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Internet Librarian 2010: Ren Gen
By karen | October 25, 2010
In Monterey opening keynote speaker Patricia Martin (Litlamp Communications) spoke on Adding Value to Your Community. Author of the book Ren Gen (Renaissance Generation) she suggests that we are on the cusp of a renaissance, a time when radical change makes the established culture irrelevant. In a renaissance, old things must be shed to make way for the new and a facilitating medium must exist. For this renaissance, it is the Internet.
Martin has worked in marketing for big corporations and provided examples of how successful corporations are changing to succeed in an age of mass creativity, an age where everyone wants to do things differently, an age where there are more blog posts than volumes in the Library of Congress, an age where ebook publication exceeds print. An age where we live our life at warp speed and the user is at the center of the experience. We have entered an era where “me” has shifted to “we,” where there is an overwhelming drive to belong, to create, to understand. An age where the population of Facebook users would constitute one of the largest nations in the world.
Corporations that are successful in the 21st century are embracing a colossal shift in consumerism: in the old system, the brand was at the center; in the new, the user experience is. So, what is a library to do? For centuries the library brand, its resources and services, centered on the book (or the scroll, or the codex). How can libraries remain relevant in a world focused on experiential living?
Libraries must facilitate the user experience. As the one place where users can find neutral information, libraries must capitalize on their ability to provide unbiased information while librarians leverage their skills as information navigators and facilitators. To remain relevant and not be shed in this renaissance, libraries must put users at the center and provide a space where users can collaborate while curating a human interface. In short, successful libraries will add value to their communities.
View Internet Librarian’s opening keynote address. Twitter stream is #intlib2010.
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