Of course you’re all desperate to know of the Dewey blog’s whereabouts at all times, and so I’m pleased to inform you that we’re back in the vicinity of the Manor, having waved goodbye to the San Antonio Riverwalk for the last time. Nobody we know actually fell in the river, despite several close calls, and I got to meet David Bigwood of Catalogablog renown, so: a resounding success. Now, going back to Friday, and the OCLC Symposium on “Extreme makeover: Rebranding an industry” ... Others have already reported on this (for detailed notes posted in real-time, for instance, check out It’s all good), but we did want to add our tuppence-ha’penny-worth in praise of this excellent session in which four experts shared their insights on the nature and future of the “library” brand, in the light of OCLC’s new report (Perceptions of libraries and information resources) on an international study of the information-seeking habits of over 3,000 information consumers. Omar Wasow (BlackPlanet.com) spoke of the transformative mission of the library as a “public park for your brain” -- a physical space comparable to a school, church, or gym, where people may reflect, think, write, learn, connect, and change. Jennifer Rice (Mantra Brand Communications), who admitted to not having used a library since leaving college, identified five trends that libraries have no option but to come to terms with if they are to appeal on the level of Google, Starbucks, Netflix, and Home Depot to consumers like herself: libraries must offer convenience, choice, means to connect with communities and to take control, and a memorable experience. Patricia Martin (LitLamp Communications Group) characterized the current generation of potential library users as the RenGen -- participants in a renaissance, “knowledge leisure” culture who perceive themselves to be inner-directed, imaginative, au courant, and expressive, and whose preferences are for informal information-delivery systems, such as gaming and web-based communities, that libraries continue to struggle to understand. Antony Brewerton (Oxford Brookes University) entertained the audience with a stream of creative ideas for marketing academic-library resources and services to undergraduate students. Were the Dewey marketing team taking notes? You bet.
Comments