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The library and the network: a perspective Lorcan Dempsey OCLC Arlington County Virginia All Staff Day 1 December 2006 Credits Thanks to Joanne Cantrell for the slides reporting the Perceptions report.
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The library and the network: a perspective Lorcan Dempsey OCLC Arlington County Virginia All Staff Day 1 December 2006
Credits • Thanks to Joanne Cantrell for the slides reporting the Perceptions report. • Thanks to Alane Wilson and George Needham for some input and a couple of perceptions slides. The self-service grocery picture is George’s. • The perceptions report is at http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm • Minitex figures from Bill De John.
“Putting the world within reach”Arlington County Department of Libraries Even the most misfitting childWho's chanced upon the library's worth,Sits with the genius of the EarthAnd turns the key to the whole world. Ted Hughes ‘Hear it again’ New Library:The People's Network http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/lic/newlibrary/poem.html
A homeworkinterlude • Eoghan
His view of the library …. • Books • Complex/fragmented • Low gravitational pull • Wants to get to ‘fit for purpose’ material quickly “Why isn’t the library stuff in Wikipedia?”
Books Books, books, books, rows and rows of books, stacks of books, tables filled with books, people holding books, people checking out books. Libraries are all about books. That is what I think and that is what I will always think. 41-year-old from Canada
“Ithink the public libraries provide avery good service to the publicbut with using the computer it makes iteasierfor me to find information I would need on the internetwithout having to leave my home.” 54-year old from Canada
What is the first thing you think of when you think of the library? 69% Q807
…is the information you get from library sources more or less trustworthy than information you get from search engines?
Total Respondents - Satisfaction with overall experience provided by librarian vs. search engine Q665 and 1050
“Lifestyle fit” of information sourcesamong total respondents Q1345
The Library’s role in the communityamong U.K. respondentsNote: Graph represents those who “Completely agree” or “Agree” with the statements about their library. 75+%
Remarks:Perceptions • Books and place brand • Library digital resources: • Awareness? • Fit with lifestyle? • Trustworthiness? • Satisfaction? • What is distinctive impact?
The network rewrites the library?
Library enthusiasts Worker bees Drive in users Library Place Services First a comment on users Deff study http://www.deff.dk/content.aspx?itemguid={B8D2E65C-665F-48E7-A60B-5C10762F88E4} Self image based on …?
Attention • Then • Resources scarce, attention abundant • Now • Attention scarce, resources abundant Competition for attention
Then • Visible mediation • Now • Self service, invisible mediation
Then • Figure out what you want. Precise search. • Now • Broad and refine.
Then • Expertise, place, services: vertically organized around collections? • Now • Expertise, place, services, collections slide away from each other and are reconfigured ….? • Work together powerfully but may also be presented individually
Expertise • Visible • Assistance • Partners in learning • Partners in personal development • Youth? • Invisible • Fit for purpose information resources • Network services
Place • Self service • Guided • Available for consultancy • Third place • Learning place • Community fabric • At home • Youth?
example • Local history – then and now • Pamphlets, parish newsletters, local organizations, papers, … • Local history - now • Websites • Photographs • Flash drive • ….
Westerville Public Library
Services Self service Lifestyle e.g. Audio Workflow
Change • Adding value: synthesise, specialise, mobilise • Gravitational pull: the long tail revisited