1. DISRUPTION: Are we learning too?
Stephen Abram
stephen.abram@gmail.com
MeMO
Oct. 4, 2013

2. A metaphor for schools, public, and other libraries…
http://kottke.org/13/02/the-dance-of-a-murmuration-of-
starlings
2

3. Can everyone source their force?
Can we contribute to everyone‟s self-actualization?
3

4. The disruptions that were predicted . . .
4

5. 5

6. Then what is disruptive to the ecosystem of learning and
libraries, learners and librarians?
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7. 7

8. And that‟s just so easy, comfortable and beguiling…
8

9. 9
Retronyms
• Guitar . . . Electric guitar
• Carriage . . . Horseless carriage
• Book . . . E-book
• Mail . . . E-mail
• Store . . . Online store
• Catalogue . . . OPAC
• Games . . . Video games . . . PC Games . . . Gamification
• Blackboard . . . Whiteboard . . . Smartboard
• In our world just put an „I‟ or an „E‟ in front of any noun.

10. Rogers
10

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So we’ve seen . . .
• Banks become ATMs
• Books become e-books and documents become PDFs
• Textbooks become e-textbooks
• Classes become e-classes
• Conferences become virtual conferences
•

12. Let‟s talk verbs…
12

13. What is the disruption here?
• Radio
• Telephone
• Cars
• Planes
• Television
• Talkies
• PCs
• Internet
• E-mail
• Wax, vinyl, tape, CD, MP3
• Beta, VHS, DVD … Streaming
media
• Smartboards
• Online databases
• Amazon
• Google, Yahoo, Bing
• eBay
• eBooks
• Boolean
• Digital Cameras – camera
phones
• Flickr, Pinterest, Tumblr,
Instagram
• Siri, Facetime
• WebEx, AdobeConnect, G+
Hangouts, Web Conferencing
• Cloud, SaaS, IaaS, PaaS)
13

14. What is the next disruption?
• Robotics
• Nano
• Embedded devices
• Internet of Things
• 3D printing
• Making culture
• Genomic advances
• Frankenfoods
• Holographics, holodeck?
14

15. Black and White
• The polarization of discussion
Dogmatic vs. Professional positions on:
eBooks, access, copyright, etc.
Political and social value systems in conflict

16. Black & White

21. 21
• Examples of B&W discussions
• These can sometimes lack professional perspectives, be politically
dogmatic and belief driven, and use metaphors symbolic of death~!
• E-books versus Physical Books
• Textbooks – eTextbooks - Coursepacks – Learning Objects
• Open access versus Proprietary Content
• Free versus Fee
• Business Models versus Social Models
• Apple versus Microsoft PC
• Desktop vs. Laptop vs. Tablet vs. Phone vs. Phablets
• Privacy and Confidentiality
• Make no mistake. I‟m not saying the discussions are wrong or taking
sides, I just think professionals see colours and shades of gray.

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So let’s really think . . . What’s really going to happen?
• Evolution or Revolution?
• Education versus Learning
• Teaching versus Engagement
• Librarian versus coach, partner, developer, …
• Publisher / Vendor versus School / Academic Institution
• Curriculum versus Common Core
• Delivery Institution or Learning Ecosystem
• Diplomas versus Accredited Providers

24. Are you locked into library financial mindsets?

25. What about value and impact?

26. Or shall we stick with this?

27. Grocery Stores

28. Grocery Stores

29. Grocery Stores

30. Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

31. Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

32. Meals

33. Finding the BIG TRENDS
1. Follow the money and the market opportunity . . .
equity and venture capital
2. Watch the consumer market first for devices,
behaviours, entertainment . . . e.g. ringtones
3. Watch the rest of the world
4. Who stands to lose? Win? (cataloguers, systems,
metadata . . .)
5. What is on the fringes? (e.g. eBay and cars)
6. Think clearly about price, scalability and
penetration.
7. “I spy with my little eye… something that is . . .”
33

39. 39
So what am I spying . . .?
From a School Library focus
• Global learning and publishing investments
• Online high schools (Gale Cengage, Stanford)
• Devices are markets (CleverU and Newmindsets)
• E-Learning (Blackboard, D2L, Moodle, ...)
• MOOCs (Almost 18 months of EdX, Udacity, Coursera)
• Learning and Experience Portals as classrooms (Khan)
• What is happening with the textbook?
• New business models (big data models...)
• Discovery trumping Search
• Non-Text: Video, audio, read-speak, etc.
• Search Tuning – Lexiles, sentiment, visual, semantic, Sciencescape
• Advanced stuff – 3D printing, gamification, …
• Partnerships, alliances, mergers, on the state and national level

40. Deer in headlamps slide here.

41. The signs . . . There‟s always another view…
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43. 43

44. Definitions
• Discovery
• Search – known item retrieval
• Topical or Subject Search
• Research
• Immersive Learning
• Assembly
• Two step discovery: discover, searching, finding, use
• The pressure is ON for librarians to scale up their
information fluency and experience curation
initiatives

45. What are the real issues?
• Craft versus Industrial Strength
• Personal service only when there‟s impact
• Automated personalization and archiving
• Pilot, Project, Initiative versus Portfolio Strategy
• Hand-knitted prototypes versus Production
• e.g. Information Literacy initiatives
• Discovery versus Search versus Deep Search
• eLearning units
• Citation and information ethics
• Repository and content archipelagos
• Strategic Analytics
• Value & Impact Measures, Behaviours, Satisfaction
• Policy, economic and strategic alignment

46. What Does
Boundarylessness
mean?

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So what do you do as both an educator and librarian?
• Scale up! Statewide and nationwide (a la OCLC)
• Understand deeply the research on genome, behaviours, learning
styles, child and teen development, brain research . . . In the digital
context.
• Develop your skill portfolio as a team instead of individuals and do
both your attitudes and aptitudes
• Avoid LONE WOLF syndrome

49. 49
Build (some examples)
• Online teaching skills
• Online learning skills
• LMS MOOC development skills
• Teamwork competencies
• Partnership competencies (and not just not-for-profit)
• Your sacrificing skills
• Priority-setting and Milestone skills
• Cooperation and Collaboration skills
• Culture of Trials and Experiments “always in beta”
• Assessment skills and data analysis in a digital age.
• Advocacy and influencing skills

50. Do You Feel Poor?

51. 51

56. Smelly
Yellow
Liquid
Or
Sex
Appeal
?

57. Until lions learn to write their own story,
the story will always be from the perspective
of the hunter not the hunted.

58. 58

59. Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA
Consultant, Dysart & Jones/Lighthouse Consulting
Cel: 416-669-4855
stephen.abram@gmail.com
Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
http://stephenslighthouse.com
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