The Net Generation

I was reading an article in the March 2009 issue of American Libraries (Joseph Janes, "Make Way for the Net Generation") that discussed Don Tapscott's book, Growing Up Digital, and learned that people age 11-30 spend 25% less time watching television than their parents and 8 - 33 hours/week online. That translates into a full time job for some. According to the article, the NYT summarized Tapscott's eight norms for this group as follows: 1) they prize freedom; 2) they want to customize things; 3) they enjoy collaboration; 4) they scrutinize everything; 5) they insist on integrity in organizations; 6) they want to have fun even at school or work; 7) the speed of technology is normal; 8) they regard constant innovation as a fact of life.

As a profession we talk about and attempt to incorporate these norms into the way we work with each other and with the constituencies we serve - and some we have. That's a good thing because it means that when libraries are staffed mainly with members of the net generation, these norms, will in fact, be the norm. What comes next, I wonder. (Thing #8)