Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Living in the New Normal:
Five Global Trends all
Knowledge Professionals Should Understand
International Conference on Asian Special Libraries 2011
10 February 2011
Anne Caputo, 2010 President, SLA
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
“If you don't
know where you
are going, any
road will get you
there.”
~Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
We live in a time of….
Information
and
Knowledge
Explosion
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Did You Know?
• There are 76 billion searches
in Google every month, in
2006 this number was 2.7
billion
• Time it took to reach a
market audience of 50 million
•
•
•
•
•
•
Radio – 38 years
Television – 13 years
Internet – 4 years
iPod – 3 years
Facebook – 2 years
Twitter –18 months
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Did You Know?
• Number of Internet
devices in use
• 1984 – 1,000
• 1992 – 1,000,000
• 2010 – 6,000,000,000
• The population of
Facebook would be the
3rd largest country in the
world – behind China
and India
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Did You Know?
• YouTube is the second
largest search engine in
the world – behind
Google
• Twitter reports 90
million tweets per day
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
What does this mean?
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
The New Normal for Knowledge Professionals
• Information in a
‘Good enough world’
• Many information
contributors
• Mobile devices
everywhere
• Technology is
disruptive
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
This is the New Normal
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Five global trends knowledge
professionals should understand
• Globalization
• Distressed Markets
• Disintermediation
• Disruptive
technologies
• Competition
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Globalization
• Affecting political events
• 500 million+ active
Facebook members
– 70% outside North
America
• Digital word of mouth
• Recommendation and
referral
– 78% make purchases
based on recommendation
– 14% based on advertising
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Distressed Markets
The global economy is
in uncharted
territory, with world
trade declining more
in 2009 than it has
in the entire postWorld War II period.
Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, 2010
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Disintermediation
Definition
The elimination of
intermediaries in the
supply chain, also
referred to as in
"cutting out the
middlemen."
MarketingTerms.com
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Disintermediation – Rise of the Individual
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Invasion of the Millennials
• Born after 1980
• Digital natives, Generation Y
• Always connected
• Multitasks… fast
• All information is good
• Lives virtually
• Setting digital trends
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Disruptive Technologies
• Disruptive technology
and disruptive
innovation are terms
used to describe
innovations that
improve a product or
service in ways that the
market does not
expect….
Wikipedia
Disruptive
Technologies
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Competition
• Who are our
competitors?
• What are their
attributes?
• Why are they
succeeding?
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
Why we can Succeed
• GLOBAL profession
• ADD VALUE in lean times
• HIGHLY SKILLED
researchers
• UNDERSTAND tools
• COMPETITIVE edge
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
What is our response?
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
“There are
some things
you learn best
in calm, and
some in
storm.”
~Willa Cather
Special Libraries Association
Connecting People and Information
THANK YOU
ANNE CAPUTO
ANNE.CAPUTO@DOWJONES.COM