I spent this morning at a seminar on Technology Trendspotting, given by Joan Fry Williams and sponsored by INCOLSA. It was quite entertaining, with lots of audience participation. One of the points made was that libraries’ competition comes from the consumer world, not from other libraries. An example is self service. People swipe their cards to purchase gas and get their airline boarding passes — they expect to do the same to check out library books. Spotting trends, according to Williams, requires connecting the dots, noticing things outside the library that can be applied within the library. Technology has changed the way people define their groups — it’s no longer by geography but by affinity. We should be packaging knowledge by user demand, not by point of origin. Trust is important, but younger people are more likely to trust their network, their peers, rather than an institution.

I particularly liked her comment, “It’s OK to be imprecise and untidy.” Librarians do so want to be right all the time and when it comes to trends, nobody is correct every single time.

Her top five trends:
1. Convenience trumps quality
2. I’d rather do it myself
3. Trickle-up technology
4. Productivity still matters
5. Mass collaboration