The document discusses trends in digital libraries and information access. It notes the fragmentation of content across different formats, devices, and platforms. This includes issues around ebooks, multimedia content, proprietary systems, and user demographics. The document provides recommendations to focus on users, experiment with mobile and social learning, and lobby for open access. It emphasizes an evolutionary approach and measuring impact over statistics. Libraries are encouraged to get to where users are through tools like elearning and mobility.

1. The Future: Digital/Print Library Hybrids
Stephen Abram, MLS
Maine, Thorndike Press, Dec. 5, 2012

4. Funding is Attitudinal … Support versus Commitment

5. Deer in headlamps slide here.

6. Positioning the Library in The Right Minds
Reading not Books
Librarians not Libraries
Questions not Answers
Knowledge not Information
Community and Learning not Warehouses
Measurements not Statistics
Members or Students or Faculty not Users
Full Intellectual Access not Physical Access
Professional Consultative Service not Servant or mere efficient and effective
service
6

7. Library Megatrends

8. Content Fragmentation
Digitization’s real impact – non-fiction
Format – living in all worlds
Print,
ePUB, PDF, Kindle, etc. etc.
CD, DVD, USB, etc. etc.
Streaming
Licenses, Open Access, Creative Commons, etc. etc.
eBooks
eJournals
eContent
Copyright Issues (NatGeo, Tasini, TPP, SOPA, etc. etc.)
Author Lawsuits

9. Beyond Text
Text
Graphics & Charts
Formulae
Pictures
Maps
Video
Audio
Gamification
Deep Data Mining
Assessments
Etc. etc.

10. Walled Gardens
ILS
CMS
Cloud(s)
Device dependencies
Formats (e.g. Kindle)
Amazon
Apple
ADVICE . . .

11. Learning Object Diversification
Textbooks
eLearning
Learning Management Systems
Cohort Learning Environments
Presentation Systems
Virtual Conference Environment
Personal Learning Environments
Collaboration Software
MOOCs

12. End User Fragmentation
Teens / Post-Millennials
Millennials
Other demographics
Business versus Consumer
The Device Divide
Mobility

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

14. Technology Fragmentation
Feature Phones
Smartphones
Tablets
Laptops
Desktops
Gaming stations
Television
E-Readers
Internet of Things
Browsers

16. 16

17. Black and White
The polarization of discussion
Dogmatic vs. Professional positions on: eBooks,
access, copyright, etc.

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
Strategic alignment – social, economic, demographic
Recommendations (LibraryThing for Libraries, BiblioCommons, Book
Psychic)
Community Glue
Economic Impact
Programs
Partnerships
Education and Learning
Audience in
Segmentation

27. Academic Research Libraries
eLearning
Repositories
Content Archipelagos
LibGuides
Patron-driven acquisitions
Information Fluency
Demarcation between Undergrad, Grad and Faculty/Staff strategies
Copyright compliance
E-Coursepacks and e-Reserves
Strategic budgeting
Partnerships

28. Community College and Undergrad
Information Literacy
Distance education and eLearning
Textbooks, Reserves, Coursepacks, e-all
MOOCs
Mobility
Collections for new degrees and certifications

29. School Libraries
Common Core
21st Century Learning
Future of the Textbook
Scaffolded Information Literacy / Fluency
Filters
Staff and Faculty relationships
Classroom pages

30. Specialized Libraries
Intranets
MS SharePoint
Relationship building
Embedded Librarianship

31. Consortia
DPLA
Library Renewal
EveryLibrary Advocacy PAC
OCLC Linked Data
3M e-books
CALIFA / Douglas County initiatives
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?

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

42. What are the real issues?
Craft versus Industrial Strength
Pilot, Project, Initiative versus Portfolio Strategy
Hand knitted prototypes versus Production
e.g. Information Literacy initiatives
Discovery versus Search versus Deep Search
eLearning units
Strategic Analytics
Value measures
Behaviours

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
Advance: 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
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 user, 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
 Reorganize for simplicity and flexibility
 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.
 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. My Personal Hobby Horses
 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.
 This is good since competition drives innovation and
we’re in a Renaissance not an end game right now.
 Engage in critical thinking not raw criticism. Be
constructive.
 Critical thinking is not part of dogma or religious fervor
or fan boy behavior.

55. My Personal Hobby Horses
 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. My Personal Hobby Horses
 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.
 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 the lion learns to write her 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@cengage.com
Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
http://stephenslighthouse.com
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LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen Abram
Twitter: @sabram
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