Young and Wired How today’s young tech elite will influence the libraries of tomorrow Mary Madden Tampa Bay Library Consortium Annual Meeting

Young and Wired November 3, Way back in 1993, the internet was… “headless, anarchic, million-limbed” and “spreading like bread-mold” - Bruce Sterling

Young and Wired November 3, Internet Marketing 101 Why use the internet? Freedom Free information and communication tools It belonged to everyone and no one These are some of the same values we associate with libraries…

Young and Wired November 3, Libraries are the living internet… Libraries are connected nodes of information and community exchange that we use to communicate, collaborate, share resources and preserve knowledge.

Young and Wired November 3, Internet and Broadband Adoption All internet mill. Broadband - 83 mill.

Young and Wired November 3, Internet Access at Libraries 98.4% of public library branches in the U.S. now offer public internet access 63.3% of public library branches offer connection speeds of greater than 769kbps

Young and Wired November 3, Beyond the Digital Divide Libraries are well-equipped to serve patrons at the most crucial points in technology adoption – during introductory and educational stages and at times when a high-quality, reliable connection is otherwise unavailable Internet access is best understood as a spectrum, rather than a simple online vs. offline divide.

Young and Wired November 3, Libraries and Information Overload The more we become overwhelmed with information and gadget overload, the more we need librarians to help us make sense of it all…

Young and Wired November 3, Libraries & Teens Teens need libraries, but are among the least likely to recognize what they have to offer. OCLC study finds that teens and college students consider search engines a better “lifestyle fit” for their information needs. While more than 50% described search engines as a perfect information source, just 17% described libraries this way. Teenagers are increasingly becoming library immigrants in a land of library natives.

Young and Wired November 3, Where Teens and Libraries Meet Teens  Technology  Libraries 1. Both use technology to connect to people and information

Young and Wired November 3, Where Teens and Libraries Meet 2. Both Teens and Libraries have experienced a great deal of change in a very short period of time: Internet connectivity at public libraries rose from 20.9% to essentially 100% in less than 10 years (FSU, “Public Libraries and the Internet 2006”). Teens are also in the midst of major changes in identity and expectations.

Young and Wired November 3, Where Teens and Libraries Meet 3. Both Teens and Libraries will always know something the other doesn’t know. Teens can’t find everything they need to know with Google. Libraries can learn from teens who are ambitious internet explorers and often at the leading edge of technology trends.

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – Born 1990 Personal computers are 15 years old Tim Berners-Lee writes World Wide Web program

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – First Grade 1996 Palm Pilot goes on the market

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – Fourth Grade 1999 Sean Fanning creates Napster

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – Starts Middle School 2001 Wikipedia

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – Middle School 2001

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – Middle School 2003 Skype

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – Starts High School 2004 Podcasts – 2004

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – Sophomore Year 2005 YouTube – 2005

Young and Wired November 3, Today’s Teen – Junior Year 2006 The Year of MySpace: More than 100 million accounts created Third most popular site in the U.S. (after Yahoo and Google)

Young and Wired November 3, Teen Reality #1 Teens are technology-rich and enveloped by a wired world: 83% of all teens say that “most” of the people they know use the internet 10% say that “some” of the people they know use the internet. Just 6% say that very few of the people they know use the internet.

Young and Wired November 3, Teen Reality #2 Mobile gadgets allow them to enjoy media and communicate anywhere 84% report owning at least one personal media device: a desktop or laptop computer, a cell phone or a Personal Digital Assistant 44% say they have two or more devices

Young and Wired November 3, Laptops 32% of teens own laptops 30% of adults own laptops

Young and Wired November 3, MP3 Players 45% of teens own MP3 Players 20% of adults own MP3 players CBSMarketwatch survey

Young and Wired November 3, Teen Reality #3 Teens are multimedia multi-taskers: Multi-tasking is a way of life – and people live in a state of “continuous partial attention” --- Linda Stone

Young and Wired November 3, Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M, March 2005

Young and Wired November 3, Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M, March 2005

Young and Wired November 3, Teen Reality #4 Teens know that ordinary citizens can be publishers, movie makers, artists, song creators, and storytellers 57% of online teens have created some kind of content for the internet

Young and Wired November 3, % of online teens share their own creations online, such as artwork, photos, stories, or videos Sharing Creative Work

Young and Wired November 3, % have created or worked on webpages or blogs for others, including those for groups they belong to, friends or school assignments Working for Others

Young and Wired November 3, % report keeping their own personal webpage Personal Webpages

Young and Wired November 3, % have created their own online journal or blog Creating a Blog

Young and Wired November 3, Remixing 19% of all online teens say they remix content they find online into their own artistic creations 35% of teen bloggers remix content

Young and Wired November 3, Teen Reality #5 Today's online teens have grown up amidst the chaos of the digital copyright debate, and it shows

Young and Wired November 3, Impact and Implications Those who have grown up with interactive media want to manipulate, remix, and share content. Ideas about intellectual property and fair use change They expect to be in conversation with other creators.

Young and Wired November 3, Impact and Implications Conversations, research, and learning never end Expectations about another’s “availability” change and spontaneous communications increase Teens hope they can get help from peers and teachers and librarians whenever they need it

Young and Wired November 3, Libraries 2.0 The library of the future is… Web-enabled and participatory Valued as a physical space Made of people!

Young and Wired November 3, Thank you! Mary Madden Senior Research Specialist Pew Internet & American Life Project 1615 L Street NW Suite 700 Washington, DC