If We Did Not Have Libraries, Would Someone Invent Them?Chris BattSenior Research FellowUniversity College London
Will the Internet kill institutions like libraries? Nature and scope of my research
Some thoughts on what it all might meanThen let’s talk
Agenda
1.
4.
3.
2.
Who was I?
Once upon a time, a librarian
Director of Cultural Services
Libraries
Museum and archive
Performing arts and cinema
Parks and open spaces
Sport
1991 - First public access to the Internet
1991 - First public access to the Internet
Who was I?
Once upon a time, a librarian
Director of Cultural Services
4,300 public libraries
20,000 terminals ($150m)
30,000 library staff trained ($30m)
$75m to create digital services
www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk
Director of People’s Network Programme
Who was I?
Once upon a time, a librarian
Director of Cultural Services
New strategic government agency
www.mla.gov.uk
Director of People’s Network Programme
Chief Executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
Who am I now?
Occasional consultant
Who am I now?
Occasional consultant
www.ucl.ac.uk/infostudies/research/ciber
Senior Research Fellow
“CIBER research tells us the world as we knew it is being shattered and reassembled by the digital transition, and many of the existing paradigms are bust.”
“It seeks to inform by countering idle speculation, PowerPoint puff and uninformed opinion with the evidence and facts.”
Who am I now?
Occasional consultant
Senior Research Fellow
Knowledge strategy in the networked society
Chrisbatt.wordpress.com/
PhD student
Will the increasing importance of digital technologies and networks across society require new approaches to public policy formulation, implementation and delivery?
New architecturesNew policy frameworks
New professionals
Knowledge and learning in 2050
Digital determinism
Fragmentation
Disintermediation
Participatory culture
One-stop 24/7
Digital determinism
Music, media, newspapers
Utopia or dystopia?
Professional uncertainty or professional protectionism?
Digital determinism
Widely accessible
Highly successful
Valued by users
Library: the Traditional
model
Unique tools of public policy
Looking forward, not backwards
Willing to try new ideas
Adopted and adapted to technology
UK public libraries
SkylineSkyline
STATUS QUO PLUSSTATUS QUO PLUS
CompetitionAmazon/Abe
iTunesOn demand
WikipediaGoogle
TechnologyOn the moveSocial networkingeBooksBandwidthAggregation
Public PolicyLearning
Knowledge economyGlobalisation
Funding pressures
SocietyFragmentationThe crowdWeb has the answer24/7
STATUS QUO 2.0STATUS QUO 2.0
THE WORLD HAS CHANGED
60 hours
1,700
0
20 minutes
200,000+
+300
1850 2005
Cost of a bookPeriodicals
Other media
If we did not
have libraries,
would
someone
invent them?Straw man argument
How would you sell the idea of a library
to the people who have the money?
Museums
Libraries
Archives
Universities
Colleges
Schools
Public service broadcasters
COLLECTING, CURATING,
DISCLOSING
CREATING SKILLING
CONNECTING
INTERPRETING CONNECTING
POPULARISING
PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTIONS
Museums
Libraries
Archives
Universities
Colleges
Schools
Public service broadcasters
COLLECTING, CURATING,
DISCLOSING
CREATING SKILLING
CONNECTING
INTERPRETING CONNECTING
POPULARISING
Individuals and communities
That the delivery of public value through knowledge and learning based on the binary relationship between institution and user will become more and more ineffective and expensive as online channels become the preferred user choice.
PROPOSITION ONE
“Megaphones of informal learning”Martin Bean
Convergence = competition
Who owns the third place?
What is a museum
website for?
That public value will best be achieved by strategic policies that treat end user value as the product of managed flows across institutions rather than as actions based on classes of institutions: the integration of unrelated institutions into a co-ordinated strategy.
PROPOSITION TWO
Institutional architecure
Value flows
Exchange relationships
Public policy
Knowledge
processes
Boundaryexchange
PUBLIC KNOWLEDGEResources that enable people to
understand and learn more about themselves and the world
LEARNINGThe apprehension of knowledge to advantage
Methodology
Museums
Libraries
Archives
Universities
Colleges
Schools
Public service broadcasters
COLLECTING, CURATING,
DISCLOSING
CREATING SKILLING
CONNECTING
INTERPRETING CONNECTING
POPULARISING
PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE INSTITUTIONS
How to st
art a colle
ctive debate
about knowledge in
stitutio
ns in
2050
PEST/SWOT TRIANGLEPEST/SWOT TRIANGLE
Shared value flowsShared value flows
Boundary exchangesBoundary exchanges
Target audiencesTarget audiences
Common policy and outcomesCommon policy and outcomesPartnerships already in playPartnerships already in play
Mission overlapMission overlap
NEW PARTNERSHIPSNEW PARTNERSHIPS
Your PaintingsYour Paintings
Public Catalogue Foundation
Public knowledge ecosystem model
Public knowledge ecosystem model
PUBLIC NETWORK THEORY
Organisation theory
Policy science
Political science
Policy networksPolicy communities
Public network management
Hypothesis
Ecosystem model
Experiment
Evaluation/outcomes
Networking tool
Network theory
The future value of libraries depends on much more than their relationship with
technology
Citizens and technology
Other knowledge institutions
Status within information society policy
The coming revolution
Public value not recognised
Lack of national coherencePrivate sector creep
Failure to plan for radical change
Immediate risks
From reactive to proactive
1. From technician to strategist
From reactive to proactive
1. From technician to strategist2. The elevator pitch
From reactive to proactive
1. From technician to strategist2. The elevator pitch
3. New partners, new approaches
From reactive to proactive
1. From technician to strategist2. The elevator pitch
3. New partners, new approaches
4. USP that fits in with other components of the ecosystem
The knowledge revolution
1. KNOWLEDGE: the raw material of the future
Economy development
Personal well-being/happiness
Creativity and imagination
Social capital
Discovery and understanding
The knowledge revolution
1. KNOWLEDGE: the raw material of the future
Education is not enough
Informal learning is lifelong
Learning to cope and survive
Learning just for fun
2. LEARNING: the engine of progress
The knowledge revolution
1. KNOWLEDGE: the raw material of the future
Content first, institution secondPartnering the crowd
Inclusion and special needs
2. LEARNING the engine of progress
3. Knowledge must be presented to meet people’s learning needs
Engaging individuals and communitiesKnowledge strategy driving
government
Shared mission and values
Inter-institutional architectures
2050: the Post-Digital Future
From librarian to knowledge
warrior
Leaders of the wider knowledge sectorA mission to break down barriers to accessDefining, managing, mediating
Integrating knowledge and learning into everyday life, every day!
Leadership
Vision
Passion
Let’s [email protected]
www.chrisbattconsulting.com/resourceshttp://www.slideshare.net/Chris_Batt
chrisbatt.wordpress.comTwitter: @chrisbatt