What are the Major Technology Trends that will Impact Library Services and their Users?

Brian KellyInnovation AdvocateCetisUniversity of BoltonBolton, UK

Contact DetailsEmail: ukwebfocus@gmail.comTwitter: @briankellyCetis Web site: http://www.cetis.ac.uk/Blog: http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/

Slides and further information available athttp://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/ili-2014/Accompanying blog post available at http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2014/10/17/

A presentation for the ILI 2014 conference, London on 21-22 October 2014

Event hashtag: #ili2014

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Contents

• About me• The NMC Horizon Report for Libraries and the

Delphi process: What are the major technology trends? Beyond the technology trends – the drivers

accelerating technology adoption Beyond the technology trends & drivers –

the challenges impeding technology adoption

• Carrying out your own trend analysis and preparing for the implications

• Conclusions

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About Me

Brian Kelly• Innovative Advocate at Cetis, University of Bolton• Interests in promoting use of innovative

technologies and practices in higher education

• Independent consultant from 28 October (TBC)!Long-standing involvement in:

• Supporting library sector & speaking at ILI conferences

In 2014:• Delivered “planning for the future” workshops at

international library conference in Pretoria & Bath• Invited expert, NMC Horizon Report, Academic

LibrariesIn 2013:

• Presented paper “Reflecting on Yesterday, Understanding Today, Planning for Tomorrow” paper at Umbrella 2013

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About the NMC Horizon Library Study

NMC Horizon Report, 2014: Library edition:• Published in Aug 2014• Based on ideas from

panel of experts• Ideas refined using Delphi

process• Report available under

Creative Commons licence

Your interests:• What are the technology trends? What are the implications

for me?• What is the ‘Delphi process’? Can I use it?

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NMC Panel

Panel composed of 47 library and technology experts from 16 countries on five continents(includes several speakers from ILI conferences)

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Short-Term Technology Trends

What technology trends did the NMC Horizon panel identify?

Seven key categories were identified:

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Short-Term Technology TrendsTwo areas of importance in the short-term (<1 year to adoption) were identified and prioritised:

“electronic publishing is redefining the tools between print and digital, still image and video, passive and interactive”Report gives examples of innovative uses e.g. ANU Press, established in 2003 to explore & enable new modes of scholarly publishing.

“the way we think about software itself is changing, and whole industries are adjusting to a new world in which sophisticated but simple tools routinely sell for 99 cents or are completely free”

Tech

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What’s Missing?

Let’s use the Delphi process (abbreviated version!):• What significant technology trends do you

feel will have an impact in the short term (< 1 year)

• Tweet (or shout) your ideas!• Session chair will record ideas

This is an example of crowd-sourcing ideas from a group of expertsVote on two ideas which you feel are most important:

• Area 1• Area 2

This is an example of how crowd-sourced ideas can be refined and prioritised

Tech

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ds hashtag: #ili2014 #fut

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Medium-Term Drivers

What trends driving technology adoption in the medium term (3-5 years?) did the NMC Horizon panel identify?

Trends are sorted into three movement-related categories: (1) fast-moving trends that will realize their impact in the next 1-2 years and two categories of slower-moving trends that will realize their impact within (2) 3-5 or (3) 5+ years.

After summarising technologies important in short-term, lets look at medium-term drivers of technology adoption

Tech

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rivers

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Medium-Term Drivers

Two drivers of technology adoption in medium term (3-5 years to adoption) were identified and prioritised:

“Once limited to print-based journals and monographic series, scholarly communications now reside in networked environments and can be accessed through an expansive array of publishing platforms”.

“Academic & research libraries are gradually embracing the movement toward openness as the Internet has opened the floodgates of information and scientific knowledge”.

Tech

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rivers

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What’s Missing?

Let’s use the Delphi process:• What significant drivers of technology

adoption do you feel will have an impact in the medium term (3-5 years)

• Tweet (or shout) your ideas!• Session chair will record ideas

This is a further example of crowd-sourcing ideas from a group of experts

Vote on two ideas which you feel are most important:• Area 1• Area 2

This is a further example of how crowd-sourced ideas can be refined based on your experiences

Tech

nolo

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rivers hashtag: #ili2014 #fut

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The Challenges

What challenges impeding technology adoption in academic and research libraries did the NMC Horizon panel identify?These were classed as:• Solvable Challenges: those

that we understand and know how to solve

• Difficult Challenges: Those that we understand but for which solutions are elusive

• Wicked Challenges: Those that are complex to even define, much less address

Th

e C

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The Challenges

Two difficult challenges were identified:

“It is important for these new digital data sets to be preserved alongside the research derived from them for future use and in longitudinal studies, but this presents a perpetual challenge for library acquisition and archiving practices as formats continue to evolve”.

“.. advents in Internet technology are fostering changes in patron behavior, challenging libraries to either participate in the online knowledge exchange or risk becoming obsolete over time. ”.

Th

e C

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ges

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What’s Missing?

Let’s use the Delphi process:• What:

Solvable Difficult Wickedchallenges are missing?

• Tweet (or shout) your ideas!• Session chair will record ideas

Choose on one idea per category:• Solvable• Difficult• Wicked

This is a further example of how crowd-sourced ideas can be prioritised based on your personal/institutional context

Th

e C

hallen

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hashtag: #ili2014 #fut

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Review

NMC Horizon report:• Provides insights into technological

trends, driver & barriers for library• Open methodology which caters for

experts highlighting their own particular interests

But:• It may not be applicable to your specific

context• It doesn’t address “What do I need to do

next?”

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The Full NMC Horizon Report

NMC Horizon report for Libraries 2014:• 50 pages• 18 topics

6 key trends

6 significant challenges

6 important technologies

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1

3

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Do it For Yourself

Do it for yourself!• Slides, exercises, etc. for half-day workshop

available under a Creative Commons licence

Workshop held at SAOIM 2014 (South Africa) & ELAG 2014 (Bath) conferences. See: • http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/saoim-2014-lets-predict-the-future-

workshop/• http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/elag-2014-preparing-for-the-future-

workshop/

As described

Institutional planning

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Participate in the NMC Webinar

NMC webinar (virtual symposium):• Based on Future

of Libraries report• Takes place on

Wed 12 Nov from 10.00-14.00 ET (15.00-19.00 GMT)

• Costs $59/$69 for non-members

See http://www.nmc.org/events/virtual-symposium-future-libraries

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Co-creation of New Insights

We have:• Seen selected examples of technology

trends, drivers & challenges as agreed to NMC Library panel of experts

• Learnt about the NMC’s Delphi processes• Contributed our perspectives• Voted on the ideas provided

Next steps:• Read the NMC Horizon Report and use it to

inform planning processes• Implement an institutional event to help

prepare your organisation for the future (run it annually?)

• Invite an independent consult to facilitate

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Opportunities for continuing the discussion:• At ILI

breaks• On the UK

Web Focus blog

Continue the Discussion

See https://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2014/10/17/

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Questions?

Any questions, comments, …?

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This presentation, “What are the Major Technology Trends that will Impact Library Services and their Users?”, by Brian Kelly, Cetis is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence

Note the licence covers most of the text in this presentation. Quotations may have other licence conditions.

Images may also have other licence conditions. Where possible links are provided to the source of images so that licence conditions can be found.Slides and further information available at:

http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/ili-2014/

Accompanying blog post at:http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2014/10/17/major-technology-trends-which-will-impact-libraries/

Licence and Additional Resources