Innovation and Libraries

I. Reflection:

Last week’s class focused on the concept of innovations.  The word innovation brings to mind high-tech inventions like this transparent smart window.  However, innovations aren’t restricted to just high technology; they can be any new creation like Heinz’s new ketchup packet or Groupon's marketing and discount system.  I was interested to see the different types, or "zones", of innovation: product leadership, customer intimacy, operational excellence, and category renewal.  Discussing specific types of innovations helped me to gain a more focused understanding of innovation instead of the general, fuzzy idea I started with.

One particular idea that stuck with me from the class was that in order for innovations to succeed there must be a system in place to allow ideas to fully develop into innovations.  This idea hit close to home because on several occasions I’ve had workplace ideas that fell flat because of no system for development or implementation in place.  After the weeks lecture I understand how important nurturing ideas can be for innovation and companies in general.  I'll talk more on this in part II of this post.

During the class some examples of innovations were shared and one example I made sure to bookmark for later: the ESP game.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I'm a gaming enthusiast so I was excited to see this innovation in gaming.  The ESP game like all of the seven games from the developer Gwap serve a purpose beyond entertainment.  Each game creates a contest around generating metadata about images, video, and sounds then that metadata is used to improve search engine results.  For example, the ESP game pairs two people together who try to guess tags for a specific image until the two people guess the same tag and the more matches the players can get within the time period the higher the score.  I was aware of the concept of making work into games (and vice versa) and have even had a few ideas on the subject myself, but it's nice to see successful working example.

II. Argument: It is vital for libraries to have an innovation system

Again, one relevant idea from the class that stuck with me was that there has to be a system to develop ideas into innovations.  This concept was brought to light in two videos.  The first video titled "Why 88% of ideas fail to make it to market" highlights the need for a system and discusses why innovations are important to companies:

The second video that was shared details the innovation cycle that helps bring innovation to fruition:

As these videos suggest, innovation and its accompanying system are important to companies.  I feel this is especially so for libraries.  There is a growing sentiment among some that libraries are becoming irrelevant in the face of a growing internet.  One of the key ways to combat this sentiment is to offer new services and products to library patrons -- in other words: innovate.

The way people find and use information is changing.  The OCLC's most recent library perceptions report looks as some of these trends in information consumer technologies.  No surprise: major growth in social networking, mobile phone usage, web searches, e-books.  Libraries should be compelled to help user meet their information needs regardless of the technology used, which means libraries have to adopt new technologies.  It is vital.

As shown in the second video, for innovations to happen there must be a system in place to allow four steps: thinking, sharing, developing, and implementation.  It has been my personal experience that ideas nearly always fail without a similar system.  I work in an academic library and I have ideas from time to time about a new service or new way of doing things that I think is worth sharing.  There are no restrictions on either thinking or sharing where I work, however where the system fails is at development and implementation.  I share ideas that are well received, but often because of lack of funding, time, and in some cases motivation, the idea doesn't go much further.  Ideas do get developed from time to time through meetings or trials, but nearly always fall short of implementation.  There is just no system in place to make all the changes. 

For instance, I had an idea for a new way to do inventory that would  more reliably update bibliographic information and be faster to do.  I shared this idea, it was approved, then I went on to test out how the new system work on a small section of books.  I worked out the details along with concerns and requirements then reported what I found.  Then the idea died because the necessary steps of acquiring the appropriate hardware, communicating with the IT department, and informing/training the staff just didn't happen for whatever reason.  Unfortunately, this scenario gets repeated more often than I would like and sometimes I feel like my institution is falling behind the times.

Libraries that do have a system in place for all four steps of the innovation cycle can generate new innovations that meets users needs and helps the library stay relevant.  Not all innovations will "stick", but many will, and trying new things is the only way to find out what works.

Some may content that it isn't necessary for libraries to innovate, but to adopt the innovations of others.  This may be true for hardware or devices such as iPads or Kindles, but libraries should innovate in service areas.  Some examples may be e-book lending, bike lending, bake pan lending, virtual reference (via Second Life), information commons, and more.

Some may also say that libraries don't need to innovate because libraries are (and should be) about books.  It's true that books are still the libraries primary brand according to the OCLC library perceptions report.  However the report also show a greater reliance on web sources and search engines coupled with high self efficacy concerning finding information.  Unless libraries tap into how people are finding and using information (meaning innovate) they will have to resign themselves to being a leisure reading space, still in danger of becoming irrelevant due to e-books.