“In a couple of cases, women are embracing new technologies faster than men.
‘The
good news is that women are closing the gap,’ said Genevive Bell, a
cultural anthropologist who works for chipmaker Intel. Overall, women
are using technology nearly as often as men, Bell said, but they are
using it differently.
In a Harris Interactive survey
commissioned by Intel, women were more enthusiastic about Wi-Fi than
men, and they said they planned to use it in different ways….
Women
and men want wireless access in airports, but more women than men said
they want wireless Internet access in their doctors' offices and at
salons….
Bell said women tend to use technology in ways that make
busy days more manageable, which is why cell phones, laptops and
wireless Internet access are popular, she said….
‘Women tend to
have more interest in communicating, so it makes sense that they would
tend to be heavier users of mobile communications features such as text
messaging,’ Enpocket President Mike Baker said.” [SignOnSanDiego, via textually.org]
These
findings aren’t really new; rather, they’re just confirmation of an
ongoing trend. Women also use libraries more than men do, so you have
to ask yourself if we’re doing enough to help them use library
“technology in ways that make busy days more manageable.” My answer is
no, we’re not, and we need to change this. Provide Wi-Fi for these
women when they are in the library, educate them about RSS to help make
their information flow more manageable, send them text alerts from the
catalog and the reference desk, provide better virtual reference
services so we’re wherever they are when they need us. There’s so much
more we could do.
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