderhowto.com)
 Expert Village (expertvillage.com)  Yahoo! Answers (answers.yahoo.com)
 )  Xomba (xomba.com)

The nasty facts
about Google &
Bing and
consumer search:

SEO / SMO
Content Farms
Advertiser-driven
Geotagging

Whack-a-Mole:

Farmer
Panda
Panda Silver

What are your top 10-20 questions?
What is the service portfolio model
that goes with those?

The Baker’s Dozen: LVA Top 13
1. Health and Wellness / Community Health / Nutrition / Diet /
Recovery
2. DIY Do It Yourself Activities and Car Repair
3. Genealogy
4. Test prep (SAT, ACT, occupational tests, etc. etc.)
5. Legal Questions (including family law, divorce, adoption, etc)
6. Hobbies, Games and Gardening
7. Local History
8. Consumer reviews (Choosing a car, appliance, etc.)
9. Homework Help (grade school)
10. Technology Skills (software, hardware, web)
11. Government Programs, Services and Taxation
12. Self-help/personal development
13. Careers (jobs, counselling, etc.)
14. Readers Advisory was 14th

Top 12 Patron Hobbies
Recreational Reading

Cooking & Recipes

Computers

Movies & Film

Exercise, Cycling & Walking

Traveling, Tourism & Vacations
Top Hobbies?
Music
Top Homework Questions?
Pets Top Travel Destinations?
Gardening
What do you know?

Television Shows

Arts & Crafts

Knitting & Needlecrafts

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

The new
bibliography and
collection
development

KNOWLEDGE
PORTALS
KNOWLEDGE,
LEARNING,
INFORMATION &
RESEARCH
COMMONS

Driving the Knowledge Portal to an
Experience Portal by aligning with
User Behaviour and Goals

How would this look?

 This year’s plan:
 Determine Top Reference and Research ?’s
 Do you know your impact numbers or
circulation numbers better?
 Health & Wellness
 Career Advice and Job Finding
 Genealogy
 Homework
 Partnerships

Fun Program Ideas

 Act Like a User Day (signs, sign up, ADD, kids)
 Librarian for a Day – Homework Peer Coaching
 Fraud and ID Theft Prevention
 Facebook for Teens – Study, Sharing and Social Safety
Facebook for Adults – Work, Reputation, Jobs
 Top 20 Questions Portals Focus Groups
 eBay (Cameras, How to, Books, etc.)
 Perennial Trade / Garden Days
 Collections Slap Down
 Research Success for Adult Learners
 Download Faire / Digital Days
 23 Things TNG

The Virtual Handout

 The Value of Public Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/06/the-value-of-
public-libraries/
 The Value of School Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/06/the-value-of-
school-libraries/
 The Value of Academic and College Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-
academic-and-college-libraries/
 The Value of Special Libraries
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/07/value-of-
special-libraries/
 Library Advocacy: Save the Library Campaigns
http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/04/01/save-the-
library-campaigns/

Libraries
Are Social
Institutions

Summary

 Respect the generations – learn from eachother
 End User Psychographic Centricity
 Focus on the Questions (Needs, CRM)
 Build or Buy Knowledge Portals (Meals)
 Emphasize Content Quality (not books)
 Expand Social Media Programs on Information Literacy
 Advocate and Align with the Listener
 Tell Stories, Have users tell stories
 Invest in Strategic Analytics – Measurements of
Impact, ROI and Value
 Collaborate vs. socialize

News Flash

News Flash

Shift Happens

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA
VP strategic partnerships and markets
Cengage Learning (Gale)
Cel: 416-669-4855
stephen.abram@cengage.com
Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
http://stephenslighthouse.com
Facebook or Google+: Stephen Abram
LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen Abram
Twitter: sabram
SlideShare: StephenAbram1

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