This document discusses the future of libraries and how they must change and adapt to remain relevant. It argues that libraries need to shift their focus from books to becoming knowledge portals that emphasize learning, discovery, and community. Libraries should expand their social media programs and digital offerings while also improving their understanding of users through analytics. Specific strategies proposed include reorganizing libraries' front and back rooms, branding in key areas like education, and emphasizing quality online content and resources over physical books. The document advocates for libraries to take a more user-centric, socially-focused, and innovative approach to remain vital institutions in the 21st century.

1. FrankenLibraries: The Future? Serving Tea and Changing the Curve Stephen Abram, MLS Racine, Wisconsin July 11, 2011

2. Change These slides are available at Stephen’s Lighthouse blog

3. We Only Get So Many Once-in-a-Lifetime Chances To Do Great Things

4. News Flash “The Internet and technology have now progressed to their infancy”

12. So how must library and community strategies change?

18. Change can happen very fast

19. Sensemaking

20. News Flash News Flash Tech Shift Happens

22. You don't know what to do

23. You don't know how to do it

24. You don't have the authority or the resources to do it

25. You're afraid

26. Once you figure out what's getting in the way, it's far easier to find the answer (or decide to work on a different problem).

28. Focus on the ShiftsAnd Innovate THERE The biggest shift from the internet and the web has been the social web.

29. Libraries corereason to be ... Learning, Community Bridging the Divide

32. Social Recommendations

33. Facebook dominates Google and moves a generation

34. Twitter moves history in Egypt, US, Tunisia, Libya, Pakistan, Syria, etc. etc. a la WaelGholim

35. Tweets can move issues - #savelibraries, Geek the Library, etc.

36. MySpace fails, Delicious fails

37. Consolidation bubbles

39. Transparent distrust and radical intellect

40. The Filter Bubble

41. Finding black hole data (like non-digital)

42. Networking with a Closed Circle

43. Beyond search to find/discover, choose/use, understand/internalize and FORGET.

44. Tagging and organizing – offline remembering

45. Information ethics and creation

47. Learning

48. Discovery

49. Progress

50. Research (Applied and Theoretical)

51. Cultural & Knowledge Custody

53. -

54. Cook’s Voyage

55. Columbus, Cabot, Cortes

56. Magellan Columbus Cook

58. Questions for Libraries Today: Are our priorities right? Are learning, research, discovery changing materially and what is actually changing? Books. Meh. What is the role for librarians in the real future (that is not an extension of the past)? Are we for the 21st Century world that will be or the 20th Century one that was?

60. Grocery Stores

61. Grocery Stores

62. Grocery Stores

63. Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

64. Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

65. Meals

66. The new bibliography and collection development KNOWLEDGE PORTALS KNOWLEDGE, LEARNING, INFORMATION & RESEARCH COMMONS

70. Chefs, counsellors, teachers, magicians Librarians play a vital role in building the critical connections between information , knowledge and learning.

72. Take Out

73. Private Dining Rooms

74. Private Chefs

75. Variety

77. Stop Making it So Hard!

79. Technology literacy

80. Information literacy

81. Media literacy

82. Adaptive literacy

83. Research literacy

84. Academic literacy

85. Reputation, Etc.

86. Reading literacy

87. Numeracy

88. Critical literacy

89. Social literacy

90. Computer literacy

91. Web literacy

92. Content literacy

94. Steal This Idea

96. eZine Articles (ezinearticles.com)

97. Find Articles (findarticles.com)

98. FixYa (fixya.com Helium (helium.com)

99. Hub Pages (hubpages.com)

100. InfoBarrel (infobarrel.com)

101. Livestrong (livestrong.com)

102. Mahalo (mahalo.com)

103. Mail Archive (mail-archive.com)

104. Question Hub (questionhub.com)

105. Squidoo (squidoo.com)

106. Suite101 (suite101.com)

107. Twenga (twenga.com)

108. WiseGeek (wisegeek.com)

109. Wonder How To (wonderhowto.com)

110. Yahoo! Answers (answers.yahoo.com)

111. Xomba (xomba.com)

112. All Experts (allexperts.com)

113. Answers (answers.com)

114. Answer Bag (answerbag.com)

115. Articles Base (articlesbase.com)

116. Ask (ask.com)

117. Associated Content (associatedcontent.com)

118. BizRate (bizrate.com)

119. Buzle (buzzle.com)

120. Brothersoft (brothersoft.com)

121. Bytes (bytes.com)

122. ChaCha (chacha.com)

123. eFreedom (efreedom.com)

124. eHow (ehow.com)

125. Essortment (essortment.com)

126. Examiner (examiner.com)

127. Expert Village (expertvillage.com)

131. The nasty facts about Google & Bing and consumer search: SEO / SMO Content Farms Advertiser-driven Geotagging Whack-a-Mole: Farmer Panda Panda Silver GOOG

132. StrategicAnalytics

135. 59% are female.

136. 29% are college students.

137. 5% are professors and 6% are teachers.

138. On any given day, 35% of our users are there for the very first time!

139. Only 29% found the databases via the library website.

140. 59% found what they were looking for on their first search.

141. 72% trusted our content more than Google.

143. 71% of instructors that rated student engagement levels as “high” as a result of using technology in courses.

144. 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.

145. 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.

146. 87% of students believe online libraries and databases have had the most significant impact on their overall learning.

147. 62% identify blogs, wikis, and other online authoring tools while 59% identify YouTube and recorded lectures.

148. E-books and e-textbooks impact overall learning among 50% of students surveyed, while 42% of students identify online portals.

149. 44% of instructors believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on student engagement.

150. 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%)

151. 49% of students believe that online libraries and databases will have the greatest impact on student engagement.

154. Who are our core virtual users? Are there gaps?

155. What are the components of your community?

156. Does learning happen? How about discovery?

157. What are user expectations for true satisfaction?

158. How does library search compare to consumer search like Google and retail or government?

159. How do people find and connect with library virtual services?

160. Are end users being successful in their POV?

162. For Pete’s Sake:Share your AnalyticsInvest in Understanding

163. So how must library and community strategies change?

164. Books

165. We have a shallow understanding of the Codex – the book format(s)Transition from scrolls – illumination – codex – and beyond

167. Speaking of e-Books...

168. Can we frame the e-book issue so that it can be addressed rationally?

170. The Chapter and Paragraph Universe

171. Integrated with Visuals – graphics and charts

172. Integrated with ‘video’

173. Integrated with Sound and Speech

174. Integrated with social web

175. Integrated with interaction and not just interactivity

176. How would you enhance a book?

178. Non-Fiction

181. Borders Kobo, B&N Nook, Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad, Sony Reader, etc. . . .

183. Mobility

184. A 1965 iPhone

185. NextGen Whitespace Phones+ Social

192. GBS

193. Launched in US on June 30th

195. Back Office: Baker & Taylor Expected Launch July 2011

196. Expected Launch July 30th $15 Billion Franchise

197. What do libraries have? LibraryThing BiblioCommons ChiliFresh Etc.

202. Merge the backroom, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS

203. Brand Yourself in Key Areas

204. K-12 Education

205. Higher Ed – Distance Ed

206. Economic Leverage

207. Economic Transitioning

208. Career and Job Success

213. E-Learning

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

216. Focus on the Questions (Needs, CRM)

217. Build or Buy Knowledge Portals (Meals)

218. Emphasize Content Quality (not books)

219. Expand Social Media Programs on Information Literacy

220. Advocate and Align with the Listener

221. Tell Stories, Have users tell stories

222. Invest in Strategic Analytics – Measurements of Impact, ROI and Value

230. Take back the Strategy: Rebalance

232. Tell Stories Springboard Stories By Steve Denning

234. Stand Out!

235. Save the User!

236. Serve Everyone!

244. The power of libraries

245. A Third Path

247. Emboldened Librarians hold the key

248. 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 Facebook or Google+: Stephen Abram LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen Abram Twitter: sabram SlideShare: StephenAbram1