1. Working in The Information Future:
FrankenLibraries or Librarytopia
Stephen Abram, MLS
University of Ottawa, Jan. 16, 2013

4. It’s simple really
• Users will continue to be diverse in the extreme
• Expectations around timeliness will increase
• We will have a foot in both camps for many years to come: digital and print text
• Content will (is already) be dominated by non-text (gamification, 3D, visual,
audio, etc.)
• Search will explode with options
• The single purpose device is dead as a target environment
• Devices will focus on social, collaboration, sharing, multimedia
• Librarians will need to focus primarily on service and strategic alignment
(reduced roles in organizing knowledge)
• E-Learning, collections and metadata will go to the cloud massively
4

5. Market Share versus Winner Thinking
5

6. Deer in headlamps slide here.

7. Library Megatrends

8. Content Fragmentation
Digitization’s real impact – non-fiction
Format
Print, ePUB, PDF, Kindle, etc. etc.
CD, DVD, USB, etc. etc.
Streaming
Licenses, Open Access, Creative Commons, etc. etc.
eBooks, eJournals, eContent
Games, Learning Objects, Guides, …
Copyright Issues (NatGeo, Tasini, TPP, SOPA, etc. etc.)
Author Lawsuits, WikiLeaks
Citation fragmentation

9. Beyond Text
Text
Graphics & Charts
Formulae
Pictures, Maps
Video & Audio
3D objects
Gamification
Deep Data Mining
Assessments
Community collaboration, cohorts, & social sharing
etc. etc. etc.

10. Walled Gardens or Infinite Access
ILS
CMS
Cloud(s)
Device dependencies
Formats (e.g. Kindle)
Discovery versus consumer search versus native search
4 horseman to watch:
Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook (not Microsoft)

11. Learning Object Diversification
Textbooks
eLearning (white label, proprietary, custom,…)
Learning Management Systems
Cohort Learning Environments
Presentation Systems
Virtual Conference Environment
Personal Learning Environments (PLEs)
Collaboration Software
MOOCs, e-learning, ‘distance environments’
Open Access, scholarly publishing and deep aggregations digitization

12. End User Fragmentation
Teens / Post-Millennials
Millennials
Aging workforce and tipping points
Other demographics
The new digital divide is not economic or aligned with poverty
Business versus Consumer
The Device Divide
Mobility

13. Search Fragmentation
The new Algorithms
Consumer Search
Specialized Search
Professional Search
Semantic, Sentiment, Social, Suggestion Search etc.
Mobile search
Social search
Augmented Reality
SEO & SMO
Content Spam
Geo-location
Ultimate search choice

14. Technology Fragmentation
Feature Phones die
Smartphones
Tablets (Phablets?!)
Laptops
Desktops
Gaming stations
Television as device
E-Readers (e-paper versus plasma)
Internet of Things
Browsers lose dominance to apps and HTML5

16. 16

17. Black and White
The polarization of discussion
Dogmatic vs. Professional positions on: eBooks,
access, copyright, etc.
Political and social value systems in conflict

18. Black & White

23. Recognize key shifts

24. OMG – the digital book!
24

25. Trends Differ Slightly by Library Sector
Public Libraries
Academic Research Libraries
Community College Libraries
School Libraries
Specialized Libraries
Consortia

26. Public Libraries
Recommendations (LibraryThing for Libraries, BiblioCommons, Book
Psychic)
Community Glue
Economic Impact and VALUE studies
Programs on steroids aligned with collections and space
Partnerships
Education and Learning – REALLY committing to learning and
accreditation/ credits / diplomas / certificates
Renewed advocacy moves to Influencing and selling

27. Academic Research Libraries
Confronting and acknowledging the Academic Bubble
eLearning alignment, MOOCs, LibGuides
Repositories . . . Content Archipelagos? Standards and Cooperation
LibGuides next generation
Patron-driven acquisitions
Post-literacy: Information Fluency versus ‘literacy’
Demarcation between Undergrad, Grad and Faculty/Staff strategies
Dealing with different personae
Copyright compliance
E-Coursepacks and e-Reserves
Strategic budgeting
Partnerships and Liaison roles and managing same sustainably

28. Community College and Undergrad
Information Literacy
Distance education and eLearning
Textbooks, Reserves, Coursepacks, e-all
MOOCs
Mobility
Collections for new degrees and certifications
Dealing with the scalability issue in Higher Ed

29. School Libraries
Dealing with cost-effectiveness
Common Core and ‘new’ curriculum
Aligning with research
21st Century Learning
Future of the Textbook
Scaffolded Information Literacy / Fluency
Filters
Staff and Faculty relationships
Classroom pages
Impact

30. Specialized Libraries
Intranets
MS SharePoint
Relationship building
Embedded Librarianship
Personal branding
Outsourcing
Training (scalability)
Proving impact, value, and mission alignment

31. Consortia
Consortia
CRKN, OCUL, TAL, etc.
OCLC Linked Data, RDA and global metadata strategies
DPLA
Library Renewal
EveryLibrary Advocacy PAC
3M e-books (CALIFA / Douglas County initiatives)
Dark literature, orphan works, etc.
Cloud initiatives

32. So what is the answer?
Where are the real pain points?

34. Grocery Stores

35. Grocery Stores

36. Grocery Stores

37. Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

38. Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

39. Meals

40. Let’s think
Think: Are you thinking food, courses,
days, weekly plan, or nutrition overall?
What is a meal in library end-user community or research, education and
learning terms? Are you focusing on scale?

41. KNOWLEDGE
PORTALS
KNOWLEDGE,
LEARNING,
INFORMATION &
RESEARCH
COMMONS

42. What are the real issues?
Craft versus Industrial Strength
Personal service only when there’s impact
Pilot, Project, Initiative versus Portfolio Strategy
Hand-knitted prototypes versus Production
•e.g. Information Literacy initiatives
•Discovery versus Search versus Deep Search
•eLearning units
•Citation and information ethics
Strategic Analytics
Value measures
Behaviours, Satisfaction

43. What We Never Really Knew Before
 27% of our users are under 18.
 59% are female.
 29% are college students. often believe a lot that isn’t
We
true.
 5% are professors and 6% are teachers.
 On any given day, 35% of our users are there for the very
first time!
 Only 29% found the databases via the library website.
 59% found what they were looking for on their first search.
 72% trusted our content more than Google.
 But, 81% still use Google.

44. 2010 Eduventures Research on Investments
 58% of instructors believe that technology in courses positively impacts student engagement.
 71% of instructors that rated student engagement levels as “high” as a result of using technology in courses.
 71% of students who are employed full-time and 77% of students who are employed part-time prefer more technology-
based tools in the classroom.
 79% of instructors and 86 percent of students have seen the average level of engagement improve over the last year as
they have increased their use of digital educational tools.
 87% of students believe online libraries and databases have had the most significant impact on their overall
learning.
 62% identify blogs, wikis, and other online authoring tools while 59% identify YouTube and recorded lectures.
 E-books and e-textbooks impact overall learning among 50% of students surveyed, while 42% of students identify online
portals.
 44% of instructors believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on student
engagement.
 32% of instructors identify e-textbooks and 30% identify interactive homework solutions as having the potential to improve
engagement and learning outcomes. (e-readers was 11%)
 49% of students believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on student engagement.
 Students are more optimistic about the potential for technology.

45. What we know is POWERFUL! Facts + Stories
Via Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
“Curb Your Librarian Frustration in 8 Easy Steps”
New York State 2012 Summary of School Library Research
Ken Haycock OLA Summary of School Library Impact Studies
Gale / McKinley HS Study by Project Tomorrow
Project Tomorrow reports to Congress
Alison Head and Information Fluency research
Foresee Data and Overall Usage Data
Pew Internet & American Life reports
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation studies for ALA
IMLS, NCES, ARL, ACRL, ALA, LJ, etc.
45

48. Be More Open to the Users’ Path

49. What Would You Attempt If
You Knew You Would Not
Fail?

50. My Humble Recommendations
 Focus on the specific user niche, I mean really
 Pilot and experiment with mobile social cohorts
 Classes (mobile training or extended learning)
 Reading cohorts and book clubs
 Member, Researcher and Learner driven strategies first
 Associations, Consortia and Collaboratives
 Fundraising (e.g. Kickstarter)
 Reorganize for simplicity and flexibility, by function not subject
 Cross-functional Teams (business or sport)

51. My Humble Recommendations
 Actively lobby and educate to ensure that the
emerging mobile ecosystem supports the values
and principles of librarianship for balance in the
rights of end users for use, access, learning and
research.
 Support vendors and laws to be as agnostic as
possible by ensuring that, as far as possible your
services and content offerings support the widest
range of devices, formats, browsers, and platforms.

52. Get to where the user is.
eLearning, Mobile, Distant, Virtual
Tools

53. My Humble Recommendations
 Design for frictionless access using such
opportunities as geo-IP and mobile ready websites
 Test everything in all browsers – mobile or not – all
devices. You cannot control the end-user ecology
 Invest in usability research aimed at the user
experience and test and learn from it and share your
learning.
 Don’t prioritize the librarian experience first!
 Watch key developments in major publishing spaces
– retail, video, kiddy lit, textbooks, e-learning, fiction,
etc. Spot the differences and opportunities

54. This is an evolution not a revolution
 The REAL revolution was the Internet and the Web.
 The hybrid ecology is winning in the near term for
operating systems and content formats. It’s not going to
be print vs digital or tablets vs laptops. That’s too easy.
 This is good since competition drives innovation and
we’re in a Renaissance not an end game right now.
Ambiguity will rule and that’s uncomfortable.
 Engage in critical thinking not raw criticism. Be
constructive. Critical thinking is not part of dogma or
religious fervor or fan boy behavior.

55. This is an evolution not a revolution
 Perfectionism will not move us forward at this
juncture.
 Really understand the digital divide and remove your
economic and social class blinkers
 Get real about teens and Boomers
 Get over library obsession with statistics and
comprehensiveness.
 Get excellent at real measurements, sampling and
understanding impact and satisfaction. (Analytics,
Foresee, Pew)

56. This is an evolution not a revolution
 We need to revisit the concept of preservation,
archives, repositories, and conservation from an
access and linked data view.
 Check out new publishing models like
Flipboard and MOOCs.
 Watch for emerging book enhancements and
other features that will challenge library metadata,
selection policies, preservation, and collection
development.

57. The power of libraries

58. A Third Path

61. Smelly Or
Yellow Sex
Liquid Appeal?

62. Focus on the Whole Experience

64. Until lions learn to write their own story,
the story will always be from the perspective
of the hunter not the hunted.

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