Digital natives are people who were born and raised with our modern technology, so they have a different relationship with it. This shift started around the 1980's, but it became more defined in the late 1990's with the rise of the internet and personal home computers, and again in the 2000's when cellphones became widespread. Unlike older generations who had to learn and adapt with the new technology (otherwise known as "digital immigrants"), digital natives were taught how to use the internet and became technologically savvy at very young ages. Unfortunately, the drawback is that in learning how to use the technology, digital natives became very reliant on it and the internet for many of their non-physical needs, such as entertainment and education.
Digital natives have different needs compared to older generations, and as such, many libraries have adjusted the ways they connect with the younger generation.
One of the ways they achieved this was by adding computer labs to the public library with free access to the internet, giving them the ability to
browse the web and conduct their own research if needed, as well as provide less fortunate members of the community needed access to the web. Libraries also created an online library catalog, allowing them to check and sometimes check out library books they're interested in from the comfort of their home. Additionally, fully online library services like Libby have provided digital natives with an easy to access online service to access eBooks and audiobooks.
Services like these have helped bridge this technological gap for digital natives, although it seems there's still a long way to go. Alternatively, many of these methods are costly and time consuming for public libraries, which can affect the lengths they can go in order to adapt their systems to digital natives. But the effort to connect digital natives to the library is there and always evolving with the times.
If you'd like to learn more about digital natives and their ways library technology has adapted to keep up with them, check out the resources below!
Deconstructing Digital Natives by Articles about Digital Natives
Digital Natives | Center for the Future of Libraries
American Library Association. (2019). Digital Natives. https://www.ala.org/future/trends/digitalnatives
The 1990s: The Formative Years of Digital Libraries
Arms, W. Y. (2012). The 1990s: The formative years of Digital Libraries. Library Hi Tech, 30(4), 579–591. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378831211285068
The 'digital natives' debate: A critical review of the evidence
Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L. (2008). The ‘Digital Natives’ Debate: A Critical Review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775–786. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00793.x
The Digital Native Fallacy: Teaching New Skills While Learning From Their Strengths
Chung, J. (2013). The digital native fallacy: Teaching new skills while learning from their strengths. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-digital-native-fallac_b_2774480
History of library computerization -- Kilgour, Frederick G [Library Technology Guides]
Kilgour, F. G. (1970). History of library computerization. Information Technology and Libraries, 3(3), 218–229. https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v3i3.5256
Risk of using smartphones while walking for digital natives in realistic environments: Effects of cognitive–motor interference
Lee, Y., & Shin, S. (2024). Risk of using smartphones while walking for digital natives in realistic environments: Effects of cognitive–motor interference. Heliyon, 10(7). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28901
Digital natives in the scientific literature: A topic modeling approach
Mertala, P., López-Pernas, S., Vartiainen, H., Saqr, M., & Tedre, M. (2024). Digital Natives in the scientific literature: A topic modeling approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 152, 108076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.108076
Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. MCB University Press, 9(5). https://doi.org/https://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Creating Outstanding Experiences for Digital Natives
Schippers, S. (2021). Creating outstanding experiences for Digital Natives. UX Magazine. https://uxmag.com/articles/creating-outstanding-experiences-for-digital-natives
Closer Together or Further Apart? Digital Devices and the New Generation Gap
Weiss, R. (2014). Closer together or further apart? Digital Devices and the New Generation Gap. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/closer-together-or-furthe_b_4690748