Lee Rainie

The Lee Rainie keynote was interesting and informative. He spent quite a bit of time discussing the Pew Internet study that was published in December about what groups of people use libraries to get information. This is the one that provided the surprising information that Gen-Y users are some of the heaviest users of libraries for solving problems.

Some interesting points from the keynote:

• 60% of online teens use the Internet at the Library
• Of the people in the study 69% got help from staff and 68% used the Internet to get their information, meaning that you really can't get rid of either (38% of those using computers got assistance from staff)
• Lee Rainie hypothesized that the Gen-Y crowd is the biggest group of Library users for this application since they have been going to libraries during the period in which libraries have been adapting to technological change.
• Libraries should give users Web 2.0 tools, and if necessary train users in the use of Web 2.0 tools
• Libraries should aspire to be a node in social networks