The Net Gen Meets Melvil Dewey or We’re Not in Kansas Anymore

1. Michael RidleyChief Information Officer & Chief LibrarianUniversity of Guelph Re-Imaging the Library The Net Gen Meets Melvil Dewey or We’re Not in Kansas Anymore Toronto Public Library: Information Services ConferenceInformation Service in the 21st CenturyNovember 23, 2005

2. The Bottom Line...... • The Net Generation is different. • They think differently, they act differently, and they want libraries to behave differently. Who are these people? What are we going to do?

3. Melvil and Dorothy

4. Disclaimer • I’m an academic librarian. • Worse than that, I’m now a University administrator. • However......

6. The Disconnect • “Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.” ...Marc Prensky

7. Digital Natives & Digital Immigrants • “Our Digital Immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language.”...Marc Prensky

8. “When simple change becomes transformational change, the desire for continuity becomes a dysfunctional mirage.” The Mirage of Continuity (1999) Hawkins & Battin

9. “Thelibrary of the future will combine … ... a managedplace … … with a managed digital space.”

10. Our Enduring Values StewardshipDemocracyServiceRationalismPrivacyEquity of AccessIntellectual FreedomLiteracy and Learning

11. Baby Boomers Generation X Net Gen • Video games • Computers • Email • The Web • Mobile devices • IM • Online communities TV generation Typewriters Memos Product of the Environment

12. Television Cell Video Phone Games Reading Media Exposure 25000 20000 15000 E-mails 10000 5000 0

13. Teen’s Web Use • 100% use the Internet to seek information on colleges, careers and jobs • 74% of teens use IM as a major communication vehicle vs. 44% of online adults • 54% of students (grades 7-12) know more IM screen names than home phone numbers

14. What They Want from the Net New & exciting Learnmore/better Community Show otherswhat I can do Be heard 0 20 60 40 80

15. Watch TV while online Visit a site mentioned by someone on the phone Visit website seen on TV Multitasking While Online Listen to music while online Talk on phone while online Send an IM to person you’re talking to Visit website mentioned on radio 0 40 60 80

16. Mature 63% Boomer 55% Gen X 38% Net Gen 26% Age vs. Online Preferences Students who were satisfied by web-based learning

17. Students Compared to Faculty Students Faculty Multitasking Single or limited tasks Pictures, sound, video Text Random access Linear, logical, sequential Interactive & networked Independent & individual Engaging Disciplined Spontaneous Deliberate

18. Learning Preferences • Teams, peer-to-peer • Structure • Engagement & experience • Visual & kinesthetic • Things that matter

19. Towards the Digital Library Three Key Transformations

20. Omnipresent(it will be wherever the users are) From Database/Repository to Seamless(fully integrated withdigital learningand research; beyond?) Environment (Managed Digital Space) Community(resources, people, interaction, process, activities, services) Dynamic & Organic(the users will construct it as much as we will)

21. From Information Management to Coherence & Sense Making(value added outcomes and benefits) Knowledge Management People Centric(a focus on understanding not just data) Explicit & Tacit Knowledge(beyond recorded information) Trusted Information Systems(status, reputation, influence, impact)

22. Intelligent AgentsPersonal Information Systems(discovery, assistance, utility) Control(users not systems) Managing People’s Interests(trusted information systems) Wireless Communication(whenever, wherever, right now) From People Finding Information to Smart Information(telemetry, propagation) Information Finding People

23. Web 2.0

24. Web 2.0 • Blogs • Wikis • Syndication (RSS) • Tagging • Social Networking

25. Web 2.0: Implications • The ILS is Dead • Interoperability / Standards • “We’re in Control.” Say What!? • Living on the Bleeding Edge • Lib 2.0

26. Paul SaffoInstitute for the Future • “The future belongs to neither the conduit or content players, but to those who control the filtering, searching and sense-making tools we will rely on to navigate through the expanses of cyberspace.”

27. Paul SaffoInstitute for the Future • “The future belongs to neither the conduit or content players, but to those who control the filtering, searching and sense-making tools we will rely on to navigate through the expanses of cyberspace.”

28. Paul SaffoInstitute for the Future • “The future belongs to neither the conduit or content players, but to those who control the filtering, searching and sense-making tools we will rely on to navigate through the expanses of cyberspace.”

29. Blogs@Guelph • Support and encourage blogging for all faculty, students and staff. • Enable discourse, reading/writing, engagement, reflection. • Learn the dynamics and the culture. • Expect excitement, yawns .... and some fireworks.

30. Learning Commons

31. Learning Commons Not Information Commons

32. University of Guelph Research-intensive Strategic Directions Learner-centred

33. Learner Centred The University of Guelph is determined to put the learner at the centre of all it does, recognizing that a great university is a community of scholars, that research and teaching are intimately linked, and that learning is a life-long commitment.

34. D-oh!

35. Learning Commons • a consolidation of services to support student learning, writing, research & technology • a common, convenient and accessible location with extended hours of operation • a vehicle for new collaborative opportunities

36. Five Pillars Learning Research Writing InformationTechnology Numeracy

37. Supplemental Services Generic skills; resources; information & awareness FrameworkforDesign & Delivery Integrated Services Specially designed sessions & workshops Embedded Services Collaborations with faculty & TAs embedded in the learning experience

38. Five Interesting Things.... Peer Helpers Food, Drink & Noise Wireless & Laptop Loans Integrated Desks Service & LearningParadigms

42. Measures of Success • Increased use of all resources • Higher student achievement • Integration of services (synergy) • Understanding of student/faculty needs • Integrated planning & budgeting • Engagement & motivation • Student satisfaction

43. Post Literacy

44. The Premise..... • Just as the powerful capabilities of literacy effectively displaced primary orality, so too is it not only likely but inevitable that literacy will be displaced by a more powerful tool, capability or capacity.

45. The Corollary..... Post literacy is nota decline from literacy

46. UNIV1200Beyond Literacy: Are Reading and Writing Doomed? • 1st year seminar course • vehicle for student learning in a small group setting • multidisciplinary focus • provocative ideas & active learning • research program model

47. Literacy Orality

48. Characteristics of Post Literacy • clarity & precision • expressive & nuanced • persistent; overcome time & space • individual & group; create community & enable individual identity • active & passive • advantageous

49. The Impact..... Disruption Suspicion & Distrust Loss Unsophisticated Early adopters Elitism & Power Mainstream Transition

50. The Candidates..... Bio-Computing Unused Capacity of the Brain Telepathy / Collective Unconscious Genetic Memory Post Humans