Public Library Funding and Technology Access Survey: Using, Visualizing, and Contextualizing the Data John Carlo Bertot Information Policy & Access Center College of Information Studies University of Maryland (survey materials) ipac.umd.edu (research center)

Discussion PLFTAS background Service context Changes in library services and resources Changes in information Changes in technologies Social issues and needs PLFTAS products Next steps/scenarios

Why the Survey? Longitudinal data collection since 1994 Provides snapshot of what libraries offer their communities: ◦ Library public access technology infrastructure ◦ Capacity ◦ Internet-enabled services ◦ Challenges and issues ◦ Funding

Why the Survey? Informs policymakers about what libraries do in their communities in key areas of ◦ Access to the Internet ◦ Access to increasingly digital-only content and services  Employment  E-government  Databases  More ◦ Digital literacy ◦ Digital inclusion Resides in the larger evolving information and technology context

Changes in Services and Use

Print Collections

Non-Print Collections

Reference

Changing Depository Landscape As GPO celebrates 150 years as a printer ◦ 97% of government information is born digital ◦ Depository program in transition  Do we need physical collections?

To Summarize We are moving (and have been) away from a service based on physical collections designed to pull people to our buildings Just in time, as opposed to just in case Self-serve

Changes in Information

Quantity and Availability ◦ An LoC of indexing everyday ◦ 24 hours of video loaded on YouTube every minute ◦ Average of 144 million tweets per day  50 million tweets per day one year ago Speed of information ◦ Within minutes of your tweet, it’s indexed and searchable in Google ◦ What used to require effort is at your fingertips  Not reinventing the search - chances are it’s been sought before and captured ◦ Connection is instantaneous

Speed Google Public Data Explorer

Changes in Information Interacting in New Ways ◦ Google 3D   d=ddc839e17656ed9759bdbb2775b3c747&prevstar t=0 d=ddc839e17656ed9759bdbb2775b3c747&prevstar t=0

Changes in Information Information is Social ◦ More is out there ◦ More is connected  Through social media ◦ More is shared ◦ Crowdsourcing enables more uses, sharing, problem solving through concentrated bursts of information sharing

Plane Spotting & CIA Rendition

Summary More information, more directly to users Our ability to access, use, and interact with information is changing Information is increasingly enhanced and linked in a range of ways The social nature of information enables stronger ties between people, communities, information sources, information providers

Changes in Technology

Smartphones Devices 35% own a smartphone overall

Tablet & E-reader Ownership

Tablets and E-readers

infographic/32788/ Social Media

Siri – Ready Reference at Your Fingertips

Summary New technologies ◦ Allow for different experience with information ◦ New understandings of information ◦ Place information at user access instantly ◦ Offer “ready reference” Changes in library use and requested services ◦ Less about circulation and reference ◦ More about facilitation and intermediation  Education  Health  E-government  Employment

Why this Survey? In a world of sound bites like ◦ “ebooks are the future of libraries” ◦ “it’s all on the Internet” ◦ “access is cheap, or free, and everywhere” In an evolving technology, information, and services landscape, we need data about ◦ How libraries transform their communities ◦ Libraries in relation to their communities  The role of public access technology-based services

Showing Libraries in their Communities

Participation

Broadband – Population Density

Broadband – FCC Underserved

Employment 90.9% provide job databases and resources 77.0% provide civil service examination materials 74.5% offer software and resources for resume creation 71.9% help people complete online applications

Employment by Unemployment

My Library/Library Lookup

Library Lookup – Mobile

Indicators Composition of various elements (e.g., e-government): ◦ Library staff provided assistance to patrons applying for or accessing e- government services ◦ Library staff provided assistance to patrons for completing government forms ◦ The library offered training classes regarding the use of government Web sites, understanding government programs, and completing electronic forms ◦ The library partnered with government agencies, non-profit organizations, and others to provide e-government services ◦ The library had at least one staff member with expertise and skills in the provision of e-government services

Narratives ◦ Topical  and-digital-literacy and-digital-literacy ◦ State  details?id=TX details?id=TX

Key Issues and Challenges Moving the data closer to the community Connecting to other datasets ◦ Library in the context of the community Data plus off-the-shelf products ◦ Visualizations ◦ Issue briefs ◦ One-page summaries

What Does the Future Hold? More traditional ◦ Reports (June 2012) ◦ Issue briefs (January/February 2012) ◦ PLFTAS one-page summaries (January/February 2012) ◦ One-page advocacy Leg Day (April 2012) New ◦ Visualizations (now and January/February 2012)  Static  Pan and zoom ◦ Lookup  January/February 2012 ◦ APIs ◦ GIS  Continuum of products from ready-to-use to wonkish

What Does the Future Hold? Sunrise? ◦ NLG Grant ◦ Modified survey Sunset? ◦ As much utility as possible ◦ Historical datasets

Thank You John Carlo Bertot Information Policy & Access Center University of Maryland ipac.umd.edu