Sharing from ALA

Hi,
I recently went to ALA and found the strategies about how libraries can remain relevant by Stephen Abram very interesting. My notes are below. Please share your thoughts on the topic!

Meaningful and sustainable strategies for 21 st century libraries.
Where are the format appropriate?
Encyclopedias are better electronically and some fiction is better in print.
Shift Happens - recognize key shifts
1. Real learning - Why am I using the library services?
ed2go - 25000 courses Public libraries could actually give diplomas when libraries become real learning institutions.
not random and opportunistic
scalable and repeatable
attainable
2. Real reading
eBooks and beyond (digital image of books or more) Who reads the most nonfiction cover to cover?
reading experience - conservation, preservation, reservation (embedded photos and other content)
reviews, commentary, communities - The marks, highlighting, notes is collected by publishers. Will libraries gather this data? Community of reading a text book.
Quit looking at user's reading behaviors and look instead at what they want to learn and be.

Reading exercise - Do we measure why people read or do we measure circulation? Do we have a focus group on why people read?
Organize libraries around verbs instead of nouns.
Organize around activities instead of inventory.
3. Real programs - physical and online programs, Drupal, alignment of programs
Every book collection in a library should be justified by a program and not the other way around.***
Scalable
Repeatable
Staffed
Train the trainer
Organize the public library around the program team.
What do our branches look like if we have a master programming team?
We are not positioned competitively if we only align with collection, instead of with partnerships, communities, etc.
4. Technology
E portals
eLearning
Mobile first
eBooks
the virtual user is significantly different person from the customer who walks into the building.
Technology enhances but not tech-centric spaces (gesture computing, holograms, legobots, 3D printing, smart boards, cloud computing, monitors)e
5. Real Stories and Measurements - How do we measure and how does this lead to change with our funding sources.
The Springboard - How to Tell the Story of Your Library's Impact
Audience - Funders are usually auditory, interpersonal learners instead of text readers. What are we going to do for them and what will be the impact.
6. Real Questions
What are your top 20 reference questions?
How to download eBooks or health and wellness.
Organize yourself around real questions, then use those to show strategic alignments with mission.
Google - who, what, when, where
Google - libraries are scalable for how and why
Behaviors: Decide\Choose\ Solve\ Delay
Interview\Delve\Interact\Progress

top 15 - Are you under or over collected to answer the top 15 questions.
health and wellness
do it yourself and car repair
genealogy
homework help
technology skills
hobbies - customer and librarian hobbies are almost the same which means libraries have built in programmers

Customers trust library databases.
Impact and Customer Satisfaction
Teachers do almost all of their database searches in July, August and September
Blog has more of the charts. Stephen's Lighthouse blog.
Lego Pieces
Counter Sushi data - raw effort
Database usage - unique user, length of session, number of sessions
Google analytics - what is Amazon delivering that we aren't.
Foresee Satisfaction and demographic data
ILS Data
Geo-IP data
Take away - Alternative to Google is to engage in real learning and use social tools and have content that is driven by programming.

Mary Wagoner