CIL2007: Millennials and the Library

Marshal Breeding, Vanderbilt Library

  • Generations
    • Silent Gen
    • Baby boomers
    • Gen X
    • Millennials
  • Millennial characteristics
    • inate ability for tech
    • frenetic multitasking
    • comfortable w/ diverse types of digital media
    • highly interactive style of working
  • The Millennials are coming
    • creative, organized, independent
    • impatient, skeptical, sometime arrogant
    • status and authority don’t impress them
  • Contrast of Generations charts

  • approach to study and learning
    • “they do it all while studying”
    • 85% also listen to music
    • also…
      • tv
      • movie
      • im
      • chat
  • shaping collections for millennials
    • content
      • digital/immediate
    • discovery
      • more like the web
    • access
      • anytime/anywhere
  • consistent with existing trends
    • doesn’t conflict w/ needs of library users from previous generations
    • in tune w/ strategic direction most libraries have
    • a matter of degree
  • an urgent need
    • boomers and genx are happier w/ traditional content & modes of service
    • millennials will move on to non-library info if not satisfied
    • a lot at stake
  • content of collections
    • Ms comfortable w/ content in diverse media
  • multimedia
    • graphics over text
    • music & audio
    • video
    • Ms love to remix
  • collection possibilities
    • e-journals/e-books
    • podcasts of lectures
    • video libraries of stock footage
    • news archives
    • datasets: census/GIS
  • access to collections
    • best opportunity for impact
    • building collections well underway but how best to provide access
    • how to respond to their prefs
      • immediate
      • mobile
      • flexible
      • intuitive

  • heightened user expectations
    • expectations set by web
    • sophisticated web skills
    • low tolerance for clunky interface
    • confident in their abilities
  • problems with status quo
    • doesn’t meet expectations of current generation
    • too many interfaces
    • overly complex
    • not always intuitive

    • different locations for different types of information
  • Best library OPAC: A Card Catalog card on the screen?
  • Best we can do?
  • common tools for access to local collections
    • library opacs
    • links to aggregators/publishers
    • cross linking via OpenURL
    • journal finding aids
    • metasearch engines
    • all loosely coupled
  • Metasearch
    • inherently problematic
    • not immediate
    • relevancy ranking difficult
    • lake of deep results
    • interim solution
  • Change Underway
    • widespread dissatisfaction

    • movement to break out of current mold
    • decoupling of the front-end from the back-end
  • working toward the next generation of interfaces
    • redefinition of the library catalog
    • more comprehensive information discovery environments
    • better info delivery tools
    • more powerful search capabilities

    • more elegant presentation
  • comprehensive search service
    • more like OAI
    • problems of scale diminished
    • problems of cooperation exist
  • web 2.0 a good start
    • more social and collaborative
    • tools and tech that foster collaboration
    • blogs, wiki, tagging, social bookmarking, user rating, user reviews
  • Supporting technologies
    • web services
    • XML APIs
    • AJAX
    • Microformats
    • Opensearch vs SRU/SRW
  • replacement OPACs
  • expanded discovery and delivery tools
  • library developed solutions
  • redefinition of library catalogs
    • question traditional notions
    • no longer enough to provide a catalog of just print
    • digital resources can’t be an afterthought
    • multiple interfaces less tenable
    • work toward equal footing for digital and print
  • interface expectations
    • millennials are used to the Web
    • used to relevancy ranking
    • must be fast
    • rich visual information
    • facted browsing
    • navigational breadcrumbs
    • ratings and rankings
  • appropriate organizational structures
    • LCSH v FAST
    • Full MARC v Dublin Core
  • OCLC perceptions: Where do your users start?
  • Library Discovery Model
    • Library as search destination
    • non-library nterfaces
    • web services are an essential enabling technology
    • libraries lag behind in implementation of service oriented architecture
  • global arena
    • google, yahoo
    • google scholar
    • ask worldcat
    • wikipedia
    • google library print
  • local v global

    • how to lib collections relate to global realm
    • will mass digitization replace local collections
    • global arena excels at discovery
    • local arena focuses on delivery
  • multi-layered information discovery
  • google v libraries
    • unfounded concern
    • google based on discovery
    • libraries specialize in delivery

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *