The Liminal Librarian

Created by Online Education

I’m just posting this because…

1. I’m a sucker for these types of comparisons, and
2. I want to be one among 900,000!

Yet another one of Pew’s endless reports — this one from a survey done in April 2009 — talks about the increase in wireless Internet usage. The part that interests me is that about mobile devices:

The report also finds rising levels of Americans using the internet on a mobile handset. One-third of Americans (32%) have used a cell phone or Smartphone to access the internet for emailing, instant-messaging, or information-seeking. This level of mobile internet is up by one-third since December 2007, when 24% of Americans had ever used the internet on a mobile device. On the typical day, nearly one-fifth (19%) of Americans use the internet on a mobile device, up substantially from the 11% level recorded in December 2007. That’s a growth of 73% in the 16 month interval between surveys.

Hey, that’s me they’re talking about! Before I got my piPhone in March, I had an old brick of a phone that basically… I know, how silly… made phone calls. Now, I read email or look things up or otherwise go online on my iPhone just about every day — and after just four months, you’d have to pry the thing away from me.

And that’s some serious growth in less than 1.5 years. Some interesting stuff for libraries piloting mobile services.

I was watching live TV last night, which is rare since we made the DVR plunge. Finished my book during the first commercial break, and was too wrapped up in blankets and cats to go get more reading material, providing plenty of time for my brain to ramble during the next few breaks. (Incidentally, I’m amazed at articles like this recent NYT one mentioning that DVR owners don’t fast forward through ads as much as people originally thought — I mean, who wouldn’t, if they could?)

Anyway, where my mind rambled is thus: over the past 10-15 years, I’ve gone from a dinky TV with no cable to a 36″ TV with 150something satellite channels and DVR… from a dialup modem to cable modem… I’ve invested in a cell phone and in Netflix and in various other ways to keep myself and my family entertained and connected, and I’m not particularly unique nor particularly ahead of the curve — my parents even had DVR a couple years before we got it!. Of course, these various investments come with their various costs: there goes $15/month for Netflix, there’s $58/month for DirecTV, there’s another $47 for the cell and another $61 (thank you, Comcast!) for the Internet.

I think these types of investments are one reason people don’t feel particularly concerned about helping libraries absorb the costs involved in adding new technologies and new formats. Because, well, we all have had to deal with it, haven’t we? If we decide to add Netflix to our entertainment mix, no one is going to add a Netflix bonus onto our paychecks, so if our neighborhood library decides to start offering DVDs or additional Internet terminals or what have you, they don’t get an entertainment or technology bonus either.

But the difference lies in that libraries often have to invest in new technologies and formats to remain relevant in the lives of their communities. If I start feeling a financial pinch, the only investment I really need to keep here is the Internet one. I can cancel Netflix or cancel satellite TV with no real risk — I might have more free time, get more books read, but be less able to converse knowledgeably on movies and shows, oh well. Libraries can’t — and shouldn’t — go back on the investments they’ve made, nor can they stop buying materials in various popular formats or cut back on the T1 line this month. Perhaps we need to be better able to explain why adding new technologies and formats is more essential for libraries than for individuals.