SLA Blog

Candidate Question #3 (Techie Gadget)

What is the newest “techie” gadget that you have/would like to have, and how do/would you use it to improve the work relationship that you have with your primary clientele?

(Kama Siegel, candidate for Chapter Cabinet Chair-Elect)

As interested as I am in the latest gadgets, I work in a fairly low-tech industry. More accurately, it's not the industry itself that is so low-tech, but rather the tools that our employees use to accomplish day-to-day tasks. As an example, our ERP system -- which shall remain nameless -- does not work on smartphones or tablets, nor does it work natively with Apple products (much to the chagrin of our planners and designers, who almost uniformly have Macs at home). The people I work with are happy when I can promptly answer their e-mails by smartphone, or train them by webinar -- both of which technologies are pretty ho-hum. As much as I might personally be interested in them, cool gadgets are not going to make me a more effective employee in an industry that isn't super interested in being on the cutting edge.

Basically, I would answer this question with a plea to software designers: please assume that the users for whom you are designing will access the software on any available platform. That's the techie ability -- not gadget -- I'd like to see, which seems like a no-brainer. I assume, of course, that I don't have full knowledge about every available tool out there, but I also do my best to stay informed. It's possible that there are other transportation planning companies that are far outpacing their competitors by using a magical* spreadsheet that reads the minds of all planners and designers on a project, and are therefore able to complete far more projects than their peers. 

The people who make up my clientele are far more interested in learning industry news and collaborating with their peers (on Twitter, for example), and staying within their budgets, than in learning a new technology. But as with any population, there is a range of users, from early adopters to Luddites. Many of them balk at using their valuable (billable!) time learning use a new one, but that doesn't stop me from discussing tools that would make their work more efficient. Perhaps someday soon we'll agree on a new gadget that makes all of our lives better.

* "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke

Question 3: Techie gadget (Candidate Questions)

What is the newest “techie” gadget that you have/would like to have, and how do/would you use it to improve the work relationship that you have with your primary clientele?

Kate Arnold ~ Candidate for President-Elect

It’s a smartphone (android, iphone, Blackberry, whatever you prefer) to access content on the go. We live in a martini world (anytime, anyplace, anywhere) being able to consume information as and when you need it. I need to have a smartphone both as a consumer and as an information provider. What better way to experience your service than by consuming it!

In terms of improving the work relationship with primary clientele, I’ve got two examples from the last six months. Firstly, at Cancer Research UK we noticed an increase about a year ago in usage of our website, CancerHelp UK by mobile users. As our site was content heavy we decided to redesign it specifically for the mobile audience. By ensuring it rendered well on mobiles we supplied just enough information in a well laid out format. Thus ensuring everyone who needed access to our high quality information on cancer could access it and link up to our helpline services easily from their phone.  

Secondly, at National Children’s Bureau I’m working, with the media team, to raise the profile of the information centre/library to internal and external audiences as we have a unique collection of grey literature on children and young people in the UK. We’re using a combination of activities but my favourite is Twitter. We’re holding a day in the life of the library on NCB’s Twitter account (@ncbtweets)  on 23 May to highlight all the different things that happen in the library in a day. If it catches on, which I have a sense it will, then we may end up with a monthly slot and hopefully increased visitors.

Question #3: What is the newest “techie” gadget that you have/would like to have, and how do/would you use it to improve the work relationship that you have with your primary clientele?

David Stern - candidate for Treasurer

My techie gadget is a virtual gadget ... the Vyew collaboration software. Using just web browsers you can share material and simultaneously work together in your workspace on a whiteboard -- with images, text, presentations, and other materials. You can remotely communicate using chat, VOIP, or a webcam. You can also share screens in either direction to see what is running on the other person's desktop. All this for free for up to four simultaneous users. It can be used for so many interactive purposes, and allows for enhanced collaboration at a distance. This tool makes many other single-use gadgets unnecessary, or at least seem quite limited.

Why I joined SLA (Candidate Question #2)

Question #2: When did you first join SLA? What made you decide to join then, and why do you still belong today?

I joined SLA as a newly-minted professional, back in the mid-1990s. It may surprise some to know that it was not the first professional library association that I joined. I am proud to be able to say, however, that it is perhaps the best. You see, I had long been working in libraries (since the tender age of 16, to be exact) and I had long known what I wanted to do professionally. In my focused tenacity in pursuing that dream, I almost missed the chance to see, experience, and benefit from a much bigger picture. I had developed something that I now call "professional myopia". Luckily for me, SLA, with its diverse and active membership, was just the prescription I needed to cure it.

What is "professional myopia"? It’s that false sense of security you get when you fail to see the greater world in which your professional niche sits. It’s the illusion that you are an information island or that your work in some sort of professional vacuum. For me, it was actually the result of a focused tenacity on obtaining the career of my dreams. You see, I wanted to be a law librarian. So I took legal research classes (even went to law school!), took internships in various legal settings, and, of course, joined professional groups exclusively tailored to the law profession. Little did I know and less did I care, at that time, what I was missing in the greater information industry.

It was a great way to get started and to break onto the law library scene. But once my foot was firmly in the door, the safety bubble burst. To get my work done and to do it exceptionally, I needed knowledge, experience, resources, and contacts that extended well beyond the background and professional support network that I had worked so hard to forge. It was clear to me that if I was going to succeed in my career, I had to branch out in ways I had not before imagined. That was where SLA came in and turned my professional world around. When a trusted colleague introduced me to the Special Libraries Association, she did more than show me another group worth joining. She opened the door to a vast world of information professionals who were working together redefine client services and push the boundaries of what it means to be a librarian. In joining, I found more than a great place to network and learn, I found a true partner in my success.

I am happy and humbled to say that I have not looked back a day since. Thank you SLA!

John J. DiGilio, Candidate for Treasurer

Quietly Making Her Point

She's a self-described introvert, so it was only fitting that she wasn't mentioned until near the end of the article--several paragraphs after the discussions about Hollywood portrayals of librarians and how librarians score on Myers-Briggs personality inventories and why extroversion is considered the "ideal" personality in Western society. But Jill Strand finally got the attention she deserves, as Jennifer Bartlett cited her most recent "Market Share" column in Information Outlook and highlighted its networking tips for introverts.

Writing in Vol. 26/2 of Library Leadership & Management, Bartlett noted that studies of personality assessments show that a strong majority of librarians are introverted, thinking and judging. These characteristics are reflected in movie portrayals of fictional librarians (such as Marian Paroo in The Music Man), which show "positive" librarians as helpful and idealistic and "negative" librarians as manipulative and extroverted. While introverts have strengths in areas such as customer service, they typically are not natural leaders and managers, whereas extroversion is seen as a leadership quality.

Another challenge for introverts, Bartlett wrote, is networking. Bartlett pointed her readers to Strand's March/April column in Information Outlook, which posed four questions to SLA members and highlighted the most useful answers. The column also advised librarians to think of networking as a series of small steps rather than one large process, thus making it seem less daunting.

"I'm an introvert, and there are still times when walking into a room full of people I don't know scares the stuffing out of me," Strand wrote. "But the more I do it, the easier it gets (and the more people I get to know)."

Strand has overcome her introversion to the point that she has chaired SLA's Public Relations Advisory Council and served as president of the Minnesota Chapter. She started writing the "Market Share" column in June 2011. To read her latest column, click here.

 

Meet the Judges: The Agile Professional 'Snap & Win' Contest

Take a moment to learn about the judges of the Agile Professional Snap & Win Contest. Be sure to enter right here before June 11.

Julia Mair
VP of Marketing, Dow Jones Enterprise

With more than 25 years in the online information industry, Julia Mair currently leads the B2B marketing team for Dow Jones, including Factiva, Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.  Prior to joining Dow Jones, Julia led marketing activities for the academic publishing unit of LexisNexis, a member of Reed Elsevier Group plc.

How would you define professional agility? What does being professional agile mean to you?
The marketing profession and my industry (publishing) are undergoing rapid changes, driven by social and economic forces as well as technology. To me, being professional agile is trying to keep my eyes open to emerging ideas and marketing concepts – like new apps and social media markets. It is also important that my team remains professionally agile, so we must constantly question the way we think about our business, interact with our customers and conduct our day-to-day tasks.

Deb Hunt
Principal, Information Edge

Deb Hunt is currently the SLA President Elect and Principal of Information Edge which empowers clients to find the information they need to do their work. Information Edge specializes in document and digital asset management, knowledge services, professional research and analysis, and library design and automation.

Deb has written for Information Outlook, Freepint, Information World Review (IWR) and other publications and has presented at SLA, Internet Librarian and Createasphere.

How would you define professional agility? What does being professional agile mean to you?
My SLA Presidential theme is "Transform knowledge and expertise into strategic value." As information professionals we must add flexibility, insight, and recognition of opportunity to our essential core skills! We need to move outside our comfort zone into new career areas such as document management, digital and media asset management and knowledge services where there are ample career and earning opportunities. I continue to demonstrate agility as I leap off the edge into new career areas utilizing current skills while investing in continuing education to enhance and grow those skills. 

Anne Caputo
Executive Director, Dow Jones & Company

Anne Caputo is the 2010 President of SLA and works as an advisor and consultant to the Dow Jones Information Professional Market.  She is also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland, College of Information Studies where she teaches a course in electronic information retrieval.

How would you define professional agility? What does being professional agile mean to you?
To me professional agility represents the ability to reinvent and refocus critical information skills to the demands of new jobs and new roles.  In the course of my career I have been a trainer, educator, marketing executive, project manager, professional association volunteer and leader and speaker at conferences and events around the world.  Each step required agility and openness to change and new opportunities. 

Mary Ellen Bates
President, Bates Information Services

Mary Ellen Bates is the SLA Division Cabinet Past-Chair and the owner of Bates Information Services, providing business research and analysis for over 20 years. She is a frequent speaker and the author of six books and innumerable articles on the information industry.

How would you define professional agility? What does being professional agile mean to you?
Being professionally agile means fully believing that I both need and want to continue to grow and challenge myself professionally. I assume that I always need to be learning new skills, whether that is creating and editing webinars, becoming proficient in a new application or just making sure I meet with other info pros at least once a month. That is why I so value all the virtual places where I can hook up with other SLA members.

DRM and the Wisdom of Robert Fulghum

Share everything.

Fans of Robert Fulghum will recognize this as one of the many lessons he learned in "the sandpile at Sunday school," along with play fair and say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. But judging from the advance interest in the SLA 2012 session titled "DRM: The Discussion Continues," some information professionals evidently feel that these lessons are lost on vendors of electronic documents.

"Ever ordered a digital document for an employee, only to discover you couldn't forward it?" asks Sabina Tannenbaum, a co-moderator of the session. "Been frustrated by single-user licenses when you're buying a document for general library use? Tried to maintain a historical archive of digital standards for ongoing research or project work?"

The session will bring together information professionals, digital publishers, and distributors for an open discussion about digital rights management issues. Tannenbaum hopes that the discussion will lead to "finding the middle ground" and identifying a common path forward.

The session will be held Monday, 16 July, at 4:00 p.m. To register for the conference, click here.

 

Why I belong to SLA

SLA Board Candidate Question 2: When did you first join SLA? What made you decide to join then, and why do you still belong today?

Tara Murray, candidate for Division Cabinet Chair-elect:

Professional associations have played an important role in my life since I joined a student chapter of ALA in grad school.

When I landed in a very specialized library at Penn State's Population Research Institute just a couple years after receiving my degree, I remembered my advisor telling me about SLA. My decision to join was made even easier when my predecessor in the job encouraged me to do so. I was not disappointed when I was warmly welcomed by my new colleagues at my first chapter meeting. Soon after, I was recruited to manage the chapter's discussion list.

The more involved I've become in SLA over the years, the more I get out of my membership. My chapter and division discussion lists continue to be valuable sources of information and advice. New channels like LinkedIn and Facebook groups have fostered lively discussions not tied to particular units. I look forward to each annual conference, both for the learning opportunities and to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. The leadership summits I've been able to attend have given me an opportunity to talk with and learn from SLA's leaders. In between conferences, I've been able to learn new skills through webinars offered by units through SLA's GoToMeeting account. My roles in my chapter and division have helped me gain confidence and develop leadership and public speaking skills. I feature these experiences prominently on my resume and have talked about them in interviews. In fact, SLA helped me land my dream job.

The Agile Professional 'Snap & Win' Contest, Presented by SLA and Factiva

Are you a masterful multitasker? An agile analyst? A limber librarian? You could win $1,000 when you prove it with a photo!

SLA members have always shown professional agility, through the diverse sessions produced for SLA's Annual Conference, the endless variety of roles filled and goals accomplished, and the success stories we hear all the time. To celebrate that agility, we're teaming up with SLA 2012 Platinum Partner Dow Jones & Company to launch The Agile Professional Snap & Win Contest on May 14.

The Scoop

For this contest, we’re asking you to submit a photo of yourself being professionally AGILE, adaptive, and flexible.

Perhaps your photo shows you filling a role at work that’s considered nontraditional. Maybe you’re leading a seminar or teaching colleagues how to use the latest, greatest feature of a search tool. Or, if you take the title at its literal meaning, the photo shows you doing yoga while reading your Kindle and dodging bullets. OK, so the last one is a stretch.

Use any editing tools you like (e.g., Instagram), or scan a Polaroid and upload it directly to SLA’s Facebook Page. It’s completely up to you!

Enter

Enter the contest through SLA’s Facebook Page anytime between May 14 and June 11. You can also enter through Twitter, by tweeting your photo and including #Snap2Win.

The Grand Prize Winner will be decided in late June, and his or her photo will be shared at the SLA 2012 Welcome Reception.

The Prizes

The Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,000 cash and a free year of SLA membership. The winning entry will be selected by our esteemed judges. All entrants will have the opportunity to vote for their favorites between June 14 and June 27.

Stay tuned for the official contest rules, which will be delivered to you on May 14. As always, let us know if you have any questions or feedback. And a special thanks to Dow Jones for making the contest possible and for all of their tremendous support of the upcoming SLA 2012 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO in Chicago, 15-18 July!

 

 

Making the Case for Marketing

It's been said that the two most dreaded words in the English language are you're fired. But if you're an information professional, here are two more words you never want to hear: cost center.

If that's how leaders in your organization view the library, you need to show them another side of it (and you). Louis Abramovitz, librarian at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, will explain how to do just that in "Librarian as Entrepreneur: Contributing to Your Organization's Bottom Line through Marketing Initiatives," a session he's leading at SLA 2012.

"Think of this as your chance to change the perception your C-level execs have about you," Louis says. "You're not just a cost center. You're not just the licensing and copyright enforcement squad. You're way more than an information resources consigliere."

In his session, Louis will attempt to motivate you to seriously consider taking a proactive role in marketing efforts at your organization. He'll also share a few examples of project ideas that could make you even more indispensable to your clients.

"You can also think of this as a chance to develop portable skills," he says. "Any new skills you acquire in your current job can make you that much more marketable and valuable in your next position."

Be sure to catch Louis at SLA 2012 on Tuesday, 17 July, at 2:00 p.m. Not registered? Go to the conference site.