LIS 9763

I am currently in the middle Grown Up Digital written by Don Tapscott (Wikinomics).  The book is the result of a $4 million dollar research project that aims to describe the "Net Generation" and how they will effect Education, Workforce, Consumers, Family, and Democracy.  The "Net Generation" is defined as current 11-30 year old that have grown up with computers and the Internet.  While this would make the generation unique it is more important to note that this generation out numbers the baby boomers (most significantly in the US).  This is the biggest reason that what this generation does is important.

Tapscott organizes his book around "Eight Net Generation" norms:
 

1. Freedom "They want freedom in everything they do, from freedom of choice to freedom of expression."
2. Customize "They love to customize, personalize."
3. Scrutinizers "They are the new scrutinizers."
4. Corporate integrity and openness "They look for corporate integrity and openness when deciding what to buy and where to work.
5. Entertainment and play "The Net Gen wants entertainment and play in their work, eductation, and social life.
6. Collaboration and relationship "They are the collaboration and relationship generation."
7. Speed "The Net Gen has a need for speed--and not just in video games.
8. Innovators "They are the innovators."

 
While I'm only half way through the book there have been very interesting passages on video games and scrutiny.
 
Early evidence is showing that video game players notice more, have more highly developed spatial skills, and are quicker at switching tasks.  Studies have also shown that skills can be learned.  Other skills that can be gained through video games include increased decision making skills, prioritizing skills, and building teamwork skills.  Tapcott also explains and describes how this generation is much more likely to scrutize information they find.  This was very interesting to me, from a library perspective, because this means that information literacy is already high in this age group.  How do libraries make themselves relevant to this large population?  Soon this Net Generation will be the majority of tax payers/home owners and libraries will have to make themselves relevent so these citizen will be willing to continue funding these publicly funded institutions.  I think reading this book and realizing what exactly this generation is about will be fundamentally important for the workplace and understanding this group of community stakeholders.
 
As I mentioned, I am already halfway through and I am slightly skeptical about the generalizations that he has made, but I can also see many examples of what he's describing around.  However, what I found most interesting, was how enlightening it was for me. It told me a lot about why I do things the way I do them as I fall into Tapscott's definition of "Net Gen".  I do have a tendancy to multi-task.  I can't seem to write well if there isn't some kind of background music/TV noise on.  I generally have between 10-20 tabs open in my browser and I'm able to switch between different projects quite easily (I'll even be working on a report when playing video games...two monitors is awesome!).  BTW My paladin is level 80 and my guild has been very useful when working on various homework assignments!