"Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic..."

As an avid Saturday Night Live (SNL) fan in the 90s, I was so pleased to read this title from Inmagic blogger, Carolyn MacNeil, that I literally LOLed at my desk:

SLA is neither "special" nor is it just for "libraries." Talk amongst yourselves.

If you don't get it...that just means you were probably doing better things with your Saturday evenings in the 90s than sitting at home memorizing sketch comedy character quotes.

However, you do not have to be knowledgeable about SNL quotes from 20 years ago to understand where she is going with her post.  Carolyn is talking about the SLA alignment initiative and the proposed name change for SLA...

 In actuality, members include more than just those in special libraries, and it includes more than just librarians. So it's true the name might not be an accurate reflection of the group. However, even though there are many different roles and titles within the group -- info pros, researchers, librarians, knowledge professionals, etc. -- what makes the group, well, a group, is that the commonalities outweigh the differences.

I have to say that I agree, it is what we have in common that makes us a tribe and it is those same traits, skills, training and expertise that will carry this tribe to success in the future. 

What do you think? What are the commonalities that we see in all SLA members, regardless of title, location, function or role? 

Want to talk amongst yourselves? Check out the SLA Alignment Wiki and the Twitter discussion using #slaname.

Comments

[TFPL]

In a recent post, I advocated that information professionals will have to adapt to accommodate new business models, technologies and expectations. SLA has shown that it is able and willing to assess the future, is sensitive to the present and is able to make changes that have long-term benefits. So a name change – or adaptation will have real substance behind it.

Darron Chapman

Managing Director TFPL

Read the full post at http://bit.ly/wUyPk

[Cara Schatz]

Thanks, Darron... The ability to adapt in a constantly changing environment is an essential trait for ANY professional to have-but especially important for info pros!

I think adapting, adopting and advancing to the next level seems to be par for the course for this profession. These are indeed some of the "commonalities" that make us a tribe, and the traits (or values) that decision-makers should associate with SLA members!