collecting institutions in the network society

COLLECTING INSTITUTIONSIN THE NETWORK SOCIETY

Chris Batt OBE PhDDigital Strategist

Doctoral ResearchThe relationship between

public collecting institutions (museums, libraries and archives)

and 21st centurysocio-technical determinism

2003

Lobby government for funding to create integrated digital

collections

Advocacy

The synergy of collective action in a learning society

THE DIGITAL SPACE:Collection convergence?

From physical to virtual

THE WORLD HAS MOVED ON…

Since then there has been a socio-technical revolution

THE NETWORK SOCIETY

“Networks have become the predominant

organisational form of every domain of

human activity... The space of flows has

taken over the logic of the space of places.”

THE NETWORK SOCIETY

“The Internet has become a vital part of our

lives and our society.”Dutton, W. and Blank, G. Next Generation Users: The Internet in Britain. Oxford Internet Institute, 2011.

THE NETWORK SOCIETY

“The average UK citizen spends more time

each day using digital technologies and the

Internet than sleeping.”

…like 8 hours and 16 minutesOFCOM. Annual Communications Review, 2014

THE NETWORK SOCIETY

THE NETWORK SOCIETY AND CHANGE

IN 2002…

• STREAMING VIDEO was rare, short and choppy.

• WIRELESS HOTSPOTS were a novelty.

• MOBILE PHONES were used primarily for (gasp) phone calls

• A TUMBLER was a kind of drinking glass

• A TWEET was a type of birdcall

IN 2022 THE INTERNET WILL LIKELY BE DIFFERENT FROM THE INTERNET OF 2012

Karpf, D. 2012. Social Science Research Methods in Internet Time. Information, Communication and Society. Vol. 15, No. 5. June, pp639-661.

How do collecting institutions maintain strategic fit in the face of dramatic and continuing socio-technical change?

RESEARCH STRATEGY

“How to change the world…”

Research QuestionHow to provide online service offers that are

distinctive in form and maximise public value through

alignment with changing trends in user needs and

expectations?

SOCIO-TECHNICAL DETERMINISM: AN ATOMIC MODEL

The OUTER WORLDof socio-technical change The INNER WORLD

of public sector collecting institutions

MUSEUMS LIBRARIES ARCHIVES

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

COLLECTING INSTITUTIONS

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

THE OUTER WORLD OF SOCIO-TECHNICAL CHANGE

THE INNER WORLD OFCOLLECTING INSTITUTIONS

RESEARCH LANDSCAPE

CONVERGENCEAre there commonalities between museums, libraries and

archives?

READINESS POTENTIALHow aware and prepared are practitioners for uncertain future

possibilities in the digital space?

STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES Would they be similar for all collecting institutions?

STRATEGIC CHALLENGESWhat barriers to progress? How to deal with them?

STAGES OF ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS

1. Key trends in digital supply and demand in the Outer World 2000 - 2014

2. Analysis of the Inner World of collecting institutions

3. Comparative analysis and synthesis of the Inner World and the Outer World

4. Outcomes and future actions

Not a study about what the future might be like

Not where is socio-technical determinism going, But what makes it go?

What is driving the changes that are taking place?

Today Future

?Purpose, strategy, structure, process

RESEARCH FINDINGS

OUTER WORLD

• Incremental change

• Slow diffusion of innovation

• Shared expectations

• Multi-channel society

• Access = travel

PRE-2000 BASELINE

INNER WORLD • Long, evolutionary histories

• Destinations

• Monopolistic merit goods

• Skills and values defined by public sector and collections

• Technical rationality, rather than strategic thinking

Organisational ecosystem

PRE-2000 BASELINE

Key Trends in Digital Supply and Demand in the Outer World 1

• New business models, new markets• Speed of innovation and social diffusion• Social networking, crowdsourcing• Centrality of online life, 24/7• A social (agrarian) revolution:

The hunter/gatherer becomes online harvester

THE INTERNET AND SECTORAL CHANGELOSERS WINNERS

Recorded music industry Smartphones, iTunes, SpotifyTraditional book publishers ebooks

The High Street Amazon, eBayTravel agencies Expedia, TripAdvisor

Reference books, Libraries Wikipedia, GoogleTraditional telephony Skype, email

? Social networking servicesCinemas, terrestrial TV Video streaming



37 key issues synthesised from the evidence

The essence of determinism presented asFour Generic Drivers of Change

1. THE INTERNET AS DIGITAL COMMON CARRIER• Single channel• Internet protocol• Convergence • Instant two-way communication

2. THE INTERNET REDEFINES SPACE AND TIME• Global interconnectivity • Internet time is dog time• User impact - multi-tasking, meshing and mashing• Transaction costs are independent of time and distance

3. THE INTERNET POSSESSES ITS OWN GRAVITATIONAL FORCES• Scale • Growth• Impacts on supplier and user

4. THE INTERNET REDEFINES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SUPPLIER AND THE USER

• Innovation and risk – low entry barriers encourage risk taking and new ideas• Science of user engagement• Skills shift to support new technologies and service needs (the user can be part of the supply

stream)

FOUR GENERIC DRIVERS AND CHANGE

Analysis of the Inner World of Collecting Institutions2

COLLECTING INSTITUTIONS IN THE BROADER CONTEXT OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR

• Structure, policy and power• Public sector change and innovation• The generic Institutional Paradigm

INFRASTRU

CTURE

Top/down silos Within the vertically integrated structures of public service

Control, not collective action

While a controlling form of organisation, vertical integration

Destinations Primarily physical collections in fixed locations

Fragmentation Caused by organisational structures and nature of audiences and collections

Stability Neither incremental change nor structural fragmentation seriously hindered service delivery so long a social change was slow, funding levels were maintained and service monopolies uncontested

POLICY

Social purpose and practitioner

values

Defined by a long process of incremental evolution

Explicit policy Until the end of the 20th century limited to direction for statutory services and some basic standards assessment tools

Tacit policy For almost all of collecting institution history incremental evolution sustained a stable , monopolistic service paradigm that provided unchallenged and highly regarded merit good services

POWER

Locally In the absence of clear national policy direction, practitioners may be able to influence priorities and methods within local governance structures

Nationally The tradition of local services defined by geography or audiences the hierarchy of vertical integration and the fragmented nature of the three sectors have acted to constrain the ability to exercise collective power at national level to influence and shape policy

THE INSTITUTIONAL PARADIGM

Organisational ecosystem 2.0

INDUSTRY-FRIENDLY INNOVATION

SYNTHESIS OF RESEARCH EVIDENCE AND OUTCOMES

RESEARCH LANDSCAPE


archives?





COLLECTING INSTITUTIONS:STRATEGIC CHANGE SINCE 2000

• Service delivery still rooted in the Institutional Paradigm

• Fragmentation continues - +2000 institutional websites, wide range of aggregators

• Lack of strategic or policy frameworks nationally

• Digital innovation is sustaining, not transforming

COLLECTING INSTITUTIONS:CONVERGENCE

• The digital artifact

• A shared mission – similar stories with different voices

• Common traditions of focus on education and learning and openness

• The Institutional Paradigm

• The reality of financial famine

• Central government policy toward the integration of digital services

“The purpose of museums, libraries and archives is to maintain and promote

collections and services to encourage people’s learning and enjoyment and to

develop communities”

gov.uk was the overall winner for Designof the Year 2013 for its well thought outyet understated design, making the user

experience simpler, clearer and faster

http://www.gov.uk/

COLLECTING INSTITUTIONS:READINESS POTENTIAL

• Status Quo 2.0

• Technical rationality dominates

• Organisation-friendly innovation

• Minimal evidence of reflective practice

Risks of strategic change Social and financial price of mistakes; risk aversion

Organisational constraints Vertical integration limits structural change

Collecting institutions specific needs Sunk investment in physical collections, and user expectations may be put at risk

The limitations of incremental change

Industry friendly innovation is safe, but threatens loss of strategic fit

PUBLIC SECTOR: INNOVATION AND CHANGE

RESEARCH LANDSCAPE


archives?





Comparative analysis of Generic Drivers andOpportunities/Constraints for Collecting Institutions

Opportunities of the Generic Drivers Constraints of the Institutional Paradigm

THE DIALECTIC OF CHANGEDefining the key challenges for a collective future

THESISOPPORTUNITIES

ANTITHESISCONSTRAINTS

Potential of the Internet to increase social value of collecting institutions

Institutional Paradigm and lack of strategic planning

New relationship between supplier and user, new business models

Importance of the status quo; long established service patterns

The importance of presence in the digital space to meet emergent behaviours and build wider audiences

The value of the institution as physical destination

Rapid innovation and diffusion The risks of radical change

Implications of strategic change Constraints of structure and resources

Digital channel convergence Organisational fragmentation

Globalisation from gravitational forces Localism and vertical integration

Need for one voice and one message to promote collective value nationally

Absence of of explicit shared mission across collecting institutions

2. User relations and theboundary exchange

3. Speed of innovationand change

1. Common purpose and sharedstrategy in the digital space

CHALLENGE ONE

The quest for common purpose

Overcoming fragmentation

Placing the user at the heart of strategic developments

Moving beyond the Institutional Paradigm

Agreeing a common mission,finding a single voice

CHALLENGE TWO

The boundary exchange: from hunter/gatherer to harvester

User at the heart of developments;convenience and uniqueness

in face of competition

Confidence about the physical and the virtual

Learning as leitmotif

EMERGENT LEARNING THEORY

CHALLENGE THREE

The speed of innovation and change

How can collecting institutions maintain strategic fit today and future?

Balancing the long-term value of collectionsagainst changing behaviours and expectations

in digital use.

DO IT ONCE, DO IT RIGHT

Finding the means to create a collectiveapproach to a successful digital future

for the benefit of all citizens

DIGITAL KNOWLEDGE ECOLOGY

FUTURE ACTIONS

Commitment to a shared digital future by all practitioner groups

Develop a single voice for advocacy and the power to influence policy

New approaches to strategy development replacing technical rationality with

reflective thinking

A BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE:A Plan for Action

Potential benefits from resolving the Strategic Challenges

POSSIBLE MEDIUM-TERM BENEFITSOF THE DIGITAL KNOWLEDGE ECOLOGY

• POLICY• Clarity of purpose• Bottom-up engagement• Power and influence• Economies of scale

• THE USER AND THE BOUNDARY• Skills to create user-friendly delivery systems• Understanding of the processes of individual learning• Capability to demonstrate collective value at national level

• INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLILTY• Agility in rapid testing of new ideas to maintain strategic fit• Shared practitioner skills and education • Redefining the collection for the 21st century

Thanks for listening

[email protected]

If not to change the world,to demonstrate that the world

of collecting institutionsmay need to change.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.digital-futures.org/

1. The quest for common purpose• Overcoming fragmentation

• Placing the user at the heart of strategic developments• Moving beyond the institutional paradigm

• A single voice for a collective digital future

2. The boundary exchange: from hunter/gatherer to harvester

• Scale, convenience and uniqueness to face off competition • Confidence about the physical and the virtual• Learning as leitmotif

3. The speed of innovation and change

• How can collecting institutions maintain strategic fit in the future?• Balancing the long-term value of collections against

changing behaviours and expectations in digital use.STR

ATE

GIC

CH

ALL

EN

GE

S

Strategic fit

Time

H1

H2

H3

Three Horizons of Innovation

Christenesen, C. The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Harvard Business School Press, 1997.Hodgson, T and Sharpe, B. Deepening Futures with Systems Structures. In Sharpe B, Heijden K van der. Scenarios for Success: Turning Insights in to Action. John Wiley & Sons; 2008. Leicester, G., Bloomer, K., Stewart, D. (2009). Transformative Innovation in Education. International Futures Forum

Strategic fit

Time

H1

H2

H3


HORIZON 1Sustaining Innovation

HORIZON 2Disruptive Innovation/Transformation Bridge

HORIZON 1Transformative Innovation


Strategic fit

Time

H1

H2

H3


HORIZON 1Sustaining Innovation

HORIZON 2Disruptive Innovation/Transformation Bridge

HORIZON 1Transformative Innovation

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