cil containers

Content Containers:Stepping up to the Experience Plateau

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLAComputers in Libraries

Arlington, VAApril 14, 2010

Extended slides are available on Stephen’s Lighthouse blog

What Does Open Mean?

• open source • open

infrastructure• open architecture• open standards• open access• open video• open canvas• open book• open mike

• open forum:• open engagement• open bar• open borders• open elections• open house• open sauce• open to all• open identity• open interaction• open and shut

What does Social change?

Think about it.

What is Driving the Need for Open?

• User Expectation• Architecture• The Cloud• API’s• Social Media• Experience trends• Personalization

What is the Cloud?• Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network

access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.

• Service Models: – Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)– Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS)– Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

• Deployment Models:– Private cloud. – Community cloud– Public cloud– Hybrid cloud

The API Cloud

• Amazon API• Google Books API• Google Scholar API• OCLC WorldCat API• Wolfram Alpha API• YouTube API• Twitter API• API’s for EBSCO, Gale, ProQuest, etc.• Etc.

What about Apps?

• Plug ins• iTunes• Apple App Store• HTML5• Mobile

Why discuss library impact at all?

What aren’t we seeing any more?

What are we seeing?

What’s Your Experience Look Like?

What’s Your Experience Look Like?

What’s Your Experience Look Like?

Re-Imagine Your SPACEPhysical and Virtual

Is the traditional book or text book now a hollow experience?

Old Containers

• These are not going away!• But they are always physical:• Paper Books, magazines, periodicals, scholarly

journals, coursepacks, DVDs, tape, video, cassette, photos, games, …

• They are losing market and mindshare.• Especially in the discovery and learning space.

Traditional Experiences

• School• Eureka Research• Shopping• Elections• Reading• Concerts, Entertainment• Movies, Plays, Theatre• And more and we don’t call it content!

New Containers

• What are the new containers?• The are mostly virtual• e-courses, e-coursepacks, lessons, e-learning

objects, websites, portals, sessions, event, digital photo albums, etc.

• How do these fit into a positive transformational experience?

Types of Containers

• OLD• Databases• Articles• Books• DVD• Spreadsheets• Albums• Game• Weight & Volume

• REVISED• Paragraphs• Chapters• Clips• Graphics• Pictures• Animations• Games• Engaging Experiences

Container Success

• Focus on the End User(s) in context• Content is not enough• Focus on the results of the Experience:• Learning, Social, Entertainment, Community,

Hobbies, etc.• Collectors not collections, Learners not Teachers,

Readers not authors, publishers or librarians.• Short and long term subscription models• Borrowing and rental models

Issues in Experience Publishing• Design for Use not clicks• Transformations not Transactions• Learning styles• Psychographics• Technology adoption and penetration• Learning curves• Multiple intelligences• Target market differences• Tuning – e.g. Flesch-Kincaid, Lexiles, levelling, levelled

reading• Technical issues like persistent content (persistent

URLs, etc.) and deep linking, rights management, etc.

So what are your end user goals?

Do you measure clicks?Articles?

Satisfaction?Success?

My Challenge

Knowledge PortalsExperience Portals

Learning PortalsTransformations not Transactions

Can we design a 21st Century book experience?

What about censorship?Freedom of expression?Freedom….In general

Will we defend a 16th Century vision that isn’t at risk?

How dowe really feel about technology?

What will the new text and reading experience be for books, news, scholarship and magazines?

Can we assemble them like IKEA? Or on the fly?

Can we do better than GM did in adapting to change?

Does the IKEA Strategy work for GM. End User - Assemble it yourself!

Newspapers: Assemble them yourself.Re-imagine the book, the textbook, the video,

the coursepack, and the experience.

Can we make it scalable?

What is the difference between an author

and a publisher?

One experience, one web page, one book, one article is not sufficient.

Community

How is your presence like a campfire?

Relationships

Connection

Play

Personalization

Mobility

Learning and EngagementIncrease with the INTENSITY

of the Experience Think of your own intense learning

moments...

The Broadband Opportunity(TV, WIMAX, WiFi, Sat/LEO, etc.)

CommunityNeeds

Big Society Trends

LIBRARY

• Demographic• e.g. Seniors• e.g. Millennials

• Technological• Global Competitiveness• Social• Government• And more

What are the big trends?It’s been quiet for 15 years.Prepare for Exponential Change . . .

How Can We Empower Experiences?

And Cultivate and Nurture It?

• You can’t wait for everyone to change at once.

Will Reading Matter?Are we confusing books and reading?

Audiobooks, Cengage and eBooks . . . And Google

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blu_blue/262096844/in/pool-booksandportraits

Bestsellers?

What does your best borrowed report look like?

Is your Community different?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthk/2054262239/

What does your book and article or website recommendation blog/RSS feed look like?

Who is your star recommender? Are you part of their life?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjanebuy/340249608/in/pool-booksandportraits

How do your community contentreviews do?

Who is your best teen reviewer?

Are you a node?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mthiesson/176153663/

How are your web based communities doing?Are you connecting your scientists?How many dozen are there?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lori_an/319433801/

Do your users like your video author interviews?

Does the experience begin and end with the covers?

Do you offer podcasts?

Do you record every story time?Every lecture?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lori_an/319433802/in/photostream/

Are you making sense of your collections in a community context?

• BiblioCommons• ChiliFresh• LibraryThing for

Libraries • Delicious• Digg• YouTube

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_mistress/525385533/

Can you circulate books from anywhere?

Like the parking lot, lecture hall, classroom, sidewalk sale, or nursing home?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_mistress/525385511/

How about gaming? Social communication? Hobbies? Continuing education and distance learning? And more?

The thing about success, is that it’s not

about things.

Or 2.0 Technology

What new projects is your library engaging in to make a difference

for end users and your community?

Can you handle rapid change?• Demographic?• Technology?• Content?• Global?• Social?• Government?

What problems do you solve?Are they librarian or end user problems?

Observe Your UsersWhat do they really want?

NO

OK – Now let’s ask ourselves what our users really, REALLY want.

Self-Service Web Portal

NO

Context is King, not Content.

Do we truly understand their goals?

Can we at east agree that they don’t merely want whiz bang widgets, gadgets, shiny new

tools or any other raw technology?

Let’s address the human condition.

Discovery & Ideas

The Future DiscoveredOpen and Linked Data

• All genome projects • Stem Cells• fMRI and The Brain• Cloning• Wind and other energy• Nanotechnology• Robotics• Book Digitization• Music• Streaming Media• Seed Bank

Community Networks

Personalization

Personalization

I am unique.Understand me.

It’s personal.

Don’t limit me!Who are you to limit me?

Literacy

• Reading literacy• Numeracy• Critical literacy• Social literacy• Computer literacy• Web literacy• Content literacy• Written literacy

• News literacy• Technology literacy• Information literacy• Media literacy• Adaptive literacy• Research literacy• Academic literacy• Etc.

Progress

These are exciting times.

Choose between achieving a dynamic and exciting future vision or longing

for a nostalgic past.

The BIG Assumption

“The Internet has now progressed to its

infancy”Search, Social Networks, Learning, Commerce

& AMAZON

http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/2735401175/

TheSharing

Economy

Get Good at The Cloud

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=book+sculpture&page=44

Are we ready for the post book world?

Strategies that Work• Stable Use of API’s• Widgets and landing pages• Integration both internal and external• Cloud connections• Personalization• Links to Social Sites and Data• Measurement Tools and Analytics• Mobile, just mobile• Increased visual• Fuzzy logic and faceted search• Behavioural focus and collection

LibrariesCreating the Third Path…

Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLAVP Strategic Partnerships and Markets

Gale, Cengage LearningCel: 416-669-4855

stephen.abram@cengage.comhttp://www.cengage.com

Stephen’s Lighthouse Bloghttp://stephenslighthouse.com