What digital natives want from their library

Abbey is a 3 year old digital native. This is what she wants from her library. Abbey's video launches the 15th Biennial VALA Conference and Exhibition in Melbourne Australia. http://www.vala.org.au #VALA2010

• Category

  Science & Technology

[tiiraliira]

Uneasy feeling watching this - it is as "cute" as the adult mimicry of little kids in child beauty pageants. And what was the intent in replacing her (3yr old) "voice" with someone elses (older) opinion?

[VALATV]

This is actually Abbey's voice, she sat in front of the camera and said these things. While Abbey was following a script, she really does like libraries (and books and story time). Actually, she willingly gave up an afternoon playing with friends on the beach to go to the library and make this short film.

[cruelcadaver]

I thought it was a great display of our having moved into the into the digital era of the information age. Abbey was surprisingly clear which suggests that even if she does not understand the terms, she has probably heard them. Using Abbey did well to illustrate looking into the future by using the present rather than the past. Adults are too busy acting. Interesting to see how a small child can convey the same message more clearly.

[Kenneth Simon]

Watching a little kid coached to slur out this script line-by-line is disturbing. And the concept of digital natives is flawed, simplistic, and a disservice to young people. More and more librarians & educators are coming out to say that this generational stereotyping leads us to act on assumptions that don't reflect reality. We need to assess learning needs, not guess at them.

[Natalia Sourdis]

This is hilarious! It made my day. "semantic tagging, real time information, augmented reality, geospatial tagging..." haha. No worries little Abbey, working on it!

[Aso Paso]

Shut it wimp!

[Gael Gregory]

It's interesting what you say jstech and I agree it would have been far more enterprising to use an older elementary student since in my experience everyone is saying how brilliant they are in using technology but I have seen little evidence of it myself

[Gael Gregory]

I agree Kenneth - too simplistic for sure, but somehow or other it also reflects the reality of where we are heading

[Bertrand Monier]

I hate this video

[miley4life211]

Just plain cute, It made me smile and also made me realize that as a LMS I need to stay familiar with current technology.

[minecraftaren123]

I HATE THAT SONG!!!!!

[lebasson]

agreed. This is absolutely creepy. It's not about if Abby minded uttering those words but whether she understands their extent. *shudders*

[Joe Mamma]

in response to all of the complaints, this was plain cute. and your responses actually underscore what is being said here. Whether librarians like it or not, they WILL have to move ahead with the digital age, otherwise these next generations will find what they need from alternative digital sources such as Google, etc. Fight if you wish, but you will lose.

[jstech84]

I have to agree that this was weird. Honestly, I don't need to watch some child demanding that I hurry up and give her something. It would have been much more effective to use an older elementary student. Not to mention - VALA - don't write in text that commands teachers and parents to do something. It will not meet with a kind reaction or motivate them to do anything. Children are not our bosses, they need to be taught to bring their requests in a mature fashion.