Disruptive Library Technology Jester

I really like Christensen’s Theory of Disruptive Innovation (as he proposed in his book The Innovator’s Dilemma). It succinctly describes the challenges, if not the fate, of academic libraries as we navigate through changing expectations and fast-moving, turbulent technologies. In fact, I often find that in explaining my point-of-view on where libraries need to go that I draw the core graph of Christensen’s theory on napkins, whiteboards, hands — whatever I can find. Inevitably, with the enthusiasm for the topic and quick-moving hands, the lines don’t always match where they ought and that makes the concepts all that more difficult to explain.

To solve the problem, I came up with a version the size of a business card that has not only the graph but also a brief explanation of the key points on the back that the victim, er…listener, can take away from the conversation. Thinking this might be useful to others as well, I’m offering the the graph supporting the Theory of Disruptive Innovation and the descriptive text as a PDF download suitable for printing onto Avery 8371 (or equivalent) business card stock.

The offer is made under the same Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike license used by this blog. Contact me if you need copyright permissions outside that of this license. (Although, quite frankly, the only thing I can claim copyright on is the layout of the cards — that is something you could reproduce yourself with a little effort.) And if you want to read more about the potential impacts of Christensen’s theory on academic libraries and higher education in general, take a look at the Clayton Christensen category and the bibliography on DLTJ.