by Cindy Romaine, SLA President

For my first official business trip as the new president of SLA, even before the mid-January board meetings and SLA Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., I flew to Las Vegas and walked the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show. For two days I explored the Show with Bay Area senior member Cindy Hill. We were immersed in new handheld technology, new reading tablets, and new cell phones. A tremendous amount of energy is going into the simple task of getting more, and better, information into the hands of consumers at warp speed.

Trends
There were nearly 2700 exhibitors and I was blown away by the sheer volume of new tech toys and applications on display from the hundreds of companies vying to be The Next Big Thing. But frankly, the energy and enthusiasm of the show were even more fascinating to me; there was no shortage of optimism about the future on that floor. Here are few distilled thoughts, stats, and trends from CES:

Stats:

• 80 new tablet devices were announced, including the new Motorola Xoom
• 20,00 new consumer electronic products were released
• 140,000 people attended the show

3D: 3D graphics are being showcased in gaming, sports, and art. The entertainment industry is leading in this space again, but expect to see high-end graphics soon in medical, educational, and other technical applications.

Convergence: Data, because it exists in the cloud, is more and more platform agnostic. Form factors—that is, your data device, whether it is a cell phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, car console, or smart TV—are converging in their functionality.

Social: Consumers are saying ‘I want to share my life as it happens’ and products, telecommunication capacity and  apps are making that possible. Social networking was integrated into games, such as X-Box Kinect, smart TVs and apps. Copia.com is an interesting app for book clubs.

Capacity: Capacity is increasing as cell networks transition from 3G to 4G, and there is an increase in computer processing speed as well. Expanding capacity enables complex problem solving, immersive entertainment, and new experiences.

Design: Data devices, or form factors, were very elegant and restrained. It seemed that there was an effort not to overwhelm the consumer with technical options, but to simplify and curate.

Implications

The CES is the leading tradeshow for an $186B industry that is driving economic growth and is an enabler for the new knowledge economy. Consumer electronics are an underpinning of the information industry, regardless of which corner of it you occupy. An interesting factoid is that now 80% of electronics are purchased by consumers, not businesses. It was not long ago that businesses were driving the purchases of electronic goods.

With all these new products and optimistic marketing, our clients—that is people using and consuming information resources—will be even more demanding of content delivered on the form factor that is just right for them. They’ll want information that is curated, edited, and analyzed to fit their needs. And information  that is customized to their locale and time zone.

The consumer electronics industry is moving very, very fast—and will eat our lunch if we are not moving at least at its pace of change. To keep up, we need to adopt a strategy of being flexible, adaptable, and resilient. In short, we need to be Future Ready!

Enchantment

As enchanting as it was to handle all those gadgets, one of the highlight of my visit to CES was listening to, and later engaging in discussion with, Guy Kawasaki. Author of The Macintosh Way and Selling the Dream, Kawasaki is the former Apple “wunderkind” who encourages his readers to rise above the usual marketing clutter to find emotional levels of attachment to products. He encourages marketers to morph into “evangelists” who create movements, not just spreadsheets. He epitomizes one of the ideas behind my push to make members more Future Ready – he wants us all to Think Big.  

In his book, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Kawasaki tossed SLA members a great compliment when he told his readers to “suck up to a research librarian.” I liked the way he put us on a pedestal, because it reminded me that ours is an honorable profession, and we add value. Someone obviously impressed Guy Kawasaki at one time.

After his talk, he and I chatted for a few minutes about his new book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Minds, Hearts and Actions. I asked him to consider posting for the Future Ready 365 blog. He seemed delighted to be asked and his thoughts will be posted here, tomorrow, February 22!

Are you feeling future ready yet!?

by Reece Dano, Oregon Chapter, Advertising& Marketing Division

Much has been made about design-thinking and its supposed ability to summon up innovation and transform organizations. True, its flashier proponents have led many to question the scope of its utility. However, working as an information specialist within a design consultancy, I’ve seen how carefully designed systems, products and communication methods can change lives. So what is it all about?

In brief, design-thinking is any process that allows you to change your point of view. These processes often use abductive thinking to promote creativity and temporarily subdue logical constraints. Participants in design-thinking activities are asked to make logical leaps in service of idea generation. The more ideas generated in this manner, the more your default (and possibly stale) thinking patterns are shaken and called into question.

The change of perspective design-thinking grants can lead to the acceptance of information that opens you to greater flexibility. For information professionals, this flexibility can inspire more relevant user-oriented services, career agility and the chance to envision even greater opportunities.

Design-thinking isn’t that hard. Changing your point of view is.

If you’re interested in opening your current services to a creative examination, here are some questions you can ask yourself to kick off a design-thinking session. Some of these questions are challenging. Others may seem a bit silly. However, the insights gleaned from all can easily lead to new and fruitful perspectives.

• If I were to plot my services on an axis from least-used to most-used, what would I see?
• If I were to plot my services on an axis from most-mission-critical to least-mission-critical, what would I see?
• If I transformed these axes into a Cartesian coordinate system, where would my services lie? Would I feel the need to reposition any of these services to a new quadrant?
• If the CEO or president of my organization suddenly became my assistant, what would I have them do? Why? What would that say about me and my role?
• If the receptionist of my organization suddenly became my assistant, what would I have them do? Why? What would that say about me and my role?
• How would I characterize the differences between the tasks I would assign the CEO versus the receptionist? What does that say about me and my role?
• If I had to take away all my services, save for one, which one would remain? Why? Would this remaining service be the core of my identity? Should it?

As you can see, these questions are loaded with imaginary scenarios that could easily lead to oversimplification. However, the purpose of these questions is not to generate carefully framed hypotheses – at least not yet. Rather they are meant to provoke thought, begin dialog and reposition perspectives.

Try them out. Come up with your own. See if you can use them to spot emerging opportunities for you, your customers and the information industry as a whole.

Reece Dano is an embedded Information Specialist within the Consumer Insights and Trends Analyst Group at Ziba Design. He has worked in both corporate and academic libraries since 1999. He holds an MLIS from the University of Washington iSchool. He currently serves on the board of the Special Library Association’s Division of Advertising and Marketing and is Chair of SLA’s First Five Years Advisory Council. He was a recipient of the SLA Rising Star Award in 2010.

by Kama Siegel, Oregon Chapter, Legal Division

I think most SLA members consider themselves to be tech-savvy, if not “on the cutting edge” of gadgetry, social media and other innovative forms of communication. Even those who find individual forms of communication distasteful make a point of, if not embracing it, then using it fairly competently. The reason one of my colleagues gives for reluctantly accepting Twitter, for example, is because she knows that a fair number of her patrons or colleagues rely on it as a handy tool.

However, what if you run across colleagues who refuse to even try out these new tools, let alone adopt them? Do you just shake your head and leave them to their Luddite tendencies, or do you explain to them how they’re shooting themselves in the foot? I advocate the latter for while it may be uncomfortable to tell someone they are falling behind, it is a far worse proposition to ignore a way for our patrons to slip through the communication cracks.

Here are some reasons why a colleague would eschew the use of some form of technology (hardware or software), and the way you might address each:

• Cost/budget – Most communication platforms cost nothing, and are hosted on the web. It is understandable if someone balks at spending $500 for an iPad or a smartphone, but there’s no excuse for ignoring a tool that even one patron might be using.
• Fear of the new/fear of looking ignorant – The best way to get over your fear of new technology is to play around with it. No one is disapprovingly looking over your shoulder. And if you play around with it enough, you’ll find that you will either incorporate the technology into your routine, or you’ll discard it in favor or something else. Once you’re competent enough to make that choice, you’re no longer going to be ignorant. Additionally, your colleagues are librarians – they’re used to helping people! No one is going to laugh at you.
• Lack of time to properly learn/continue using the technology – This one might be the most difficult to overcome. However, if you can convince your colleague that all they need for competence is a mere 5-10 minutes a day for as long as they feel comfortable, you’ve won most of this battle. The other half of the battle is finding the time to keep using the technology in your everyday job duties. But again, if you start with 5 minutes and work your way up, you may find that it helps with your productivity.
• Lack of interest in a specific software or item of hardware – “Oh I’ll never use _________” says your colleague. Oh no? Famous last words. I nearly gave up on Twitter before I realized just how useful it is as a tool to increase productivity, and industry news feed. Stress to your colleague that some of these tools might need a lot of front-end work before she makes the decision to discard them or move on to the next available product.
• Belief that no patrons will be affected by the librarian ignoring the technology – Have your colleague walk around your organization and see what sort of tools your patrons are using. Tell her to talk to her patrons to find out how they’re using these tools. She might be surprised about all of the different methods by which patrons are harnessing information.
• Not sure about what’s available – Encourage your colleague to follow tech blogs or tech-savvy librarians’ blogs. They need to be at least a little curious about the tools in the first place before they can start to use them.

Ignoring any method of reaching our patrons is the opposite of Future Ready. To do so willfully should constitute malpractice.

Kama Siegel is the President of the Oregon Chapter of SLA and is the Computer Automation and Reference Librarian at the law firm Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt.

by Mary Strife, Pittsburgh Chapter, Academic Division

In this age of iPhones, iPads and “I want it now”, there are a few things that still take time. And sometimes we benefit by taking the time. The Evansdale Library opened in 1980 and received updated technology, some new furniture and new carpeting in 2000. By 2005, there was something lacking. We negotiated with the administration for funds to retool the first floor only. We added weight to our cause by conducting student surveys and focus groups. I sat in the room for all three focus groups, run by the chair of the Interior Design Division. She did a great job with the questions, getting the exact information needed to support our floor redesign. The majority of the renovation happened in the summer of 2009. Students did not get everything they wanted, but what did happen was a great change. We put in movable furniture, white boards, and three new study rooms. Students asked for space to display their projects, since students do not generally go into other’s areas. So we have used floor space and provided different types of cabinet space and wall cases for their projects.

The Fashion Design students and faculty were the first to take advantage of this area. Everyone was very pleased with the results. We are now working to install a hanging system for art work and bringing in other student displays. I think that giving students a way to connect with the library is essential to the future.

Mary Strife is the Director of the Evansdale Library at West Virginia University. She is a past-President of the New York Upstate Chapter, has been Bulletin Editor for the Chemistry Division, and currently serves on the Information Ethics Advisory Council.

by Deborah Rash, Minnesota Chapter

I got good and Future Ready last night by watching American Idol. I was working and tweeting while doing it, but in this case, the multitasking really was distracting from the main event, rather than the other way around.

I am not a fan of American Idol. I could take it or leave it, but most of the time I’m working and tweeting and just can’t pay enough attention. And now that Paula’s gone …

Whether fan or not, I suggest you check out the new judges on Idol this year. And watch a bit of the ingénue Oscar cohosts. Read “The Girl Who …” series. Pop over to TMZ.com every once in a while. And Google that Twitter trending topic you know nothing about.

Because sometimes these things matter, in two different equally important ways.

First, think about some of the trends that have been started by pop culture. Remember “The Rachel,” a haircut that is still popular sixteen years after Jennifer Aniston’s character in Friends got the look? Did you sip a cosmopolitan like the girls in Sex and the City (another late nineties screen-to-sales driver)? Working in marketing or any consumer driven industry these media effects do matter.

Now think about all of the forensic shows: NCIS, CSI, Bones etc. No police procedural is complete without a fingerprinting, particle-grabbing expert. Crime inflicted and mystery solved, packaged in a tight 60 minutes, minus the quarter hour or so of commercials. Why does that matter? Go ask the judge. Literally, ask a judge in a real courtroom and you’ll hear that the way cases are tidied up so quickly on these shows has changed the way that the average person, and thus the typical jury member thinks about how evidence should be presented. It’s been called the “CSI Effect.”

Similarly, if you watch the other ubiquitous type of TV drama, the one set in a hospital, you’ll get a very skewed perception of how medicine is practiced, not to mention how doctors comport themselves. Pop culture has changed the way we relate to health information in some of the same ways that going online to self-diagnose have.

Now you have to pay attention if you work in healthcare or a law firm. And if you sit in or near a cubicle, both Dilbert and The Office commentary might be overheard at the water cooler. So, office workers, listen up.

And if that isn’t enough of you who can glean information on marketing techniques, new product development, customer and client expectations or office politics, the rest of you can learn to love pop culture for a second reason. Think about the twenty-two-year-old new hires you are interacting with or the students you are teaching. The way people think and work bleeds into how they play and relax and sometimes knowing just enough to relate may be enough.

So, in preparation for the future, haircuts and bar drinks, maybe not so important. But jury deliberation and medical decisions and whatever is coming next? Might be.

And really, I’ve always loved that I have an excuse for watching Mad Men and reading People magazine. I’m working!

Deb Rash is a freelance consumer researcher and writer. Previously Deb was Knowledge Manager at Iconoculture and Carmichael Lynch, and had an advertising career at several agencies in Minneapolis. She is an active member of SLA, having served on the Annual Conference Advisory Council, multiple positions in the Advertising & Marketing Division and is immediate Past President of the Minnesota Chapter. 

by John Creighton

20^th Century centralized institutions were created to solve a specific set of problems:  Scarce resources, high production and carrying costs, cumbersome logistics and limited (by today’s standards) communications.

Traditional libraries are a perfect example of a centralized institution. The cost to produce and store books, periodicals and other information was expensive and required a large amount of space. Very few people could afford to purchase their own reading collection or had the shelf space to store more than a few books. The solution: public libraries. Communities pooled their resources (taxes) to provide people with access to information.

When people share resources, it is necessary to create a set of rules and regulations to ensure fairness and equity in how resources are distributed and used. Libraries made rules such as “a person can only check out a book for one week so others have a chance to read it, too.” A system of penalties and, sometimes, rewards were put in place to encourage people to follow the rules.

It was and is the responsibility of public boards and administrators of centralized institutions to decide how to allocate scarce resources. Many public decision makers followed the mass market axiom of, “What will help (or appeal to) the most people for the longest time.” Controversy emerged when people couldn’t agree on how to spend their pooled resources. Should the library buy a controversial book or not?

Centralized institutions also need a set of rules to function as an enterprise. For instance, communities typically could neither afford nor wanted to keep their libraries open twenty-four hours per day. Libraries set hours of operation so people would know when they could access information.

For nearly a century, perhaps more, people have been satisfied with this relationship with public and private institutions because centralization was the most practical thing to do.  People deferred to boards to make decisions; they conformed to the institution’s rules and regulations, and embraced the systems of penalties and rewards (how many readers remember the importance of perfect attendance at school). Our language developed to reflect our willingness (even if we grumbled) to conform to the needs of the centralized institution: Working nine-to-five, working for the weekend, spring break, summer vacation, 10 o’clock news, morning paper.

People’s willingness to conform to the needs of centralized institutions is waning. People have lost their patience with public boards and other centralized decision makers. People aren’t willing to conform to the institution’s hours of operation. They want access to information now, on their own time. And, people ignore penalties and rewards. For instance, few schools award “perfect attendance” and many parents scoff at attendance policies.

Why have people lost their patience with 20^th Century centralized institutions? The problems these organizations were designed to solve are less severe or non-existent.  Put another way, it is economically possible and logistically practical for people to get what they want, when they want, how they want it.

Resources are more abundant than they were in the past. The costs to produce and carry goods are lower. The digitization of books and information is wonderful example of these shifts.  The marginal costs to produce, ship and store a book are all moving toward zero.

People are less interested in pooling their resources to buy things like books because more and more people can afford to purchase and store their own.  People are less interested in the product that appeals to the masses and more interested in products customized to their individual interests and needs. And, there is not as much need for people to agree on how to allocate scarce resources. Don’t like the history textbook the local school board chose for your child? There are several others online and the cost is next to free – or soon will be.

Indeed, people have come to expect options and choices. The idea of “one size fits all” is considered as old as the steam engine train. And, people’s growing expectations are not ending with choice. Increasingly, people expect to design, produce and manage their own experiences.  They will gravitate toward institutions that help them do these things.

21^st Century institutions will need to help people solve a new set of personal and social problems. On the personal side of the ledger, the challenges of growing importance include how to help individuals:

• Identify, organize and create options
• Make informed and satisfying choices
• Gain access to the tools of production, distribution, and collaboration
• Form ad hoc, short term and long term communities
• Sustain action over time.

On the social side of the ledger, the challenges are more difficult because the demand to solve them is not on the forefront of people’s minds. But, to ensure the ongoing health of our communities and our democracy, we will need to figure out ways to bridge differences between an increasingly diverse and segregated society and foster the democratic skills to ensure that we are able to make decisions around resources we still must share.

This is the challenge for libraries and other public institutions. How to make the shift from 20^th Century centralized practices to 21^st Century platform practices.

John Creighton, a Longmont, Colorado leadership consultant, writes on community life and public leadership at johncr8on.com. He can be found on Twitter @johncr8on and on Facebook.  See John’s presentation, “Emboldened Individuals – Platform Organizations” on SlideShare and read more of his work in Dispatches From The Heartland at the Communities at the Washington Times.

by Nicola Franklin, Fabric Recruitment

Faced with challenges from all sides, from the economy, from technology and from changing user expectations, what skills will info pros need in the years ahead?

Apart from specialist professional skills, of course, everyone working in the library and information profession needs to be able to answer these questions:

• What’s an information professional for?
• Why should I ask a librarian instead of just searching Google?
• I can find what I need myself, why should I use the information centre?
• Why shouldn’t we just put the sources on everyone’s desktop?
• Surely it’s cheaper to outsource the research service?

One of the most credible defences of the services of a librarian I’ve seen came from a post on the Voices for the Library website:

“Our lives and the world around us are being documented, analysed, archived, and published at an astonishing rate and to a level of detail that wouldn’t even have been conceived of just a few years ago. You need us more than ever.”

Once you have thought of good, succinct, answers to questions like these, seek out opportunities to use them – to other stakeholders, not to fellow librarians!  That sounds daunting, but in practice it means developing a new skill set, one around writing (blog posts, articles, comments on others’ posts), speaking (at internal meetings, at seminars, at conferences) and marketing your information services.

Nicola has worked with the information profession as a recruitment consultant for just over thirteen years, working at Information Business Services, PFJ and Sue Hill Recruitment in London, UK.  At Fabric Recruitment Nicola leads the Information division, helping librarians, knowledge managers and records managers find that next best step in their career, and promotes all things social media to the team.