Sarah Houghton-Jan: the rock star of librarians.

At the recent Australian Library and Information Association Conference in Sydney, Sarah Houghton-Jan, a celebrity in the librarian world, was on hand to present a keynote titled, Digital Libraries: The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes. In fact, her keynote was the only one given by a practicing librarian, and most delegates acknowledged that it was one of the best picks of the conference.

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Renowned throughout the international librarian community for her Librarian in Black blog, Houghton-Jan has developed a well-earned reputation for sharing her candid views on all things publishing and scholarly.

Several conference delegates referred to her as "the rock star of librarians," and it's easy to see why. In person, she's intelligent, compassionate, and refreshingly open about her views on the publishing world. She has a persona (and an avid following) that made me understand why her blog fans compare her to a rock star.

Her blog, a concept that she describes as "a little bit out there," was conceived in 2003. "It started as more of a personal journal," says Houghton-Jan, "and I didn't think anyone would read it." Today, it has a readership of more than 10,000 and growing. She believes that the reason for its popularity is simple: "I'm willing to say it as it is. I don't pull punches for anyone or anything. I'm not afraid to start fights or point out injustice, product flaws, or unfair practices."

In her keynote, Houghton-Jan relayed her views on the current and future state of the online publishing industry that offers insights into the re-emergence of digitized content that modern-day librarians need to consider. Focusing heavily on new and emerging technologies, Houghton-Jan appealed to the audience to consider the "actual sociological meaning" of the technologies in their libraries and communities and among friends and family.

Facts and Figures

She threw down the gauntlet for librarians to use technologies in a fashion that reaffirms a library's core values that include the following:

* Complete and balanced information

* Education, entertainment, and self-improvement

* Research assistance

* Freedom of information access

* Information privacy and security

Encouraging members of the audience to contemplate their "fragmented online life," Houghton-Jan pointed to the shifting landscape in the physical versus digital library space in the modern age. The bricks-and-mortar library has diminished to 10% of overall usage.

The following recent Nielsen figures reflected trends in internet usage in Australia:

* 80.1% of Australians are regular internet users.

* 90% use social networks.

* 63% use Facebook.

* 23% use Twitter.

* City residents are 10 times more likely to use Twitter.

* Australian internet users spend most of their time in social networking channels, which amounts to 7 hours, 19 minutes per month.

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She described how mobile computing is growing and how it has grabbed an especially strong foothold in Australia:

* 43% of Australians online own smartphones.

* 73% of smartphone users regularly search the web.

* 18% use Twitter on mobile (half of those use it daily).

* 18% use YouTube on mobile.

* 66% of mobile social networkers are younger than 35.

Houghton-Jan then described the "explosion" in digital content access at her own San Jose Public Library (California) from 2010 to 2011: Ebook downloads are up 43%, digital reference questions have increased 450%, and catalog use is up 140%.

To best differentiate from the growing do-it-yourself information retrieval, Houghton-Jan pointed to possibilities with extended collections available to libraries that can make use of digitized local materials, technology loans, and provision of nontraditional content. "Why not advertise all of the wonderful free ebooks out there to your communities," she said. "Why not collect stories from your community and make those part of your digital collection?"

While some of the conference presenters were describing 21st-century information retrievers as impatient and specific (wanting delivery of just the content they seek, anywhere, anytime), Houghton-Jan said, "Serendipity still has value in information sourcing. Users can choose what they want to see in their own time."

As for the future, Houghton-Jan shared the views of other speakers that mobile computing and augmented reality are likely to become more important in the months and years to come. "Web services will be big," she said. "Free and open source technology will continue to grow, and solutions to information overload will grow in importance too."

Houghton-Jan acknowledged users' growing dependence on technology. "We already carry around hugely powerful computers in our pockets, and most of us feel naked without access to our smartphones," she said. Going forward, smartphones and computer tablets will boost their capabilities and storage capacities, while touchscreen technology will take on a powerful presence.

Houghton-Jan acknowledged and applauded the role that librarians are taking in changing the world. "We are all awesome," she said.

Ray Lewis is a freelance writer based in New Zealand. His email is rlewisnz@hotmail.com. Send your comments about this article to itletters@infotoday.com.