Do we understand our clientele? What do their experiences, attitudes and expectations mean to us as librarians or to health care providers?

You have a medical student listening to a podcast lecture, a resident furiously scribbling and tapping away on their PDA, a patient's family member IMing and text messaging updates, and another staff physician scratching his head staring at computer screen.

In libraries and through out hospitals you have a different digital generations co-existing trying to find and disseminate relavent health information. Obviously you can not have a one size fits all approach when it comes to helping these people. Each group has unique needs, therefore you need to get to know more about your users to help them the in the most effective way possible.

Below is an older article (FREE) on getting to know these different user groups. It primarily looks at current college students and gives some comparisons of the traditional young college with those who are older and returning/starting college later in life.
"Boomers, Gen-Xers and Millennials: Understanding the New Students," by Diana Oblinger (EDUCAUSE Review, July/August 2003). http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0342.pdf

This article is from the same author who wrote, "Feb 25, 2005) as an interesting look at Net Generation students who will be the next medical students, interns, doctors, and eventually administrators. To know what they know, learn how they learned, is essential so that you and your library can be relevant in their continued learning.

Some things learned:

Computers. Older generations including Gen-Xer's can view computers as technology, but Millennials who have always grown up with computers and the Internet do not view these things as technology but as an assumed part of life.

Connectivity. Every generation wishes to stay connected to family and friends, however the way each does so is entirely personal and usually falls accroding to age. Younger generations rely on cell phones, PDAs, and computers to stay in touch at all times. In an hospital environment where cell phones may not be used on patient floors many patients may turn to the email and instant messaging. However, many hospitals block access to such communication avenues out security and virus fears.

Little tolerance for delays. This would seem to be something that every generation has in common, but it is actually the type of delay that each can define each generation. Older generations may be more willing to wait for an article to come from another library or for test results. Younger generations have grown up with "on demand" service. They want to watch a movie, they order it. They want their information and test results immediately. They don't expect to have to wait 2 months to get an appointment at the Dermatologist's office for a consultation.

Getting to know your clientele can help you in the long run and lead to better communication.