SLA Annual Conference Presentation by Mary Ellen Bates
Link to presentation slides: http://www.batesinfo.com/extras/assets/omg.pdf
Actually, the Millennials are already here. Mary Ellen Bates led this session about working with what she calls “digital natives”. Here is a collection of snippets from her presentation.
She describes their expectations of life experiences as “augmented reality” where there are enhancements to the real experience. Her example was the moveable yellow line on the football field during televised games.
Having been online their entire lives, Millennials not only prefer to be in constant contact with people, they believe this activity establishes and validates their credibility. Social capital matters. Millennials believe:
- Distance doesn’t matter. They don’t have to leave their homes to get the information they need.
- Sharing is the default. They don’t understand the concept of hoarding information because sharing is the norm. This might be why privacy concerns may be less valued, and why the issue of copyright and intellectual property might be challenging concepts to grasp.
- Information is ubiquitous. If all you’re offering is information, they may not be impressed. Sharing knowledge- not just information- equals power.
Personal branding is second nature. They are voracious consumers of information, but rely on their personal networks for filtering. These networks include Facebook friends, Twitter groups, and other electronic collections of people to which they choose to belong. When you reach out to them, you will be tapping into their networks, one way or another. (She added that we should find opportunities to show them what they might be missing by allowing the information that reaches them to be filtered by their groups or friends.)
Millennials like to engage in “media snacking” which simply means they want to multitask all day (work, Facebook, Twitter, ipod, etc) in order to feel connected. Otherwise, they may feel distracted. Some even sleep with their phones in their hands (something I have seen in my own house for years!)
Mary Ellen advises those who are not Millennials to respect their culture and understand that they not only bring new perspectives to the workplace, but they also create new perspectives. They also have updated technology skills that force others to adapt and evolve.
And finally, Millennials consider the library a service and not a location, online news is accepted as an adequate source for current information, and anything on the Internet is considered “fair game”.
By Valerie Vogt, Shook, Hardy & Bacon Reference Librarian
Heart of American Chapter Program Planning Committee Member
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