Kate Worlock, Outsell
Inc, published an interesting Insight yesterday:
Millennials vs. Silver
Surfers: Not So Different After All (subscription required).
Kate’s
analysis, based in a new report from University College London’s CIBER project (Information Behaviours of the Researcher of the Future,
commissioned by the British Library and JISC), focuses on the searching
behaviors of the Google Generation (those born after 1993).
While
the report focuses on them as future researchers and the impact their habits
will have on libraries, I found this interesting from another angle.
The
Google Generation appears to be without context.
Just
take a look at three of the themes Kate highlighted:
· “Speed
of searching means that little time is spent in evaluating information;
· Young
people demonstrate a poor understanding of their information needs and have
unsophisticated mental maps of the internet; they therefore find it difficult
to develop effective search strategies…;
· The
Google generation finds it difficult to assess the relevance of sources.”
So,
the million (billion) dollar questions:
· What
can publishers do to help these searchers (consumers?) find a rudder?
· How
will our content become relevant to an audience that considers Google and
Yahoo! the brand?
· How
can we build relationships with this generation directly?
Benjamin –
What great points. I’m especially with you on how the education system is not preparing students with the skills they’ll need. It certainly is that way here in the US. Our educational system seems to lag decades behind the needs of society and business alike!
Ann
In previous generations, having knowledge was key. For the next, understanding how to create knowledge from information will be the key.
They aren’t there yet, neither is any education system in the world preparing them for it. For a while there will be a generation of misinformed and inflexible workers. Try this question on any Google user (and I include myself!): “How do you know that what you have just found is true? What makes it true?”
Hi Dean-
You bring up a good point. I’ll go one step further. Finding results and drilling down into things that aren’t relevant will start to teach them to be more selective and hone their searching and filtering skills.
I always find it interesting when conclusions are drawn about how people that aren’t in the workforce yet will act when they are in the workforce.
Some observations and extrapolations may be relevant, but some aren’t. The “young people” in question haven’t been faced with the demands of a work life just yet. The question is how will they adapt or how might their behavior evolve?
Thanks for making me think!
Ann
My guess is that if the kids in that group find something that they want to achieve, they will hone up their skills in all areas. Great tools at one’s finger tips, does not always solve the problem. There generally has to be something to drive beyond the problems to a solution to take the skill set up a notch. My son, who is 13 and falls in this group, is very savvy when he has something that fits his agenda, not so much outside of that. Maybe the answer is to find things more relevant for them to work on.