Recent Pew Study of Information Behavior

A new study has recently been released called “Information Searches That Solve Problems: How people use the internet, libraries, and government agencies when they need help”. It was created through a partnership between the University Of Illinois Graduate School Of Library and Information Science and the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The full report in pdf form is here. I have listed below some of the results of the study which relate to older adults and libraries:

Library Use by Age Group

Gen Y (18-30) 62%
Gen X (31-42) 59%
Trailing Boomers (43 – 52) 57%
Leading Boomers (53-61) 46%
Matures (62-71) 42%
After Work (72+) 32%
(p. 10 of report; p. 20 of pdf)

Sarah Houghton-Jan, the LibarianInBlack, commented in a recent blog post that these statistics “… show that library use steadily declines as people age--what can we do about that? Are we neglecting our senior populations once more? Is there an opportunity for added outreach here?”

This data challenges the common view that we are already reaching the older adult demographic and do not need to market library services to this group. I agree with Sarah that we should not neglect our senior population. However, to successfully market library services to this demographic, we need a lot more data. I am very interested in finding out about older adults who do not use the library and finding out why they do not use the library. Also, what services or materials would encourage them to use the library? I hope someone does this type of research. For the 72+ age group, some of the decline in library use may be due to mobility, general health, or transportation issues. That is one reason that I hope that we can use online library services to reach out to homebound seniors in the future. Another possibility is for libraries to partner with local organizations which visit the homebound.

% of adults in each group with internet access
Gen Y (18-30) 91%
Gen X (31-42) 90%
Boomers (43 – 61) 79%
Matures (62-71) 56%
After Work (72+) 29%
(p. 3 of report; p. 13 of pdf)

This report clearly shows the digital divide in internet access between young people and older adults. Older adults do not have internet access through school and since many older adults are retired, they lack access to the internet through their place of work. Another factor is that many older adults have not been trained to use computers or search the internet. Libraries are thus a critical asset for older adults, since libraries not only provide internet access, they many also provide computer training.

Furthermore, even people with internet access often need help in finding information. The report stated that “... Americans on both sides of the digital divide – those with both low-access and high-access to computing -- are equally likely to use the public library for information that helps them address matters and solve problems in their lives – especially those matters that lie in some way within the government domain.” (p. 30 of report; p. 40 of pdf). I would add that finding government information (such as Medicare information and Social Security benefits) is of great concern to many older adults.

"Creating Aging-Friendly Communities" Conference

The University of California at Berkeley, Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services and Community Strengths will be hosting a free online conference. The American Library Association is one of the co-sponsors. The "Creating Aging-Friendly Communities" conference website is here.
The conference description states:

"Join participants from state and local government, community-based organizations, policy makers, business leaders, funders, recognized experts, and concerned citizens, as they capture emerging knowledge regarding ways to make their communities more aging-friendly."

I think that this is a wonderful opportunity for librarians to "have a seat at the table". In other words, we can participate in discussions about community building and community planning. I think that creating dialogs with community based organizations and government agencies (such as Aging Services) can lead to new ideas and successful partnerships.

The conference will take place over three weeks. It will have previously recorded presentations, which can be viewed at any time during the conference or up to 60 days after the conference. There will also be live presentations and live panel discussions on Wednesday, February 20th, Wednesday, February 27th, and Wednesday, March 5th.. One can also participate in scheduled online discussions and informal networking. This is great because it can potentially include anyone interested in aging services and lifelong learning throughout the country - with no need for travel or related expenses!

Conference topics will include the characteristics of aging-friendly communities, lifelong learning, developing community partnerships, building local capacity, mobility and transportation issues, intergenerational perspectives, health and wellness, "aging in place", and creating communities of practice for aging-friendly communities.

I would like to thank Satia Orange for posting about this conference on the ALA Senior Services listserv.

Arts and Aging Programs for Older Adults

In a previous post, I wrote about a library program that focused on older women artists and how art enriched their lives. If you are interested in having art programs for older adults at your library, the National Center for Creative Aging website is a good place to find information. This organization provides training for art programs, promotes arts and aging programs, and supports research concerning aging and the arts.

The National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA) is “dedicated to fostering an understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and healthy aging and to developing programs that build on this understanding." Older adults can locate local art programs by using the Arts and Aging National Directory. This search can be used to find literary, media, performing, or visual arts programs. The NCAA website has more creative aging resources here.

Happy Holidays!

Season's Greetings

I hope this holiday season finds you and your family healthy and happy!

"Ageing Artfully" Program

I recently attended an older adult program at my public library, which was led by Amy Gorman. She is the author of an excellent book called “Aging Artfully: 12 Profiles of Visual and Performing Women Artists 85-105”. The older women described in the book enjoy life and are passionate about their art. I believe that older adults will find this book inspirational and empowering. "Aging Artfully" recently won a Bronze Medal from the prestigious 2007 Independent Publishing Book Awards (IPPYS), in the category of Women's Issues.

During the presentation, Amy Gorman talked about how she decided to write this book after seeking out older adult women artists to be her role models. She showed a film called “Still Kicking: Six high spirited women reveal that growing old is not a curse-it’s an opportunity” which included interviews with six women from her book. The film was very moving and well done. I would recommend Amy Gorman's book and this film for any public library collection.

This presentation was well attended and the audience not only enjoyed the program, but also participated in a spirited question and answer session with the author. The presentation was a great example of a positive portrayal of aging – one in which old age is viewed as a time for creativity and sharing one’s art and experiences.

Amazing Library Webpage for Older Adults

The Cuyahoga County Public Library has an excellent set of web pages and features for older adults. I found out about this library website through "Keys to Engaging Older Adults at Your Library: a Toolkit", written by Fatima Perkins (this toolkit was recently sent out to the Aging Services listserv of the American Library Association). This Ohio public library has outdone itself with information, resources, and features for older adults on its website.

Here are some of the features that I really liked about their website:

On the home page:

• There is a link to "Senior Space" their main page for senior information.
• There is a link to their catalog's list of new large print titles.

On the main Senior Space webpage:

• a newsfeed for articles of interest for older adults.
• Consumer information links
• Recommended books for older adults with a direct link for each title to its catalog page.
• A link for seniors to email questions to a librarian
• Email signup link - allows seniors to get updates on senior information and they can also choose over 20 additional subjects sent to their email - plus updates about specific library branch news.
• Information Gateway link goes to a page with agencies, organizations, and web gateways for older adults.
• Health Concerns link - health page has not only the usual health links, but also grief resources and an extensive list of sources about long term care.
• Money Matters - financial links
• Business of Living links - jobs, housing, education, and law sites for older adults.
• Leisure - social network for older adults, grandparenting, sports and exercise, travel, and volunteering information.

I am sorry that this post is so long, but I really wanted to share all these features with you. The extensive list of resources in each category are great. But where this website really shines is the fact that it is not static information- the news articles for older adults are updated, as are the "recommended books" for older adults. There are library 2.0 features, such as the ability to have personalized email updates sent to the patrons. I hope that in the future they add an RSS capability to the "Senior Space" page, when more older adults begin to use news readers. I recommend that you consider adding some of these features to your own library website.

The Benefits of E-books for Older Adults

As people age, their vision is not as good as it was. Many people start to struggle to read regular print books, magazines, and newspapers. Ironically, just when they gain the time to read, they find out that there are very few books available to them and some find that their arthritis prevents them from using large print editions.

E-books that can be read on a small e-book reader could be the solution to these problems. I have written an article about this topic over on the Teleread blog. To read my article, please click this link.

Note: Teleread is a "nonpartisan plan to get electronic books and other educational resources into American homes--through a well-stocked national digital library system and small, sharp-screened computers that eventually could sell for under $100 or even $50." The Teleread blog has news & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

New Research on Baby Boomer Volunteers

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a government agency that supports volunteer organizations, conducts research about volunteerism, and promotes volunteering in the United States. They have recently published an issue brief called "Baby Boomers and Volunteering: Findings from Corporation Research" and a research report called "Keeping Baby Boomers Volunteering: a Research Brief on Retention and Turnover" (found via theMatureMarket.com).

Key Findings of These Reports:

• Baby Boomers from 46-57 have higher volunteer rates than older generations.
• How Baby Boomers become volunteers is important - people asked to help by the volunteer organization have a much higher retention rate than those asked by their employer to volunteer.
  
• Baby Boomers favorite type of volunteering is with religious organizations.
  
• Baby Boomers' second favorite type of volunteer activity is educational and youth services - whereas previous generations chose civic, political, business and international volunteer work as their second most popular volunteer category.
• Remaining in the workforce increases the likelihood that a Baby Boomer will stay in their volunteer position.
• A higher educational level and a tendency to have children later in life seem to be factors in the high volunteer rate of Baby Boomers.
• Baby Boomers volunteers who do management or professional tasks, rather than general labor, are more likely to continue to volunteer.
  

The Corporation for National and Community Service has projected the number of volunteers from 2007 to 2050. They created this projection by multiplying the estimated probability of volunteering by the number of people age 65 and older for each year. There are a little under 9 million senior volunteers at present. They predict that there will be 9 and a half million senior volunteers by 2010 and over 13 million in 2020. That is approximately a 44% increase in the next 13 years!

These statistics have great implications for public libraries. First, here is a great opportunity for libraries to gain more older adult volunteers in the future. Currently, many older adult volunteers help libraries by doing tasks such as pulling hold requests and shelving books. This research shows that many Boomers will want to be challenged and use their life skills in their volunteer work. Therefore, we should consider how to recruit older adults to give programs, to lead workshops at the library, or to become mentors at our libraries.

Related research report from Dec 2006:
Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends since 1974

See also these previous posts:
How Volunteering Can Benefit Older Adults
Age Differences in Volunteering

NIH Toolkit for Teaching Older Adults How to Search for Health Information

Carol Bean recently wrote a post about the new National Institute of Health (NIH) toolkit for people who want to teach older adults how to search for health information online. This toolkit is located on this page of the NIHSeniorHealth website.

This toolkit has several different levels of lesson plans:

• For beginning students with little computer experience: internet basics
  
• For beginning students with some Internet experience: 3 modules about NIHSeniorHealth
  
• For beginning and intermediate students:a module about NIHSeniorHealth and Exercise for Older Adults
• For intermediate students - three modules about MedlinePlus
  
• For all students: Evaluating Health Websites and a glossary of computer terms
  

There is also a pdf with their recommended quick tips for teaching computers to older adults.

Carol Bean evaluated the "Quick tips" pdf in her blog post and recommended it as useful for technology trainers. However, she did mention that she disagrees with a few of the suggestions in this pdf. For example, she wrote that "The first is the suggestion to keep class length to around 90 minutes or less. My rule of thumb, from experience, is 60 minutes or less. to keep class length to around 90 minutes or less."

I completely agree with Carol on this point. If you try to go on too long during a class, it will be a draining experience for people, rather than a pleasant learning experience. Another potential problem is trying to pack too much information into one class period.

I looked at the module for the beginning students with little computer experience. I am afraid that they packed way too much information into one class - everything from computer terms, to how to use a mouse, how to open a browser, to how to navigate through webpages. I think that this would definitely frighten people away from taking any more computer classes. It would be too intimidating. There is no time for a student to practice using a mouse or time to comprehend the new terminology.

My suggestion would be to separate this information into several classes to allow older adults to become comfortable with computers, to use a mouse, and to work with browser software. After people have mastered these skills, then introduce them to the specific modules about NIHSeniorHealth, MedlinePlus, and the excellent module on evaluating health websites. These modules are very useful for introducing older adults to searching for health information online. I think that this would be the best way to introduce "health information search" classes to older adults in a public library.

Overall, I think that we need to avoid the trap of trying to teach too much in one sitting. Since we as librarians have been using computers and the internet for many years, we tend to forget that it takes time for new computer users to internalize this knowledge and to practice computer skills.

Successful Wii Gaming Program at Old Bridge Public Library

The Old Bridge Public Library has started a program in which teens teach older adults games such as Wii Bowling , Brain Age Academy, and Guitar Hero. The Wii games will also be available so that seniors can practice several times a week. The library is planning to have a gaming competition event in December.

This is the next phase of the “Senior Spaces” project, which began with the renovation of part of the Old Bridge Public Library to appeal to older adults. “Senior Spaces” project manager, Allan Kleiman, reported that "The reaction from the seniors was fantastic," and "One of the seniors was almost in tears. She hasn't been able to bowl in years due to a visual impairment and every time she bowled a strike you could hear her yell throughout the room."

For more information about the “Senior Spaces” project, please check out their website. The photo above is courtesy of Allan Kleiman of the Old Bridge Public Library.

Note: Allan Kleiman just sent out a message to the Senior Services ALA listserv with a link to a recent newspaper article about this program.