Title: Social Networking: The Confluence of Content, Collaboration and Community
1Social Networking The Confluence of Content,
Collaboration and Community
- Presented by
- Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D.
- Senior Research Scientist, OCLC
- Jasmine de Gaia
- Director, Social Networking Initiatives, OCLC
- Marie L. Radford, Ph.D.
- Associate Professor, Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
2Libraries
- Provide systems and services to meet the
information needs of differing groups - Largest groups
- Baby boomers
- Cohort 1
- Cohort 2
- Millennials
- Screenagers
3Who Are They?Baby Boomers
- Actual boom in births occurred between 1946 -
1964 - 1950s - Time of prosperity
- 1960s 1970s - Time of social upheaval
- Comprise largest part of workforce (45)
4Who Are They?Baby Boomers
- Cohort 2
- Born 1955 - 1964
- Less optimistic
- Distrust of government
- General cynicism
- Cohort 1
- Born 1946 - 1954
- Experimental
- Individualists
- Free spirited
- Social cause oriented
5Information PerspectivesBaby Boomers
- Value authoritative information
- Involved in information seeking
- Value library as place
- Use technology as tool
- Personalized service
6Who Are They?
- Millennials / NextGens / EchoBoomers / Gen Y
- Born between 1979 1994
- 75 80 Million
- Generational divide
- 13-28 year olds
- By 2010 will outnumber Baby Boomers
7Screenagers
- Youngest members of Millennial Generation
- Term coined in 1996 by Rushkoff
- Used here for 12-18 year olds
- Affinity for electronic communication
8Information PerspectivesMillennials
- Information is information
- Media formats dont matter
- Visual learners
- Process immediately
- Different research skills
9Information-seekers Preferences
- IMLS-funded projects
- How individuals find information to meet their
needs - Why information seekers do not choose to use
library services first for their information
needs - How libraries can develop services and systems to
meet the needs of information seekers
10- Sense-Making the Information Confluence
- The Whys and Hows of College and University User
Satisficing of Information Needs
11Baby BoomersConvenient Authoritative
- Yeah, well, actually I was going to be different
and not say Google. I do use Google, but I
also use two different library homepages and I
will go into the research databases do a search
there and then I will end up limiting myself
to the articles that are available online. - Google is user friendly library catalog is
not. - before I came to the library to use the MLA
database, I did a Google search and it turns out
that there is a professor at Berkeley who keeps a
really, really nice and fully updated page with
bibliographic references. - I'm suspicious of people who are publishing
on-line because usually the peer review is much
less rigorous. - I'm not trust(ing) everything that's on the
Internet
12Baby BoomersDid not use the library
- If I have a student mention a book and I'm not
familiar with that book, Amazon.com gives me a
brief synopsis, reader reviews of the book, so
it's a good, interesting first source to go to
for that kind of information. - before I came to the library to use the MLA
database, I did a Google search and it turns out
that there is a professor at Berkeley who keeps a
really, really nice and fully updated page with
bibliographic references.
13MillennialsConvenient Quick
- Also I just go ask my dad, and he'll tell me how
to put in a fence, you know? So why sort through
all this material when he'll just tell me - you need to know which database with
abstracting, indexing Google, I don't have to
know, I go to one spot. - first thing I do, is, I go to Google I don't
go into the library system unless I have to
because there's like 15 logins, you have to get
into the research databases. Then it takes you
out of that to the local consortium - I had the Google tool bar, tool bar on my
browser. I dont even have to go to a search
engine anymore. I mean it is literally one tab
down
14MillennialsDid not use the library
- The library is a good source if you have several
months. - Hard to find things in library catalog.
- Tried physical library but had to revert to
online library resources. -
- Yeah, I don't step in the library anymore
better to read a 25-page article from JSTOR than
250-page book. - Sometimes content can be sacrificed for format.
15- Seeking Synchronicity
- Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User,
Non-User, Librarian Perspectives
16VRS Transcript Analysis
- Population of 500,000 QuestionPoint VRS sessions
- In-depth analysis of n850, random sample
- Sessions coded as Millennial (secondary school or
collegiate) - n296
- Sessions coded as adult for comparison,
- n76
- Analysis of relational facilitators and barriers
reveal different communication patterns
17 Facilitators DifferencesMillennials (n296)
vs. Adults (n76)
- Lower averages (per transcript)
- Thanks 59 (175) vs. 75 (57)
- Self Disclosure 42 (125) vs. 63 (48)
- Closing Ritual 38 (111) vs. 50 (38)
- Lower averages (per occurrence)
- Seeking reassurance 56 (166) vs. 68 (52)
- Polite expressions 30 (90) vs. 33 (25)
- (n372 transcripts)
18 Facilitators DifferencesMillennials (n296)
vs. Adults (n76)
- Higher averages (per occurrence)
- Agree to suggestion 64 (188) vs. 47 (36)
- Lower case 43 (126) vs. 16 (12)
- Greeting Ritual 24 (70) vs. 16 (12)
- Admit lack knowledge 20 (58) vs. 7 (5)
- Interjections 20 (58) vs. 7 (5)
- Slang 9 (27) vs. 3 (2)
- (n372 transcripts)
19 Barriers DifferencesMillennials (n296) vs.
Adults (n76)
- Higher averages (per transcript) for
- Abrupt Endings 37 (109) vs. 28 (21)
- Impatience 4 (13) vs. 1 (1)
- Rude or Insulting 3 (9) vs. 0
- (n372 transcripts)
20What We Learned
- Libraries are trusted sources of information
- Search engines are trusted about the same
- People care about the quantity and quality of
information they find - They like convenience and speed
- They do not view paid information as more
accurate than free information - The image of libraries is
- BOOKS
- Patrons do not think of the library as an
important source of electronic information!
21Multiple Demands on the Library
22What Now?
- Three Opportunity Areas
- Content
- Access
- Services
231. Content
- What can libraries do?
- Tailor content
- Shape collections
- More choices
- Make discovery easy
241. Content
- What libraries are doing today
- WorldCat.org
- Discovery
- 24x7 access
- Online content
- Incorporating more relevant content
- Enabling user contributed content
252. Access
- What can libraries do?
- Expand search tools
- Expose library content through both
- Library interfaces
- Non-library interfaces
- Provide access anytime, anywhere
262. Access
- What libraries are doing today
- Broadcast federated search
- WorldCat Local
- Partnerships
- Web services
- Mobile interfaces
273. Services
- What can libraries do?
- Integrate physical spaces with virtual services
- Provide a comfortable environment
- Support collaboration
- Update infrastructure
- Provide media literacy skills
- Redesign the role of the
- librarian
283. Services
- What libraries are doing today
- Virtual reference
- Social networking tools
- Profiles
- User contributed content
- Tags
- Reviews
- Lists
- RSS feeds / alerts
- Recommendations
- Community tools
- Collaboration
29Conclusion
- Expectations not isolated
- Lead the way
- By understanding them, we can serve everyone
better
30Additional Resources
- Boomer Nation The Largest and Richest Generation
Ever and how it Changed America, S. Gillon. New
York Free Press, 2004. - Generations The History of Americas Future,
1584-2069, N. Strauss W. Howe. New York
Morrow, 1991. - Generations at Work, S. Luck. http//dps.dgs.virgi
nia.gov/Forum2006/Presentations/S20120PPSluck20G
enerations.ppt - Growing Up Digital, D. Tapscott.
www.growingupdigital.com - Millennial Behaviors and Demographics. Sweeney,R.
http//library1.njit.edu/staff-folders/sweeney/Mil
lennials/Article-Millennial-Behaviors.doc - Millennial Net Values Disconnects between
Libraries and the Information Age Mindset, R.
Mcdonald C. Thomas. http//dscholarship.lib.fsu.
edu/general/4/ - Millennials Rising The Next Generation, W. Howe
N. Strauss. New York Random House, 2000. - Net Generation Students and Libraries, J.
Lippincott. In Educating the Net Generation,
Educause 2005. - Screenagers and Live Chat Reference Living Up
to the Promise, M.L. Radford L.S. Connaway.
(February, 2007). Scan, 26(6), 31-39.
31Questions and Comments
- Lynn Silipigni Connaway
- Jasmine de Gaia
- Marie L. Radford