November 20, 2009
7 Biggest Barriers to Broadband Adoption in the US
FCC outlines seven biggest barriers to broadband adoption
"The Federal Commission has listed seven big bumps in the road towards universal use of broadband in the United States, including the TV set-top box innovation gap and the spectrum gap. The document may be a sneak preview of the agency's National Broadband Plan, to be released in February."
1. The Universal Service Fund.
2. The broadband adoption gap.
3. The consumer information gap.
4. The spectrum gap.
5. The deployment gap.
6. The television set-top box innovation gap.
7. The personal data gap.
Read the whole article.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:07 PM | Comments (0)
News versus Newspapers
This is an interesting study. We've been reading so much lately on the downturns in newspaperland but this is the most recent study I've seen combining sources of news and comparing readership. I can certainly see that many of the people I know who no longer read a print newspaper continue to be as well or better informed about current events.
Three Quarters of Adults are Reading Newspapers, in Print or Online (PDF; 144 KB)
"Three-quarters (74%) of U.S. adults, or nearly 171 million people, read a newspaper — in print or online — during the past week. This is according to the latest Integrated Newspaper Audience (INA)* finding from Scarborough Research, the audience ratings measurement service for the newspaper industry. The company examined newspaper readership in its recently released Scarborough USA+ Study, which captures media patterns and other consumer behaviors of adults across the country. The data analysis indicates that newspapers are still read in print or online by a critical mass of adults in the U.S. on a daily and weekly basis.
…
The analysis of Scarborough audience data not only indicated that newspapers are being read by a majority of adults in print and online, but also that these Integrated Newspaper Audiences continue to attract educated, affluent readers. In an average week:
» 79% of adults employed in white collar positions read a newspaper in print or online
» 82% of adults with household incomes of $100,000 or more read a printed newspaper in print or online
» 84% of adults who are college graduates or who have advanced degrees read a printed newspaper in print or online
Source: Scarborough Research (via Nielsen)" (Via Gary Price and ResourceShelf)
BTW I'm pretty sure that if you ahve an advanced degree or make over $100K you're in the older part of the sample. Many a retailer regretted staying with their core customers as they aged. Their market shrank over time relentlessly.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
November 18, 2009
Kindle Comes to Canada
OK, here's what you can buy me for Christmas (to us alongside my Sony Reader).
The Kindle has finally come to Canada (but it's not as good as the American version).
"Canada gets all of the following -
1.Free access to the Kindle Store via 3G wireless.
2.300,000 English language books.
3.$11.99 prices.
4.100,000 books under $5.99.
5.Newspapers and Magazines are also available
What does Canada not get?
1.No free Internet.
2.$2 extra for books due to wireless delivery charge.
3.No wireless delivery of personal documents.
4.No Kindle Blogs.
5.Prices in Canadian Dollars. Everything will be charged in US dollars"
Read the rest of the view after the link.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2009
Trends for 2010
Richard Watson has published his final list of Trends for 2010 (as well as repreating his 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 lists).
"The list (not in any particular order).
Globalization unravelling
Re-sourcing (industrial repatriation)
Expecting less
Conspicuous non-consumption
Unsupervised adults (UK only)
Constant partial stupidity
Digital isolation
Flight to the physical
Hunger for shared experiences
Fear fatigue (Max Kaeh’s idea)"
Read the bunch here.
Also, you must see his New Trends Map for 2010 based on the classic London Underground map. Awesome.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2009
Does Technology Make You Anti-Social?
Tech Geek Myth Busted: Top Ten Ways Technology Boosts Your Social Life
Quoting a Pew study, and yes, maybe I am a little defensive. "In 2006, a popular study by experts at Duke University and the University of Arizona concluded new technologies have been making loners of us since 1985. Earlier this month, this theory was challenged and perhaps debunked. New technologies actually increase our social interactions, not our isolation, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found."
10. There’s been no significant jump in the number of truly isolated Americans.
9. Web users are more likely to seek counsel outside their own family.
8. Many 18-22-year-olds use social networking to keep in contact with nearly all of their key contacts.
7. Internet users like clubs.
6. Technology users have more “core” friends in their discussion networks.
5. Web users leave their rooms.
4. Cell phone and web users make better neighbors.
3. Technology users seek conversation outside their marriage.
2. Sharing those family vacation photos online might make you more politically open minded.
1. Bloggers have more racially diverse friends.
Anyway, it makes sense that when it is easier to stay in touch . . . you do.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2009
The State of the States
Pew Center on the States Reports on States in Peril
Some states are better off than others. This report shows where some of the bad spots are.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:11 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2009
Mississauga Library System
The nice things about being at home every once in a while is that I get to visit local libraries in my neighbourhood.
I got to keynote the staff day at the Mississauga Library System (which is right beside Toronto).
Here is a copy of the presentation:
Innovation and Libraries
What is at the Heart of Libraries?
They gave me a cool 2010 lighthouse calendar too!
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:03 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2009
What do teen's want?
There has been so much debate about what exactly is it that teen's want and how does this affect library programs and services?
Two recent postings are helpful:
What DO Teens Want? (from The Sassy Librarian)
What Do Teens Want? By Carol Fitzgerald -- Publishers Weekly, 10/26/2009
The charts alone are wirth the link.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)
November 9, 2009
The Darien Library
Last weekend I had the pleasure of giving a speech for the annual meeting of The Darien Library in Connecticut. It was in their brand new (well almost new - 10 months old) building and I got to do a tour too.
Here is a copy of the slides:
Innovation for A Better Future
It’s 2010: Get Ready
This is a very cool library with an amazing staff and leadership.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 4:07 PM | Comments (0)
November 7, 2009
News for paranoiacs
From Thursday's Globe & Mail:
"“In Utah, the National Security Agency is building a $2-billion [U.S.] storage facility that will house and analyze all forms of electronic communication … a potential yottabyte of everyone's (formerly) personal data,” Gizmodo.com reports. “So how big is a yottabyte? CrunchGear puts it well: ‘There are a thousand gigabytes in a terabyte, a thousand terabytes in a petabyte, a thousand petabytes in an exabyte, a thousand exabytes in a zettabyte, and a thousand zettabytes in a yottabyte.' … To be fair, the yottabyte figure is just one estimate generated by a Pentagon think tank. The facility could hold a mere hundreds of petabytes. But either way, the prospect is as unsustainable as it is frightening. This one facility will burn through as much electricity as the entirety of Salt Lake City. All this data comes from the book The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency by Matthew M. Aid.”"
Hmmmm. With our head office in Utah maybe we can get this into the OPAC!
Just kiddin'
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:34 AM | Comments (0)
November 6, 2009
Peer-Based Return on Investment Calculator
Here's a great idea:
Lbrary Research Service has provided this:
Peer-Based Return on Investment Calculator
(for public libraries)
Try it out!
And don't forget the November 17th open and free SirsiDynix Institute on ROI with Ulla de Stricker:
We can count 'em...but do they count? Challenges in assessing ROI from information services
Register Today.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
Blended Online Education
Campus Technology website has an interesting summary of their webinar and some research:
Most College Students To Take Classes Online by 2014
1. "Nearly 12 million post-secondary students in the United States take some or all of their classes online right now."
2. "This number will skyrocket to more than 22 million in the next five years, according to data released recently by research firm Ambient Insight."
3. "Some 1.25 million students in higher education programs take all of their classes online, while another 10.65 take some of their classes online. The two groups are still outnumbered by students who take all of their courses in physical classrooms, which Ambient Insight reckoned at 15.14 million as of 2009."
4. "This situation will change drastically by 2014, at which time, Adkins forecast, only 5.14 million students will take all of their courses in a physical classroom, while 3.55 million will take all of their classes online, and 18.65 million will take some of their classes online."
Despite the recession, online learning is still growing. This research implies that the context for libraries in academic and college settings will transform very rapidly in the next five years, which isn't a very big window.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
November 5, 2009
Life Stages Reflections
On Monday night I had a unique and exciting dinner. It was with two of my grade school librarians, Ms Baird and Ms Carter. I had been anticipating dinner with them for weeks. I was very excited. I hadn't seen them in about 37 years.
You see, libraries saved my life. I was the nerdy, small (tiny actually - always the smallest boy in the class) kid who read. I didn't play sports at all. My social skills were a little off (and probably still are). That meant that playground bullying and beatings were the norm. That's part of the reason why I ended up in the school library. I was able to volunteer from grade 5 on with Mrs. Channen and that meant every day before and after school and at lunch. I never had a tan! I also learned to love and feel comfortable in libraries from an early age. I knew that the library was the place to go since I had been using the local public library at our old house regularly and felt safe there too. When my family moved I discovered that the library was the only anchor I trusted as a consistently safe place to read and learn. My bike ride to the far off public library branch was a godsend.
In high school I joined the Library Club and finally grew a lot in grade 9/10 (almost a foot in height over 10 months). I was lucky because my high school library was building a new library wing on stilts over the front door which was to open in grade 10 and it would be staffed by 4 school librarians and two secretaries supporting a school with three tracks (tech, general, academic) and almost 3,500 students. You can imagine that this was a very busy library where automation didn't exist beyond the Selectric. I'll never forget the day we moved all the books using a single chain of students who passed the books from one wing to another and up the stairs and still maintained the order perfectly. A huge library was moved lickety-split. My community also built a huge regional branch of the public library across the street and I spent many evenings there too.
How did we meet again? Well, recently I was at a party given by a friend (and great librarian) to celebrate his first ten years in Canada. It was a lot of fun and I met someone there with whom I had a conversation. He was 80 years old and had gotten his library degree in the same year of graduation as me, 1980. What a coincidence, I said, we're both coming up on our 30th anniversaries. I asked him what did you do before that? He had been a professional choreographer. I asked him if I might have seen any of his productions. He mentioned a few and then mentioned that he had done some high school choreography work too. I finally recognized him as Cliff, the choreographer who had done all of our amazing high school extravaganzas (Finian's Rainbow, King & I, Music Man...). What a small world! I knew that he had been good friends with my favourite school librarians so I asked after them, since I had been unsuccessful at ever finding them. He was still good friends with them and I gave him my card. I heard from Ms Baird, now Campbell, by e-mail the next day. We reconnected and decided to meet for dinner. (My brain was going OMG, OMG OMG. I am a little excitable - little ADHD Stephen still comes out to play occasionally.)
So, on Monday Ms (Baird) Campbell drove down to my neighbourhood and I learned that it was where she grew up. Ms Carter came in from out of town and came with Ms Campbell. My wife was there too (we met in the same high school and she performed in the school band for the musicals. If you watch closely in Saturday Night Live re-runs you can see our school bandleader's name on the wall at SNL.)
I recognized them right away. They looked the same! They quickly became Nora and Judy.
The time flew. We shared stories. I learned about their lives. We gossiped about other personalities in the school. Nora headed another Toronto high school library for 28 years and her two boys are very well educated. She still works part time in a school library. Judy has retired to her home town. I can't believe that they were both only in their early twenties when they made such a difference in my life as an awkward teen. They were always there to talk and advise - on homework, life, whatever.
So, if there are any school or public librarians out there working with kids and teens. Just remember that people remember you and what you do - even when they're 55 and old like me. This was a really big reconnection for me and I've been absorbing it all week. Somehow it was easier to find Little Stephen in myself this time and recognize that he made it through. Sometimes Big Stephen needs to remember that the bullying made him stronger and that he chose librarianship because he saw the difference librarians and libraries make in people's lives - especially his own. There will always be bullies in life and I learned to avoid them at a young age and, when they show up, not to let them deflect you from your path. Some people build up and develop and some people tear people down. I've been involved in almost every sector of librarianship in some way and the best librarians are those who build, lift people up, and encourage the heart. There is a huge gulf between critical thinking and criticism. I love what we do and how librarians can practice everywhere and what a huge difference we make to society when we choose to.
My school librarians did that for me and started me on the path.
Thank you:
Nora (Baird) Campbell
Judy Carter
Marilyn Moore
Margaret Tucker
Mrs. Channen
and hundreds of public and academic librarians too.
It takes a village to raise Stephen.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:01 PM | Comments (8)
iPhone Etiquette
Haven't we all seen all of these rules broken?
From CIO.com
Smartphone Etiquette: Five Unspoken Rules for the Holidays
Rule 1: If you must text, head to the bathroom
Rule 2: Thou must not use the iPhone during religious events
Rule 3: Three's a crowd on a date
Rule 4: Holiday parties are a time for socializing, not social networking
Rule 5: Turn off your iPhone before it becomes a turn-off
The article has some tongue in cheeky comments.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)
Searcher Personas
Recommended Article:
Building Searcher Personas For Greater Customer Engagement and Acquisition by Vanessa Fox
It's from O'Reilly Radar and has a business flavour, but anyone can make the leap to the public sector.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
Social Isolation and New Technology
Lee Rainie sent me the latest Pew Internet and American Life press release which outlines research that blows holes in the proposition that people in social networks are socially isolated and geeky:
Social Isolation and New Technology
Nov 4, 2009
(Washington) People who use modern information and communication technologies have larger and more diverse social networks, according to new national survey findings that for the first time explore how people use the internet and mobile phones to interact with key family and friends.
These new finding challenge fears that use of new technologies has contributed to a long-term increase in social isolation in the United States.
The new findings from the Pew Internet & American Life Project show that, on average, the size of people’s discussion networks – those with whom people discuss important matters– is 12% larger amongst mobile phone users, 9% larger for those who share photos online, and 9% bigger for those who use instant messaging. The diversity of people’s core networks – their closest and most significant confidants – tends to be 25% larger for mobile phone users, 15% larger for basic internet users, and even larger for frequent internet users, those who use instant messaging, and those who share digital photos online.
The survey was conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, led by Keith N. Hampton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Communication and the Pew Internet Project.
The survey also probed larger issues related to the extent of social isolation in America: At one level, the results challenge previous work. The Pew Internet survey found that Americans are not as isolated as has been previously reported and social isolation has hardly changed since 1985. Only 6% of the adult population has no one with whom they can discuss important matters or who they consider to be “especially significant” in their life.
At another level, the findings confirm that Americans’ discussion networks have shrunk by about a third since 1985 and have become less diverse because they contain fewer non-family members. However, contrary to the widespread speculation that the new technology is tied to shrinking social networks and declining network diversity, the Pew Internet study finds that ownership of a mobile phone and participation in a variety of internet activities are associated with larger and more diverse core discussion networks.
“There is a tendency by critics to blame technology first when social change occurs,” argued Prof. Keith Hampton, the lead author of the Pew Internet report, Social Isolation and New Technology. “This is the first research that actually explores the connection between technology use and social isolation and we find the opposite. It turns out that those who use the internet and mobile phones have notable social advantages. People use the technology to stay in touch and share information in ways that keep them socially active and connected to their communities.”
Here are some of the other key findings in the Pew Internet report:
•Some have worried that internet use limits people’s participation in their local communities, but the Pew Internet report finds that most internet activities have little or a positive relationship to local activity. For instance, internet users are as likely as anyone else to visit with their neighbors in person. Cell phone users, those who use the internet frequently at work, and bloggers are more likely to belong to a local voluntary association, such as a youth group or a charitable organization. However, we find some evidence that use of social networking services (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) substitutes for some neighborhood involvement.
•Challenging the assumption that internet use encourages social contact across vast distances, this study shows that many internet technologies are used as much for local contact as they are for distant communication.
•Internet use does not pull people away from public places. Rather, use is associated with frequent visits to places such as parks, cafes, and restaurants, the kinds of locales where research shows that people are likely to encounter a wider array of people and diverse points of view. Indeed, internet access has become a common component of people’s experiences within many public spaces. For instance, of those Americans who have been in a library within the past month, 38% logged on to the internet while they were there, 18% have done so in a café or coffee shop.
•People’s mobile phone use outpaces their use of landline phones as a primary method of staying in touch with their closest family and friends, but face-to-face contact still trumps all other methods. On average in a typical year, people have in-person contact with their core network ties on about 210 days; they have mobile-phone contact on 195 days of the year; landline phone contact on 125 days; text-messaging contact on the mobile phone 125 days; email contact 72 days; instant messaging contact 55 days; contact via social networking websites 39 days; and contact via letters or cards on 8 days.
•Social media activities are associated with several beneficial social activities, including having discussion networks that are more likely to contain people from different backgrounds. For instance, frequent internet users, and those who maintain a blog are much more likely to confide in someone who is of another race. Those who share photos online are more likely to report that they discuss important matters with someone who is a member of another political party.
•While participation in traditional social settings, like neighborhoods, voluntary organizations, and public spaces, remain the strongest predictors for the overall diversity of people’s social networks, internet use, and specifically use of social networking services like Facebook, are also associated with knowing more people from a wider variety of backgrounds.
“All the evidence points in one direction,” said Prof. Hampton. “People’s social worlds are enhanced by new communication technologies. It is a mistake to believe that internet use and mobile phones plunge people into a spiral of isolation.”
Read the full report here [84 page PDF].
This matches some research on the hypothesis that gamers aren't social either. People keep finding new ways to pigeonhole and be prejudiced. It's great when people try to see if its true.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 8:30 AM | Comments (1)
November 4, 2009
Social Media Training
Duct Tape University is beta testing a new social media training course for enterprises to use social media in their strategies.
The course outline is interesting and I'd love to find the time to take it.
You can read more here too.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)
Unconferences
Are you looking to host or try an unconference?
I had a great time at the half day unconference at Internet Librarian and host at Monterey Public Library.
Anyway, this slideshare from Allen County Library is excellent and shares the detail of how to organize one:
Library Camp: How to run an unconference at your library
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 9:23 AM | Comments (1)
November 3, 2009
Sacred Cows
Some interesting posts:
Cindi Trainor's:
The Sacred Cows of Library Technologists
Rick Anderson's:
Five Sacred Cows of Librarianship: Why They No Longer Matter, and Why Two of Them Never Did
I now there are more but this is a good start. Sacred cows have their place and ensure the sustaining of life in India (or did). When does what worked get retired?
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 8:50 AM | Comments (0)
November 2, 2009
Why Do People Read?
Tom Peters has a great thought piece in Library Journal on their website:
The Future of ReadingAs the book changes form, the library must champion its own power base - readers. [Library Journal, 11/1/2009]
I agree with his primary point that libraries must focus on the reading experience and less so on the traditional book format.
I also think we need a better discussion on why people read. It seems basic but do we really understand why people read? Here's my modest unranked list of twelve reasons off the top of my small noggin (add to it in the comments):
1. To learn
2. To engage in hearing other's opinions (to agree or disagree or just to understand and be empathetic)
3. To develop more knowledge about myself and develop as a whole person
4. To be entertained and laugh, to engage and interact
5. To address boredom and the inexorable progress of time
6. To research and keep up-to-date
7. To participate well in civil society (everything from news to voting)
8. To be informed (and maybe smarter)
9. To understand others (individually and culturally)
10. To escape our day-to-day lives
11. To stimulate the imagination and be inspired
12. To write and communicate better through reading others
13. To teach
14. To have something to talk about
15. To connect with like-minded people
I'm sure there are more reasons to read.
Interestingly I can't think of any reasons not to read but I am there are some (knowing glint in eye and smile).
Either way, it goes beyond just the mere reading experience into the life lived large. And text reading isn't the only way to have experiences and libraries support more than text experiences in our communities.
Stephen
Posted by stephen at 1:28 PM | Comments (2)