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Life 2.0: The evolution of our digital DNA Library Spotlight: Architecture as advocacy Tips & Tricks: Search Engine Optimization basics Labs: OCLC pilots WorldCat Copyright Evidence Registry New life for special collections Research: Make room for the Millennials 
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Make room for the Millennials
By Lynn Silipigni Connaway, OCLC Programs and Research By 2010, the Millennial generation—those now 14 to 28—will outnumber their Boomer parents. Also known as “Generation Y,” the “Net Generation” or “Echo Boomers,” this group of approximately 76 million people have been described as “ … thinking and processing information fundamentally differently from their predecessors” (Prensky 2001, np). Information services that match the information-seeking habits of Millennials, who cannot remember life without computers or mobile phones, will be more relevant to this group. In fact, the term ‘Screenagers’ has been used (Rushkoff 1996) to refer to the youngest segment of this group (14–19 year olds) because of their affinity for communications technology.
Several common themes arise when discussing the information-seeking habits of Millennials. They prefer:
Millennials tend to prefer visual orientation of information and are multitaskers. They use their mobile phones for information seeking by calling and texting parents, family members and friends. Their familiarity with text messaging may account for their tolerance of nonstandard grammar and punctuation. This group tends to be results-oriented; less concerned with format than with immediate delivery. Students in this group have been described as “not wanting to learn how to use a library—they want to get their work done!” What have we learned? During the past five years, while studying the information-seeking behaviors of college and university faculty and students (Dervin, Connaway and Prabha, begun in 2003) and evaluating virtual reference services (VRS) from the perspectives of users, nonusers and librarians (Radford and Connaway, begun in 2005), the behaviors reported by the Millennials were often unique. The Millennials in our studies preferred independent Internet searching, specifically Google. Why? Speed and convenience: “Google is my first place to find something quickly.” “I wouldn’t really trust my librarian. I trust Google.” “[Google] is user friendly … [the] library catalog is not.”
Commenting directly on the library catalog, a Millennial undergraduate student explained how she went to Amazon.com to find books and then copy title information and paste it in the library catalog search box. The Millennials also go to their parents, academic superiors or friends when they need information. A Millennial who participated in a graduate student focus group interview said, “… I just go ask my Dad, and he’ll tell me how to put in a fence, you know? So why sort through all this material when he’ll just tell me.” Despite negative librarian stereotypes voiced by Screenagers in a VRS nonuser focus group interview, many Millennials preferred the face-to-face mode when interacting with librarians. In a telephone interview, one explained, “Usually, [librarians are] very helpful, because they, I’ve only interacted with librarians in person, they nearly always seem to be able to answer my question accurately.” Both graduate student Millennials and Screenagers expressed concerns about privacy using the Web. A Screenager expressed, “I’m not going to go get tutored on the Internet by somebody who I personally don’t know who might be some psycho serial killer out there when I could get personal help from my home and people in my community.” A graduate student articulated a different type of privacy concern: “I always worry that [chat sessions] are being saved … if the department would get a report about what questions [I asked]…” Millennials do enjoy being able to multitask in virtual reference and they appreciate the value of the service for last-minute information needs. Depending on the situation, Millennials often will settle for information that is convenient and fast and that is “good enough.”1 By changing services and systems, libraries can better attract Millennials. We can:
Librarians trained in Millennials’ communication patterns will be able to provide instruction at the time of need in a“show and tell” environment. Marketing services to Millennials in language they understand may also help dispel librarian stereotypes. We are no longer the only game in town and currently are not the first to be chosen. With work, we can make our resources, services and spaces inviting to the next generation of college and university students, entrepreneurs, inventors, scholars, teachers and researchers. Note: References: Prensky, Marc. 2001. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” On the Horizon 9(5). URL: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing. Radford, Marie L. & Lynn Silipigni Connaway. 2005. “Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Nonuser, and Librarian Perspectives.” A research project funded by the National Leadership Grants for Libraries program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. URL: http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/synchronicity. Rushkoff, David. 1996. Playing the Future: How Kids’ Culture Can Teach Us to Thrive in An Age of Chaos. New York: HarperCollins.
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Changes to systems and services will appeal to this generation 
What do they want?
