san josepl execview

Leah KrevitRice University

The Rest of Us

Stephen Abram, MLS, Gale Cengage LearningStrategic Planning for LibrariesSan Jose Public Library, July 15, 2010

Future Ready

A longer version of these slides is available at Stephen’s Lighthouse blog

Change and Challenges

We Only Get So Many Once-in-a-Lifetime Chances

To Do Great Things

What Would You Attempt If You

Knew You Would Not Fail?

What Are Libraries Really For?

• Economic Impact • Equity • Student Performance • Competitive Advantage• Municipal Efficiency• Non-partisan, non-commercial• Social Glue• Community• Learning• Interaction

20th Century Strategies

• Inventory and Collections• Buildings• Reading is Fundamental• Cardholders• Outreach• Circulation• Privacy

21st Century Strategies

• Content Access• Bricks and Clicks• Tricks• Communities• Impact• Reach• Programs• Social links

Bricks, Clicks and Tricks

Social Glue and Libraries

ASK YOURSELF

• What is more important for value based funding? What measurements?

• 6% annual increases in circulation?• 100% increases in ILL?• 500% increases in website hits?• 1000% increases in database results?• 50% increases in customer satisfaction?

6 Tricks You Can Do Right Away

• Number One:

• What are your top reference questions?

6 Tricks You Can Do Right Away

• Number Two:

• Promote your staff – FB, Tweets, web pages, photos

6 Tricks You Can Do Right Away

• Number Three:

• Do a Signage Audit

6 Tricks You Can Do Right Away

• Number Four:

• Get Some Widgets (Hint: API)

6 Tricks You Can Do Right Away

• Number Five:

• Get Jiggy with GIS.

6 Tricks You Can Do Right Away

• Number Six:

• Go Beyond Statistics• Google Analytics• Foresee

What We Never Knew Before

27% of our users are under 18. 59% are female. 29% are college students. 5% are professors and 6% are teachers. On any given day, 35% of our users are there for the

first time. 29% found our products via the library website. 59% found what they were looking for on their first

search. 72% trusted the content more than what they found

on Google. But, 81% still use Google.

Driving User to the Library

• Encyclopedia.com

• HighBeam

• WorldCat

• iPhone App

• Questia

• Geo-IP measures

• Etc.

• Watch for more . . .?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blu_blue/262096844/in/pool-booksandportraits

What does your best borrowed report look like?

BiblioCommons

Is your Community different?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjanebuy/340249608/in/pool-booksandportraits

How do your community contentreviews do?

Who is your best reviewer, teen reviewer?

Yes, this is ancient wisdom: clients aren't buying your hammer, they are buying the deck of their dreams.

Help them build it.

Are we going to a totally build it yourself world?

Imagine IKEA merging with GM...

The hardest question?

What will the future be like?

OK – Is stuff happening that

will change everything?

“The Internet has now progressed to its infancy”

Google Books

Settlement

The Article Economy++

Format Agnosticism

Google Editions:

Bookstore

SEO: Search Engine

Optimization

SMO: Social Media Optimization

I my customers

Geo-IP

Broadband

The Cloud…printing…software…storage

Social Literacy

Learning

Support Trans-LiteracyMove beyond reading & PC skills

• Reading literacy• Numeracy• Critical literacy• Social literacy• Computer literacy• Web literacy• Content literacy• Written literacy

• News literacy• Technology literacy• Information literacy• Media literacy• Adaptive literacy• Research literacy• Academic literacy• Privacy, Reputation,

Etc.

The Yahoo!/BingiPhone,

FacebookMigration

TransmogrifyingContainers

Devices like iPads,

Kobo, Kindles,

eDGe, and Mobile

Supporting the 21st Century book experience?

Kobo, Amazon, Apple, iPDF, etc. . . .

What about censorship?Freedom of expression?Freedom….in general

Mobile

The Experience

A Third Path

NextGen Differences

Increase in IQ - 15-20 PointsBrain Changes

Eye Movement Changes

Massive Behavioural ChangesBut still a 70% overlap with

Boomers

NextGen Differences

Brain Developmental ChangesUnderstanding Puberty &

Differences between Boys & GirlsGenomic Learning Styles

15 Years of Change in Canadian Curricula

Standardized Testing ProgressInternational Comparisons

Crime Rates down an average of 65%

OK – Now let’s ask ourselves what our

members/users really, REALLY

want?

Observe Your Users

Context is King,Contact trumps Culture Content is a Foundation

Community

Conversations

Relationships

Community Networks

The Social Life of Information

Life

Comfort

Progress

These are exciting times.

Choose between great and being The Greatest.

Can you be the LJ Library of the Year?

The power of libraries

Speak Out!

Trust Experiments!

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLAVP strategic partnerships and markets

Gale Cengage LearningCel: 416-669-4855

stephen.abram@cengage.com

Stephen’s Lighthouse Bloghttp://stephenslighthouse.com