SLA 2006 Conference Blog

Click U Celebrates Birthday, Announces New CI Program

SLA will offer SLA members three new competitive intelligence certificate programs through Click University, the first and only online learning system for post-graduate, practicing librarians and information professionals. The CI certificate program will consist of three different levels of curriculum so information professionals can choose their courses based on their function within their organizations.

SLA will work with Knowledge inForm, drawing on the intelligence, research, and training expertise of its principals Cynthia Cheng Correia and Samantha Chmelik to design and develop the program. A blended learning approach, combining online modules with instructor-led classroom training, will be incorporated into all three certificates. Courses will begin in late 2006 and will be open to those working towards a CI certificate as well as to those SLA members who wish to take occasional courses to enhance their professional development and expertise.

The programs will be appropriate for seasoned CI professionals as well as library and information science professionals who are not currently performing a CI function. A third certificate will be a dual certificate combining the two.

Pictured, from left, are SLA Professional Development Director John Lowery, Correia, SLA CEO Janice Lachance, Click U Online Campus Manager Doresa Ibrahim, and SLA Learning Coordinator Shelva Suggs with the Click U birthday cake.

Vargha: Grow Membership, Plan for Centennial

New SLA President Rebecca B. Vargha sees an organization that focuses its "talent and energies on creating a strong and vibrant forum for learning, teaching and innovation throughout the world."

In a brief speech at the annual business meeting Tuesday, Vargha said her three priorities are:

• Increasing membership growth and retention.
• Planning SLA's 100th anniversary celebration in 2009.
• Gaining 1,000 members by SLA's centennial.

She asked members for their support, creativity, and "wonderful energy" in reaching those goals.

"The important first step," she said, "is to begin together."

Rollo: Many Gains from Task Forces

SLA gained much from the task forces formed a year ago, outgoing President Pam Rollo said at Tuesday's annual business meeting. Moreover, she said, the board of directors didn't just receive the task force reports, it took action.

At SLA 2005, the newly installed president announced that she was forming several task forces to study aspects of SLA ranging from how it recognizes members to how it uses technology. The groups started work last October and submitted their final reports last month.

When the board met June 9 and 10, its actions included votes to:

• Institutionalize an annual plan to recruit new members.
• Work more with partners and develop programs to attract more.
• Give support to SLA branding and marketing.
• Create new awards, especialy for members new to the profession.
• Improve relationships with graduate schools.
• Develop "aspirational" education programs.
• Make improvements in communication technology.

In addition to these action steps, Rollo said the task forces provided SLA with:

• Rich, robust research.
• Hundreds of ideas and recommendations.
• "Great" analyses.

Lachance Calls for Mobilization for the Future

Members heard a review of recent accomplishments and a look at the future of the association in SLA's annual business meeting Tuesday.

The meeting also included the installation of Rebecca B. Vargha as president for 2006-2007.

SLA CEO Janice Lachance and 2005-2006 President Pam Rollo reviewed the past association year.

Lachance -- who announced at the meeting that her executive contract with SLA has been renewed for three and a half more years -- noted one of the more obvious successes: Attendance at SLA 2006, at 5,551, is "a few hundred more" than last year in Toronto.

For her, highlights of the last year included:

• Approval of new bylaws to permit electronic member voting.
• Approval of new bylaws to restructure member dues.
• Realignment of SLA's governance year (formerly June to June) to coincide with the January-December fiscal year. This change means SLA's newly installed board members will serve a little more than 18 months, from now until January 2008.
• Creation of new staff positions to "enhance the value of the membership experience."
• An energetic focus on international development.
• New strategies for increasing the scope of Click University.
• Continuing work to acquire new association management software that will improve service to members and to volunteer leaders.
• A facelift of www.sla.org, replacing the 2004 design and adding new features for RSS feeds and personalization.
• An agreement with Information Today Inc. to collaborate on events, pubications, and information sharing.
• A new advertising campaign in Information World Review, aimed at information professionals outside North America.
• Baltimore transit bus advertising in the downtown area during the run of SLA 2006.
• An ad in the Baltimore Business Journal promoting the annual conference and the profession.

Lachance also described her vision for SLA. "To strive for great things," she said, "we must be motivated, energized, and mobilized for the future." The vision includes:

• Strong chapters.
• Globalization.
• Becoming a center of learning for information professionals.
• Employing "advanced, but easy-to-use" communication technologies.
• Becoming a teaching laboratory that will permit members to see, test and experience new things.
• Identifying "rising stars" in the profession and showcasing "the best the profession has to offer us."
• Becoming a powerful advocate for the profession worldwide.
• Being "organized, structured and branded so people would be speaking about how SLA delivers on its promise."

SLA, Info Today Form Partnership

SLA and Information Today, Inc. (ITI) have joined a strategic alliance that will focus on coordinated marketing, conference development, and possible expansion into content distribution that will strengthen the value of both organizations to the global community of information professionals.

The alliance will immediately provide opportunities for both organizations to drive sales of their respective products, but will also yield deeper involvement by SLA in the development and marketing of ITI events. Details on specific event arrangements will be negotiated separately.

The partnership was announced today at SLA 2006.

SLA CEO Janice R. Lachance hailed the move as a significant step for SLA to grow its membership base and the services of Click University, which is designed to serve as the hub of learning for post-graduate information professionals. "I'm thrilled that we could take an existing marketing relationship and turn it into something that will yield great opportunities for both organizations and, most importantly, for librarians and information professionals."

ITI CEO Thomas Hogan said the partnership "is the next logical step in the continuing relationship between our organizations. We have always felt close to SLA and its members, whether we are blogging the annual SLA conference or inviting members to our events. Since both SLA and ITI strive to serve the needs of the information professional, we are excited to see how a more focused partnership will result in even more growth for our organizations."