“BLOGGING CAN BE PART OF AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY–IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT TO BLOG ABOUT AND HOW TO DO IT EFFECTIVELY”
Judith A. Siess on the OPL Plus (not just for OPLs anymore) highlights an interesting and very importnat article/warning in her post Lessons for Corporate Librarins –and Others which is excerpted here:
“‘“When the Internet as a popular research tool began affecting the lives of librarians and information professionals and their clients, accountability for contributing to the mission (i.e., bottom line) of one’s parent organization—whether a for-profit or not-for-profit—became the most critical driver behind the survival of corporate libraries.’
Thus begins a great article by special library gurus Toby Pearlstein (retired from Bain & Co., Inc., Boston, Massachusetts) and James Matarazzo(retired Dean, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston). They outline the ways corporate librarians can—and, in fact, must—make their value known to the decision-makers in their organizations…
Read, understand, internalize, and implement the message in this article—before it’s too late for you!
Citation:
Pearlstein, Toby and James Matarazzo, Survival Lessons for Librarians: Corporate Libraries—A Soft Analysis and a Warning, Searcher 17(6):12-17,52, June 2009, available for US$2.95 athttp://www.infotoday.com/searcher/jun09/index.shtml“
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)”
The Special Libraries Association website lists:
“100 Innovations that Have Changed Librarianship
The 2009 SLA Annual Conference celebrating the organization’s 100th anniversary is June 14-17 in Washington, D.C.
©2009 Special Libraries Association.
This is an excerpt from The future of the future: Rise of the knowledge librarian from KMWorld:
“…Librarians are being jettisoned along with the bookcases. We need to reverse that trend and start bringing them back … but only the ones who are willing to change. A traditional corporate librarian must make three major shifts in roles begin the transition to a knowledge librarian.
Role shift #1: A knowledge librarian should be the “content czar” of the enterprise. That role, often ascribed to the CIO or CKO, must be returned to the librarian, where it belongs…
Role shift #2: A knowledge librarian understands the strategic information needs of the enterprise…
Role shift #3: A knowledge librarian is a lead agent of change…
The librarian of the future is uniquely positioned to be at the center of the creation and alignment of intellectual assets across the enterprise. That leads to improved innovation and business performance on a sustained basis. Maybe the time will soon come when we will see librarians as CKOs.
Any organization that wants to make the transition to an enterprise of the future needs a few strong-willed individuals who have the desire and know-how to make knowledge flow quickly and easily. Who better to do that than those quiet heroes who have always come to our rescue whenever we needed answers?”
I came across a 2005 study by Corinne J. Mahoney entitled Make Do or Jump Ship? Solo Librarians and Internal Career Advancement submitteded to the SLIS at UNC at Chapel Hill today which I found interesting, especially since I have been a solo, special librarian now for over 3 years. Here are a couple of excerpts:
“…This study was designed to address the following research questions:
• Do the organizations that employ solo special librarians provide internal career advancement opportunities for them?
• If yes, is their a correlation between the type of organization and the prevalence of career advancement opportunities for solo special librarians?…”
The conclusion:
“This research study set out to determine if internal career advancement opportunities exist for solo special librarians. It also sought to determine if the type of organization influences the prevalence of internal career advancement opportunities. The study results, although not conclusive, suggest internal career advancement opportunities are not widespread for solo special librarians. Furthermore, the results suggest that the majority of solo special librarians are not particularly interested in advancing to new positions within their organizations. However, solos are very much interested in developing their skills and elevating the role of their library and its services within the organization (also a type of career advancement). No correlation was found between type of organization and the prevalence of internal career advancement opportunities.
Interesting significant relationships between internal career advancement opportunities (measured by a 12 point index) and other survey responses included:
• a positive correlation between internal career advancement opportunities and agreement with the statement that one is currently gaining skills that will make one more marketable in the future
• a positive correlation between internal career advancement opportunities and the belief that one is in a position (or will be in a position in the foreseeable future) to influence important policy or strategy decisions at ones institution
• a negative correlation between internal career advancement opportunities and the number of years in the library profession
The majority of respondents could not agree with the statement, I am currently in a position to influence important policy or strategy decisions at my institution. These results suggest that more attention should be given to career advancement issues for solo librarians. More training in library schools, at conferences and at professional workshops should address career advancement and how solo (or nearly solo) special librarians can position themselves to influence important organizational decisions.
For those solos who have ambitions to advance in the traditional sense by promotion, it is worth noting that several variables were significantly related to having received a promotion in the past five years. These variables include:
• number of supervisees
• receiving a non-promotional title change
• having a discussion about career goals with a manager in the past year
• having a manager who encouraged an internal job change in the last year
• the availability of internal job openings in the past year
• attending trainings led by or paid for by ones employer in the past year
• the perception of having current and future influence over important policy or strategy decisions
Solos with an eye toward promotion should ask questions about these types of opportunities and events during the hiring or performance evaluation process. Absence of or resistance to these events could be a red flag that promotions are not forthcoming.
Finally, although the majority of survey respondents indicated that internal career advancement opportunities are scarce or undesirable, it is also important to note that there were some salient exceptions who reported ample opportunity for advancement. Almost 14% of respondents agreed that there were internal career advancement opportunities for them, and almost 23% had received a promotion at their current employer in the past five years. Close to 30% of respondents would be interested in an internal change of position. Some solos are open to taking on new roles in their organizations. This survey suggests, however, that there is not a lot of precedence. As information skills become increasingly relevant to organizations, solos interested in new roles may pave their own career paths within the organization and, in doing so, increase the value of librarians to the organizations. Solo special librarians will continue to change employers when necessary to advance their careers; however, jumping ship need not be the only advancement option.”
The Corporate Librarian ’s post yesterday Educating future corporate librarians points out the often lack of emphasis on corporate/business/special librarianship in library schools:
“There’s an ongoing thread on BUSLIB [http://www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?SL1=BUSLIB-L&H=LISTS.NAU.EDU] about the top programs for business librarianship…
I’d planned on becoming a corporate librarian (or freelance researcher) when I was in library school, and poking around the memorial site for Sue Rugge the ‘information broker’ concept originated in the early seventies. So you’d think this would be taught fairly widely in library school programs. I don’t recall where I got the idea in my head, though, and a lot of my corporate-specific learning came on the job.
My alma mater’s site does include Corporate in the Pathways to Success section and it does have a course on Information Entrepreneurship and one on Business Administration…”
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!”
On this “casual” Friday, the library and product project management workload has been slow as it has been most of this week in my special library. I’ve been working on some long-term projects and maintenance items in the meantime. I’m sure the situation will change as new projects come on-line. The circumstance, however, sparked reflection on my position.
Although there are few, open, special librarian positions, salaries are generally higher than many other types of librarian positions and hiring or retention isn’t tied to governmental budget cuts. My subject specialty and previous non-profit marketing experience were critical assets which helped me secure the special librarian position within our Marketing Department.
I am grateful I have a job and that my special library is a part of a well-established non-profit organization that has weathered well previous economic downturns and will likely continue to do so. Providing additional services to the organization beyond normal library functions as laid out in my formal “job description” has helped to increase the perceived value of the librarian position to both the department and the organization.
To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.
– Albert Schweitzer
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]:
The Outsell report addresses key themes surfaced by executives, including:
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:
The Briefing also provides:
The full briefing can be purchased on Outsell‘s Web site. Click here for more information about a discount for SLA members.”
