The Utopian Library

Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project

Program description on the CIL2008 website.

Presentation slides on Pew Internet website.

Information ecology has gone from industrial age of media to an age where info is abundant, cheap, and personally oriented. Internet plays a role in those changes.

75% of American adults and 93% of teens use the Internet
More than 50% have broadband in their homes
75% have cell phones
62% connect to the Internet wirelessly:

• 42% of adults connect to wi-fi via laptops
• 59% of adults connect to non-voice data communications via cell phones

Wireless connectivity has brought back a resurgence of email. Reports on “the death of email” is premature, especially in the age of wi-fi.

“WIRELESS MATTERS”

• screams to be made into a badge:

There’s a big spike in the number of young adults posting pictures online. Kids don’t leave the house without cell phone and digicam so that they can document everything.

• Pictures are a currency of community building and communication in the same way that text is.

“There’s a lot of blogging going on,” but it’s hard to talk to people about blogging and blog reading. The interface is somewhat invisible… ?

• Young people don’t consider their contributions to a social networking site as “blogging.”
• Many people don’t realize that they’re vieweing is a blog.

Video uploading has increased substantially. People are still remixing content. No increase in the number of teens making websites.

20% of young adults have created avatars for themselves

Pew partnered with the ILMS in a study prompted by the Government Printing Office question, “Do we know how people want to receive government documents?” Survey of 169 million people about how they want to get government and civic information related to 10 specific issues:

1. health
2. schooling/funding for education
3. taxes
4. changing job status
5. healthcare/benefit programs
6. social security/military benefits
7. voter registration/election information
8. local government
9. legal system
10. immigration

Participants were asked about what resources are available in their lives, including libraries.

• 53% of American adults had been to their libraries in the past year
• younger adults were the most likely to be library visitors
• no difference in library patronage based on race or ethnicity
• library users
  • had higher levels of education
  • are internet users
  • are broadband users
  • are parents of minor children

Resources used by participants to research their most recent life issues (in order of use):

1. Internet
2. Professionals
3. Friends/family
4. Printed publication
5. Organization

One-third were somewhat likely to use the library if research another issue in the future. The most likely groups to return are young people, low income users, less educated users, English-speaking Latinos, and African Americans

The library visit has become a social and technological learning experience. Visitors talk to staff and use technology. Patrons expect staff to know how to use resources and where to go to find information.

Why are young people such avid library users? Rainie’s hypothesis (since no research results are available yet): Young people…

• have had the most recent experience with libraries
• as students, they’ve become aware of how libraries have changed over time
• know that libraries can help them
• have had good experiences in the library and are likely to recall them when they need resources in the future

Conclusions:

• 53% is a good market share, but libraries can do more to increase public education and awareness of how libraries have changed.
• Lack of awareness can be an inhibitor to using the Internet.
• Non-Internet users don’t know about what libraries have and what they can do.
• We already know how libraries help people solve problems, but we need to work harder at mining user generated content to tell our stories.

Non-user outreach…

• Create a comfortable environment
• Make it clear that libraries solve other peoples’ problems
• Be a mentor; provide tech support; do a little hand holding

People rely on social networks now more than they have in the past, and on other people for recommendations. We’re in an era where the world is built around people and their social networks. This is where they learn, find out what’s newsworthy, and gain social support.

How can libraries be a node on someone’s social network? How can libraries fill in the gaps in the social networks with information that their users don’t have?

(and a P.S… for bloggers only: Pew has some new numbers on teen Internet use: 60% of teenagers use the Internet at libraries. The technology that we’re building into our libraries is having a payoff!)

Filed under: CIL2008, conference notes, libraries