Solo Librarians Division 2009 Conference Schedule…06.08.09

Here is the upcoming schedule for the Solo Librarians Division of the Special Libraries Association annual conference in Washington, D.C. from the DSOL Conference Blog:

“Saturday 6/13

8:00AM-12:00PM: CE: Best Practices for Information Services: Achieving Operational Excellence (Conv. Ctr. 305)

Sunday 6/14

12:00PM-1:30PM: Solo Librarians Divison Board of Directors (Conv. Ctr. 205)

Monday 6/15

9:00AM-10:30AM: Diversity in Leadership: Generation X – The Changing Paradigm in a Knowledge-Based Society (Conv. Ctr. 144A)

1:30PM-3:30PM: SPOTLIGHT SESSION - How Do You Move Up the Ladder If There Is No Ladder to Climb? (Conv. Ctr. 145A)

3:30PM-5:00PM: The New Face of the Special Librarian: Embedded Librarians (Conv. Ctr. 143C)

8:00PM-10:00PM: Solo Librarians Division Open House (Renaissance Washington DC Hotel, Congressional Hall C)

Tuesday 6/16

7:00AM-8:30AM: Annual Diversity Leadership Development Breakfast (Ticket 700, Conv. Ctr. 202B)

11:30AM-1:00PM: Solo Librarians Division Business Meeting Luncheon (Ticket 810, Conv. Ctr. 149)

1:30PM-3:00PM: Preparedness for Info Pros: Lessons Learned from Recent Disasters (Conv. Ctr. 141)

8:00PM-10:00PM: Government Information, Petroleum & Energy Resources, and Solo Librarians Division Open House (Sewall Belmont House, 144 Constitution Ave. NE)

Wednesday 6/17

8:30AM-10:00AM: Spotlight Session – Creating Groupies: How to Add Value, Make Yourself Irreplaceable, & Beat the Pants Off of Google (Conv. Ctr. 145A)”

“Spotlight” Sessions for the Solo Librarians Division of SLA

“Spotlight Sessions” for the Solo Librarians Division being offered at this year’s 100th Anniverserary Special Libaries Association conference in Washington, D.C. from the DSOL Conference blog:

“Monday, 15 June 2009

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Social Networking: The Essence of Innovation
Presented by: Leadership and Management Division

1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
How Do You Move Up the Ladder If There Is No Ladder to Climb?
Presented by: Solo Librarians Division and Transportation Division

3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
The Library of the Future: Discovery in the Round
Presented by: Education Division and Leadership and Management Division

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Transformational Leadership: Inspirational Language
Presented by: Leadership and Management Division

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
SLA at 100: From Putting Knowledge to Work to Building the Knowledge Culture
Presented by: Museums, Arts & Humanities Division and Retired Members Caucus

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Practical Strategies for Improving ROI
Presented by: Business and Finance Division, Knowledge Management Division, Leadership and Management Division, Legal Division, and Pharmaceutical & Health Technology Division

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Creating Groupies: How to Add Value, Make Yourself Irreplaceable & Beat the Pants Off Google
Presented by: Legal Division and Solo Librarians Division..”

Special Libraries Association 100th Anniversary Videos…03.10.09

The Kentucky chapter of the Special Libraries Association posted yesterday about the videos created so far in a contest in conjunction with the 100th anniversary celebration of the Special Library Association.  The post pointed out that you can watch all the videos here: SLA 100

Here is one example:

 

“Positioning SLA for the Future: Alignment Initiative Results and Recommendations”…01.28.09

Judith A. Siess points out today on her blog OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore) a worthwhile read which is “…a report on the Special Libraries Association’s plans for positioning itself and the profession for the future. It was presented 13 January 2009, SLA Winter Meeting in Savannah, Georgia.”

There are some interesting things in the report entitled Positioning SLA for the Future: Alignment Initiative Results and Recommendations which you can read or download here: [http://www.sla.org/pdfs/FH_PositioningSLA0113090-Notes.pdf ]

SLA “Centennial Celebration” Website Online…01.10.09

Stacey Greenwall reports Centennial Celebration Website

“This will officially be announced (along with a few other website enhancements) at the Leadership Summit in Savannah next week, but I thought the SLA blogging community might like a sneak peek at the RSS feedsoffered on the SLA Centennial Celebration website. 

The Centennial Celebration website is very much about member input–I hope you’ll share your ideas, stories, videos, and photos as the opportunity arises.  The video contest deadline is January 23, so you still have time to submit your entry and have a chance at big cash prizes.  Stay tuned for more exciting centennial activities throughout the year!”

Why We Need Librarians in the 21st Century…11.30.08

Outgoing SLA president Stehpen Abram’s Dec. 2008 article in Information Outlook “Access is Not Equal to Know How” [http://www.sirsidynix.com/Resources/Pdfs/Company/Abram/IOColumn_78.pdf] is a good read.  Here is the beginning:

“We’re still hearing that hackneyed old comment, ‘Most everything’s available on the web now, so exactly why do we need librarians?‘ It’s coming from all quarters and other professionals too. In financially tumultuous times, when every sous is being scrutinized to within a centimeter of its life, we can expect this ugly example of shallow thinking to raise its head again. So, it’s time for reminding ourselves of quick ways to respond to these comments. Make no mistake. It’s not an option to leave these challenges unaddressed, whether they’re explicitly spoken or just lay their as underlying assumption to conversations. If we don’t respond we put our organizations at risk. We have a professional duty to educate and inform our world about the role of librarians and information professionals. So, here’s a modest attempt to develop a few strategies for talking to key folks in our world who may try to hurt our organizations and society at large because they haven’t thought through the real world issues of a web that:

• Contains too much information;

• Has no clear bias toward quality or authority;

• Is subject to manipulation by third parties through search engine optimization;

• Offers potentially different answers depending on your geo-location, personal profile or stored previous search behaviours;

• Is primarily focused on meeting those needs of its primary customers – advertisers – which may include your competitors;

• And, is available to everyone which means that you have absolutely no competitive advantage.

So, what kind of story can we tell that gets our point across in the context of those folks who would seek to cut our staff, cut our budgets or eliminate our roles entirely?…”

2009 Corporate Library Benchmarks…11.25.08

Being a special librarian, the following data on corporate libraries from “The Corporate Librarian” blog post “2oo9 Version of the Corporate Library Benchmarks Study“ [http://thecorporatelibrarian.com/2008/11/25/2009-version-of-the-corporate-library-benchmarks-study/] is interesting and worth further thought: 

“I haven’t actually ponied up for this yet – some unexpected expenses plus the onset of Tinselkrieg have forced me to postpone a few things – but I do want to take a look and see if there are any conclusions one can draw in terms of multi-year trends.

A few items of note from Primary Research Group’s press release [http://www.primaryresearch.com/]:

• Companies in the oil/gas and pharmaceuticals industries accounted for many of the libraries which reported increased budgets in 2008. In the Bay Area there’s been at least one large (and controversial) pharma library closing that I know of, so interesting to see this.
• The median amount of time spent reviewing content vendor license contract terms was 30 hours (the mean was 117.2).
• Average spending on ebooks (I assume mean, rather than median) was slightly less than half as much as was spent on print books.
• Over 29% of respondents said the library has become more important to competitive intelligence research efforts (compared with 20% who said it had become less important). Of course, this could also be reported as “About half of libraries said the library had not changed its importance to competitive intelligence research efforts,” but that’s not going to sell studies.

I’ve commented on past editions of the study here and here, and you can find out more on the latest edition here.”

Open-Source Risk Management…11.18.08

On occasion, I will relate information about Evergreen, Koha, and other “open source” products that are of interest to me.  The IT Dept. here it seems would never consider using open source tool.  I collect information on these products, however, with the idea that 1) I need to stay accurately informed and 2) maybe one day I might need to make a valid and convincing argument for such items.  Anyway, here is an an excerpt from a useful post [http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/itbloggingsection/2008/11/risk-management.html] on the blogging section of the SLA IT Division about managing risk when considering using open source products:

“Jonathan Rochkind has written an awesome article for Library Journal about risk management when it comes to open source software. Jonathan walks librarians through all of the levels of risk you might be taking choosing open source software – most of which are the same as the risks you take with any software (for home, office or library).  He also defines the different levels of open source software you’ll find out in the wild:

1. Homegrown products are used and developed by only one or very few libraries. They are usually written to meet very local requirements without much effort to generalize and are supported by the same local staff who wrote them. A risk of homegrown software is managing the transition when that original staff leaves.
2. Community support products have a thriving network of users and developers across a variety of institutions. A community of users and developers is, of course, not contractually bound to provide help, but many open source products have strong groups willing to spend time helping you for the greater good of the project.
3. Vendor support products are backed by paid commercial contracts available from companies in the business of supporting open source products. Even though these vendors don’t own the software, they provide technical help for the software via contract, very much like a support contract for proprietary software. In the general market, a well-established and successful example is Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a variant of the open source Linux OS, for which the Red Hat company offers support contracts.

He then breaks down the different risks associated with the different types of open source software, reminding librarians…Make sure you read the entire article and share it with the skeptics in your organization – education is the only way to fight ignorance and skepticism.”

Twelve Tips for the One-Person Library Webinar Replay…11.06.08

Being a solo librarian in a “one-person library”, this webinar noted on today on the NEFLIN blog [http://neflin.blogspot.com/2008/11/twelve-tips-for-one-person-library.html] is worth reviewing:

“This SLA Webinar Replay is available to view anytime through December 2. Register today to receive access information.

Twelve Tips for the One-Person Library

In a one-person library or information service organization, there never seems to be enough time to do the administrative – never mind the professional – work. In this webinar replay, you will find ways to manage your information service, your time, your customers, and your boss, using a few business management and marketing principles. We will introduce practical tips that form a framework for decision making to help you:

• Manage your portfolio of services, knowing which ones to advance, which to phase out, and which to introduce for long-term growth
• Spend more time on the critical projects and say ‘no’ to the low-priority demands
• Promote your service to clients and management without great expenditures of time and resources.
• Cultivate relationships with the ‘influencers’ in the organization;
• Talk and think in business terms.

This webinar replay is designed for librarians and information professionals who are working in very small libraries or on their own as independent contractors.
Virtual Trainer: Maggie Weaver, Click U Live Presenter”

Review of “The Accidental Librarian”…11.04.08

I liked Judith Seiss’s review of The Accidental Librarian [http://opls.blogspot.com/2008/11/two-to-read-accidental-librarian-and.html] so much that I am going to seek out a copy to read.  Here is Judith’s review excerpted from her post on the OPL Plus website:

MacKellar, Pamela H., The Accidental Librarian, Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc., 2008, ISBN 978-1-57387-338-3, US$29.50, foreword by Karen Strege [Director of the American Library Association Library Support Staff Certificate Program]

What is an “accidental” librarian? MacKellar, a library consultant who has mentored many “accidental” librarians in all types of libraries, writes, “Librarians without MLS degrees are essentially accidental librarians—increasingly being hired as frontline librarians of all kinds and sizes, performing duties that were formerly carried out exclusively by professional librarians, while MLS librarians can be found working behind the scenes in management and administrative positions, including technical services, marketing, systems administration, and personnel.” (9) She adds, “Accidental librarians may be more numerous—and important—than you think:” many research libraries hire non-librarians as directors; many library school deans do not have a MLS [including number-one ranked University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]; Librarians of Congress do not have to be degreed librarians (the first librarian was appointed in 1899 and the first degreed librarian was L. Quincy Mumford (1954-1974); the Council on Library and Information Resources doesn’t require its grant recipients to study LIS; and some states do not require the State Librarian to have a MLS.

The above doesn’t even take into account the myriad of non-librarians who staff small libraries in churches, corporations, and small public libraries. MacKellar reports that only about two-thirds of public librarians have a MLS (varying from 21 percent in Montana to nearly 100 percent in Hawaii and New Jersey). This is a deplorable situation, especially when more and more newly-graduated librarians cannot find professional positions. However, it is not a situation that is likely to change. Therefore, it is especially good that this book has been written—to give these “accidental” librarians the basics of librarianship in an easy-to-use and easy-to-implement form…

While not as good as having a “real” librarian running every library, it is much better than having an uninformed amateur who is called a librarian providing poor service and giving the profession a bad name. What’s more, it can also serve as a good refresher course for anyone with a MLS who has been out of school for a while. A very worthwhile purchase.

Library Automation Perceptions Survey…11.03.08

Nicole Engard’s post [http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/itbloggingsection/2008/11/library-automat.html]  on surveying the latest in library automation is worth the participation:

“It’s that time of year again.  Marshall Breeding has posted information on how to participate in his Perceptions 2008 International Library Automation Survey:

We live in interesting times when it comes to automation strategies in libraries.  Competition intensifies between traditional companies licensing their products and a new wave of open source challengers.  I think that it is important to pursue research that gauges the effectiveness of the various approaches to help other libraries make decisions regarding their automation strategy.

Last year, I conducted the inaugural version of this survey, which resulted in the report titled “Perceptions 2007: an international survey of Library Automation.”  The 2007 survey included responses from 1,779 libraries.

This survey is well known and highly regarded – so make sure your opinion is heard!!  Read Marshall’s instructions and participate ASAP”

How To Get Approval to Attend SLA Conference…10.30.08

Kristin Foldvik wrote a good post [http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/2008/10/how-can-i-convi.html] on arguments to management to allow SLA conference attendance:

“Here are a few of the great reasons that you can use to convince him/her that attending the SLA Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO is a smart investment:

1. Costing less than other industry conferences, and offering more than 250 sessions, panels and keynotes, SLA Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO is by far the best value for your money.
2. SLA is the premier organization for information professionals. As the conference of the year, its your best chance to learn about best practices, network to find solutions to information service challenges, and get hands-on technology training.
3. SLA’s conference speakers are the top industry experts. Pick the brains of the information professional communitys foremost experts. Get answers to your specific questions and exclusive insight into the technologies you use every day.
4. Education helps professionals work smarter with today’s smaller budgets, fewer resources and looming deadlines. Attending the 2009 SLA Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO is the most cost-effective way to get the professional development you need.
5. Investing in employees education is the best way to reward top employees, keep morale high, drive innovation and show that the company is committed to the growth of its valuable team members.
6. The INFO-EXPO is *the* place to meet with vendors, learn about new technologies, and comparison shop for information products and services.

Some things attendees from the 2008 SLA Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO said when asked if they would refer a business associate:

• A great experience with many learning and networking opportunities.
• Attending SLA is valuable in identifying trends in the info industry, networking with other professionals, continuing education opportunities, discovering new vendors, hearing top notch speakers…
• Continuing education classes are excellent, conference programming session are very good. Its a great opportunity to look at/evaluate products, meet vendors and ask questions, network with colleagues…
• Essential for professional development in a rapidly changing field.
• Excellent conference programming and pre-conference workshops; great keynote speakers; many opportunities for networking; great array of exhibitors; many amenities such as the wireless lounge [and] computer access….. Excellent value for money.
• Excellent for keeping current with trends
• Good variety of topics covered, as well as in-depth coverage of future technological trends, hands-on workshops, focused pre-con classes, strong exhibitor hall….”

Special Librarian Positions Featured in U.S.News and World Report…10.23.08

Here is an exert from U.S. News and World Report about Special Librarian positions posted on LIS News:

“US News And World Report: Librarian: Not just any librarian—a special librarian. Special librarians work for companies, government agencies, nonprofits, universities, or museums, rather than for the general public. There are plenty of opportunities for people to focus on specialties. Janice Lachance, chief executive of the Special Libraries Association, says ‘it’s absolutely a perfect fit’ for people who are politically inclined, as leaders at nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, or government agencies rely on well-sourced, ‘top level information.’ Librarians can follow specific passions for policy or politics into jobs at places like AARP, which employs 13 association members. Most have a master’s in library or information science, but the jobs pay: A 2008 association survey found the average salary of its members was $71,812.”

YEAH! GO SPECIAL LIBRARIANS!! 

Click University Competitive Intelligence Certificates…10.20.08

Click University offers an interesting and useful “Competitive Intelligence Certificates Program” [http://sla.learn.com/learncenter.asp?page=264]:

“…The Programs

The Certificate in Competitive Intelligence for LIS Professionals is aimed at LIS professionals who are interested in transitioning into the intelligence function. The curriculum is designed to develop the competencies for holistic intelligence practice, from serving as an intelligence team member to managing the intelligence function within an organization.

The Certificate in Copetitive Intelligence Function is designed for LIS professionals who wish to more effectively support research and information & knowledge services for intelligence effort or an intellignce function. The curriculum covers general CI knowledge, as well as the specific requirements for the LIS function within intelligence.

The Dual Certificate: Competitive Intelligence and the Intelligence Information Function accommodates LIS professions who whis to take the most comprehensive approach toward their intelligence professional development. This certificate combines course for both certificate programs, eliminating duplications and redundancies.

An Important Note: While the primary goal in developing these programs is to allow SLA members to earn one or more certificates, each of these courses has inherent value and any course may be taken à la carte.

Certificates Program Value Points

1. Gain the essential theoretical and practical understanding, techniques, skills, and tools to launch or enhance your competitive intelligence practices and to apply immediately and effectively to benefit your organization.
2. Acquire the necessary depth and breadth of knowledge, understanding, and experience to start generating effective intelligence, gain credibility, and benefit your intelligence users.
3. Benefit from a flexible program that a) suits your particular professional goals and interests and b) offers instruction and delivery that allow you to balance your professional development with your work, lifestyle, and other requirements.
4. Engage in live lectures, live and online discussions, selected readings, and exercises that build and reinforce your intelligence knowledge and skills.
5. Enjoy dynamic and experienced instruction, an extensive curriculum, quality training material, and high value that is the hallmark of SLA’s professional development programs and Knowledge inForm’s intelligence training.

This program will take a blended learning approach by presenting course modules that offer a combination of knowledge-based training content, as well hands-on training, as appropriate. Knowledge-based training is offered online via the Click University website. Live/Hands-on training consists of traditional on-site workshops. These will be offered for topics that require live exercises and other instructional methods that benefit from live instruction and participation. These live training sessions are designed for maximum convenience: sessions will be conducted at the SLA Annual Conferences or coordinated as regional events and programs….”

Solo Librarians Learn “How to Do It All Without Losing Your Mind”…10.08.08

There was an interesting presentation at the American Association of Law Libraries this year entitled “The Evolving Role of the Solo Librarian: How to Do It All Without Losing Your Mind” [http://www.aallnet.org/sis/pllsis/Groups/solos_aall08_presentation.PPT] by Lauri Flynn and Julia Hughes which I thought would be worthwhile to point out to other solo librarians, law librarians and otherwise. 

Here are some of the “secrets” discussed for successful solos:

• Become expert at time management
• Simplify systems
• Become expert at reference interview to find the shortest path to the correct answer
• Learn how to delegate some tasks to others (i.e. teach them how to find the answer for next time)
• Develop good organizational skills
• Keep your focus
• Set weekly goals and try to achieve them
• Passion !
• Stay passionate about your work and what each day might bring
• Remember, we have one of the most interesting jobs in the organization
• Don’t sweat the small stuff
• Details can often be overlooked or simplified
• It doesn’t have to be perfect, just to work for your users

Think strategically (do what has the most impact first) 

 

1. Market the Library and yourself – use “brazen self promotion”
2. Flexibility – ability to shift perspective as needed – go with the flow
3. Focus on current organizational priorities and be sure all efforts support those priorities.
4. Be proactive – send news & updates of info to attorneys & staff
5. Be creative in solutions
6. Be available for new responsibilities and challenges

“Career Sustainability” at SLA Texas Chapter Annual Fall Meeting in Dallas…10.08.08

Under consideration for attending::

SLA Texas Chapter Annual Fall Meeting 

Friday, October 24, 2008 8:30am – 5:00 pm Southern Methodist University, Dallas

This year’s meeting is a spotlight on Sustainability – the sustainability of your career. Whether you are looking for a new job or keeping up with the latest technology trends to stay on top at your current job, the SLA Texas Chapter Annual Fall Meeting offers a diverse group of presentations to help meet your professional long-term and short-term career objectives. Be sure to mark your calendar to meet up with your colleagues in Dallas on October 24th!

Online Registration

SLA Members $40

Non-Members $60

SLA Members (between jobs) $15

Students and Retirees $15

Price includes continental breakfast and lunch

Register by October 10, 2008

Agenda

 

8:30	Registration and Breakfast
9:00	Welcome by Jalyn Kelley, Texas Chapter President
9:15	Panel Discussion:  Greg Lambert  Emily Cunningham-Rushing  Ben Toon  David Brackus  April Kessler
11:15	Break
11:30	“60 Gadgets in 60 Minutes” – Barbara Fullerton and Dina Dreifuerst
12:30	Lunch & Networking
2:00	“How to Stay Employable in the 21st Century” – Keynote Speaker, Pat Wagner
3:15	Break
3:30	“How to Stay Employable in the 21st Century” – Keynote Speaker, Pat Wagner
4:30	Wrap Up & Chapter Business

Directions

The meeting will be on the SMU Campus in the Cox School of Business Complex, Fincher Building (FINCH) in the Ernst & Young Gallery, 6212 Bishop Blvd., Dallas, TX 75275. Driving Directions and Interactive Campus Map.

Parking

Parking is available for $5 a day in the Moody Parking Garage at the corner of SMU Boulevard and Airline Road. Free parking available at the Dart Rail Mockingbird station, and ride the Mustang Express shuttle over to SMU. DART Bus Routes.

Hotels

Radisson Hotel Central Dallas has special SMU rates and complimentary shuttle. List of other hotels with SMU discounts.

Speakers

Pat Wagner has worked with special libraries as a trainer and consultant since 1978, focusing on personnel, management, leadership, marketing, career and strategic planning issues. She and her husband Leif Smith own Pattern Research, Inc., a 33-year-old Denver- based research and consulting business, which focuses on the needs of innovators in science, business, technology and the arts. She admits to making almost every career mistake – and surviving! Pat brings her expertise as the keynote speaker and presents:

“How to Stay Employable in the 21st Century“

Being smart, credentialed, experienced and competent at your work is not enough. Can you count on being someone who can stay employed at the kind of jobs (and salary) you want? How to Stay Employable explores career development as a marketplace, where you treat employers like customers and your own career as a business. It means taking responsibility for your lifelong education and understanding how to create opportunities even when the economy is rocky.

Topics include:

• Why do you need to be always looking for your next job, even if you like it, and your employer likes you?
• What are the ten skill sets you need to evaluate and update? What do you do well, and what can you do better?
• What are twelve warning signs you might need to leave your job? Which should concern you the most?
• What are the tools for marketing yourself, including promotional tools, personal databases and a career portfolio?
• What kind of continuing education should you seek that are outside of the usual special librarian or information professional classes?

Barbara Fullerton, Manager of Librarian Relations at 10KWizard and Dina Dreifuerst, Budget & Acquisitions Librarian at Bracewell & Giuliana, bring you “60 Gadgets in 60 Minutes”. Since the 19th century, the word “gadget” has been used to describe small mechanical or electronic devices with practical uses. Barbara and Dina will talk about today’s gadgets and how they affect our work and play. This fast-paced session will provide information about types of gadgets and how they are used in today’s environment for multi-tasking and, of course, for fun!

Panel Discussion featuring our own Chapter Members:

• Greg Lambert, the Library & Records Manager at King & Spalding in Houston, moderates this panel and discusses how to start online communities and Web 2.0 interaction using software and websites that are freely available to anyone.
• Emily Cunningham-Rushing is the Competitive Intelligence Librarian at Haynes & Boone in Dallas. Emily reviews a survey of Texas SLA members regarding the perceptions of online social networks. Emily compares the answers of librarians that are active within online social networks versus those who are not active, and how those perceptions differ.
• Ben Toon is the Library Manager for Fujitsu Corp in Dallas. He demonstrates how he has implemented Web 2.0 capabilities within his own library structure. Ben also reviews some of the up and coming technology and how that technology may change the way we use social networks and Web 2.0 in our day to day activities within our organizations.
• David Brackus is a Business Researcher for Jefferies & Company in Houston, a New York-based global financial services firm. David will speak on his experience using recruiters and headhunters conducting job searches.
• April Kessler, Business Librarian at the University of Texas Libraries, discusses tips and strategies for successful salary negotiation for that new job.

For additional information, please contact:

April Kessler 
512-495-4271 
akessler@austin.utexas.edu

Greg Lambert 
713-495-8800 
glambert@kslaw.com

How to Plead Your Case For Library Association Membership/Participation…09.24.08

It appears many SLA members are in the same boat, including me, having problems trying to get their employers to see the need for membership and participation in professional associations.  If there is an opportunity to appeal to the decision maker(s), the following post [http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/sla_lmd/2008/09/dear-ulla-3.html] from Ulla de Stricker on the SLA Leadership & Management blog would be helpful:

Do be prepared to pay out of your own pocket if the following four key arguments wont convince the employer(I’m using SLA as an example but other associations may indeed be relevant for you as well):

• In today’s environment of rapid change, it is essential to stay on top of all the new tools and practices. Membership in SLA enables me to obtain access to a wealth of learning and access to a vast network of colleagues who stand ready to support my development so that I may increase my value to the organization: Here, give a bullet list of members-only benefits such as the management library, the innovation lab, the division-specific offerings, and so on – stating concretely how each benefits the organization because you expand your professional capabilities. At the end of the bullet list, indicate ‘All for only $xx per year – a fraction of the cost of [some other corporate service taken for granted].’
• SLAs annual conference gives me the opportunity to attend dozens of sessions with practical application to my work in supporting the organization (and whose equivalent cost in individual courses would be extremely expensive). Per session I can logistically attend – about 5 per day – the conference fee of X and travel cost of Y work out to a mere $Z – a very low investment given the return in terms of my ability to take new skills and insights back to the job.
• Membership allows me to participate – on my own time of course – in myriad activities at the local and national level, each serving to build my management and team leadership skills at no additional cost.
• Your support of my involvement with the premier professional association, at an annual cost of $X for membership and $y for conference attendance, is a concrete proof that you support the ongoing development and professional growth of staff at ABC Enterprise, and I pledge to deliver to ABC everything possible from that investment.

Finally, you could add a testimonial from a colleague in a relevant other organization (say, a competitor or organization your employer considers admirable). ‘As a result of my membership in SLA and my attendance at the conference, I have been able to … so that DEF Enterprise gained … ‘

Should the employer grant the budget, consider providing a brief ‘Value Report’ after the conference and at a minimum every year at evaluation time to state clearly the benefits you have brought back to ABC Enterprise from the investment (‘heres how I applied … to enhance our contribution to …’). Such a report may reassure the employer about the investment and should in addition serve to show that you as an individual are a professional who goes the extra mile for your employer.”

At some future time, there may be an appropriate opening to interject a request for my participation/membership in SLA.  I must keep my eyes and ears open to perceive that opportunity to act.  In the meantime, I’m on my own–not unusual for SLA members and especially solo librarians.

Getting Up-to-Date With Corporate Librarianship…09.22.08

TTW contributor Lee LeBlan posted [http://tametheweb.com/2008/09/20/corporatelibrarians/] the following interesting bit about “corporate librarians.”  It is a long post but due to the nature of the subject, I think it’s worthwhile posting the whole enchilada:                                                                   

“I struck up a conversation with a corporate librarian.  I’m interested in the ways these professionals work.  Fortunately, Eric Bryan, a corporate librarian for Boeing was game to answer some questions.  After we exchanged some emails about vegan related matters, I wondered if he would field some other questions. (And how did we get started on this? Through blogging.)

That sounds like fun!  I’m not sure if we have any staff photos because we are scattered all over the country (we do a LOT of online meetings).  We are dispersed throughout the country.  Pictures are hard to come by because cameras are highly restricted in our buildings.  We have about 50 librarians scattered around the country, but most are in southern California and Washington (Puget Sound area).  I’m going to ask my boss about a staff and library bio, which shouldn’t be a problem, I just want to verify what I can/should say (we have very tight security and have to jump through many hoops to get info to the outside world).  I’ll get back to you very soon with the bios though.  Web 2.0 technologies and concepts are a really big thing here, so I know the rest of the library will be excited about this. –Eric Bryan

Once we were both clear about what we could talk about and how, we exchanged some emails.  I learned some cool stuff about corporate librarians, librarians working in high security organizations and librarians working in a distributed knowledge organization.  All around, pretty darn cool what some librarians are doing in their careers.  Not because of the place they work at but because of the fact that they’re bringing in emerging technologies to do their job better.

Here’s the standard bio from Eric for the Boeing Corporate Librarians:

Library and Learning Center Services (L&LCS ) provides Boeing employees with information, research and educational services in support of Boeing’s vision, programs and projects. Some of the services available via the L&LCS web site include:

• Access to internal and external information including reports, documents, journals, and a circulating collection of books
• In-depth research on request, including Ask us! real-time, online chat reference
• Online, full-text access to engineering, technical and business-related resources
• Self-paced training and certification materials* Information organization and retrieval services including thesaurus, glossary and metadata development, add your collection to the library catalog, user groups and more

Whether employees need internal Boeing documents, industry, military or government specifications and standards, or parts catalogs; or if they’re looking for e-books, electronic journals, or are simply searching for information related to a specific piece of technical data, the L&LCS staff can help.

Our Conversation:
Anyone in particular use -blogs, rss, delicious, twitter?  Can you tell me what is used, who disseminates emerging technologies information (whether formally or informally)?

• Many of the librarians here make use of the staff blog as well as the library services wiki.  Our blog is based on the movable type platform, and our wiki is on the atlassian confluence platform.
• Many of us subscribe to feeds and check them on a daily basis, and  those are the people who tend to disseminate the tech news.  We have also created a “daily digest” feature on our blog in which one of our librarians is responsible for finding cool bits of news on the web and compiling it in a daily digest format.
• My colleagues Josh , Robert and I are the main “web 2.0″ people here in southern California, and we both make use of blogs, rss, delicious, wikis, LibraryThing, and various social networks. We don’t use Twitter, although we are familiar. Josh and I are also the admins for the blogs and wikis that the library groups inhabit, and we also manage content development on the various library web pages. Josh recently conducted a workshop at UCLA on Web 2.0 applications.

Do the librarians specialize: web searching, teaching information management,  or aggregating information/ information analysis?

• We don’t really have librarians who “officially” specialize in one thing over another, although of course we have our research librarians, catalogers, and the much smaller specialty, which I and a few others handle, is the technology side (including marketing of the library’s services, outreach, and web/blog/wiki maintenance).
• Our most unique challenge in relation to other libraries is the very strict firewalls we have here, due to the sensitivity of many of the documents and information.  Because of that, we tend to be a few years behind the rest of the world in terms of software applications and technology
• We do have a great group of librarians who have embraced the web/library 2.0 concept whole-heatedly, and are always coming up with new ways to implement these concepts.  Our current project is to develop internal podcasts and video tutorials.

How is internal information shared: internal wiki, dashboard, custom portal, or something else?

We share information in a number of ways.

• We have a staff wiki, the development of which was my first project when I started here.  We have a great deal of participation in the wiki, and I think this is due to the fact that we got people involved by giving them specific areas they are responsible for (i.e. tech news, book club, calendars, announcements).
• We have a staff blog which is updated at least 2-3 times per day but quite often more than that, by various librarians.
• We all make a conscious effort to utilize these new tools, rather than sticking with the old and tired formats such as mass emails.
• We are alpha testing a few different types of internal social networks that has been developed by our technology department.  One is rather similar to digg and stumble upon, and the other is fairly similar to LinkedIn and Facebook.  Both are seeing a good deal of success, and hopefully we’ll be able to merge the best of the two once the final product is released.

Are Boeing librarians doing more stuff like this?   Can we get a list or other places presentations have been done?

Boeing Librarians are definitely involved in doing presentations, especially through SLA.  I’ve attended several SLA meetings and conferences and Boeing always has a very strong presence at these events.  As I mentioned, my colleague Josh gave a Web 2.0 workshop a few months ago at UCLA.  Unfortunately, there is no list of other presentations that have been done, but you’ve given me the idea to create a spot on our wiki where we can share info and schedules of presentations.  I know that the Boeing librarians are fairly active in this type of thing, so I’m sure it’ll see plenty of use.”

FREE Introduction to “Second Life”…09.22.08

Here is a source [http://slaconnections.typepad.com/click_university_blog/2008/09/do-not-post-yet.html] for learning all about the virtual world of “Second Life” from SLA and Click U:

“SLA and Click U are offering FREE Online sessions to help you learn about virtual worlds (such as Second Life) and to help you get ready to participate in SLA Second Life events with members from around the world.

This training is offered in two parts. Part 1 is delivered virtually via WebEx. Part 2 takes place in-world in Second Life. If you’ve never used Second Life before be sure to take Part 1 before taking Part 2.”

The Library Society of the World…09.19.08

The video below concisely and quickly describes The Library Society of the World [http://thelsw.org/].  I am anxious to find the time to explore their website and participate. It is another excellent source, particularly for solo librarians.

Outsell Report on What Executives Think About Information Management…09.10.08

Cara Schatz’s SLA blog post below about a new report available really piques my interest.  For the special librarian, professional success–at least in terms of keeping your job and remuneration potential–is all about executive management perception of the value of information management.  Cara reports [http://slaconnections.typepad.com/insidethebox/2008/09/outsell-report.html]:

“Information managers continuously search for the best ways to measure and communicate their function’s value to the organization. They often know their users’ needs but find it challenging to connect to the upper echelons. This report provides a directional view of how executives perceive their organizations’ information management (IM) functions and the role of information in furthering organizational objectives. It also considers executives’ information use habits to reveal the gaps that IM leaders must address to fortify IM’s value proposition and to uncover opportunities that await information professionals who commit to taking their IM functions to the next level.

The Outsell report addresses key themes surfaced by executives, including:

• Good decisions depend on good information
• Executives view information holistically
• Numbers alone don’t resonate when it comes to performance measures

The Briefing reveals some surprises about executives’ preferences for and behaviors with information and considers what information professionals can do to leverage such findings as:

• 80% of executives use wireless handheld devices
• 65% of executives use the internet as their first choice for information, compared with 52% of other workers
• 40% of executives cite the lack of competitive information as the highest-ranked information gap

The Briefing also provides:

• An analysis of how executives view IM, with quotes from executives who participated in Outsell research and interviews
• Data from Outsell’s Information Management Benchmarks survey and User Market survey
• Analysis of gaps in executives’ knowledge about IM activities and opportunities for closing those gaps
• Imperatives for information managers who want to understand how executives think

The full briefing can be purchased on Outsell‘s Web site. Click here for more information about a discount for SLA members.”

New Edition of “Info Career Trends” On Non-Traditional Careers Now Online…09.02.08

Rachel from Beyond the Job [http://www.beyondthejob.org/?p=618] reported today that the new edition of ”…Info Career Trends, on nontraditional careers, is now online at: http://lisjobs.com/career_trends/“

The editor says, “…Today’s issue, on nontraditional careers, contains a wealth of ideas and experiences from contributors that have taken their own careers off the beaten library path. (And, if you want more, more, more, let me gently plug my title on the topic: What’s the Alternative? Career Options for Librarians and Info Pros offers more stories, tips, and possible directions for those contemplating alternative careers.) Also, be sure to check out Kim Dority’s column this month on Going Independent: Asking the Key Questions, for more advice on pursuing a career as an independent information professional…”

Setting Up A Virtual Library…08.15.08

Here is a short but interesting article to read: Real Life in the Virtual Library, The Charleston Advisor, Volume 10, Number 1, July 2008 , pp. 47-48(2). 

Headings include the following:

Why Create a Virtual Library?

What Is a Virtual Library?

What Does a Virtual Librarian Do?

What Does the Future Hold?

The article was written by Jannette L. Finch, librarian for the College of Charleston North Campus and Lowcountry Graduate Center in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Influence Pyramid…08.08.08

The “Influence Pyramid” by Ed Batista [http://www.edbatista.com/2008/02/influence.html] :

My last post on the nature of interpersonal power coincided with some thinking I’ve been doing on influence (which, of course, isn’t quite the same thing.)  That work resulted in the model shown here, which is an attempt to understand not the conceptual basis of influence, a la Robert Cialdini, but a larger process that begins with a decision to influence, concludes with an actual attempt to influence, and is layered throughout with Argyris-style learning loops.

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I. Foundations of Influence

The ability to influence 1) starts with a choice to be powerful, 2) builds upon an awareness of our strengths, weaknesses and capacity to change, 3) relies upon an understanding of conceptual models of influence 4) which we translate into specific tools and techniques that 5) must be tested empirically and repeatedly:

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II. Influence Learning Loops

Practical experience leads to learning at ever-deeper levels: 1) refined execution of tools and techniques; 2) strategic application of conceptual models; 3) a more accurate sense of self via feedback and reflection; and ultimately 4) a belief structure that supports our choice to be powerful:

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Here’s a 3-slide PowerPoint file of the graphics above (49 KB).  This model is a rough work-in-progress, to be sure, and I’d be grateful for any feedback and critiques.  That said, I do like the way it integrates A) a deeper sense of personal empowerment (or lack thereof) and beliefs about power that support or inhibit our efforts to be influential with B) a more cognitive awareness of our interpersonal impact and the concepts, tools and techniques that underlay contemporary “theories of influence.”

See Also:  “The Influence Pyramid 2.0″–Librarians and Others Can Choose to Be Powerful…01.19.09  and More Thoughts on the Solo Librarian and the Influence Pyramid…03.02.09

Considering SLA Membership and Virtual Attendance at 2009 Centennial Conference…08.08.08

Mmmmm… I seem to be gleaning a lot from SLA members and activities by lurking on the edges of parts of Libraryland.  If the cost is not prohibitive, I may consider joining up in the relatively near future.  If so, we’ll see if “membership has its privileges” as American Express used to say.  The SLA 2009 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO next June 14-17 will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.  Although there is almost no chance I could attend physically, there are increasing virtual opportunities to participate.

Embedded Librarianship…07.14.08

I ran across a Rethinking Information Careers post http://lisjobs.com/rethinking/?p=11 today published by Kim on June 28th and titled “Organizations: Who Needs What Info” part of which I found interesting and relevant to my current position and predicament:

“At this year’s SLA conference one of the hot topics was ‘embedded librarianship’ –- that is, working as an information pro for an organization, but not necessarily being attached to or affiliated with a corporate library or business information center.

Sometimes info pros end up as embedded librarians because their organization did away with their library, but were smart enough to realize the brain power of the library’s staffers was too valuable to lose. Other times this is because people were recruited out of the library to work directly, ‘on the ground,’ with an operational team (for example, the product development team). Or it might be that an ops team was simply savvy enough to realize how much they’d benefit from the research/writing/information organization skills of an info pro, and hired directly for that skill set.

Regardless of the path taken to get there, embedded librarianship offers an interesting and potentially growing career opportunity for info pros, one that allows them to contribute directly to team and organizational goals (and make visible their value to the bottom line)…”

At my current employment, I started out as the “librarian/historian” but the position has branched out (supposedly temporarily–since March 2007) to encompass Marketing Department functions which include product development project management and a variety of other marketing information functions. 

At times upon reflection, I feel like Shakespeare’s Prospero: ”My library was dukedom large enough.”  I am very grateful though to still maintain my library functions and have a position.  

 

 

Wall Street Journal Recognizes the Value of Information Professionals…07.08.08

The following is the content of a Wall Street Journal full-page ad (http://www.sla.org/PDFs/WSJ-SLAad.pdf) that the paper ran for 4 days during the 2008 SLA convention:

The right people, information and decisions

Behind every good business decision is an information professional.

The competitive advantages you bring to the table are superior management strategies and decision-making capabilities. Both originate from information that’s been gathered, organized and shared throughout your enterprise by people called information professionals.

The relevant, high-quality business information you need to take action doesn’t turn up all by itself. Whether internally or externally produced, it’s the lifeblood of people who work for you: librarians, knowledge managers, chief information officers, Web developers, information brokers and researchers.

The Special Libraries Association, with support from Dow Jones Factiva, is behind your most profitable decisions. To learn how an SLA information professional can benefit your organization, visit www.sla.org today.

The Future of Corporate Libraries/Librarians is Here…07.02.08

An SLA conference panel at the recent annual convention discussed “corporate” libraries and their future.  Susan Klooper, manager, Andersen Business Research Center, Arthur Andersen LLP, Atlanta, Georgia (1985- present) clarified her comments about the dissolution of these types of libraries as noted on the Corporate Librarian blog http://thecorporatelibrarian.com/:

“I stand by my comment at the student career panel at SLA that corporate libraries don’t exist anymore, but let me add some clarification to my viewpoint. First, it is just my opinion, but one that comes from 18+ years working in a corporate library and personally experiencing the dramatic shift in that market space. That said, of course, many do still exist and will continue in the future to be supported by their organizations. But that number, relative to the market, is small and getting smaller every day. With the commoditization of information that has taken place over the past 8-10 years, I don’t see companies ever being willing (and one could well argue the errors in their thinking) to invest in corporate libraries as they once existed. But if you read the rest of my thought about this in the blog, my stating that corporate libraries are dead was not intended as a final statement, but rather as a challenge to the future librarians sitting in the room to think about what lessons might be learned about their demise and how they might position their skills, competencies and passion for working in a corporate environment in ways that will more successfully speak to the interests, strategies, focus of corporate organizations. When an upcoming librarian asks me about working in a corporate library, I ask them to describe to me how they envision that experience ,what they are doing each day, who they are working with. If that vision is defined by a library in any capacity, I can not in all truth endorse the career path. However, if that vision is focused on bringing the skill sets, knowledge, networking strengths we own into the organization and deploying and embedding them as needed within the organizational structure – then I say YES, that is how we demonstrate our value in terms that the organization can measure. And who knows, perhaps if we work our way through organizations on their terms, holding ourselves up to the business models they value, we may make some progress towards elevating librarians and libraries as a core organizational function.”

One could classify my library as a “corporate” special library.  Susan makes some good points.  As I have noted here before, it is imperative to demonstrate a ROI to the powers that be in any special library to justify our continued existence which always seems to be straddling the fence.

Washington Times Coverage of SLA Annual Convention…06.26.08

Joseph Szadowski gave a rather enlightened review of the SLA Annual convention and special librarians in general in Monday’s edition of the Washington Times which is excerpted here:

Library Techies: Beyond The Dewey Decimal System http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/23/library-techies/

The modern librarian must be Twitter-savvy and able to manipulate the Web and aggregate RSS feeds as quickly as compile competitive intelligence.

In other words, a librarian must be good at social networking, customizing computer databases, filtering data and getting the facts.

That 21st-century paragon of the information professional was well represented here at the 99th annual Special Library Association’s (SLA) conference last week.

Nearly 5,000 specialized librarians working in such diverse areas as news, energy resources, military, engineering, chemistry and the law descended on the Emerald City to look at how their industry continues to evolve in a world dictated by digital bytes and the immediate access of information.

The opening session’s keynote presentation set the tone for the conference and was led by one of the Internet’s founding fathers.

Vinton G. Cerf, Google vice president and self-professed Geek Orthodox Chief Internet Evangelist for the search leader, looked at the past, present and future of cyberspace.

Mr. Cerf’s early contributions include helping to develop a packet switching network and TCP/IP protocols for ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) back in the 1970s, some of the key pieces of the Internet’s infrastructure.

Prompted by PBS interviewer Charlie Rose, Mr. Cerf offered a prediction that by 2010, 50 percent of the world (more than 3 billion people) will be online thanks to the continued innovations of mobile devices…”

Circulation and the Special Library…06.23.08

Today, I thought I would touch on the unique aspect of circulation in a special library, specifically the one in which I work.  My library is run under the auspices of the Marketing Department in our large, multi-state, multi-nation, non-profit organization with patrons from various departments but most frequently from my department.

The ILS software we use, Atriuum, has an adequate, automated circulation module.  The patrons here who have been assigned patron numbers are not issued library cards because they currently would consider it unnecessary.  Physical Items that are circulated must be input by the librarian into the system and directly provided to each individual.  In reality, follow-up on returning materials circulated in a timely manner is handled through email notification by the librarian by the end of a relatively arbitrary circulation period.

Unfortunately though, success at retrieving materials is low as there are no incentives to do so and the fast-paced, deadline oriented atmosphere of the organization places relatively low importance on returning materials after they have been used for their intended purpose.  This causes in increase in re-ordering items that are actually not lost but “in use” in someones office or department for a indeterminate amount of time to make sure library resources are available to others who may need to use them.

There are a variety of internal software parameters for circulation designation by patron and item class required by the ILS software which were selected when the software was configured.  However, determining the actual length of circulation and if & when to contact that patron to try to get the material(s) back requires a sense of the particular person’s relative importance in the department and/or the organization.  The longer I work here the easier it is to determine the status of individual patrons.  I am sure this is not unique to my special library but it is important to acknowledge in practice.

“Status quo, you know, that is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in.’”–Ronald Regan