作为物理世界长尾的城市 对公共图书馆的挑战.docx

作为物理世界长尾的城市 对公共图书馆的挑战.docx

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作为物理世界长尾的城市对公共图书馆的挑战

作为物理世界长尾的城市：

对公共图书馆的挑战

AnnaGalluzzi

（意大利Senato“GiovanniSpadolini”图书馆）

摘要克里斯·安德森在其2006年出版的著作《长尾理论》中指出，通过互联网，小众产品，特别对于可以通过电子形式销售的商品，如音乐等，不仅在经济性上可以维系，而且将变得有利可图。

将更多产品进行数字化将使得曾经妨碍分销商拥有大量产品的物理限制（需要更大的存储空间、长期压货导致经营效率低下）逐步消失。

作者证明，对于这些小众产品，其销售量之和将可以与大众产品相提并论。

对于仍然保持其物理形态的产品，尽管可以通过互联网获得产品信息，但由于这些产品必须要处理传统的存储与物流问题，因此其在电子商务市场上的表现与数字化产品将有所不同。

但是，随着这些产品信息在市场上的传播同样会带来不可限量的潜在用户。

另一方面，安德森指出，物理世界中的城市为长尾范式的形成提供了先天的环境。

城市的广大人群会创造出许多小众市场，即使规模很小或者非常特别的生意都会茁长成长。

那么，这些现象究竟对公共图书馆有何影响？

众所周知，公共图书馆正面临一次深刻的变革，甚至其存在的合理性都广为质疑，但与此同时，世界各地，特别是大都市，又有许多新馆不断开馆。

本文的主旨在于研究当代社会中新建公共图书馆的作用与长尾理论在实体世界中的运用之间是否存在某种联系，更具体地说，各个新建图书馆能否从长尾理论中为馆藏建设与服务规划汲取有益的借鉴。

本文将通过长尾理论的阐述与几个欧洲新建图书馆的案例研究展开，案例研究包括意大利博洛尼亚萨拉波萨图书馆、英国怀特契普概念店、西班牙若姆富思特图书馆。

每个案例都将从一个不同的角度为增强公共图书馆与居民之间的联系提供不同的答案。

CitiesasLongTailsofthePhysicalWorld:

aChallengeforPublicLibraries

AnnaGalluzzi

（BibliotecadelSenato"GiovanniSpadolini",Italy）

Abstract

Inhis2006booktitledThelongtailChrisAndersonpointsoutthat,overtheInternet,nichesbecomenotonlyeconomicallysustainablebutalsoprofitable,inparticularforthoseproductswhichcanbesoldinadigitalformat,likemusic.Thephysicalconstraintswhichpreventedanydistributorfromhavingalargecatalogueofproducts（becauseoftheneedoflargerandlargerspacesandtheinefficiencyofhavingthousandsofproductsstoredformonthsoryears）havebeenovercomebytheconvergenceofanincreasingnumberofproductstodigital.Heprovesthatforthesekindsofproductsthesumofthenichemarketscanbecomparabletothemassmarket.

Forthoseproductswhichkeeptheirphysicalappearance,becomingavailableontheInternetmarkethasnotthesameoutcome,astheyneedtodealwiththetraditionalstorageandmovementproblems.Nonetheless,thespreadingofinformationabouttheiravailabilityopensthemarkettoanunforeseeablenumberofpotentialusers.

Ontheotherhand,Andersonstressesthefactthat,inthephysicalworld,citiesaretheenvironmentsinwhichsomepreconditionsofthelongtailparadigmoccur,astheycancountonalargeaudiencewhereanumberofnichesspringupand,consequently,evenasmallandveryspecialisedbusinesscandevelop.

Howdoallthesephenomenahaveanimpactoverpubliclibraries?

Weallknowthatnowadayspubliclibrariesarefacingdeepchallengeswhichareputtingeventheirexistenceunderpressure,whilstnewpubliclibraries'buildingsareopeninginmanycitiesaroundtheworld,particularlyinmetropolitanareas.

Theaimofthispaperistostudyiftherecouldbealinkbetweentheroleofnewpubliclibrariesincontemporarysocietyandtheapplicationofthelongtailparadigmtothephysicalworld,andinparticularifthesenewlibrariescouldlearnnew,usefullessonsfortheircollectionandserviceplanningstartingfromthispoint.TheanalysiswillbecarriedoutthroughtheoreticalmeansandtheproposalofsomecasestudiesofnewbuiltpubliclibrariesinEurope.Inparticular,anItalianpubliclibrary,theSalaBorsaLibraryinBologna,anEnglishone,theWhitechapelIdeaStore,andaSpanishone,theJaumeFusterLibrary,willbetakenintoaccount.Eachoftheselibrarieswillofferadifferentpointofviewandadifferentanswerforstrengtheningtherelationshipbetweenpubliclibrariesandcitizens'needs.

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Whatisthelongtail?

In2006ChrisAndersonpublishedabooktitledThelongtail.Whythefutureofbusinessissellinglessofmore,whichmarkedashiftintheeconomictheorywithregardtotheimpactoftheInternetonthemarketofdigitalproducts.

InthisbookAndersonpointsoutthat,whileinthephysicalworldeconomywasalmostexclusivelybaseduponmassmarkets,overtheInternetnichesbecomenotonlyeconomicallysustainablebutalsoprofitable,inparticularforthoseproductswhichcanbedistributedinadigitalformat,e.g.music.Infact,thephysicalconstraintswhichinthepastpreventedanydistributorfromhavingalargeandimmediatelyavailablecatalogueofproducts（duetotheneedoflargerandlargerspacesforstorageandtheinefficiencyofhavingthousandsofproductsstoredformonthsoryears）havebeenovercomebytheconvergenceofanincreasingnumberofproductstodigital.

Thiseconomicparadigmisnamed"longtail"afterthechartshowingthatmassproducts（thesocalled"hits"）sellalotbutarefew,whilenicheproductsformalongtail,astheysellfarlessthanhitsiftakenseparately,butaltogethercanbecomparabletothemassmarketintermsofearnings.

ThisshiftisnotonlyduetothesuccessoftheInternet,butshouldalsobeviewedinthecontextofthepost-modernsociety,inparticularthetendencyofpeopletopositionthemselvesatanintermediatelevelbetweentheindividualandthemacro-sociologicalone.Theso-calledmicro-sociologicallevel,asdefinedbyDesjeux（1996）,isformedbygroups,associations,tribes,gangsandsoon,whilethemacro-sociologicallevelconcernslifestyles,socialclassesandgenerations.AccordingtoDesjeuxandothersociologists,nowadaysindividualidentityismoreandmoredefinedbybeingpartofsmallgroupswhicharenothomogeneousintermsofsocialbelonging,butsharethesamepassions,emotions,ethicalapproachesinanintense,buttransientway.Eachofthesegroupshasitsownritualsandcultobjectsandrepresentsaniche.However,theyarenotmutuallyexclusive;onthecontrary,eachindividualgenerallytakespartinanumberofnichesaccordingtohisvariousinterestsandlifemoments.

Thesenewsocialformsarecharacterisedbyhighturnoverincomposition,steadysharingofexperiencesandheavyparticipationbymembers;theyareusuallytransitional,butnonethelesssolid,astheyarebuiltaroundfeelings,passionsandemotions.Furthermore,theysatisfytwounderlyingneedsofcontemporarycitizens:

theneedforfreedomandautonomy,ontheonehand,andtheincreasingdemandforsafety,ontheother.Thesenewcommunitiesarefarlessconstrainingthattheoldones,butsomehowrespondtotherequestforsocialroots.

Underthissociologicalframework,theInternethasgivennichestheopportunitytoflourish（Cova,2007）,asithasallowedpeoplelivinginvariouspartsoftheworldtomeetonthenetandtoshareeventheslightestpieceofpersonalfondness;inaddition,theInternethaslinkedtogetherthenumeroussellersanddistributorsspreadallovertheworldandhasraisedthepossibilitytobuyorexchangecultobjectsbymeansofInternetportalslikeiTunesorAmazon.

Tosumeverythingup,inmyopinionitiscorrecttosaythatthisneweconomicparadigm,thelongtail,isduebothtoasociologicalshiftandtoatechnologicalprogresswhichhavecometogetheratonce.

Thelongtailinthephysicalworldandtheroleofcities

Eventhoughthecharacteristicsofthelongtailsocietyareparticularlywell-fittedwiththedigitalenvironmentandthedigitalgoods,thiseconomicparadigmispartiallyaffectingthedistributionofphysicalproductsaswell.

OnlineserviceslikeAmazonoreBay（andmanyothers）giveInternetusersthepossibilitynotonlytofindandbuydigitalobjects,butalsototrackdownalmostanyotherthing,evenifnotdigital.Thisbecomespossiblethankstotheco-operativenetworkamongthehighestpossiblenumberoflargeandsmalldistributors,aswellasprivatecitizens,whoaltogetherformthebiggestdistributedstoreintheworldwithasingledisplaywindowontheInternet.

Inthecaseofphysicalobjects,oneofthemajorconstraintstothefullfunctioningofthelongtailparadigmistheneedtophysicallydispatchtherequestedgoodstotheapplicant.Thismeansthatonesingleordercouldentailoneormoreshipments:

forexample,anorderofDVDsplacedonAmazonUKcouldrequirethecollectingofpiecesfromdifferentdistributorsandwarehousestoasingleplace,wherethepackagewillbedispatchedfrom.

Nonetheless,itisworthstressingthatthelongtailtakesitsrootsintheknowledgeabouttheexistenceandtheavailabilityofgoodsandinthefactthatthisknowledgeischannelledthroughcentraliseddatabasesavailableovertheInternet.Drawingtogetherscatteredinformationmakesarealdifferenceinaccessingandadvertisingnichegoods.

Actually,evenbeforetheappearanceoftheInternet,nichesalreadyexisted,thoughitwasverydifficultforpartakerstosatisfytheirneedsandcuriosities,astracingdowntheircultobjectsrequiredanalmostfull-timejobandalotofmoney.

Theplaceswherenicheshavealwaysbetterexpressedthemselvesandhavebuiltuptheircommunitiesarecities,whichAnderson（2006）defines"thelongtailofurbanspace".Infact,beforetheInternet,cities,inparticularbigcities,haveworkedasthephysicalequivalentofthevirtualmarketplaces.Thisiswhyonlycitiescanguaranteeawide-rangingofferinaneconomicallysustainableway,astheycancountuponaverylargeaudienceandareabletoattractpeoplefromtheoutside.Consequently,incitieseventhesmallestandthemostspecialisedbusinessescanflourish,thankstothefactthattheycanrelyonasignificantnumberofpeoplewhoareinterestedinthem（Galluzzi,2009）.

Tobemoreprecise,inalmostanyfield-fromretailingtoentertainment-,citiesofferbothplaceswhereyouhaveanextensiveavailabilityofcommonanduncommonservicesandproductsaltogetherandplacesexclusivelydevotedtoaveryspecificoffer.Therefore,largeshoppingmalls,wherepeoplecanfindalmosteverythinginasingleplace,cohabitwithspecialisedbusinesses,wherepeoplecansatisfyspecialneeds.Thosebusinesseswhichplacethemselvesatanintermediatelevelbetweenthetwoarefacingatoughcrisisastheyfin