My Digital Library: Leveraging Today’s Mobile and Participatory Information Ecosystem

My Digital Library:Leveraging Today’s Mobile and Participatory Information Ecosystem

Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.Associate Director, Research

Pew Internet Project

Digital Libraries a la CarteTICERTilburg University, Tilburg NetherlandsJuly 29th, 2010

Pew Internet Project

• Part of the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan “fact tank” based in Washington, DC

• Provide high quality, objective data to thought leaders and policy makers

• Funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts

• All US findings are based on nationally representative telephone surveys of… – US adults age 18+, or

– US teens ages 12-17

– Drawn from dual-frame (RDD/cell) samples

Today’s Discussion1) What’s Mobile Got to Do With It?

– Global cell phone use trends– US cell phone and internet use trends– The importance of social media

2) Highlights of the New Information Ecology– What are the hallmarks of the new information ecology?– Online information consumers

• who they are• how they behave• what they like

3) Leveraging New Technologies– Tips for success in the new information ecology

What’s Mobile Got to Do With It?

Global Mobile Subscriptions

Mobile Penetration by Region

Worldwide Mobile Subscriptions, 2005-2009

Number of mobile subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Source: International Telecommunications Union, 2010.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

WorldWestern EuropeAsiaAmericasArab StatesAfricaCIS

Mobile Subscriptions, Select Countries

0 50 100 150 200 250

India

China

Ivory Coast

Japan

Brazil

Australia

United States

France

Belgium

Greece

Thailand

Israel

Netherlands

UK

Denmark

Italy

Qatar

United Arab Emirates

Mobile Cellular Subscriptions Per 100 People

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, 2009 figures.

Worldwide average is 68 subscriptions per 100 people.

Worldwide ratio of cell subscription to fixed line is almost 4:1.

Total worldwide cell phone subscriptions is 4,676,174,400, up from 1,763,978,500 in 2004.

Global IT Trends

Mobile Broadband Subscriptions, 2005-2009

Number of mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. Source: International Telecommunications Union, 2010.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009


Internet Users, 2005-2009

Number of internet users per 100 inhabitants. Source: International Telecommunications Union, 2010.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009


Internet Use, Western Europe

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, 2009 figures.

Western Europe average is 42 (24 if you include CIS).

15

34

37

39

47

52

54

59

63

67

0 20 40 60 80

Greece

Italy

France

Belgium

Germany

Netherlands

Denmark

UK

Sweden

Iceland

Internet users per 100 people

Internet Access Via Cell, 16-74 Year-Olds

4

1

2

3

3

4

6

7

9

10

14

0 5 10 15 20

EU (27 countries)

Greece

France

Belgium

Germany

Italy

Netherlands

UK

Spain

Denmark

Sweden

Percentage of 16-74 year-olds accessing the internet viamobile phone in the past 3 months

Source: Eurostat, 2009 figures.

Internet Access Via Laptop, 16-74 Year-Olds

17

3

13

14

15

17

18

21

24

29

31

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

EU (27 countries)

Greece

Belgium

France

Italy

Spain

Netherlands

UK

Germany

Sweden

Denmark

Percentage of 16-74 year-olds accessing the internet vialaptop in the past 3 months

Source: Eurostat, 2009 figures.

SNS, Youth & HealthTHE

MO

BILE

YOU

TH®

REPO

RT 2

010

SOURCE MOBILEYOUTH DATA 2010 AGES 5-29

THE BIG 5 MOBILE YOUTH ECONOMIES

$5

8b

97

m

USA

SUBS

CRIP

TIO

NS

(AG

E <3

0)VA

LUE

$BN

PA

$1

9b

76

m

BRAZIL$

21

b

28

1m

INDIA

$3

1b2

55

m

CHINA

$2

1b

3 2

JAPAN

15

SNS, Youth & HealthTHE

MO

BILE

YOU

TH®

REPO

RT 2

010

MOBILE YOUTH: TEENS & STUDENTSMILLIONS OF SUBSCRIPTIONS 2010

SOURCE MOBILEYOUTH DATA 2010 BASED ON SUBSCRIPTIONS (ACCOUNTS) RATHER THAN SUBSCRIBERSTEENS 14-18 STUDENTS 19-24

16

NORTH AMERICA

22

.9 30

.8

WEST EUROPE4

1.7

28

.6

EAST EUROPE

22

.4

47

.5

CHINA HK

119

.7

99

.4

NE ASIA

12 13

MENA

20 3

6.6

TEEN

S (1

4-18

)

STU

DEN

TS

(19-

24) 6

0.1

32

.1

38

.2

1 5

52

.9

13

9.8

LATIN AMERICASUB SAH AFRICA SOUTH ASIA

31

.7 63

.7

ASIAN PACIFIC

www.mobileYouthreport.com

Published by mobileYouthStatistics on youth mobile usage

Available for download

US Teen Mobile Use

US Teen Mobile Use

US Teen Gadget Use

US Teen Internet Access

US Adult Cell Phone Use

US Adult Wireless Internet Use

59%

84%

69%

49%

20%

% who connect to the internet wirelessly using a laptop or handheld device

All adults 18-29 30-49 50-64 65+

What’s Mobile Got to Do With It?

• Overall, US wireless internet users are more engaged in online activities

• Half of all African-American adults in the US (48%) have used their cell phone to access the internet, compared with 40% of Hispanic adults and 31% of white adults

• Overall, African-American adults in the US are the most active mobile internet users

• In the US, African-American mobile internet use is growing at a faster rate than non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics

US Social Network Site Use

SNS Twitter

61

17

86

27

52

13

Total 18-29 30+

Percent of Online Adults Who Use Social Media

US Adult Social Media Use

US Adult Social Media Use, by Race

SNS Twitter

58

15

71

25

72

20

White Black Hispanic

Percent of Online Adults Who Use Social Media

US Teens Aren’t That Into Twitter

US Adults 18-24 Are Into Twitter

US Teens are More Into Content Creation

Content Sharing is Growing Among Adults

Remixing is Flat

SNS Takes the Place of Blogging?

Blogging is Also Down For Young Adults

SUMMARY OF US TEEN ONLINE ACTIVITIES

73% of online teens use SNS (up 50%)14% blog (down 50%)8% use Twitter8% visit online virtual worlds

38% share content online (steady)21% remix content (steady)

62% get news about current events and politics48% buy things online31% get health, dieting, fitness info17% get info about sensitive health topics

Hallmarks of the New Information Ecology

Then and Now

Industrial Age

Info was:

Scarce

Expensive

Institutionally oriented

Designed for consumption

Information Age

Info is:

Abundant

Cheap

Personally oriented

Designed for participation

The “New” Information Ecology

• Blurring line between “news” and “information”

• Information is “free”

• Information is “at my fingertips”

• Information is available when I want it

• Information is available from multiple sources


Volume of information grows


The variety of info sources increases and democratizes and the visibility of new creators is enhanced in the age of social media.


People’s vigilance for information changes in two directions:

1) attention is truncated (Linda Stone)

2) attention is elongated (Andrew Keen; Terry Fisher)


Venues of intersecting with information and people multiply and the availability of information expands to all hours of the day and all places people are


The vibrance and immersive qualities of media environments makes them more compelling places to hang out and interact


Valence (relevance) of information improves – search and customization get better as we create the “Daily Me” and “Daily Us”

~40% of online adults get RSS feeds ~35% customize web pages for info they want


Voting on and ventilating about information proliferates as tagging, rating, and commenting occurs and collective intelligence asserts itself

31% of online adults rated person, product, service

Nine in ten American adults (92%) get news/info from multiple

platforms on a typical day

For six in ten American adults (59%), one of those platforms is the internet

*Platforms include print newspapers, television, radio and the internet



59%

38%

Online and Offline

Offline Only

Online Only

No News

Where Americans get their news and information on a typical day


• The internet has not replaced/ displaced traditional media

but…• It is fundamentally changing the way

people consume and interact with information

71% of American adults ever get news or information

online

The majority of online news and information

consumers are under age 50

The Online News/Info Consumer


online

Almost a third of online news and information




online

Almost a third of online news and information



*The median age of online news/info consumers is 40

Online News/Information Consumers in the US…

• Are more educated than other online adults and other adults in general

• Have higher incomes than other online adults and other adults in general

• Are disproportionately white and Hispanic

• Are much more likely than other online adults to have home broadband access and to have premium broadband

service


18

30

38

38

46

56

Int'l News Org site

Indiv or Org on SNS

Newspaper Site

Special Topic Site

TV News Org Site

Portal Sites

% of Online News/Info Consumers Who Use Each Site on a Typical Day

Most Popular Online Sources for News and Information


% of Online Adults Who Get News/Information Online About Each Topic

What Are the Most Popular Online News/Information Topics?

49

62

64

66

73

81

Arts and Culture

Internat'l News

Business/Finance

Health/Medicine

Nat'l Events

Weather


39

51

45

48

57

55

57

72

25

37

38

42

44

48

48

68

Follow on soc media

Ability to comment

Interactive material

Customize news

Easily share content

Portal/News aggregator

Multi-media content

Links to related material

Total18-29

% of Online News/Info Consumers Who Say Each Feature is Important

Most Popular Features of Online News Sites


11%

21%

57%

11%

None

Just One

2 to 5

6 or more

How many websites, if any, do you routinely rely on for news and information?

% of Online News/Info Consumers


Online News/Info Consumers are…• Efficient Grazers

• Hunters and Gatherers (71% go online specifically to get news/information at least a few times a week)

• Serendipitous News/Info Discoverers (80% come across news/information at least a few times a week while they are online doing other things)

• News/Info Receivers (44% get news/information forwarded to them through email, automatic

updates and alerts, or posts on social networking sites at least a few times a week)

Online News and Information

Online News and Information is…

• Portable

• Participatory

• Personalized

• “On the Go” News/Info Consumers– 26% of adults access news/information on their cell

phones– Among this population, 73% use social networking

sites and 29% use Twitter– Typically a white male, age 34, employed full-time– One in ten adults gets news alerts sent to his or

her phone

• The mobile phone allows anytime/anywhere access to information

• Info is consumed on the individual’s terms, when they want, where they want

Online information is portable

• “News Participators”– 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of

news, commented on it, or disseminated it via postings on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter

– Half of all online African-Americans (46%) are news participators (disproportionately high SNS use)

– Overall, 71% of internet users get news and information through email or posts on social networking sites

Remember…– 42% of online news consumers say being able to easily share

material with others is something they look for in a news site– 65% look for news sites with links to related material– 36% look for news sites with interactive material– 35% look for news sites where they can comment on stories.

Online information is participatory

• “News Participators” are standing in the information stream

• Thanks to them, your story/information has an organic life beyond your presentation of it

Online information is participatory

• “The Daily Me” Takes Shape

– 28% of internet users have customized their homepage to include news and information of particular interest to them

– 39% say being able to customize content is something they look for in an online news site

Online information is personalized

Leveraging New Technologies

"If you plopped a library down. . .30 years from now. . .there would be cobwebs growing

everywhere because people would look at it and wouldn't think of it as a legitimate institution

because it would be so far behind. . ."-- Experienced library user.

1996 Benton Foundation report: “Buildings, books, and bytes”

How Technology Changes the Role of Libraries

• Makes it possible for organizations like libraries to become “nodes” in people’s networks that can help them solve problems and make decisions

• Allows for immediate, spontaneous creation of networks that can include libraries

• Gives people a sense that there are more “friends” in their networks like librarians that they can access when they have needs

No longer think like this…

Your institution

Patron Patron Patron

Now think like this…

How to become a node in people’s social networks

Tips on becoming a node in a social network

• Think like a friend, not an institution• Play to your strengths by being an expert, a filter,

a recommender (linker), and a facilitator • Be aware that your audience is bigger than the

available evidence provides – lurkers and future arrivals are part of the mix

• Remember that your information can (will, should) have an organic life beyond your presentation of it

• Look for opportunities to build communities with your material

More tips on becoming a node in a social network

• Participate in the Web 2.0 world• Embrace the move towards mobility, constant

connectivity, perpetual contact – This changes the realities of time and space

and presence• Ask for feedback• Act on/respond to that feedback• Provide opportunities for interaction with and

customization of material• Facilitate information sharing

The 4-Step Flow of Information

• Attention• Acquisition• Assessment• Action

The Four A’s of Online Information Flow

• Get Attention– Leverage your services and knowledge– Offer alerts, updates, feeds– Have a presence in relevant places– Find pathways to people through their social network

• Enable Acquisition– Offer services and media in many places– Pursue new distribution methods for your collections– Point people to good material through links– Participate in conversations about your work with

your patrons

The Four A’s of Online Information Flow

• Help with Information Assessment– Exploit your skills in knowing the highest quality

material– Aggregate the best related work

• Facilitate Action– Offer opportunities for feedback– Offer opportunities for remixing, customization,

interaction– Offer opportunities for community building– Offer opportunities to learn how to use social media

Finally….

BE READY FOR THE SPOTLIGHT!!

You never know when your material will go viral, be picked up by a major organization, or create/mobilize

a community or following

Finally….

EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITIES!!The internet, mobile technology and social media grant access

to populations that have been traditionally hard to reach:

Remember…

It’s not about cobwebs.... It’s about social webs …. And

libraries can be at the center of them!

Available at www.pewinternet.org...• Understanding the Participatory News Consumer

http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2010/Online-News.aspx

• Social Media and Young Adults http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx

• Teens and Mobile Phones 2004-2009 http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/14--Teens-and-Mobile-Phones-Data-Memo.aspx

• Wireless Internet Use http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/12-Wireless-Internet-Use.aspx

• Chronic Disease and the Internet http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Chronic-Disease.aspx

• The Social Life of Health Information http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx

http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2010/Online-News.aspx

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/14--Teens-and-Mobile-Phones-Data-Memo.aspx

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/12-Wireless-Internet-Use.aspx

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Chronic-Disease.aspx

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/8-The-Social-Life-of-Health-Information.aspx

Thank you!

Kristen Purcell, Ph.D.Associate Director, ResearchPew Research Center’s Internet & American Life

Project1615 L Street NWSuite 700Washington, DC 20036

Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/kristenpurcell 202-419-4500

Education

My Digital Library: Leveraging Today’s Mobile and Participatory Information Ecosystem