LIBRARIAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION: A STUDY ON THE

EFFECTS OF OFFICE AUTOMATION ON LIBRARIANS OF BABY

BOOMERS, GENERATION X AND GENERATION Y

Ida F Priyanto

Gadjah Mada University

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

idafp@lycos.com

Topics to deal with

• Generations and their characteristics

• Automation of library administration

• GMU and the librarians

• Findings of the survey

• Results from observations and usage

• conclusion

Generations

• Veterans

• Baby Boomers

• Generation X

• Generation Y

• Generation Z

• Generation G

Automation

GMU and the librarians

• GMU is the oldest university in Indonesia

• 51,000 students

• GMU Library

PLO

• Paperless Office (PLO) Software was designed by the Computer Center, Gadjah Mada University

• It is aimed at making communication among librarians faster

• It consists of memo, news, ideas, wiki, SMS, etc.

• It educates librarians to get connected with other librarians via ICT

PLO - Home

Findings of the survey

Survey on PLO Usage

30.77%

28.20%

What librarians do?

39.62%37.74%

Ease of Use

Observation of Usage

PLO vs Printed

Results of observations and usage

• Librarians of Baby Boomers often cannot differentiate between digital news and memo and still expect “formal” memo/letter/invitation

• Too much “information” to “teach” younger librarians

• Librarians of Generations X response quickly and expect fast response in two-way communication media

• Consider digital memo and news as formal office communication

Conclusion

• Librarians of Baby boomers shows reluctant to adapt to new technology in the beginning of library office automation

• They make use of the media to express ideas and “teach”

• Technology as a one-way communication

• Struggle to adapt with communication media and may make mistakes in using it

Conclusion

• Librarians of Generation X can adapt to technology faster than the Baby Boomers

• Librarians of Generation X make use of information technology as a two-way communication

• Can make use of the communication media properly

Thank you