Digital consumers

1. Digital consumers Professor David Nicholas CIBER University College London http://www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/ciber/ Numbers. If you get less than an audience of 50 its not just your inaugural, its also your last one! Iain S, my colleague who gave an inaugural several weeks ago got about 60 and I could not get less than him. Nearly got away with this, I have been here three years. I think they were just checking whether I would make it! I learned from Iain (and the virtual scholar research( that it is best to make it visible�so here we go Numbers. If you get less than an audience of 50 its not just your inaugural, its also your last one! Iain S, my colleague who gave an inaugural several weeks ago got about 60 and I could not get less than him. Nearly got away with this, I have been here three years. I think they were just checking whether I would make it! I learned from Iain (and the virtual scholar research( that it is best to make it visible�so here we go

2. Background Choice, digital transition, unbelievable access, Google & disintermediation transformed information landscape Because so much information seeking goes on remotely and anonymously have not woken up to this yet. Yet digital transition has further to go Still working on the basis of old paradigm Badly need to visualise and conceptualise what is going on Seiing the woods from the trees comes to mindSeiing the woods from the trees comes to mind

3. Methods Seven years of data � millions of digital footprints in e-book, e-journal, e-learning and e-cultural databases; every subject, every country What people did, not what they say they do or wish they did. Formidable evidence base. Deep log analysis; first the evidence, the map and then the questioning

4. ShibolethShiboleth

5. What have we learnt about information use, seeking and consuming?

6. Seemingly hugely popular � can�t get enough Access main driver. More people drawn into information net (all scholars now!) and existing users can search more freely & flexibly. One site saw 6 million pages viewed in 3 months; database containing full-text of 6000 journals saw 5995 used in a month; one e-journal database attracted half a million users in month Still growing: education; lifelong learning, stimulus, broadband learning fuelling growth, digitisation and digital preference Warm feeling? Not quite what you think� Of course education, education, education is the big call, more unis, lifelong learning, this is getting industrial�fuelling growth. As Bill knows a great business to be inOf course education, education, education is the big call, more unis, lifelong learning, this is getting industrial�fuelling growth. As Bill knows a great business to be in

7. ...much robotic Best kept secret Reflection of how things have changed Around half of all visitors to a scholarly site are robots. Sometimes 95%. H&C Mimic human information seeking to get entry And what are its characteristics� . Supposed to knock at the door to get permission to enter, and then to only certain areas of site.. Supposed to knock at the door to get permission to enter, and then to only certain areas of site.

8. Bouncing Over half visitors view 1-3 pages from thousands available. Bounce in and then out again Bounce because of search engines, massive choice, an �acceptance of failure� - shortage of time & overload Bouncing not always a sign of failure but can be Younger people bounce more They enter a site, view a page or two and then go off somewhere else and do the same there. Thus typically half of all visitors view 1-3 pages from thousands available to them (something that must break the hearts of web designers). They bounce for some of the same reasons mentioned above (search engines, massive choice and poor retrieval skills); after all bouncing is an inevitable consequence of promiscuity. However the mistake is assuming that all bouncing represents poor information seeking. In fact, it can also represent an informed and highly pragmatic form of information seeking, which is the inevitable result of digital overload and a shortage of time. Thus, the user might have done their homework and know exactly what they want and once they have found what they want. Furthermore because they know there is no way they can scroll through the 60,000 hits returned by most search engine queries, they accept that you have to choose what you find quickly and not what is best. We have dubbed this an �acceptance of failure�. Nevertheless the younger the person the more likely they are to bounce and this can be attributed partly to poor information skills.They enter a site, view a page or two and then go off somewhere else and do the same there. Thus typically half of all visitors view 1-3 pages from thousands available to them (something that must break the hearts of web designers). They bounce for some of the same reasons mentioned above (search engines, massive choice and poor retrieval skills); after all bouncing is an inevitable consequence of promiscuity. However the mistake is assuming that all bouncing represents poor information seeking. In fact, it can also represent an informed and highly pragmatic form of information seeking, which is the inevitable result of digital overload and a shortage of time. Thus, the user might have done their homework and know exactly what they want and once they have found what they want. Furthermore because they know there is no way they can scroll through the 60,000 hits returned by most search engine queries, they accept that you have to choose what you find quickly and not what is best. We have dubbed this an �acceptance of failure�. Nevertheless the younger the person the more likely they are to bounce and this can be attributed partly to poor information skills.

9. They are promiscuous Around 40% do not come back Choice, shop around, lured away be search engines Poor retrieval skills (2.3words) and leave memories in cyberspace add to �churn� rate Direct result of end-user checking Younger they are the more promiscuous they are; men more promiscuous than women! Many young people are promiscuous in information terms. Thus around 40% of visitors do not come back to a site; they shop around taking advantage of the huge information choice on offer and are easily lured away by search engines. Poor retrieval skills, which mean that young people go to places they don�t really want to go, and that fact that most people leave their memories in cyberspace adds to the churn rate. The younger the user the more promiscuous they are and this might well be down to a lack of experience and skill. Promiscuity should not necessarily be viewed in a purely detrimental light because it can also be portrayed as an end-user checking form of behaviour, which has been forced on users because of disintermediation in the information environment. They have to make their own choices now, and there are many more choices than there once was.Many young people are promiscuous in information terms. Thus around 40% of visitors do not come back to a site; they shop around taking advantage of the huge information choice on offer and are easily lured away by search engines. Poor retrieval skills, which mean that young people go to places they don�t really want to go, and that fact that most people leave their memories in cyberspace adds to the churn rate. The younger the user the more promiscuous they are and this might well be down to a lack of experience and skill. Promiscuity should not necessarily be viewed in a purely detrimental light because it can also be portrayed as an end-user checking form of behaviour, which has been forced on users because of disintermediation in the information environment. They have to make their own choices now, and there are many more choices than there once was.

10. The horizontal has replaced the vertical Promiscuity and bouncing creates flicking. Victoria! Hoover through titles, contents pages & abstracts at a huge rate and its pleasurable: I can update my knowledge very quickly�the sheer number of books is overwhelming, if I can look at them very quickly � you know within 15 mins, I can look at 3 or 4 books � and get some very superficial knowledge of what is in them, nevertheless it improves my scholarship, because in the back of my mind, these books already exist Great sense of achievement, like driving fast Abstracts once though to be dead in the light of full-text availability, but helps the power browsing Charge for them!Great sense of achievement, like driving fast Abstracts once though to be dead in the light of full-text availability, but helps the power browsing Charge for them!

11. Viewing has replaced reading Power browsing Have been conditioned by emailing, text messaging, Tweeting and PowerPoint Context: 15 minutes a long time online and an Internet year just 7 weeks Don�t view an article online for more than 5 or so minutes If long, either read abstract or squirrel away for a day when it will not be read (digital osmosis) Editors and length of articles Go online to avoid reading. Judges!

12. they like it simple Avoid carefully-crafted discovery systems. Killer stats (1): 4 months after SD content was opened to Google, a third of traffic to physics journals arrived that way. Effect particularly notable since physics richly endowed with information systems and services; (2) Historians biggest users of Google, together with young people. China! While Google searching hugely popular, once users enter a site browse rather than search again using internal search engine (don�t trust it). Advanced search used rarely, and hardly at all by highly-rated research institutions. Add-ons and innovations distinctly minority interest � blogs etc. Need to move from monitoring activity (use of resources) to monitoring users (information seeking behaviour) Especially given the different nature of the virtual audience and its anonymity Pre-occupied with resources/content when we offer a declining proportion Only through understanding information seeking can reach the high ground (establish satisfaction, scholarly outcomes and best practice) True for both publishers & librarians and as an industry know less about audience than any other industryNeed to move from monitoring activity (use of resources) to monitoring users (information seeking behaviour) Especially given the different nature of the virtual audience and its anonymity Pre-occupied with resources/content when we offer a declining proportion Only through understanding information seeking can reach the high ground (establish satisfaction, scholarly outcomes and best practice) True for both publishers & librarians and as an industry know less about audience than any other industry

13. Navigators: love to travel, do not always like getting there Navigating towards content in very large digital spaces a major activity. Motorways and roads. E-books People spend half their time viewing content, rest of the time they are trying to find there way to it or avoiding it

14. Diversity rules OK! Subject: Life Scientists insatiable Research-intensive universities behave very differently Per capita use highest in most research-intensive institutions Spend much less time on visit Forsake more of online facilities. More likely to enter via gateway site Searching: Germans most �successful� searchers & most active seekers. Age: older users more likely to come back, and view abstracts. Young use Google more, spend more time viewing. Also big differences in regard to gender, academic role etc. Need start using some of this stuff in systems design

15. Like �immersive� information environments not monasteries! Said something which threw us all initially - they could not understand why they had to do all the work in getting something from the website. At first this was attributed to laziness but it turned out not to be that. They felt the content was locked, submerged and they had to dig a lot to see it, when maybe the service could make some things available automatically � the data coming to them, rather than having to chase it. Social networking should be a given Returned book trolley!

16. Brand is much more complicated than you think Difficult in cyberspace: responsibility/authority almost impossible in a digital environment � so many players, so many brands, so much churn Also what you think is brand is not what other people think. Tesco! Best example here one from our health research � SurgeryDoor kiosk, NHS data, in Tescos. Whose information? Most though Tesco and were disappointed to find out it was from NHS Social networking is as much about who isn�t on the site as who is�. When libraries, museums and the like start profiles its �cool� brand is devalued. MySpace, Bebo and Facebook are all reporting visits down as parents and libraries pile in. Best example here one from our health research � SurgeryDoor kiosk, NHS data, in Tescos. Whose information? Most though Tesco and were disappointed to find out it was from NHS Social networking is as much about who isn�t on the site as who is�. When libraries, museums and the like start profiles its �cool� brand is devalued. MySpace, Bebo and Facebook are all reporting visits down as parents and libraries pile in.

17. �dive in if you see something free They love a bargain, a sale Jumped a hundredfold Viewing time droppedThey love a bargain, a sale Jumped a hundredfold Viewing time dropped

18. As for the Google generation? Lighter. View fewer pages, visited fewer sites and undertook fewer searches. Spend much less time on each question, a fraction of that spent by older generations. Trend intensifies as questions become more ambiguous. Lazier/direct. Their search statements were much closer textually to the question as given than older participants. Less confident They don't have the evaluation skills to really know, hence they cut and run. Far less confident about judging the quality/relevance of what they find. Crowd source Under 20s spend more time on social networking sites, are more regular users and rate them more importantly. Not kids but young adults the biggest users Multi-tasking Young adults the biggest but we don�t know that they are the best

19. Reflections on the virtual scholar In broad terms people�s behaviour can be portrayed as being frenetic, bouncing, navigating, checking and viewing. Also promiscuous, diverse and volatile. Possibly, in the case of the young, because of lacking a mental map, sense of collection, what is good, lacking information literacy Does this all constitute a dumbing down?

20. Possibly The study confirms what many are beginning to suspect: that the web is having a profound impact on how we conceptualise, seek, evaluate and use information. What Marshall McLuhan called 'the Gutenberg galaxy' - that universe of linear exposition, quiet contemplation, disciplined reading and study - is imploding, and we don't know if what will replace it will be better or worse. But at least you can find the Wikipedia entry for 'Gutenberg galaxy' in 0.34 seconds

21. Conclusions, thoughts and challenges Was it always so and worked with the wrong (ideal) models? Take book borrowing The future is now and most people have not woken up to it Understanding information seeking a prerequisite to determining outcomes�access is not an outcome. Better students, degrees, researchers, more funding are. All the Google Generation: fast information for fast food generation Information literacy � we are not doing it or doing it right Are we really benefiting from the information society and always on. Fast forwarding the virtual scholar to what? Whose responsibility � libraries decoupling & publishers new librarians?

23. Plug for the book of the PowerPoint