Gen Y are the leading users of libraries
Submitted by jajacobs on Sun, 2007-12-30 19:46.
A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign says that "members of Gen Y are the leading users of libraries for help solving problems and in more general patronage.... Furthermore, it is young adults who are the most likely to say they will use libraries in the future when they encounter problems: 40% of Gen Y said they would do that, compared with 20% of those above age 30 who say they would go to a library."
- Information searches that solve problems: How people use the internet, libraries, and government agencies when they need help (December 30, 2007) Leigh Estabrook, Evans Witt, and Lee Rainie. (full report. PDF)
- Information Searches That Solve Problems (Press Release)
- Young Adults Heavy Library Users by Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press December 30, 2007.
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Other implications of Pew Study
Aside from younger users being more likely to use a library, three other things struck me about this study:
1) In light of recent reporting about how much government information is not findable via search engines, the 65% of people pronouncing themselves satisfied with results about gov't info might be missing something.
2) Althought the study indicated most respondents preferred to access government information online, it also found "many would also like access to printed materials as well as actual people (by phone and in person) to answer questions. 58% of those surveyed had contacted a government agency within the last year, most often in person." So people seem to favor a mixed media future and gov't should take that into account.
3) This Pew study confirms earlier studies that an all-electronic future leaves out millions of Americans. This study stated that 76% of Americans have internet access. With today's US population at 303,143,811, that means that 72,754,514 (or so) American citizens do NOT have internet access. What government writes off 72 million people when it comes to knowing basic government information? Our shouldn't, but you hear that sort of talk from many government officials and even librarians.
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"And besides all that, what we need is a decentralized, distributed system of depositing electronic files to local libraries willing to host them." -- Daniel Cornwall, tipping his hat to Cato the Elder for the original quote.
more on pew study
Daniel, thanks for these comments. I'd add two more.
First, the figure that Pew uses for those who are "internet users" include those who only have dialup access and those who only have broadband access at work. Only 55% of internet users have broadband at home -- and that is, I believe, a more accurate representation of how many Americans have adequate access to the net.
Second, I'm warry about relying on user satisfaction as a measure of succcess and adequacy. I remember an old library survey that found that users were happy with the service they got in libraries -- even when they did not get an answer to their questions! It is nice to think that libraries make users happy even without providing adequate service, but it is not a good measure of the success of libraries. I believe that, when librarians only ask users what they want and if they are satisfied, they are abrogating their professional responsibility and expertise to design solutions that work and fulfill the responsibilities of libraries to select, acquire, organize, preserve and provide access to and service for reliable, accurate information.
jj
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