Anderson and Libraries as New Producers, New Markets, and New Tastemakers

In Anderson's The Long Tail, he writes of America as a "niche nation" defined by its interests and how a person can find anything that interests them, with the huge number of niches, out there in the Long Tail. In chapters 4-7, Anderson also speaks of democratizing production, democratizing distribution, and connecting supply and demand. This creates New Producers, New Markets, and New Tastemakers.

The library can fill the role of New Producer because they have:

• Professionals, amateurs, and volunteers all working together
• Role models and tools to become amateur producers
• Collective wisdom of both experienced and new librarians
• Library blogs created (published) by librarians

I'm not sure that the library can fill the role of New Market because they have limited space and a great deal of overhead. But here are a few possible things that could help them:

• Inter-library loans
• WorldCat
• Multiple libraries joining together to provide services that they would not be able to afford on their own
• Links to digital versions of certain items
• The ability to tell you where you could find something if they did not have it

The library can fill the role of New Tastemaker because they have:

• Many patrons in their "fan base"
• Word of mouth (from these fans)
• Updated websites using new technology
• Websites that now offer such things as book reviews and "if you liked this, then you'll like.."
• Librarians who "filter" information for patrons, whether it's book suggestions or reference information