Trends and Their Impact on Policy

A quick search on YouTube reveals a hoard of videos dealing with predicted future trends, and there have been further updates to the Shift Happens video since this one was released in 2009. However, this one is still of interest to us as it focuses on how we use media, and the rise of digital media. Four years later these may no longer have the same impact, but they continue to progress and are worth considering in terms of how organisations should handle them in their policies.

Of particular interest to those of us concerned with libraries and other information handling professions is the rapid digitisation of books by Google. As a user this is great news, as they will be providing easier access to previously rare and inaccessible documents, although I would be concerned at the cost of accessing such materials. From a library perspective there are also issues of cost and selection of what materials to be made available. Policy documents would have to outline what material should be made available and at what point this becomes unfeasible.

Another trend is the rising numbers of visitors to social networking sites such as Facebook. For libraries this demand means that they should be looking to provide greater public access to these networks (and to be involved in them themselves), which obviously comes at a cost. Another consideration for the policy! Saying that, there are also issues such as child protection. While providing access for adults is great, for younger visitors there may need to be some controls in place. How this will be managed/supervised will also need to be considered in the policy.

 This has already led to another trend, a shift in advertising for many organisations away from traditional media. As a user this will drive me to look for social networks that are free of advertising if it becomes overpowering, although generally adverts in a sidebar can be ignored. For organisations this means they need to ensure their advertising is effective without driving customers to other sites.

According to this video the average teen sent 2272 texts per month. Whether or not this remains an accurate statistic, it shows that youths are extremely communicative. For the library, or any other organisation wanting to tap into this market, the onus is on you to stay abreast of current communication trends and to devote time to establishing a presence in this environment.

Finally, we have the issue of SPAM. Pretty much since email was invented it became infested with SPAM, to the point I gave up on my Hotmail account because it was so overloaded. Filters have improved since then, but the issue remains, and organisations need to be aware that they may be impersonated by spammers for nefarious motives. Individuals need to know that their identity may be stolen without their knowledge, and that SPAM no longer is restricted to email. For schools and libraries the issue of cyber safety needs to be promoted as part of an overall technology policy.