Transcript Document

Emerging Vistas for the Library and
Information Services in the Digital Era
Vivek Patkar
[email protected]
Puducherry, December 9-11, 2014
 Inside the library
 Outside the library
 Technical training
 Global using ICT
Delivery
Purpose
 Academic
 Research
 Business
 General
LIS
SERVICE
Urgency
 One hour
 One day
 One week
 More time
Network Society
§ A modern society with social and
media infrastructure of networks that
characterise its mode of organisation
at all levels namely, individual, group
and societal.
§ These networks link almost every unit
or part of the society independent of
time and location.
J. V. Dijk, The Network Society, London, Sage Publications, 2012, 3rd edition.
Seven ‘Laws’ of Web
(B. Huberman, The Laws of the Web, Patterns in the Ecology of Information,
Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press, 2001)
1. The Law of Network Articulation:
In the network society, the social
relations are gaining influence as
compared to the social units they
are linking.
2. The Law of External Externality:
Networks have effects on things
or people external to the network.
There is a pressure to connect as
more people join the network.
3. The Law of Network Extension:
When networks such as Web grow,
they tend to become too big for any
individual to connect. Intermediaries
like search engines, portals and social
networking sites are thus necessary.
4. The Law of Small Worlds:
In large-scale networks, most units
are not neighbours, but can still reach
almost every unit in a few steps (six
degree of separation) creating a small
world. Clustering of units is the key.
[Watts, D.J. & Strogatz, S.H. “Collective Dynamics of
Networks”, Nature, 393, 1998, p.440.]
‘small-world’
5. The Law of the Limit to Attention: Since
everyone, in principle can connect and
communicate with everyone, there is a
limit to attention because time to read,
view or listen is limited. More the content
producers, the smaller is their audience in
general. [1% write, 9% comment and 90% consume]
6. The Power Law in Networks:
In large scale-free networks those units
already richer in links acquire even more.
7. The Law of Trend Amplification: Networks
are relational structures that tend to
reinforce existing social trends.
Teen Development Tasks
Use of new social media to,
¶ Develop a sense of self or identity
¶ Learn to form, maintain and terminate
close relationship with others
¶ Develop and mature psychologically
through experimentation
¶ Hone self-presentation skill
¶ Make balanced self-disclosure
Use these pointers for designing new LIS services
Service Expectations
† “Always-on” functionalities
† Delivery on personal digital devices
† Getting precise information in compact
form to avoid information overload
† Receiving the practice-oriented resources
that would guide effective multi-tasking
Services Implications:
rethinking,
restructuring and
rejuvenating constantly
Innovative LIS Approach:
Development of
partnerships,
collaborations and
shared services
is the key to remain
relevant in the digital era
New LIS Services
Facilitate extending:
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School library
Learning in general
Academic library
Research library
Corporate library
Public library
International Children’s Digital
Library (ICDL)
• The mission of the ICDL Foundation is to
excite and inspire the world's children to
become members of the global community
• Make children understand the value of
tolerance and respect for diverse cultures,
languages and ideas -- by making the best
in children's literature available online
http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
ICDL Based Activities
• Read for Pleasure: search books using simple search
or the advanced search or location search and read for free
• Digital Story Time: displaying and reading book from
the ICDL pages to the children using projector for enlarging the
display if possible
• Scavenger Hunt: pull out some particular terms from the
stories and then ask the children to try and find the books based on
those terms or ask more basic questions such as how many books
there are in the ICDL from different countries etc.
• Learning Languages: many of the books in the ICDL
are available in more than one language. These books can help to
study a new language by reading in both the known & new language
• Translation: aim is to translate every book in 100 languages
and everybody is welcome to contribute in this regard
• Teacher Training: to explain how the ICDL might be
used by teachers in their classroom for enriching the knowledge of
children, a Manual is available for this purpose
Connected Learning (CL)
CL supports constructivism in education as:
 CL is socially rooted, interest-driven, and
oriented towards educational, economic
or political opportunity
 CL is realized when a person is able to:
- pursue a personal interest or passion
with the support of friends and caring
experts, and
- link this learning to academic and
career success or civic engagement
Types of Learning
Three modes of learning:
1. The enactive mode fits learning
by direct action (like dancing)
2. The iconic mode fits learning by
the observation of visual models
(like simulation)
3. The symbolic mode fits learning by
symbol systems (like language)
The library can support them by
redesigning its space and services
3D Printing Service
Using special printers to build a 3D physical object
from its digital model from malleable raw material:
plastic, clay, cheese, chocolate or rubber.
3D Printing Service
 Teaching, research and vocational training would
be immensely facilitated by such a library service
 Policies for such a library service like pricing, job
scheduling and output quality are to be framed
Digital Reference Service
‡ It is formed by answers given to queries
in a computer-mediated environment
‡ It involves building profile for material by
analysing question-answer transactions
‡ The profile can serve as metadata of a
document
‡ Material consulted could be bookmarked
for future use, while the answers can
become annotations to that material
Consolidated Services
¶ A government, research or public library
can plan services consolidating
information readily available in the
government and public sector domain
¶ In-house library service to support
addressing the RTI queries would be
valued mostly by the government offices
¶ A new priced reference service can
be planned on these lines by public
libraries to serve NGOs and researchers
Corporate Library Services
Analysis of the “Big” data using the
advanced ICT tools can help in:
☼ unlocking significant value by making
information transparent and usable
☼ offering custom-made solution
☼ improving decision-making
☼ innovating products and services
design of the parent organisation
Information Preference
Commercial firms value the information
services in the following priority:
I.
Records Management: current information
manipulation [operational purpose]
II. Knowledge Management: information
processed to support decision-making
[policy formulation]
III. Archives Management: storing and retrieving
historic information as per the need
[for legal matters]
IV. Library Management: documentary support
provision [standards, patents, best practices]
Social Media Literacy Service
Training topics:
❋ When to give focused attention and engage
in multi-tasking
❋ Evaluation of trustworthiness of the material
❋ Advising about the logic of the major online
information services providers
(their priority system, search utilities and privacy policies)
❋ When and how to participate in a discussion
❋ How to collaborate profitably
Laurie M. Bridges, “Librarian as Professor of Social Media Literacy,”
Journal of Library Innovation 3, no.1 (2012): 48.
Managing Online Personal Digital Assets
Online personal digital assets like blogs,
e-mails, and photos can be across
different platforms of the social media
They could be considered as the
footprints of the owner & worth
preserving as digital heritage
Privacy issues related to their
transfer will pose legal questions
Library service informing patrons about
developments in this context is welcome
Economical Progression
Experiences Experience Economy
Stage
Services Services Economy
Deliver
Goods Industrial Economy
Make
Commodities Agrarian Economy
Extract
Absorption
entertainment
(by sensing)
Passive
Participation
esthetic
(by cherishing)
education
(by learning)
escapism
(by doing)
Active
Participation
Immersion
Joseph B. Pine II and James H. Gilmore, “Welcome to the Experience Economy,”
Harvard Business Review 76, no.4 (July-August, 1998): 97.
New Service Feature
Delivery of information combined with
lifelike interactive experiences is seen
as the emerging need in the digital era
New search and
delivery technology
Today’s search evolves to include
taste, smell, texture, density, tone, speed…
Increase the Experience Value Opportunity (EVO)
Library Use of Social Media
Social media platforms are mostly free and
no programming is needed so that,
the library can increase its outreach by
– Highlighting the in-depth services
– Processing & sharing the resources
– Communicating valued information
– Providing support without exception
– Customising the services
Generativity of Services
• Generativity denotes a capacity to
produce unprompted change driven
by large uncoordinated audiences.
• Openness is its key as exemplified by
Wikipedia.
• Such services solicit participation from
the public at large, and that is achieved
by means the public can master easily.
Jonathan Zittrain, The Future of the Internet (Yale: Yale University Press, 2008).
Procrastination Principle
 It means instead of waiting to perfect
the service, launch it and allow largescale experimentation.
 The service may be incomplete and
users may be allowed to shape it in
many directions.
 Sort out the noxious developments later,
rather than trying to prevent them from
the outset and delay service launching.
The best is the enemy of the good
New LIS Professional
Likely Profile:
 Reputation Manager (a conceptual and contextual
understanding of content)
 Sentiment Analyst (use of computer and data mining
techniques to infer meaning from
digital texts)
 Ninja Librarian (Ninja librarians find you the information
you need before you even ask for it)
 Digital Information Services
Consultant
 Information Experience Facilitator
Thinking out of the LIS box
and experimenting is the key
Recommendations
LIS Education and Training:
 Auditing to ascertain the information
needs; how it is used and reused
 Skills necessary to handle “Big” data
 Deep knowledge of classification and
indexing for managing the mounting
volume of records and information
 Use of content analysis and text & web
mining
 Monitoring social media to track any
given issue
Use case study method and project assignments
Recommendations (2)
Research:
• On digital library services evaluation to
assess the return on investment
• On designing new strategies to remain
relevant in the changing ICT scene
• On organising unstructured information
like e-mails and chats and integrating it
with other structured data for analysis
• To determine strategies for settling the
claims of online personal digital assets
Recommendations (3)
Actions:
§ To increase social media presence using
suitable strategies
§ To impart training in the social media
literacy and enlightening users about
digital resources quality assessment
§ To design and delivery library services
matching the new experience economybased expectations of the users
§ To develop and present the library as an
information innovation organisation
Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic 301, no.6 (June 2008): 56.
Coda
The ICT should be treated only
as means for reinforcing the
service commitment, which has
been the core and hallmark of
the LIS institutions.