[WEB4LIB] "Generation shifts" and technology

[Bollinger,Stephen]

Hi All,

Last year my boss attended a talk by Steven Abram where he discussed "Millenials", the marketese term for the younger generation.  We had a pretty detailed discussion about it afterwards.

I've always wondered how often lectures like these wander into hyperbole, not in any malicious way but instead to "wake us up" and make us challenge our own assumptions.

Anyway, not having read the material that Lars cited for his original "generational shift" quote (hence I apologize for my ignorance), I'm guessing that it means more than just "the younger generation embraces technology more".

Yes I cringe when people start throwing out statistics about how wired the "younger generation" is and how many have instant messenger accounts and compatible mobile phones, etc.  But I also remember having a conversation with my grandfather about how things like television (and even mundane things like ballpoint pens!) were not around prior to the middle of the twentieth century.

I don't believe that the issue (the shift, as it were) is about whether young people adopt technology.  The shift is in their attitudes towards and usage of it.

I grew up with a paper encyclopedia in my home, it was my first source of knowledge if it wasn't in a school textbook or one of my other books.  I can't imagine how anyone raised today in a home with an Internet connection and computer relates to a traditional, physical encyclopedia.  Do they own one; would they use it if they did?  If I remember correctly, encyclopedia sales are down....

Is Wikipedia an encyclopedia?  Not in the ways that matter to us.  A better question is "are the people who are using Wikipedia even looking for an encyclopedia?"  Are we wasting our time trying to offer them one if that's not what they're looking for?

So, whether or not you believe the "Millenial" hype, don't forget that it is often valuable to challenge your own assumptions regardless of you think about "generational shift".

Yours,
-Steve

Stephen Bollinger
Internet Specialist
CAPITAL AREA DISTRICT LIBRARY
401 South Capitol Avenue
Lansing, MI  48901-7919
http://www.cadl.org/


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Sloan, Bernie
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 5:41 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [WEB4LIB] "Generation shifts" and technology


In the earlier "Wikipedia" thread, Bill Drew seemed a little skeptical
about the "generation shift" concept.

It's been discussed a lot recently, e.g., the Abram/Luther "Born with
the Chip" piece in the May 1 issue of Library Journal.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not sure I buy into the "generation shift"
concept entirely. The idea seems to revolve around each new human
generation being more technologically adept, or integrating technology
into their lives more completely, than the preceding generations. But I
see evidence that this isn't so cut and dried. 

I have two kids in their early twenties, and the degree in which they
each have integrated technology into their lives varies remarkably. One
is really wired (or "unwired" in the case of using wireless
technologies). The other recently was without Internet access for at
least six months, and it didn't seem to bother him a bit. On my
generational level, I have a brother who told me over the holidays that
he checks his e-mail about every nine months on the average (this is not
an exaggeration), while another runs some really cool digital media
classes for high school kids. On the next generational level, my mother
worked at a newspaper that was one of the early pioneers in automating
newspaper production, and she's been an avid home computer user since
the days of the Apple IIe (and maybe earlier than that...my memory fails
me a bit here). She's almost 80 years old.

I guess my point is that every generation has members who take to
technology like a duck to water, and every generation has members who
aren't particularly technologically adept, and who couldn't care less
that they aren't.

Bernie Sloan
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant, ILCSO
University of Illinois Office for Planning and Budgeting
616 E. Green Street, Suite 213
Champaign, IL  61820

Phone: (217) 333-4895
Fax:   (217) 265-0454
E-mail: bernies at uillinois.edu