Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal February 2008 Volume 6(1)

Digital environment

Young dogs, old tricks?

On evidence from an important new report, Tony Ross and Richard Fallis conclude that libraries must learn lessons from successful Internet brands, and establish stronger, more intuitive online identities.

A familiar image: a child sits, effortlessly getting to grips with some new technological marvel, while the parents despair in the background, leafing forlornly through the instruction manual. The specific technology has changed over time, but the truistic quality of the image has remained the same, showing younger and older generations to be hopelessly divided by technology. Implicit, of course, is the contrasting of the adaptability and fearlessness of the young, with the rigid, “old dog, new tricks” mentality of older minds.

However, this image falls short of reality when it comes to the Internet, according to Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, the report of a new wide-ranging UCL study of the information-seeking behaviour of the so-called “Google Generation”. The report, commissioned by the British Library, has attracted media attention for its debunking of some popularly-held misconceptions about the Google Generation, defined as those born since 1993, and their use of technology to access information. The report dismisses the perception that members of the Google Generation are “expert searchers” as a “dangerous myth” (p.20). While they are generally more competent with technology, they “tend to use much simpler applications and fewer facilities than many imagine” (p.18). In fact they favour types of technology that are straightforward enough to be mastered intuitively, such as the uncomplicated Google interface. Interestingly, the report adds that this is probably the case with Internet users of all ages. It questions the perception that, compared to older generations, the Google Generation prefers to consume information only in “easily digested chunks” (p.19): in truth, all age groups exhibit a preference for bite-size information.

In presenting such findings, the report serves to diminish perceptions of a generational divide in this area, and amplify a growing awareness of the fundamental need for information literacy training across all age groups, at all levels of education, in all sections of society. The future may belong to the young but, as the report argues, “the future is now” (p.31) and, “in a real sense, we are all Google Generation” (p.21). The Internet has now penetrated society to such an extent that a more accurate version of the image with which we opened would surely show the parents competing eagerly with their kids for time online.

Different generations also exhibit common shortcomings in their ability to make effective use of technology to retrieve information. At the risk of sounding contentious, it seems to us that people, regardless of age, are generally lazy in their information-seeking habits. Faced with an overwhelming amount of information online, people are inclined to make snap decisions about its worth and veracity. Ultimately, convenience may be the most popular measure of whether or not an Internet resource is useful. If a web application is straightforward to navigate, and quickly yields information in a readily-digestible format, people will keep using it. Thus, while the Google brand has grown beyond ubiquity, users rarely use its advanced search features, or even browse beyond the first page of search results. Given such realities, a resource which cannot be grasped intuitively – or even requires formal training, to use effectively – is unlikely to be used, no matter how accurate and relevant its information. The UCL study places most online library systems in this bracket (p.9).

So how should librarians respond? They can hide their heads in the sand, or rail impotently against the tide of progress, so that they become outmoded figures, wringing their hands on the margins. A more sensible approach would be to respond proactively, in two distinct ways. Firstly, librarians can institute the sort of information literacy training which empowers people by endowing them with skills to search effectively for, evaluate, synthesize, and use information in ways that are appropriate, ethical, and legal. This may prove difficult, since it requires librarians to work to change hearts and minds which, even in the ‘adaptable’ young, may be doggedly fixed on taking the easy option when it comes to searching. Nevertheless, it is a cause that can only be helped by the attention garnered by reports such as the UCL study.

Secondly, libraries must be open to new technology, and the opportunities and challenges it brings. The UCL report, specifically referencing research libraries, argues that they must be innovative, and update their operating practices, in order to remain relevant. They must accept that users will inevitably continue to “turn their backs on the library as a physical space” (p.8), and that the new breed of ‘virtual’ scholar may only ever want to access libraries remotely (p.34), and perhaps only as a springboard off which to ‘bounce’ (p.31) to other digital information sources. Like it or not, the revolution is happening, here and now, and libraries must ride the waves of change. At the very least, libraries must have foresight enough to learn lessons from successful Internet brands, to establish stronger online identities, and achieve more intuitive, user-friendly, functionality.

Far from threatening the existence of libraries, new technology may enable them to evolve to become pivotal to a society whose citizens are on the verge of information overload. It seems to be taken for granted that every person is, in effect, his or her own librarian, able unaided, to discern good information from bad. However, the UCL study demonstrates that this is simply not the case, and that all age ranges spanned by the Google Generation are prone to make the same basic errors in judgment.

The world needs professional librarians, now more than ever. It is therefore incumbent on librarians to adapt to meet the challenges of the modern world, and to get to grips with its technological marvels.

Information Scotland Vol. 6(1) February 2008

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