(Revised, 9/20), on the Pew Internet & American Life Project

I wasn’t aware of this project, but am happy to know of its existence. It seems a great warehouse for data regarding trends of internet usage across the country, which I think would be especially useful in guiding thinking about new projects within, say, libraries. In some ways, I’m not at all surprised at the results of some of the studies — finding, for instance, that more than half of Americans 65 or older are online, versus 95% of those ages 18 to 29, (“Demographics of internet users,” 2010). On the other hand, some of the findings were unexpected, such as Purcell’s (2010) “Information on the go” presentation, which says nearly half of African-American adults use cell phones to access the internet (far outpacing Hispanics and whites), (slide 11). Information such as this is clearly useful for anyone seeking to organize information for easy access: whether the IA professional is working at the Wall Street Journal, a library, or an online retailer, it seems obvious that a conclusion to finding widespread internet access via cell phones would be to develop online content in highly mobile-friendly ways. As an afterthought, I can imagine those responsible for marketing even using this information to customize the mobile experience of their users (perhaps expecting higher proportions of some demographics via mobile technologies, thus delivering customized content).

References

Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2010). Demographics of internet users. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data/Whos-Online.aspx

Purcell, K. (2010, Sep. 20). Information on the go. Keynote address at the Arizona State Library’s E-Reader Summit and Technology Showcase, Tempe, AZ. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2010/Sep/Information-on-the-go.aspx