(30 Sep 2024) We don’t need to know for sure what the future holds for libraries and the communities they serve in order to be able to play a role in shaping it. The 2024 Trend Report, launched at the Information Futures Summit and made possible by SIGL support, offers a key resource for librarians, libraries and library associations looking to integrate tomorrow into their planning today.
It explores seven key trends in the information and knowledge environment, from what we understand by knowledge itself, through technological, political and environmental dimensions.
The Trends
- Knowledge practices are changing
- AI and other technologies are transforming society
- Trust is being renegotiated
- Skills and abilities are becoming more complex
- Digital technologies are unevenly distributed
- Information systems are using more resources
- People are seeking community connection
But beyond that, it looks at what can happen when these trends meet and interact, as they will inevitably do in reality. These intersections of trends are the inspiration behind a series of scenarios – stories about what the future of information and knowledge could bring, and what the role of libraries could be in them.
Both the trends and scenarios are building blocks that library and information workers, libraries and library associations can use in their planning. To help with this, the Report also offers ways to play.
Download the Trend Report 2024, and find out more about the Trend Report series.
Source: IFLA
