The Digital Public Library for Flanders A strategic look into the future

1
The Digital Public Library for FlandersA
strategic look into the future

• Jan Braeckman
• Based on consultancy by ONE Agency
• Vlaams Centrum voor Openbare Bibliotheken
• Flemish Agency for Public Libraries

2
(No Transcript)
3
Political context

• Belgium 10 million
• Flanders 6 million
• (Dutch speaking)
• Brussels
• French speaking
• 4 million
• Brussels Wallonia

4
Cultural context

• Dutch speaking community in Europe is 22 million
• Netherlands 16 million
• Flanders 6 million

5
Consultancy

• What kind of investments have to make in order to
  develop a digital public library?
• Strategic study looking into the future
• 1st How will the future public behave in the
  evolving digital environment? How will people use
  media? gt What are people doing in a media 2.0
  environment?
• 2nd What will be the impact on the public
  library? What kind of digital library do we have
  to build in order to let it be useful for the
  future public?

6
Content choice
7
Communities 2.0

• People are increasingly engaged in on-line
  communities, where they find kindred spirits and
  where organizations can find groups with similar
  interests, ideas or wishes.

Social networks, sharing, ...
wikis
Social networks / virtual worlds
8
Shift of authority

• They do not see technology as an innovation
  instead, it is considered fundamentally an
  extension of their consciousness.
• Its part of how you behave, of where you live.

9
Social Network

• Hanging out with friends and family
• Making new friends
• Building groups/communities
• Impressing others
• Sharing experience
• Share media
• Playing
• Fighting
• Bullying

10
Generation Google

• Universe of the new user digital, shared with
  peers, enables participation, delivers
  immediately
• Future customers of libraries? Research of
  student behaviour
• 84 starts searching in Google, Yahoo.
• Only 1 considers using the website of a library
• Google is the public library of the new
  generations.

11
Blogs
12
Wikis, Newswikis, Swikis
13
You Tube
14
(No Transcript)
15
Web 2.0

• Web2.0 is the manifestation of
• Shifting power to consumers
• New communication and marketing
• Introducing new business models
• Introducing new technologies and rich internet
  experiences
• Shift of authority

16
Shift of authority

• Users decide on time, place, and content
• Users focus on digital communities and their peer
  groups
• Users focus on a universe of immediately
  available content
• Users co-create content, co-create their own
  digital environment
• gt The universe of the new public is digital,
  shared with peers, interactive participatory,
  immediately available / the universe is online

17

• What is the impact on public libraries?
• Change
• 4 roles for public libraries
• Strategy

18
The changes

• The (digital) public library has to focus on
  working with people rather than working with
  books.
• Focus shifts from carriers to content.
• The library evolves from a supplier of products
  and services to a facilitator for people to
  handle and develop their own products and
  services.
• The core business will shift from managing a
  physical (local) collection, to finding,
  interpreting, using, organising a larger,
  continuously expanding universal collection.

19
Libraries today

• Current strengths
• 1 million people visit a public library at least
  once a month 32 population uses the library,
  27 is member
• Local, accessible 800 locations, local flavour,
  adapt to local timing, local current affairs
• Home of physical media
• Focus on personal contact with people
• Physical place for social networks

20
Libraries today

• Weakness
• The library is a well known brand, but its image
  is grey, dusty, old fashioned especially with
  people who dont use the library
• For most people library equals books.
• Because of the less important position of the
  book as a source of information, people will stop
  associating the library with searching and
  finding information
• gt One of the big challenges in the future will
  be the re-branding of the library, and
  communicating its new identity

21
Change of roles

• The library has to keep its role in society to
  deliver quality services but should take into
  account the changed behaviour, control and
  expectations of new users it has to search a new
  equilibrium on the balance of authority.
• The library should assume 4 roles
• The library as gatekeeper
• The library as curator
• The library as guide
• The library as participant

22
The Library as gatekeeper
Stands for reliable information and collections,
quality selection and descriptions Related to the
local community
23
The Library as curator
Is an objective and qualitative store window of
information, media, and services Help people to
discover things they like, and didnt know New
things, and things out of the long tail Its the
libraries choice
24
The Library as guide
Learning how to fish the ocean of
information Learning how to search, find,
interpret, and share information and knowledge
25
The Library as participant
The library and its staff are full blown
participants of the Web 2.0 conversations,
relying on their specific expertise to of value
to the others On the same level as other
participants
26
Towards a strategy

• Strategy with 6 policy guidelines
• 3 programs

27
Policy guidelines

• One coherent strategy, one owner of this
  strategy Flemish government
• Expert organisation expertise on technology, on
  library business models, and on user behaviour
• Library staff training and education
• Influence the legal context for libraries
• Embed the digital strategy in a comprehensive
  vision on the future of libraries
• Develop partnerships media, heritage, publishing
  industry, education,

28
Programs

• Supporting the local library
• Awareness program
• Bridging the digital divide
• New applications for the public
• Searching (www.bibliotheek.be)
• New digital environments
• Data and metadata
• Digital collections
• Metadata
• Back office on a Flemish level

29
Looking back in the future

• Through the need for adaptation, this
  institutionhad to evolve and get rid of its
  traditional and static image to become a place
  with a new meaning and a diversified
  functioning.
• Gregory Blauwers
• Public libraries and urban regeneration
• From reading place to public space,
• University of Brussels, dissertation, 2007

30

• Thank you!
• http//www.slideshare.net/vcob/flemish-digital-pub
  lic-library-strategy
• (extended version)
• Jan.Braeckman_at_vcob.be