Tuesday, April 25, 2006

CIL'06: Scanning for Planning

Alane Wilson, Editor, 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan
(another Canuck...MLIS from UBC and undergrad from Waterloo)
  • "an accidental futurist"
  • "skating where the puck will be" (Wayne Gretzky)
  • there are professional futurist associations
  • libs need to look OUTSIDE the profession more
  • environmental scanning...in reality, like dumpster diving
  • no "how to" book...pick landscapes that suit what you're doing
  • trend spotting: observing, reading, musing, synthesizing, understanding
  • eg. what are peeps doing with handheld devices in other countries
  • trendspotters need to be curious
  • trends = the momentum in society
  • need to do trendspotting FAST...not by committee...need autonomy
  • what will you do with the info when it's done...must lead to ACTION
  • a library DEPARTMENT could do a scan, and act on it...wow!...what a concept!
  • trendwatching.com...a good monthly email magazine
  • Wired, Fast Company, Time etc...useful
  • read widely outside of lib and info science
  • talk to peeps...users and non-users
  • collect *stuff* and categorize it...common themes / trends / fit stuff together
  • "amazoogle effect"...comprehensive, accessible, immediate gratification, market-of-one...personalization...trends
  • GAMING...
    • highlighted in scan
    • blossomed after its publication
  • convenience trumps quaility
  • gapingvoid.com...good quotes
  • favorville...people helping people
  • foldera...peekochat...rallypoint...connecting people to others
  • librarything.com...amateur cataloguing!
  • Shaping Things...(book by Bruce Sterling)
    • spimes, blogjets...like FedEx package checking...*stuff* that gathers info as it goes...like people!...new trend

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