1. 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 jbertot@umd.edu www.plinternetsurvey.org (survey materials) ipac.umd.edu (research center)

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Changes in Services and Use

6. Print Collections

7. Non-Print Collections

8. Reference

9. 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 1200+ physical collections?

10. 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

11. Changes in Information

12. 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

13. Speed Google Public Data Explorer http://www.google.com/publicdata/explore

14. Changes in Information Interacting in New Ways ◦ Google 3D  http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/  http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mi d=ddc839e17656ed9759bdbb2775b3c747&prevstar t=0 http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mi d=ddc839e17656ed9759bdbb2775b3c747&prevstar t=0

15. 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

16. Plane Spotting & CIA Rendition

17. 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

18. Changes in Technology

19. Smartphones Devices 35% own a smartphone overall

20. Tablet & E-reader Ownership

21. Tablets and E-readers

22. http://www.searchenginejournal.com/the-growth-of-social-media-an- infographic/32788/ Social Media

23. Siri – Ready Reference at Your Fingertips

24. 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

25. 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

26. Showing Libraries in their Communities http://plinternetsurvey.org/dataviz/ http://plinternetsurvey.org/dataviz/

27. Participation

28. Broadband – Population Density

29. Broadband – FCC Underserved

30. 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

31. Employment by Unemployment

32. My Library/Library Lookup

33. Library Lookup – Mobile

34. 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

35. Narratives www.plinternetsurvey.org ◦ Topical  http://plinternetsurvey.org/analysis/public-libraries- and-digital-literacy http://plinternetsurvey.org/analysis/public-libraries- and-digital-literacy ◦ State  http://plinternetsurvey.org/advocacy/state- details?id=TX http://plinternetsurvey.org/advocacy/state- details?id=TX

36. 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

37. 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  http://bit.ly/vDnmcH http://bit.ly/vDnmcH Continuum of products from ready-to-use to wonkish

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

39. Thank You John Carlo Bertot Information Policy & Access Center University of Maryland jbertot@umd.edu ipac.umd.edu www.plinternsurvey.org Twitter: @iPAC_UMD; #PLFTAS @jcbertot