Lots going on at PLA, which is one of the friendliest and most vibrant conferences your roving reporter from the Dewey blog has had the pleasure to attend. Yesterday turned out to be Generation M Day -- much to learn about how millennials' experience as gamers and internet users has shaped their distinctive attitudes toward life and work and the new ways in which they solve problems, interact with one another, and seek entertainment and information. First up was Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, who summarized the insights that may be drawn from the Pew/Internet data about the attitudes and behavior of Americans born between 1982 and 2000; then John C. Beck, president of the North Star Leadership Group and co-author of Got game: How the gamer generation is reshaping business forever, further highlighted the significance of the new "Generation Gap" between gamers and non-gamers. How should search and access tools be designed so that they help and hold the attention of young people who, forever immersed in networked media, are far more willing and able than their parents to multitask, collaborate, take risks, adapt to change, share and remix creative content ... ? Where does a subject classification scheme like the DDC fit in a world in which people find the stuff they want by connecting with like-minded peers and asking for recommendations? Rest assured: down at the Manor, we're on it.
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