Library 2.0: Speaking the Language of the Millennials
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Library 2.0: Speaking the Language of the Millennials Elisabeth E. Tully Oliver Wendell Holmes Library at Phillips Academy October, 2007
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Presentation given at AASL conference, October 2007
Transcript of Library 2.0: Speaking the Language of the Millennials
Library 2.0: Speaking the Language of the Millennials
Elisabeth E. Tully Oliver Wendell Holmes Library at Phillips AcademyOctober, 2007
Who are these kids?
“Digital Natives” (Marc Prensky, 2001)
• Like to receive information FAST• Used to parallel processing and
multi-tasking• Prefer images to text
• Prefer random (hypertext) access• Want to be continuously “connected”• Expect instant gratification and frequent rewards• Confident, assertive, entitled• Expect personalized services
Members of the PA Class of 2011 were born in 1993!
1. They are wireless, yet always connected.
2. "Google" has always been a verb. 3. Text messaging is their email. 4. Cell phones are essential
and ubiquitous. 5. The take the availability of
information for granted.
Do they really think differently?
“Different kinds of experiences lead to different brain structures.”Dr. Bruce D. Berry, Baylor College of Medicine
• 10,000 hours playing video games• 200,000 emails and IM’s sent and received• 20,000 hours watching TV• 5,000 hours reading
How serious is this language barrier?
Virtual Orientation
TRAILS
• Information Literacy Assessments
• Free and Web-based• General IL and category-
specific assessments• Targeted results
What do they really know?TRAILS (Tools for Real-time Assessment of Information
Literacy Skills) Results 2006
Graduation Year
Assessments Completed
Mean Score
2010 165 41.37
2009 48 43.69
2008 16 45.38
2007 11 44.64
The dilemma:
How to get the attention of kids who need instruction but don’t know it when we don’t even speak the same language.
Solution: We need to learn a new language.
But we’ve always done it this way!• Print-based
resources are our core collection.
• Our resources are much better than Google’s.
• Libraries are supposed to be silent.
• We are the keepers of information, students should just ask for help.
• Closed Stacks• Collection
Development• Walk-in
Services• “Read only"
catalog• Printed
newsletter mailed out
• Controlled vocabulary
“In Web 2.0 the Web becomes the center of a new digital lifestyle that changes our culture and touches every aspect of our lives.”
Tom Storey
What Web 2.0 features do Millennial our users want?
1. Simplicity2. Self-service : 24/7 access to
resources3. User participation4. Interactivity5. Collective Intelligence6. Novelty
Library 2.0 may be the Answer!
Our Library 2.0 Initiatives
1. Provide a “Google” experience
2. Push resources 24/73. Facilitate participation
with Blogs, Podcasts, and Flickr
4. Meet them in Facebook5. Collaborate with Wikis6. Communicate!
We need to be better than
We need to turn every language barrier into a Library 2.0 opportunity
Our users want SIMPLICITY.
We give them Federated Searching
Where would you go? Here?
The problem with our A to Z list• 75 separate databases• Non-descriptive names• Multiple interfaces• Search one at a time
Federated Search Provides• A single interface• A single search• Combined, de-duped results
PS+
Our users want self-service 24/7
• 24/7 support of the research process
• Help on their terms, on their devices
• 24/7 access to academic content
The Virtual Reference Desk
• IM Reference
• 24/7 Chat Reference
• SMS Reference
Are you on my buddy list?
They are mobile.
85% of PA students have cell phones.
We need to deliver resources and information to their cell phones.
Our users want Self-Service: We give them 24/7 access to academic content
Without going to the library!
Our users love social Networks
We meet them inside Facebook.
Millennials want to Participate
They want fresh, personalized, content, (and they like to see themselves and their friends.)
We give them BLOGS, Podcasts, and Flickr
Blogging as conversation
• Why blog?• How to blog• Issues and Options• Blogging software• Videoblogging
The Student Voice in Podcasts
• Why Podcast?• Podcasting 101• Tips on how to do it• Issues and Options
Podcasting software
• Record
• Edit
• Publish
Podifier
They want to see themselves and their friends
Library photo sets from
National Library Week
Oliver’s Travels
Dig This!
Millennials Collaborate
They love
We should too!
What is a wiki?
• Video introduction
The Lure of the Wiki
“Wikipedia is not just an encyclopedia. It is a knowledge community, uniting anonymous readers all over the world … It is a community devoted to a common good — the life of the intellect. Isn't that what we educators want to model for our students?”
CATHY N. DAVIDSON
What can you do with a Wiki?
• Give a presentation• Organize policies and
procedures• Create research guides• Teach a class• Showcase projects• Collaborate!
Millennials are always connected
Promoting recreational reading“I don’t have time to read.”
What about the good old stuff?
What makes a service Library 2.0? Any service, physical or virtual, that successfully reaches users, is evaluated frequently, and makes use of customer input is a Library 2.0 service. Even older, traditional services can be Library 2.0 if these criteria are met. Similarly, being new is not enough to make a service 2.0.
Michael Casey, LJ, 2006
Some final thoughts
• Don’t hesitate—embrace perpetual beta.
• Involve your users—adopt ”Radical trust.”
• Treat all students like distance education students: “Research from the dorm is the norm.”
• Remember that learning a language involves being willing to go outside your comfort zone—and you have to practice.
Action Plan: Play
• Library Success: Our Own Wiki
• Library 2.0: Our Own Social Network
Your Library belongs on YouTube
• Interval Library• What are your three Reas
ons?
It’s not about the tools…
It is about the communities and conversations they make possible
Christopher Harris, School Library journal, 5/1/2006
