In library statistics, our most urgent task is to shift our statistical systems from a paper-based - or industrial - model to a knowledge-based, digital model.

Snake-haired Medusa (right) was killed by Perseus.

This is a major undertaking, which may take a generation or more to be completed. Like all big development efforts, it will involve a combination of systems, skills and organizational development. Technology should not be a big issue, however. The tools we need to produce and study library statistics are coming fast. Cheap digital devices, both portable and stationary, are spreading rapidly in most countries of the world.

The barriers to change are social rather than technical.

Social and cultural barriers

Organizations and individuals must develop attitudes, skills and ways of working that are appropriate to a digital rather than an industrial environment. The next step in library statistics involves, as Bourdieu would say, changes in our routinized responses - or habitus.

Big conversions are rare. Most change is gradual.  We tend to move step by step from one mode of behaviour to another. I assume this will be the case for library statistics as well. The established systems must be reformed from within rather than replaced from without.

I also assume that our statistical authorities are willing to change. They are technicians rather than theologians. They provide the library community with useful tools - and should be happy to make the tools more useful.

The biggest challenge is cultural.

In the industrial world, we needed complex vertical organizations - traditional, paper-pushing bureaucracies - to collect, process and distribute information. In the digital world, information can be produced, processed and shared by anybody through the web.

Statistics are information goods. They must, like books and time tables, be understood in in order to be used.  If we apply 2.0 principles to library statistics, we can construct systems that are more transparent, more horizontal and more productive - in  terms of knowledge - than those we have today. But the new systems will require a different balance of power in order to work. The relationships between the stake-holders must be redefined.

Ordinary libraries and librarians need to develop their skills and increase their power. Central authorities must delegate responsibility - offering training and support rather than decisions ex cathedra.

Such changes within a social field (Bourdieu) affect the way we talk and listen to each other. Digital technology flattens both social and economic pyramids (Friedman). In a networked society, power and influence is distributed among many independent actors.

The game of knowledge

Our current elites rose to power in the industrial world. They often find it hard to accept the consequences of digital technology. The new game of knowledge - one might say - differs from the old industrial game. The rules of effective behaviour are different. Productive knowledge is like science: it grows by being shared rather than by being hedged, monopolized and controlled.

This changes the way we confront and discuss library issues. In digital environments, formal positions carry less weight, while professional insight carry more. Distances between ranks and roles are “flattened”. Conversations become more egalitarian - and more professional. I would even say more reasonable. In the knowledge economy, what you know is more important than who you know. Knowledge is the new capital. It resides in persons and networks rather than pyramids and positions (see Resources).

These are general statements. They apply to all fields that are deeply affected by digital technology. This is definitely the case for the library sector - and even more true for library statistics.

I therefore take it for granted that this tiny corner of the world must be rethought and reshaped on digital principles.

Resources

• Shaping Strategy in a World of Constant Disruption. This article in Harvard Business Review (October 2008) - by John Hagel III, John Seely Brown and Lang Davison looks at strategies for change in a constantly changing environment. [Thanks to Helge Høivik]
• The report from Digital Humanities and the Disciplines, Day 2 - on Dan Cohens excellent blog - illustrates how the research process itself is changing.

APPENDIX

Classicist Greg Crane of Tufts and Perseus fame spoke of many aspects of “Humanities in a Digital Age.

Perhaps his most intriguing point—one echoed by others during the conference—was that the digital humanities allow for a far wider participation in the process and products of scholarship than in the age of paper. Crane fascinated the audience by showing how his undergraduates actually contribute to, not just read about, classics, by adding to a “treebank,” or linguistic database and concordance that Crane and others are building. In other words, in a digital age classics need not be the sole province of the Great Professor/Editor of volumes of Greek and Latin.

Crane also spoke of the enormous potential of automated translation and large-scale computational analysis to address complex questions such as the influence of Plato on the Islamic world, a topic that requires language skills and a breadth of reading that few professors, if any, possess.

Source: Digital Humanities and the Disciplines, Day 2

Next year IFLA will meet in in the marvellous city of Milan.

Some people stay forever in Milan …

I have not visited Milan itself for forty years. But I had the good fortune to go to Florence (twice - to study Italian) and Bologna only a few years ago. It will be great to come back to Italy.

With a bit of statistics, of course.

IFLA’s Statistics and Evaluation Section is planning two events in Milan. Michele Farrell is in charge of of the session Statistics for cultural heritage. I have offered to organize a session called Statistics on the agenda (or possibly Statistics for advocacy) - with the assistance of several other members. Navigating the IFLA system is nor for the faint of heart.

The formal call for papers will come in due course. In the meantime I have started to write down some of my own ideas about the practical use of library statistics - to win friends and influence decisions.

Applied statistics

As a statistician I believe in statistics as a practical discipline. Like many other professions - teaching, architecture, medicine - it has to apply general principles in variable situations (Schon). We learn statistics in depth by working with many different cases.

Let me start with a statistical fact. Asker is an affluent community south-west of Oslo. Last year, Asker Public Library registered 440 thousand visitors. This corresponds to 8.4 visits per inhabitant.

What does this number mean? How was it measured? What is its purpose? How can we use it?

Library statistics are intermediate products. They are the end results of complex data production processes. But data as such have no value unless they are used as inputs - for the production of library services. The purpose of statistics is to improve services. To interpret statistical data, we must place them in an operational context.

This is easier said than done. Libraries are changing under the impact of digital technology. But our statistical systems are conservative. The way we produce and utilize data is still shaped by print and paper rather than by digital  technology.

Traditional publishing

We see this most concretely in the way statistics are published. In a digital world, all public data should be made available in convenient digital formats. In that way, professional users can choose how to present and analyze the data, and are not restricted to the variables, indicators and cross-tabulations selected by library authorities.

At the moment, only a few countries make the full data sets available. In the United States, the Institute of Museum and Library services (IMLS, created …) clearly understands the value of such access:

Researchers use data files to perform customized data analysis not available in the web tools and publications. For example, publications and web tools may not make available an analysis using the particular variables the researcher needs.

Source: Choose the link Using Data Files on the page Public Library (Public Use) Data Files.

I also note that their home page includes Library statistics as one of their eight main headings …

But the power of tradition is strong. Most countries still stick to paper, to paper-oriented digital formats (like PDF), or to preselected combinations of digital variables when they publish their data. The traditional forms of publishing impede the use and reduce the value of the data that library organizations so strenuously collect.

More installments expected

Resources

• PL 47/08. Early birds at IFLA 2009
• P 41/06. Urbant bibliotek i Bologna. Bokhandel og bibliotek på samme plass - i samme palass.

APPENDIX

About IMLS

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute’s mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development.

Overview

Libraries and museums help create vibrant, energized learning communities. Our achievement as individuals and our success as a democratic society depend on learning continually, adapting to change readily, and evaluating information critically.

As stewards of cultural heritage, information and ideas, museums and libraries have traditionally played a vital role in helping us experience, explore, discover and make sense of the world. That role is now more essential than ever. Through building technological infrastructure and strengthening community relationships, libraries and museums can offer the public unprecedented access and expertise in transforming information overload into knowledge.

Our role at the Institute is to provide leadership and funding for the nation’s museums and libraries, resources these institutions need to fulfill their mission of becoming centers of learning for life crucial to achieving personal fulfillment, a productive workforce and an engaged citizenry.

News from the IFLA web site:

Snapshot from Milan - by confusedvision.

November 10, 2008

The IFLA Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Section and the New Professionals Discussion Group is organising a satellite conference in Bologna, on August 18-20. and invites proposals for presentations - key note/plenary presentations, research reports, smaller scale interactive round-table discussions, workshops, and poster sessions. First time presenters and new professionals are encouraged to apply.

In order to meet publication deadlines (for inclusion in the published Proceedings distributed at the conference)proposals must be submitted by November 10, 2008. Not all presentations and papers need to be published as part of the proceedings, the review committee will also accept presentations that are not intended to be considered for publication.

December 15, 2008

Management of Library Associations Section and Continuing Professional Development has a call for papers and mentors, for its session 

“Librarians on the Cat Walk: Communicating for Advocacy to Influence Policy and Practice”

with a December 15 deadline.

February 18, 2009

The invitation for posters in Milan  has already been posted on the IFLA web. The deadline is February 13, 2009.

Small is beautiful. Particularly on the web.

In his bestselling book, “The world is flat”, Thomas Friedman described the removal of barriers to trade, exchange and interaction.  The well-known web economist Hal Varian writes on he democratization of data. He refers mainly to small businesses:

Information that once was available to only a select few is now available to everyone.

This is particularly true for small businesses. Fifteen years ago, only the big retailers could afford intelligent cash registers that tracked inventory and produced detailed daily reports. Nowadays cash registers are just PCs with a different user interface, and the smallest mom and pop retailer can track sales and inventory on a daily basis. A decade ago, only the big multinational corporations could afford systems to allow for international calling, videoconferencing, and document sharing.

Now startups with a handful of people can use voice over IP, video, wikis and Google Docs to share information. These technological advances have led to the rise of “micro multinationals” which can leverage creativity and talent across the globe. Even tiny companies can now have a worldwide reach.

Dedication to data

This is true beyond the business sector, however. Public institutions - schools, universities, research institutes, libraries and museums - can also benefit from “trickle down productivity” . Varian notes that search technology provides answers to questions that only companies with large research libraries could answer decades ago.

Big business is data intensive. Companies like Wal-Mart, Benetton and IKEA keep a very close watch on their operations. Sales and profits, stocks and shortages, cash flows and credits are scrutinized - often day by day, category by category, item by item. This dedication  to data analysis helps management adapt rapidly to new trends, cutting losses and gaining leverage at an early stage.

Follow the customer

Businesses depend on the market. They collapse if their customers take their custom elsewhere. Public bodies depend on the state - which seems eternal. But libraries and other service organizations must also learn to “follow the customer”.

Some monuments are protected by their aura. The Eiffel Tower will not be sold as scrap iron.  London Bridge will not fall down. Oslo’s Vigeland Park (picture) will not be covered by office buildings.

But these are exceptions. In the years ahead, libraries, schools and universities must pay much more attention to demand. In a knowledge economy, all knowledge institutions are exposed to market pressures and conditions. Public institutions will not be exempted. The Bologna process does not promote European education - it promotes a European market in education. 

Hal Varian’s analysis is therefore applicable to libraries as well as to companies. We must watch our publics and patrons and visitors. We must collect data on a continuous basis. We must study, analyze and discuss the statistics, and we must use the results to adapt our services to new demands and realities.

Ligthly and sprightly like dancing elephants ..

Knowledge increases productivity.

Evidence of global warning …

The increase in industrial productivity since the 18th century depended on research and development in the STM fields: science, technology and medicine. Now, in the early 21st century, public and commercial organizations are trying to replicate the process in the social field, where we interact with people rather than with nature.

Medicine is the bridge. Occupations like teaching, social work and librarianship are now asked to investigate, evaluate and - if necessary - change their practices. The “social evidence movement” was inspired by evidence-based medicine. But the link between systematic R&D, on the one hand, and professional practice, on the other, is much less developed in the social than in the science-based occupations.

The whole idea of evidence-based practice is controversial, since it changes the identity, the internal understanding, the social construction and the routinized forms of action (habitus) of the professional field in question.

For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. ~Ecclesiastes 1:18

But the pressure is on - and the debate will continue - for instance in the Canadian journal Evidence Based Library and Information Practice:

EBLIP is an open access, peer reviewed journal published quarterly by the University of Alberta Learning Services and supported by an international team of editorial advisors. The purpose of the journal is to provide a forum for librarians and other information professionals to discover research that may contribute to decision making in professional practice.

EBLIP publishes original research and commentary on the topic of evidence based library and information practice, as well as reviews of previously published research (evidence summaries) on a wide number of topics.

Below I republish, for easy reference, an article from the journal, which allows - I am happy to see - such reproduction.

And by the way - Plinius is also published under a Creative Commons license.

Evidence Based Librarianship Backgrounder

Su Cleyle, Associate University Librarian,  Memorial University of Newfoundland,, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada; Julie McKenna, Deputy Library Director, Regina Public Library, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Evidence Based Librarianship (EBL) is a means to improve the profession of librarianship by asking questions, finding, critically appraising and incorporating research evidence from library science (and other disciplines) into daily practice. It also involves encouraging librarians to conduct research.

(Koufogiannakis and Crumley, 112)  

Welcome to EBL 101!

This new column is designed to offer guidance into the workings of evidence based practice and answer that question: “How can I implement EBL in my library?” The intent is to offer short, simple columns on a variety of EBL topics allowing any librarian, regardless of library type or size, to practice evidence based librarianship.

So let’s get to it, shall we?

Evidence based practice (EBP) is a term that we have all heard. Usually it is associated with the health professions and originated the area of clinical medicine. The medical profession forged the way for many professions to embrace evidence based practice (EBM.) Back in the 1990’s, Canadian doctors sought to create an environment of  lifelong learning and clinical practice that utilitized research to answer clinical questions.

There are 5 steps to evidence based medicine: Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2008, 3:3, 92

• 1. Formulate an answerable question.
• 2. Track down the best evidence
• 3. Critically appraise the evidence (i.e. find out how good it is).
• 4. Apply the evidence (integrate the results with clinical expertise and patient values).
• 5. Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the process (to improve next time) (Glasziou 23).

 As you can see the concept of EBM is a simple one – gather evidence to help with answering questions and helping patients.

For the discipline of medicine, the body of evidence is rich in these areas and it is
conceivable that most questions can be answered through use of existing research
evidence. But even though the steps seem simple enough, a variety of skills are needed to ensure each step is completed properly.

For example, asking the right question is crucial to finding the best evidence;
evaluating the evidence is pivotal to determining the best course of action, and so
on.

Evidence Based Librarianship (EBL)

Evidence based practice is a practical approach to finding answers to questions and for professionals to stay abreast of current trends and research. It is also a useful model for contributing to the body of evidence. But will this model work in a discipline that is not grounded in the research practices associated with the collection and use of empirical data? The social sciences research base is very different

from that in the sciences. It is possible to apply the evidence based practice model to social science disciplines, including librarianship? EBP, quite simply, can encompass original research and the evaluation and use of  xisting research. Koufogiannakis, Crumley, and Slater reviewed several content analysis reports and note the “the variation in the interpretation of what constitutes a ‘research’ article…” (Koufogiannakis, Crumley, and Slater 228). 

Of the 2664 articles reviewed from the 2001 publishing year, 30.3% were identified as research articles. This is a rate similar to previous content reviews for librarianship, although there are variations in scope and definition of what “constitutes a ‘research’ article”. Clearly, the higher percentage of articles appearing in our professional literature is not research oriented. Librarianship is not primarily comprised of scholars or researchers. It is comprised of practitioners and administrators. Thus, research has not necessarily made its way into our professional literature and our decision making processes. Many of us in the profession now recognize the need to formalize our research and our decisio making processes to ensure that we base our decisions on the best possible evidence.

Based on the EBM model, the steps for EBL are similar:

• 1. Define problem
• 2. Find evidence
• 3. Appraise evidence
• 4. Apply results of appraisal
• 5. Evaluate change
• 6. Redefine problem

(Booth and Brice, 2003)

The definition of the problem, or “the question”, is pivotal to the entire process. The next EBL 101 column will focus on asking the right question.

Source:

Evidence Based Librarianship Backgrounder

Su Cleyle, Associate University Librarian,  Memorial University of Newfoundland,, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada; Julie McKenna, Deputy Library Director, Regina Public Library, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative  Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2008 Cleyle and McKenna.

Danish and Norwegian visitor statistics tell the same story.

The number of public library visits per capita is going down - and the decline is strongest in large municipalities. Since new social trends tend to start in cities, we must be prepared for further reductions in the future.

Public library in Kolding, Denmark.

Innovative services, exciting design and purple marketing is part of the answer. But we should also collect more data.

Look at how much time people spend at the library - and what they actually do when they visit.

If the number of visits goes down by ten percent, while the average stay increases by twenty percent, library use is going up rather than down.

Visits at the national level

Norwegian visits per capita:

• 2005: 5,1
• 2006: 4,8
• 2007: 4,7

Danish visits per capita:

• 2005: 6,64
• 2006: 6,26
• 2007: 6,14

In Denmark, the whole municipal structure was reorganized from 2006 to 2007. This means that library statistis at the municipal level must be analyzed separately before and after the change.

Before 2007

I have divided the municipalities into four groups, with

• more than 50.000 inhabitants
• between 20 and 50.000 inhabitants
• between 10 and 20.000 inhabitants
• less than 10.000 inhabitants

For each group, I have

1. calculated the change in visits per capita from 2005 to 2006 for each municipality (that had available data)
2. established the median value

The median values were:

• more than 50.000 inhabitants:  -67 visits per 100 inhabitants (Herning)
• between 20 and 50.000 inhabitants: - 39 visits (Greve)
• between 10 and 20.000 inhabitants: - 25 (Dragør; Sorø)
• less than 10.000 inhabitants: - 33 (Skævinge)

After 2007

In both countries, visits fell substantially from 2005 to 2006 - and rather less from 2006 to 2007.

In Denmark, some municipalities were not restructured, but kept their pre-2007 borders. If we look at these municipalities only, we find these medians:

• more than 50.000 inhabitants:  -8 visits per 100 inhabitants
• between 20 and 50.000 inhabitants: -65 visits

The larger municipalities now seem more resistant to the forces that reduce the number of visits.

Resources

• PL 19/08. Physical and virtual traffic. My two papers for Quebec both deal with traffic..

APPENDIX

These municipalities, with an aggregate population of 2,2 million,  survived the restructuration.

• København/Copenhagen  509 861 population on January 1, 2008
• Århus     298 538
• Vejle     104 933
• Frederiksberg     93 444
• Sønderborg     76 913
• Gentofte     68 913
• Hjørring     67 121
• Gladsaxe     62 562
• Helsingør/Elsinore     60 844
• Faaborg-Midtfyn     51 950
• Lyngby-Taarbæk     51 449
• Fredericia     49 463
• Hvidovre     49 380
• Greve     47 773
• Høje-Taastrup     47 158
• Ballerup     47 116
• Vordingborg     46 600
• Bornholm    42 817
• Tårnby     40 016
• Fredensborg     39 240
• Rødovre     36 144
• Brøndby     33 831
• Albertslund     27 602
• Herlev     26 567
• Hørsholm     24 197
• Allerød     23 493
• Struer     22 672
• Morsø     22 091
• Odder     21 562
• Solrød     20 759
• Ishøj     20 687
• Glostrup     20 673
• Dragør     13 261
• Vallensbæk     12 399
• Ærø     6 712
• Samsø     4 085
• Læsø     2 003

When I travel, I read The Economist - taking the pulse of our new old world.

Last week they had a nice article about US libraries - Why cowboys read. Lorcan Dempsey wrote a comment - citing Eleanor Jo Rodger:

Creating value for our host systems always involves three things:

Librarians must understand their host systems; they must understand the source of their claim to being a legitimate part of their system; and they must do their work well so the system is better because they are there.

It’s usually far more a matter of asking and listening than it is of telling and pleading.

Transformation

The global knowledge economy is changing our understanding of libraries. I note an increasing interest in public libraries as community innovators, both in Norway and the other Nordic countries. Thise is confirmed by a new report from OCLC:

• Library funding support is only marginally related to library visitation
• Perceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support
• Voters who see the library as a ‘transformational’ force as opposed to an ‘informational’ source are more likely to increase taxes in its support

To benefit from the new knowledge agenda, we must speak as well as act.

The host system sounds like space opera.  What it means is developing concepts and arguments that voters, politicians and bureaucrats understand.

Learning the language of innovation, transformation and change, in other words.

Resources

• From Awareness to Funding: A study of library support in America. . OCLC:

Norwegian public libraries receive about forty percent of their new books from The Norwegian Purchasing Programme for Fiction and Non-fiction.

The fiction programme goes back to the 1970s and covers about 200 titles for adults and 110 titles for children every year. Norwegian non-fiction books have been included, but on a smaller scale,  since 2005. Currently one thousand copies of about fifty non-fiction titles are purchased every year. The books are distributed to all public libraries in Norway.

But what happens next? Are these books popular with the public?

Evaluation

A recent evaluation report (PDF, in Norwegian) has - i.a. - studied public interest in these books, based on the thirty-two titles purchased in 2005 - the first year of the programme. I have tabulated the lending data from the report here.

• In 2006, the most popular title - a book about young cancer patients - was borrowed 17.000 times. This particular book also topped the list in 2007, with 13.000 loans.
• The median title was borrowed 2400 times in 2006 - but only 690 times in 2007.
• The least popular title was borrowed 540 times in 2006 - and 84 times in 2007.

We know that these titles are available in at least one thousand copies. The number in stock is probably higher, since many libraries bought these titles on their own as well.

Turnover = Loans/Stock

This means that the typical turnover in 2007 was less than 690/1000 = 0.69.

When a particular title has a turnover below 1.0, it is borrowed less than once per year. At this level of use, one may consider withdrawal from the open shelves.

If we look at the batch of books as a whole, we find:

• Two titles with more than ten thousand loans in 2007. Still highly popular.
• Six titles with between one and ten thousand loans. Substantial demand. Keep on open shelves.
• Fourteen titles with five hundred to one thousand loans. Limited demand. Store elsewhere?
• Ten titles with less than five hundred (but more than one hundred) loans. Low demand. Dispose of?

The low demand books can always be obtained from larger libraries.

In Norway, as in other Nordic countries, book lending is falling steadily. The trend is most pronounced in larger communities.

The library statistics annual for 2007 has just been published - and I use the occasion to take a look at lending. Long term changes are much more significant than what happens from one year to the next. I have therefore compared the 2007 data with 2001 - rather than with 2006.

In the thirteen largest municipalities - those with more than fifty thousand inhabitants - the median decline was 20 percent.

Not a single library escaped the trend. The range went from -6 percent in the northern city of Tromsø to -33 percent in rich, suburban Bærum, west of Oslo.

Tromsø can boast of a magnificent new public library, which opened in 2006. The curve went down from 2001 to 2005, and Tromsø is now on an upward trend:3.85 in 2005, 4.01 in 2006 and 4.08 in 2007.

Bærum reduced its (high) library budget substantially just after 2001. Cuts in staff and services had an immediate impact …

In the next size group - from twenty to fifty thousand inhabitants - we find 31 municipalities. The median decline was 10 percent.

Six libraries experienced growth: 1246 Fjell, 0625 Nedre Eiker, 1833 Rana, 1149 Karmøy, 0231 Skedsmo and 0230 Lørenskog. [The first two digits identify the county].

Fifty-six municipalities  have more than ten but less than twenty thousand inhabitants. Here, the median decline was 9 percent.

Five libraries increased their loans by more than twenty percent from 2001 to 2007: 0136 Rygge, 0528 Østre Toten, 0402 Kongsvinger,1224 Kvinnherad and 0814 Bamble

Six libraries fell by thirty percent or more: 0529 Vestre Toten,  0216 Nesodden, 0237 Eidsvoll, 1653 Melhus, 1121 Time, 0124 Askim.

Interesting numbers need local interpreters

Big changes are always interesting. To interpret such changes we must, however.

(1) look at the starting point
(2) study changes year by year - over a longer period
(3) know the local situation

It is, for instance, much easier to improve a library from a low level, than from a high level. When Østre Toten goes up - while its neighbour Vestre Toten goes down - we must turn to the local librarians and politicians for explanations.

Small communities

In municipalities with five to ten thousand inhabitants, the decline was moderate - only 4 percent. In the smallest communities, with less than five thousand inhabitants, book lending increased by 3 percent in the median case.

Resources

I have tabulated data for all Norwegian public libraries - year by year - at

Book loans per capita. Norway 2001-2007. Municipalities.

People want to understand what’s happening around them.

Clay Shirky (by liabulaong)

I am struck by the number of popular books that try to interpret the impact of digital technology on our social and economic structure. The growing demand reflects the depth of change. We are leaving  late industrial society behind - and tiptoeing into the early stages of a knowledge based global economy.

Negroponte’s modern classic Being digital (1995) prepared the ground. His book predicted much of what was going to happen. The current run of books interpret what has already happened.

My brief reading list consists of :

1. Thomas Friedman. The World is Flat. More …
   
2. Nicholas Carr. The Big Switch. More …
   
3. Chris Anderson. The Long Tail. More …
4. John Battelle. The Search: More …
   
5. David Wineberger. Everything is miscellaneous. More …
6. Clay Shirky. Here comes everybody. More …

I was interested to see that five of these books were also included in Michael Stephens thirty-five item reading list for his class on Library 2.0 and Social Networking Technologies.

All except Battelle.