The changing world of librarians

Lee Rainie - @lrainie

Director

Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project

Presented to: DC/SLA Spring Workshop

April 24, 2013

2

“Tweckle (twek’ul) vt. To

abuse a speaker to Twitter

followers in the audience

while he/she is speaking.”

3

4

we need a tshirt, "I survived the keynote

disaster of 09"

it's awesome in the "I don't want to turn

away from the accident because I might see

a severed head" way

too bad they took my utensils away w/ my

plate. I could have jammed the butter knife

into my temple.

3 tech revolutions

Digital Revolution 1: Broadband Internet (85%)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

June 2000

April 2001

March 2002

March 2003

April 2004

March 2005

March 2006

March 2007

April 2008

April 2009

May 2010

Aug 2011

Dec 2012

Broadband at home

Dial-up at home

68%

3%

Networked creators and curators (among internet users)

• 69% are social networking site users

• 59% share photos and videos • 46% creators; 41% curators

• 37% contribute rankings and ratings

• 33% create content tags

• 30% share personal creations

• 26% post comments on sites and blogs

• 16% use Twitter

• 15% use Pinterest

• 14% are bloggers

• 13% use Instagram

• 6% use Tumblr

• 18% (of smartphone owners) share their locations; 74% get location info and do location sharing

Impact on librarians • Collections moved from atoms to bits

• More volume, velocity, and variety of information

• More self-starter searches; more complicated search and synthesis demanded of librarians

• Rise of “fifth estate” of civic and community actors

• More arguments in the culture – library “referees”?

• Collapsed contexts of messaging

Revolution 2: Mobile – 89% of adults 51% smartphones / 31% tablets

321.7

Total U.S. population: 315.5 million

2012

Apps > 50% of adults

22%

29%

38% 43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Sept 2009 May 2010 August 2011 April 2012

% of cell owners who have downloaded apps

• Attention zones change – “Continuous partial attention” – Deep dives – Info snacking

• Real-time, just-in-time searches and availability change process of acquiring and using information – Spontaneous activities – Be “ready for your closeup”

• Augmented reality highlights the merger of data world and real world

Impact on librarians

9%

49%

67%

76%

86% 87% 92%

7% 8%

25%

48%

61% 68% 73%

6% 4%

11%

25%

47%

49% 57%

1% 7%

13%

26%

29% 38%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

18-29 30-49 50-64 65+

Digital Revolution 3 Social networking – 59% of all adults

% of internet users

• Composition and character of people’s social networks changes AND networks become important channels of … – learning

– trust

– influence

• Organizations can become media companies themselves …

• … and “helper nodes” in people’s networks

Impact on organizations and their librarians

About our libraries research

• Goal: To study the changing role of public libraries and library users in the digital age

• Funded by a three-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

libraries.pewinternet.org

First phase: The rise of e-reading Late 2011: 16% of American adults read an e-book in past year

Late 2012: 23%

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Late 2011: 72% read a printed book

Late 2012: 67%

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30% of e-content readers say they are reading more now

Rise of e-reading devices

4%

12% 10%

19%

26%

3%

8% 10%

25%

31%

6%

17% 18%

33%

40%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

May-10 May-11 Dec-11 Nov-12 Jan-13

Ebook reader Tablet Has either tablet or Ebook reader

Mega Takeaway 1: People love their libraries even more for what they say about their communities

than for how libraries meet personal needs

• 91% say libraries are important to their communities

• 76% say libraries are important to them and their families

Robert Dawson photography - Library Road Trip http://www.robertdawson.com/pages/1/Public%20Library%3a%20An%20American%20Commons/Public%20Library%3a%20An%20American%20Commons

/

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1a) Libraries stack up well vs. others How confident? How important?

63 28 Library to community

2) People like librarians

• 98% of “ever” library visitors say interactions are “very positive”

• 81% of library visitors say librarians are “very helpful”

• 50% of “last year” visitors got help from a librarian

Mega Takeaway 3: Libraries have rebranded themselves as tech hubs

• 80% of Americans say borrowing books is a “very important” service libraries provide

• 80% say reference librarians are a “very important” service

• 77% say free access to computers and the internet is a “very important” service

Mega Takeaway 4: Libraries have a PR problem / opportunity

• 22% say that they know all or most of the services their libraries offer

• 46% say they know some of what their libraries offer

• 31% said they know not much or nothing at all of what their libraries offer

Mega Takeaway 5 : There is churn in library use that restocks the user base

Reasons library use INCREASED (26%)

Enjoy taking their children, grandchildren 26%

Do research and use reference materials 14%

Borrow books more 12%

Student 10%

Use library computers and internet 8%

Have more time to read now, retired 6%

To save money 6%

Good selection and variety 5%

E-books, audio books, media are available 5%

Convenient 5%

Reading more now 5%

Library events and activities 4%

Good library and helpful staff 3%

Quiet, relaxing time, social locale 2%

Use for my job 2%

Reasons library use DECREASED (22%)

Can get books, do research online and the internet is more convenient

40%

Library is not as useful because my children have grown, I'm retired, I'm no longer a student

16%

Too busy, no time 12%

Can't get to library, moved, don't know where library is

9%

Prefer e-books 6%

Prefer to buy books or get books from friends

5%

Not interested 4% Health issues 3% Don't read much these days 3% Don't like local library or staff 3% Children are too young 2%

Mega Takeaway 6: There is a truly detached population out there that matters to you

• 20% never saw a family member use a library when they were growing up

• 16% have never visited a library

• 23% didn’t read a book last 12 months

How you can help us

• Help us think through a study on “information omnivores” – Talks with Janice Lachance and Brent Mai

• Help think through a study on “information rich and information poor”

• Sign up to participate in our research (and

encourage your friends!): http://libraries.pewinternet.org/participate/

Libraries.pewinternet.org Lee Rainie Email: lrainie@pewinternet.org Twitter: @Lrainie Kathryn Zickuhr Email: kzickuhr@pewinternet.org Twitter: @kzickuhr

Kristen Purcell Email: @kpurcell@pewinternet.org Twitter: @kristenpurcell