Teens and Technology Designing the ultimate homepage for our teen patrons

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Teens and TechnologyDesigning the ultimate
homepage for our teen patrons

• Presented By
• Data Research Associates Group
• Thomas Hammel
• Gihan Mohamad
• Laura Philip
• Emily Weiss

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A Library Teen Web site. Why?

• Nearly 16 of teens dont visit their public or
  school libraries, according to a recent joint
  study by the Young Adult Library Services
  Association
• Teens prefer accessing the library remotely from
  the Internet, rather than in person

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Teenagers and Technology

• 17 million youth ages 12 through 17 use the
  Internet
• Teens and their parents generally think use of
  the Internet enhances the social life and
  academic work of children

(Lenhart, A., Rainie, L., Lewis, O. 2001)
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Teen Information Needs

• School and curriculum
• Recreational/social
• Personal development
• Vocational and career

Minudri (1974)
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Teen Perceptions

• Library information systems are formal and
  difficult to use
• Libraries tend to think of their systems as
  purely information systems
• Young adults see library systems as a way of
  communication as much as of researching
  information

Harris (2005)
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What Do Teens Want?

• Teenagers don't like to read a lot on the Web
• Teenagers don't like tiny font sizes
• Teenagers like interactive features
• Online quizzes
• Games
• Message boards

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Designing a Web Site for Teens

• Cool-looking graphics.
• Modest clean design.
• Separate sections for teens and children.
• The word kid is a teen repellent.

Jakob Nielsen (2005)
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Teens and the News

• 66 of high school students get their news and
  information from the news pages of Internet
  portals such as Google and Yahoo!
• 46 of students get news and information at least
  once a week from entertainment shows such as "The
  Daily Show," "The Colbert Report," and South
  Park.

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Teen and Health Information

• The rapid physical change from childhood to young
  adult tends to make adolescents extremely
  sensitive to their appearance. Walker, E.
  (2007)
• 55 of a sample of youths aged 15 to 30 years old
  in new York city reported seeking health
  information on the Internet. Bleakley, Merzel,
  VanDevanter, Messeri (2004)

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Top 10 Google Searches of 2006

• 1. Bebo
• 2. MySpace
• 3. World cup
• 4. Metacafe
• 5. Radioblog

• 6. Wikipedia
• 7. Video
• 8. Rebelde
• 9. Mininova
• 10. Wiki

Web 2.0 technologies dominate here. Videos,
streaming music, interactivity. Teens want
interactive information over static information.
(Source BBC News)
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• Today, librarians have the power to make the
  merger of information and communication
  technology work for people in ways that are
  enriching. Teenagers are our partners in the
  endeavor. They are the innovators whose
  imaginations we must value. We will not succeed
  without their vision and energy, and they will
  not become library users without our skill and
  passion.

Harris (2005)
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Data Research Associates Group

• Join DRAG and the Infomatrix Library as we
  endeavor to harness the creativity and motivation
  of the next generation of power users for
  libraries and information agencies

todays youth.
Thank you!