Strategic Priorities in Libraries:Focus on the Transformations

Stephen Abram, MLSWeb 2.012

Oct. 3, 2012

These slides are available at Stephen’s Lighthouse blog

Change

We Only Get So Many Once-in-a-Lifetime

Chances To Do Great Things

News Flash “The Internet and technology have now

progressed to their infancy”

So how must library strategies change?

Conclusions Up Front

1. Prioritize Programs not Collections2. Drive ‘Reference’ with Data and Know Your Top

Questions3. Balance of Physical and Virtual4. Invest Time in Demographics and Analytics5. Put Technological Tools in Context . . . As tools6. Build Recreational Reading Away From Effort and

Get Real About the eBook Issue7. Homework: Deal With It8. Transliteracy is a Key Opportunity9. Partnerships are about everything

Specific Challenges

1. Setting Priorities and Making Sacrifices2. Innovation Culture, Pilots and Diffusion3. Program Hiatuses4. Backroom and Front Room Balance5. Alignment with Goals6. Measuring the Right Stuff7. Organizational Structure and Governance8. Investing in HR Development & Cross-training9. Sacred Cows (desks, books, …)10. Promotion, Marketing, Communication, Advocacy

Change can happen very fast

Sensemaking

What is an EXPERIENCE?What is a library experience?

What differentiates a library experience from a transaction?

What differentiates libraries from Google/Bing?

The Evolution

of Answers

Why do people ask questions?

Is your library experience conceptually organized around answers and programs?

Or collections, technology and buildings?

Why do people ask questions?

Who, What, When, Where How & Why Data – Information – Knowledge - Behavior To Learn or to Know To Acquire Information, Clarify, Tune To Decide, to Solve, to Choose, to Delay To Interview, Delve, Interact, Progress To Entertain or Socialize To Reduce Fear To Help, Aid, Cure, Be a Friend To Win A Bet

What are your top 10-20 questions?What is the service portfolio model

that goes with those?

The Baker’s Dozen: Sample Top 13

1. Health and Wellness / Community Health / Nutrition / Diet / Recovery

2. DIY Do It Yourself Activities and Car Repair 3. Genealogy 4. Test prep (SAT, ACT, occupational tests, etc. etc.) 5. Legal Questions (including family law, divorce, adoption, etc) 6. Hobbies, Games and Gardening 7. Local History 8. Consumer reviews (Choosing a car, appliance, etc.) 9. Homework Help (grade school) 10. Technology Skills (software, hardware, web) 11. Government Programs, Services and Taxation 12. Self-help/personal development 13. Careers (jobs, counselling, etc.) 14. Readers Advisory was 14th

Knitting & Needlecrafts

Arts & Crafts

Television Shows

Gardening

Pets

Music

Traveling, Tourism & Vacations

Exercise, Cycling & Walking

Movies & Film

Computers

Cooking & Recipes

Recreational Reading

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Top 12 Patron Hobbies

Top Hobbies?Top Homework Questions?

Top Travel Destinations?What do you know?

Seth Godin on Decisions (June 8, 2011)

o Which of these are getting in the way?o You don't know what to doo You don't know how to do ito You don't have the authority or the resources to do ito You're afraido You believe that money matters mosto 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).

o Stuck is a state of mind, and it's curable.

What Are Libraries Really For?

• Community• Learning• Discovery• Progress• Research (Applied and Theoretical)• Cultural & Knowledge Custody • Economic Impact

What Are Libraries’ Strategies?

• Answer Questions• Train & Educate People• Align with curriculum standards• Align with Research Agenda• Improve the community from a social

AND economic point of view

What Are Librarians For?

• Expertise• Relationships• Transformation• Service (not servant)• Vision• Leadership• Economic Impact

Questions for Libraries Today:

1. Are our priorities right?2. Are learning, research, discovery changing

materially and what is actually changing?3. What is the foundation of future library

success . . . Books? Meh…4. What is the role for librarians in the real

future (that is not an extension of the past)?

Grocery Stores

Grocery Stores

Grocery Stores

Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

Meals

Let’s chat

What is a meal in library end-user or education and learning terms? Books versus Reading Library or Lesson level Niche marketing – undergrads, faculty, PhDs? How does the user change? Transform over

time?

Chefs, counsellors, teachers, magicians

Librarians play a vital role in building the critical connections between

information , knowledge and learning.

Service Metaphor

o Cafeteriaso Take Outo Private Dining Roomso Private Chefso Variety

Programs

What are the components of a program focus?

What lifts libraries beyond the foundation?

You have the tools.

Stop Making it So Hard!

Trans-Literacy: Move beyond reading & PC skills Reading literacy Numeracy Critical literacy Social literacy Computer literacy Web literacy Content literacy Written literacy

News literacy Technology literacy Information literacy Media literacy Adaptive literacy Research literacy Academic literacy Reputation, Etc.

Steal This Idea

GOOG

The nasty facts about Google &

Bing and consumer search:

SEO / SMOContent Farms

Advertiser-drivenGeotagging

StrategicAnalytics

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/walee.jpg

What We Never Really Knew Before (US/Canada)

27% of our users are under 18. 59% are female.

29% are college students. 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.

We often believe a lot

that isn’t true.

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.

What do we need to know?

How do library databases and virtual services compare with other web experiences?

Who are our core virtual users? Are there gaps? Does learning happen? How about discovery? What are user expectations for true satisfaction? How does library search compare to consumer

search like Google and retail or government? How do people find and connect with library virtual

services? Are end users being successful from their POV? Are they happy? Will they come back? Tell a friend?

So how must library strategies change?

Strategic Challenges for Reference and Research Work

in the Coming Decade

The BASICS

Data Information Knowledge Wisdom NOT Behavior

Death of Reference

Who What Where When Why How

How & Why Questions

Now that’s research The interview is more involved Transformational not Transactional Expertise counts The position and reputation of the delivery

professional is key Expertise is shared mutually Groups and patterns matter

What does all this mean?

The Article level universe The Chapter and Paragraph Universe Integrated with Visuals – graphics and charts Integrated with ‘video’ Integrated with Sound and Speech Integrated with social web Integrated with interaction and not just

interactivity How would you enhance a book?

What Strategies Should Change?

1. Evidence-based Reference Strategies2. Experience-based Portals: The New Commons3. Personal Service on Steroids4. Quality Strategies: Consumer vs. Professional

Search5. Social Networks and Recommendations6. Trans-literacy Strategies7. HR! People-driven Strategies8. Curriculum and Research Agenda9. Service and Programs

Recommendations

Strengthen Your Personal Brand Reposition the Library and Librarian separately Don’t Tie Yourself directly to Collections or

Physical Space . . . But access Network with Your Users Socially Measure, Don’t Count, Analyze Engage in partnerships Know Take Risks

Consider the differences . . .

Computer Commons Mall Service Commons Information Commons Knowledge Commons Learning Commons Science Commons Centre or Central? Physical / Virtual Hybrid

Think Long Term

What issues must libraries address?

Living in a parallel world Serving a hybrid world Changing their strategic planning models

to add more stretch into the environmental scans, creative thinking and imagination

Bringing staff and profession along the curve

12 steps . . .

What issues must libraries address?

Differential Adoption The generations are adopting at much

different rates and for different purposes

Boomers are the primary adopters of e-reading

Adult women are a major market for e-gaming

Students are resisting e-textbook adoption – for now.

Tablet adoption (ownership)

What issues must libraries address?

End of CD and DVD More e-Book and e-content formats Dealing with new potential walled

gardens for e-content (app stores, e-formats, single device stuff, etc.)

Mobility and smartphones and tablets

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. Engage in critical thinking not raw criticism. Be

constructive. Critical thinking is not part of dogma or religious

fervor or fan boy behavior. Blamestorming is a silly response & not strategic

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 over library obsession with statistics and

comprehensiveness. Get excellent at real measurements, sampling

and understanding impact and satisfaction. (Analytics, Foresee, Pew)

My Personal Hobby Horses This is an evolution not a revolution We need to revisit the concept of

preservation, archives, repositories, and conservation.

Check out new publishing models like Flipboard.

Watch for emerging book enhancements and other features that will challenge library metadata, selection policies, and collection development.

SmellyYellowLiquid

OrSex

Appeal?

There are no knights on horses in technology. Don’t hide!

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLAVP strategic partnerships and markets

Cengage Learning (Gale)Cel: 416-669-4855

stephen.abram@cengage.comStephen’s Lighthouse Blog

http://stephenslighthouse.comFacebook, Pinterest: Stephen Abram

LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen AbramTwitter: @sabram

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