How Many Balls Can You Balance?

How Many Balls Can You Balance? The New Multi-Generationalism George Needham at the Chicago Public Library Charlotte Kim Scholars in Residence Program November 12, 2008

The Juggler

Introducing…

Beloit College Mindset List, 2008

Who cares?

A bit of genealogy Dolores Needham Great-grandmother George Needham Grandfather Kate Callison Daughter Jake Callison Grandson Four generations of readers… … but not necessarily of library users!

Great-grandmother: Dolores
Constant reader: newspapers, novels, magazines, cereal boxes, anything in print
Member of two public libraries, one in Buffalo NY, one in Clearwater FL
Technologically set in the 1950s

Grandfather: George
Constant reader: Newspapers, magazines, mystery novels, business books
Member of the Columbus Metro Library, but buy most of my books and magazines
Technologically literate (Kindle, e-books) but not fluent

Daughter: Kate
Occasional reader: primarily magazines and newspapers online
Hasn’t been in a library since she graduated from Kent State, or, rather, she didn’t
Technologically fluent (lives on her BlackBerry)

Grandson: Jake
Engaged reader in many formats: subscribes to several magazines ( Nickelodeon , National Geographic Kids ), occasionally reads newspaper comics when he visits us
Goes to the Columbus Library when I take him there
Technologically immersed: the screen is real life

The older generations
“The Greatest Generation” and “Boomers”
Library users primarily text-oriented
Non-library users may be more visually or aurally oriented, but how would we know?
Traditional library services
But be careful not to stereotype!

The younger generations
“ GenX” and “Millennials”
Comfortable with visual, aural, and text-based information
Have always worked cooperatively, and in multitasking environments
But be careful not to stereotype!

Many names, similar ideas
“ Net-Gen” (Don Tapscott)
“ Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” (Marc Prensky)
“ Born with the Chip” (Stephen Abram and Judy Luther)
“ The Gamer Generation” (John Beck and Mitchell Wade)

Digital Natives

Digital Immigrants

Conventional speed 
Linear processing
Linear thinking
Text
Process
Reality
Technology: Uneasy partner
“ Twitch” speed
Parallel processing
Random access
Audio-pictorial
Payoff
Fantasy
Technology: Friend
Digital Digital Immigrants  Natives

“Born with the Chip”
Format-agnostic
Nomadic
Multitasking
Experiential
Collaborative
Integrated
Principled
Adaptive
Direct

Multiple paths to success
Many formats, many platforms
Consider the non-print learner
What can the user contribute?
The librarian as the “information priest” is as dead as Elvis
Rethink how we serve

Physical layouts of libraries, classroom, school buildings
Online services are journeys and markers, not destinations
24/7/365 is barely enough
Rethink where we serve

Short cuts, not training
Risk-taking and trial-and-error are OK
Expertise is more important than titles or credentials
Constant feedback --- both for users and for staff!
Some insights from gamers

How do we apply this now?
Use IM, text messaging, Twitter to offer service
Throw a LAN party
Bring Digital Natives into your planning process (even --- especially --- if they don’t have an MLS)
Respect non-print learning

The library in transition

To sum up…
Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.
Jorge Luis Borges

To continue the conversation…
[email_address]
http://scanblog.blogspot.com
http://feeds.feedburner.com/InfoblogGeorgeAndJoan

Sources referenced today
Stephen Abram and Judy Luther. “Born with the Chip.” ( Library Journal, May 1, 2004) http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA411572.html
John Beck and Mitchell Wade. Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever . (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2004) http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_all&q=got+game+gamer+generation
Tom McBride and Ron Nief. “Beloit College Mindset List: Mindset List for the Class of 2012.” (Beloit, Wisconsin: Beloit College, 2008) http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2012.php
Marc Prensky. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” In On the Horizon , (NCB University Press, 9:5, October 2001) http://tinyurl.com/ypgvf
Don Tapscott. Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation . (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998) http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/37625542&referer=brief_results

How Many Balls Can You Balance?

by GeorgeNeedham on Nov 25, 2008

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How Many Balls Can You Balance? — Presentation Transcript