"Align in 09" Step 1: Action You Can Take NOW to Increase Your Value in the Workplace

In the coming weeks the members of your PR Advisory Council (myself included) and your Alignment Ambassadors are going to tell you about steps librarians and information pros can take without delay to increase their value. 

These simple action items will help you put to work the valuable findings of SLA’s Alignment Project. 

Here is your first action item:

1. Seek and Destroy Jargon

Dissemination, taxonomy, digitization, interlibrary loan, e-journal, information behavior . . . all of these words and terms are library shorthand immediately understood by most librarians. They can be very useful when librarians are communicating with one another.

However, like most shorthand, these examples of librarian jargon can be difficult for the rest of the world to understand.  And that is a big problem, because the rest of the world generally includes the people who control your organization’s budget.

Using language that people important to your career will understand is not “dumbing down.”  It is smartening up to the reality that we become our own worst enemies when we put barriers between ourselves and the people we serve.

Look at your Web site, job description, and any materials used to market or inform people about your services.  Find every word that would not be immediately understood by a person outside of the library profession.  Replace it or explain it. 

Find excellent advice on library terms that users understand at John Kupersmith’s Web site at The U.S. government also has a useful site on using plain English.

Do you have an alignment story or action item to share with your colleagues?  Join the conversation on the Alignemnt Wiki or leave a comment here!

Comments

[Lee Hadden]

After working for thirty years as a librarian, I thought I'd seen enough hostile and suicidal actions against the profession from within, but this name change tops them all.

We are librarians, we work in libraries, and our profession is library science. One hundred years ago, we would still have been recognized as librarians. Today we are recognized as librarians. One hundred years from now, we will still be recognized as librarians.

To change after one hundred years to "Strategic Knowledge Professionals" is the dumbest idea I've come across since librarians wanted to abandon the term in elementary schools to "media centers".

One hundred years ago, if you said you were a "Strategic Knowledge Professional," no one would have known what you did. Today, no one knows what a "Strategic Knowledges Professional" is or does. One hundred years from now, no one will, either.

If we have lost our profession, it is time to get it back, and to push for a common vocabulary among librarians. We should define "library", and we should not let to go to a "software library" or "medical records library" or other people who want to usurp our profession.

However, if we abandon the one term that unites us, then we risk being relegated to the dustbin of history, along with typists, hat check girls and widget makers.

We need to define library. We need to define librarian. We need to define library science. We need to define library schools. We need to hold on to our own profession, and not let HR people define what it is for us. If we don't hold to the center of the library community, then the waves of history will dash us apart.

Besides, how on earth do you define a "Master's of Strategic Knowedge Professionalism" or "MSKP"? Sounds like someone who peels potatoes as a punishment because they irritated their sergeant.

[Mary Lane]

I think the suggested organizational name change is one of the best ideas yet. It's new; it's vibrant; it's current; it's inventive. In another hundred years they can change the name again. Although we are still recognized as librarians, let's face it, we no longer deal with books. (The word library is based on the latin word for book.) We deal with information and knowledge. It's time for a change. I like ASK Pro. There are some nice slogans that come to mind around that acronym.

[Sharon Marcus]

Please DO NOT go with this name change initiative. You are going the way of 'cybrarian' (meaningless), or 'media center' (CDs and videos ?).

The name 'ASKPro' means nothing and elicits nothing when uttered. It truly sounds like a product one would buy from an infomercial. (I'm going to the ASKPro meeting.... huh??).. plus the word is simply hard to pronounce clearly. (try saying it several times quickly). Now imagine saying it to someone over the phone.

There are other organizations out there that information professionals can join. The SLA says what it is and means ... Special Libraries Association.

I believe that if you go ahead and change it, you (and we, as members) will regret it in the future. You may be forced to change it again. And much sooner than 100 years from now.

As much as people want it to, the word 'library' or 'libraries' will not go away. And that is because it is a solid and meaningful term that connotes: books, learning and information. And that is a useful and universal word for people to hear and know and have. My 2 cents.

[David M. Broussard]

ASKPro??? I simply do not like it.

[Barbara Merolli]

As a relatively new librarian and a new member of SLA, I have to admit that I thought SLA was not a great name for the organization. I'm not an active member yet, and I don't like to be a criticizing by-stander, but SLA as a name did not ever entice me to become active. Likewise, ASKPro and the long written out name the acronym stands for does not entice me to become active. I don't think either the long or short version of the new name conveys a clear image of the organization to anyone except those who are already involved in it. I'm not sure what the goals are here: if it is for self-satisfaction, then the name change is fine if the people who are already active in the organization like it. If the name change is intended to help promote the organzation to potential new members and to motivate existing members who are not now active to become active, I think it misses the target.

[John Cherney]

Yikes, ASKPro sounds like outdated software that nobody uses. Is this name change ASKPro version 1.0?

The name 'library' and 'librarian' is fine, and though it originated from the term 'book', it means so much more these days. Contrary to some opinions, the term has evolved to incorporate other media and activities besides printed matter.

Inevitably, when someone asks me what 'ASKPro' means, I'll end up telling them that it means we are librarians

[John Murphy]

Sounds clunky and utterly meaningless to me and, in my opinion, to those SLA is trying to target.

Just another recommendation from an organization having a study done by an outside and most likely overpaid consulting firm.

[Beth Robb]

I am thrilled with the name change. It just defines how my job has evolved in this digital age. I'm not an IS person I don't manage networks or online resource access. My department doesn't store books or journals. I manage the knowledge that comes from these sources, and most importantly, in a strategic way for the success of my organization. Yeah! ASKPro...

[Sheila Doherty]

As a former teacher who left that profession to pursue a career as a librarian, I am very proud of my title. My first position out of Library School [yes, we just past being twenty-somethings (30 year olds) still call it that - despite recent articles in the SLA's own publication, see "Library school may delete 'library' from name" in the March 2009 issue of Information Outlook], was as a Merger & Acquisition Information Specialist. Outside of two of the three managers for this department, I was the only person with a library degree. This was in a very large, international firm which had a library, and I was grouped with the paralegals and considered "below" the status of the librarians.

After two years in that position, I obtained my current position as Reference Librarian at Willkie. While this may be the "lowest" librarian position, I am proud to use the title I worked so hard for.

I think instead of calling us "knowledge professionals," we should promote the name/title of librarian. I already have two library recruits to my name - and plan to add more - because I have extolled the benefits of librarianship: in short, a position that will never grow old and will grow with you; a job where you and the position are always learning and evolving and becoming better.

The other people in this field, or those who work in close concert with librarians, should not be embarrased to acknowledge an association with "the library." Instead of treating "librarian" as an old-fashioned type of word and job, we should become stewards of our profession.

I find it disappointing to be a member of a professional librarian organization that seems to be ashamed to use the title of the degree and the position in its name, and even appears to be advocating for the removal of this "word" from the type of school which bears our profession's name.

[steve lafalce]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" - perhaps something for the leaders at SLA to ponder while paying consultants to engage in an this exercise in linguistic gymnastics (and at what cost?)

No need to rehash some of the arguments already made regarding the strength and utility of the professional title of librarian. I would add the following:

1. What is "strategic knowledge", as opposed to just regular knowledge? Seems like a needlessly wordy formulation for something that really doesn't exist. I work for a global law firm, and I have never had an experience where I had to determine if something as routine and boring as a docket or a D&B report qualified as "strategic", "tactical", or even "quotidean". At any given time, information can be strategic or not - it really depends on the clients being served. Why try to gild the lilly? It seems like the consultants who cooked this up were trying to create a demand where none exists.

2. Many professions have never felt the need to change their titles: doctor, lawyer/attorney, accountant, pharmacist, etc. We all know generally what they do, and respect what they do - however; we may not know exactly what they do or how they do it. Is this not the same case with librarians? Generally, people these days understand that librarians work with more than books and magazines. People are aware that librarians work closely with the internet. Why needlessly confuse the issue by now referring to one of our main associations as grouping of "strategic knowledge professionals"? That means nothing to anyone!

3. I seriously doubt anyone in my HR department would care one bit about SLA's proposed new name change. It certainly wouldn't impact my salary or job security, or career prospects.

[Cynthia Lesky]

Association of Strategic Knowledge Professionals. I like it! Yes it sounds weird now, but anything new is foreign until it's not. And then the meaning comes through. And I think it is spot on the meaning that I need to convey in my worklife community.

My staff and I do not work in a library. We do knowledge work -- highly valued-added current awareness services and research and analysis. In other words, strategic knowledge services.

I am a librarian and glad that I chose that profession, and I have through the years employed a dozen or more people trained the same way and with the same skills, and hope to continue to do so. But the label "librarian" has been something I have had to dodge for the past 20 years when addressing clients. I don't put "Member, SLA" behind my name, but I would be pleased to claim the Association of Strategic Knowledge Professionals or ASKPro.

The name change and acronym suits me fine. Thank you, Board!

Cynthia Lesky
Threshold Information Inc.

[Jean Bedord]

I really like the new acronym: ASKPro . I've always had a problem with the focus on the institution / organization, not the professional. SLA is an organization of individuals, not libraries, and the name should reflect that. Membership is not institutional, and we can move from employer to employer, job title to job title, yet retain the same professional membership, unlike some other associations.
Jean Bedord
Findability and Search Strategist / www.bedord.com
Part-time Faculty, School of Library & Information Science
San José State University, San José, CA
Author: www.IveGotADomainName.com

[Dorene Smith]

First off, I have never objected to being called a librarian or working in a library. I don't see what the fuss is all about. If others don't get it then we should educate them.

Second, my biggest objection to the name change to ASKPro is that it does not reflect what we do. ASK Pro? Aren't we ANSWER Pros??? I suppose you could make it ASKaPro, but that's awkward and sounds more like a slogan than a professional association name.

It's too cutsie and it just shows some people worked too hard to come up with a clever acronym that spelled ASK. I am voting no.

[Deb Hunt]

What does SLA mean to anyone outside of SLA?

Let me share with you the recent experience of a colleague while in DC at the Centennial Conference:"When I was in Washington DC for the conference, I saw the big NPR building with its handsome logo on all sides and felt very moved by it on many levels. Funnily enough, as I walked to the convention center, there was the SLA banner, also large and in charge. Someone waiting at the stop light near me remarked to her companion, "Gee, that can't be the Patty Hearst [Symbionese Liberation Army] SLA, can it?" and they wondered what it could be."

I'm not sure if you've had this sort of reaction when you tell others you belong to SLA, but I have had it many, many times.

[Robert B]

I tend to concur with Lee Hadden's earlier post. Definitions add clarity. The broader question perhaps, is squaring a name with an activity that has been overtaken in theory, jargon, and activity by technology-- and the desire for this community to not only maintain viability but to lead in this new frontier [with some indignant entitlement I might add]. Holding a competitive salary is also part of the drive.

Singularity and net-centricity are redefining the information environment As a librarian, I see the change in reading habits based on the medium. I see evolutionary components in our social networking trends. I see the dependency on the electronic compound across our lives.

What have we lost or what are we losing in all this? Is it all simply just gain/loss?

Librarians are quirky cool... or at least, most I have met. Be proud of that. ASKPro may go the way of KM-- forever abstract, no matter who owns it.

Librarians can best continue their existing brand by demonstrating adept and superior information skill sets across any media. It is a service profession, whether dishing up current or strategic content. Book 'em Dan-O.

[Arlene]

I, too, have worked in the profession for over 30 years and this acronym and name are so juvenile and high-schoolish! Really, I'm ashamed for SLA. Think about other professions names, accountants, lawyers, doctors. None of them explain what they do in there professions. The whole notion is below all of us professionally. You got ripped off by your consultants.

[Joan Zivich]

Librarian is an honorable term and an identifiable one. Doctors are not changing their title to DiseasePros, and accountants are not rushing to change to NumberPros.

I do not want a title that I have to explain.
HI, I am an ASKPro- you know= a librarian. Which is what the medical records people have to do when they say they are "Health Information Management" or the "Environmental Engineers" who have to say-you know "Housekeepoing."

We may need a name change-but AskPro is not it. AnswerPro would make more sense.

I agree with Robert B.- this is below us professionally.

[Ann]

I am a new member of SLA, and can't agree at all with this name change! ASKPro doesn't speak at all to what I do--I'm a librarian and proud to call myself one. I think "knowledge professional" will just confuse people and makes us sound like we're ashamed of having library degrees.

There are still plenty of us who work at so-called "traditional" libraries who are in SLA. And when you work for a non-profit or museum with budgetary constraints like I do, try getting them to sign off on a membership for ASKPro! It doesn't sound like a professional organization and it doesn't explain what I do here at my job, so I'd have to fight a lot harder to get this membership next time.

ASKPro will be outdated long before SLA. I will not be voting for this name change!

[Ramune Kubilius]

There used to be awards for journal name changes. This proposed change certainly could compete in the organization name change category. Many thoughts and more questions than answers at this point, some irreverent, to be sure.

Just think of all the "name authority" ILS and website changes that will need to be made all over the world. There will be a lot of SLA stationaery, logos, souvenirs and supplies that will be obsolete (or big ticket sellers on eBay). HQ will have to pay big dollars for new brands and logos. What about "Information Outlook". Will that become "Knowledge Management Outlook"?

Lastly, what do the international members think about this mouthful? Have linguists examined the possibility that pronouncing "ASKPro" may mean something (not so nice) in another language...

[Jim Schwartz]

Someone needs to explain differences between knowledge and information and strategic and non-strategic. Also when does someone become a professional? Will students who join the association automatically become professionals? The term ASKPro seems to indicate that members wait to be asked something before doing something.

[Mary Lane]

I've been thinking a lot about our name change since it was announced. Originally, I said I liked ASKPro, and I do; except when it's said out loud. It looks good; we need a name change, but this acronym may be asking for trouble. We have enough trouble explaining SLA and defining a special library. We shouldn't jump out of the frying pan into the fire. Maybe we need to give this another thought. I know the team has worked very hard on this and that pleasing everyone is impossible, but step back and say it out loud and then try it with different accents. It could make us a laughing stock. So before we invest heavily in this name change, let's think about all the angles.

[Denise Smith]

ASKPro is horrible. The new name should answer this question: why should a person request help from a librarian instead of finding an answer on his/her own? People want to do-it-themselves unless there are time or $ constraints. Until we define (and can articulate) why they are better off asking us, we'll continue to be handmaidens/support staff. Everyone can tell you exactly when and why you need to hire a plumber, but how many can tell you when and why you absolutely need a librarian?

[Sid]

The person who suggested the name change is " so juvenile and high-schoolish!" nailed it. That is exactly what it is. And it is an embarrassment. For those above who suggest they are always being asked what SLA stands for but the questioner is able to connect it to a news incident that took place over 30 years ago I say get real. SLA ask your consultants for a refund: you got ripped off.

[Deb Rexon]

Lee, great comments. On ASKPro -- hate it - sounds like 24/7 live reference; you say we have to get rid of jargon, but we then look to the hot buzz words to define us. We know we're librarians who work in libraries. At least I am in 2 of my jobs. I'm proud of my degree and what I contribute to both of my organizations. So who exactly is confused about our profession & professional organization? Seems like the MLS degree was supposed to give us THE professional aura -- how did that work out for everybody? Now we think we have to put "Pro/Professionals" in our name so our employers will give us a place at the table. Nice thing is that if I don't like the changes that are ultimately adopted, I don't have to renew my membership.