Hi All,
After reading Daniel Pink's book, I had some thoughts about how his main points could be applied to libraries.
I would be interested in our responses. Thanks.
A Whole New Library
Daniel Pink, In A Whole New Mind, has set forth his views of where our brains are headed (pun intended). Due to outsourcing of new technologies, our near limit of reaching technological advancements and those advancements themselves, our brains are in a state of transformation. For the first few million years of human existence, we humans lived by stories, participated in sports, games, music, finding meaning in life via spirituality and empathy with our communities. For the past 200 years we have engaged our left, technical/analytic brains to satisfy our quest for human happiness. Now the right side of our brains are taking center stage.
We are now moving from the Information Age into the Conceptual Age. In the Conceptual Age, some of Pink’s concepts could be applied to libraries as well…
1. Design becomes more important than function
Design could mean actual bricks & mortar OR of virtual design (Web sites)
2. Story becomes more important than argument
-Facts become less important than context 7 & emotion
-Blogs, Wikis, other digital storytelling as well as traditional storytelling
3. Symphony (synthesis) becomes more important than focus
- Libraries help understand connections between diverse and separate disciplines, linking apparently unconnected elements to create something new, ("multi___ )
4. Empathy becomes more important than logic
- Libraries can help create resources for healing, wellness and empathy
- Quiet spaces & places
5. Play becomes more important than seriousness
- On the job, use more games, play for employees
- For resources, investigate more games
6. Meaning becomes more important than accumulation
- Libraries can help make spirituality & achievement of happiness via resources, spaces (mental & physical)
- Help customers learn what they are good at (= Happiness)
- Labyrinths can be analytic puzzles for "moving meditation"
- Could a library be labyrinth?
More challenges:
1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
2. Can a computer do it faster?
3. Can (libraries) offer something that satisfies the non-material, transcendent desires of the age of abundance?
What could upset this scheme?
---A dramatic shift in economy, climate change or major catastrophes
How do these factors become important for libraries and information services?
Daniel Pink, In A Whole New Mind, has set forth his views of where our brains are headed (pun intended). Due to outsourcing of new technologies, our near limit of reaching technological advancements and those advancements themselves, our brains are in a state of transformation. For the first few million years of human existence, we humans lived by stories, participated in sports, games, music, finding meaning in life via spirituality and empathy with our communities. For the past 200 years we have engaged our left, technical/analytic brains to satisfy our quest for human happiness. Now the right side of our brains are taking center stage.
We are now moving from the Information Age into the Conceptual Age. In the Conceptual Age, some of Pink’s concepts could be applied to libraries as well…
1. Design becomes more important than function
Design could mean actual bricks & mortar OR of virtual design (Web sites)
2. Story becomes more important than argument
-Facts become less important than context 7 & emotion
-Blogs, Wikis, other digital storytelling as well as traditional storytelling
3. Symphony (synthesis) becomes more important than focus
- Libraries help understand connections between diverse and separate disciplines, linking apparently unconnected elements to create something new, ("multi___ )
4. Empathy becomes more important than logic
- Libraries can help create resources for healing, wellness and empathy
- Quiet spaces & places
5. Play becomes more important than seriousness
- On the job, use more games, play for employees
- For resources, investigate more games
6. Meaning becomes more important than accumulation
- Libraries can help make spirituality & achievement of happiness via resources, spaces (mental & physical)
- Help customers learn what they are good at (= Happiness)
- Labyrinths can be analytic puzzles for "moving meditation"
- Could a library be labyrinth?
More challenges:
1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
2. Can a computer do it faster?
3. Can (libraries) offer something that satisfies the non-material, transcendent desires of the age of abundance?
What could upset this scheme?
---A dramatic shift in economy, climate change or major catastrophes
How do these factors become important for libraries and information services?
1 comment:
Larry:
i agree with all your points except the last challenges.
Can something be done overseas cheaper? Have you ever bought anything and called a toll free number to discover the operator is in India? my problem is not where the person is but the outsourcing. I have heard these people are paid poorly. they are paid well by their countries' standards but they are being ripped off. I found this out when we bought something for the computer.
I have now started asking where this person is located. The service is usually fine. I have only had one problem where I ended up calling back to resolve the situation but that can happen with an 800 or 888 number here. I am always grateful to get service.
As to can a computer do something better? Yes, there are definitely things a computer can do better and faster but people will still always need at least one person to run the computers and robots.
the places where I get the best customer service from a person is where I return to again and again.
i love technology (shopping online, email, blogging, etc) but we all still need human connections.
In the big scheme of things, where will we be in 5 years or 10 years, in terms of customer service? I have great concerns that we are not keeping up with our customers who are much more technologically linked than our services.
They have expectations like IM reference, online book clubs with live chat, streaming of new materials like Susan C. would like.
Roving and outreach are great but what about the customer out there who we are not reaching? the one who thinks the library is still the card catalogue and our technology is stuck there?
catherine g.
Catherine G.
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