The Passive and Active Library
There is a trend underfoot. Libraries are moving away from being a passive to more active.
By passive, I don't mean that the librarians or staff were passive and just twiddling their thumbs. I mean that in the past the vast majority of library resources were housed within the library. Books, journals, databases, etc. were all inside the library. There wasn't electronic access. It wasn't too long ago that our databases were on CDs loaded on to individual computers. Even the most active and outgoing librarian who conducted many outreach programs, participated in grand rounds, taught educational sessions, and knew every patron's name still had a passive library, because the patrons had to come to the library to use the resources. The patrons were more active in their research, they came to the library, because they had to.
Now libraries are now becoming more active and the patrons are becoming more passive. With advances in technology a library's collection is no longer restricted to the confines of the library's physical space. The Internet allows librarians to create web pages to showcase resources. IP validation and open URL resolvers make it so anybody on the institution's network (physically or remotely) can access library resources. Patrons don't even need to be searching the library databases to get connected to the library's online collection. A Google search could bring up results from BMJ, JAMA, NEJM, or any other online journal and thanks to the "miracle" of institutional subscriptions and IP validation, the patron can get the full text without even realizing they were using the library. Essentially it is more like the library resources coming to the patron instead of the patron coming to the library, and I haven't even touched upon all the 2.0 technology tools which are supposed to reach out to the patron even more so.
Why is this such a big deal? Well the reason is that we are in the middle of a generation shift within the workplace. Ellen Detlefsen in MLA News (members only) writes about this generation shift within the library workforce. This is also applies to the library users as well. Seniors are defined as being born between 1925-1945. Baby Boomers were born between 1946-1964. Gen Xers were born between 1965-1980 and Millennials were born between 1981-2000. Now if my math is right, we have large chunk Gen X doctors and nurses working in our hospitals, and depending on their age and their chosen profession we have some Millenials too. The oldest Millenial is 28 years old. The vast majority of medical students straight out of undergraduate studies are Millenials. The oldest of the Boomers is 63 years old and looking towards retirement, maybe not in this year with the economy, but sooner than the Gen Xers.
So we have younger patrons, why is this such a big deal. This happens every generation. True, and with each generation are changes in society and technology that the previous generation did not experience. This is very noticeable right now the relationship our patrons have with technology. According to Forrester Research, technology is pervasive the life of a Millennial, using multiple communication devices is essential, and technology replaces the workaholic style.
Millenials are used to receiving information quickly from multiple sources and like process it immediately and have little tolerance for delays and expect speed from the Web. Older workers would rather receive information linearly, think about, digest it and have more patience when dealing with the Web and technology. If you think about it, this is how they use the library and search for information. You all have seen it, the resident who jumps onto Google stating they just need one quick good article on a topic. If they use the library for this, they are in and out of there and off to their next thing before you can glance at their badge to learn their name. Millennial patrons want information more at their finger tips, they don't want to have to go and get it. If they could upload information like the characters in The Matrix, I think many would think the giant plug in the back of their head would be an adequate trade off.
As our patron population has become more passive, preferring information to come to them or at least obscenely easy to find, our libraries have become more active by pushing access to resources beyond the physical boundaries and either finding patrons (RSS feeds) or making access easier.
Labels: Hospital Libraries, Technology
posted by The Krafty Librarian @ 7:44 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
It seems most people use our local libraries now for one of three things (in order of most popular): use public computers to access the internet (20 terminals, alaways full) OR to check out DVD's of movies for free OR to read a book. A larger number of books getting checked out are coming from the other network of libraries instead of just one library (my wife has books shipped in from other libraries on a weekly basis).
With the popularity of the Kindle reader from Amazon and iPhone apps for books we are seeing a new shift in how people even read books. What do you think?
Jason
JRS Medical
I live in central Massachusetts.I am a lifetime library lover.Yes, I see a lot more people checking out movies and using the computer.
But I don't mind that switch, especially if it keeps real libraries open.
However,libraries are no longer my silent bastian.
Librarians: start shushing again. Send children back to the children's library even if there are no available computers there or they think they are too old or their parents want to avoid parenting.Deal with cell phone users.
I have started using libraries daily for two reasons: the increases in internet communicating and my lack of funds or desire for a home computer. I have visited five libraries locally in the past four years.I am soft spoken and my mother is a retired librarian .When I have asked librarians even at my childhood library to quiet someone I could hear across the library I have been told to quiet the patrons myself.
This is a dangerous and, I feel, irresponsibly rude suggestion on the part of our public servant.Even if the noisy patron takes offense,they are in a library and the staff is trained and paid to deal effectively.I have continually been told this same thing by many more librarians by their lack of action.
I live in a very small town bordered by a larger one off of a major highway.
I have been searching for a real library and have been sadly disappointed in my town and those surrounding.
I actually found the Harvard Bookstore staff more professional in removing noisy cell phone talkers.
Am I a persnickety antisocializer or does our society need real libraries? Yes,especially, I come to think, for the poor people living in noisy cities and appartments, if not for picky spoiled me.
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