SLA Blog

"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!

Info Today: Update on Google Book Search at SLA 2009

If you haven't been following the situation with the Google Book Search, take a moment to read Paula Hane's Information Today article,"Update on the Google Book Settlement"

The article is a great summary of all of the activity of the last few months including an overview of SLA's Public Policy update at SLA 2009. 

Read the article

Read more on the Public Policy Connections blog about SLA's position and work on this issue. 

"The Culture Keepers"

On Monday, July 20, the Sacramento Bee ran a very nice look at a local special library, the Sacramento Turn Verein library, formally known as the German-American Cultural Center Library, which has about 100 volunteers who keep it running. 

Alongside the article the paper also published a list of the 27 other special libraries in the Sacramento, California, area.  From gold mine history, to a geneology library, to the a state railroad museum library...it's quite an impressive list!

Read the full article "The Culture Keepers" by Carlos Alcalá.

SLA and SIIA Co-Sponsor Content Buying Study by Shore

Shore Communications, research and strategy consultants serving the information industry, recently announced a study co-sponsored by SLA and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA).

The study, which will include SLA members and executives from the information industry as participants, will ultimately produce a major research project focused on understanding how enterprise content buyers are handling the current economic climate.

The study, titled “New Rules of Engagement: Re-Tooling Information Sales and Marketing for the New Economy,” will include both traditional quantitative analysis and first-person narrative case studies. Analysis of purchasing and influencing factors will help give a better understanding of the climate and help to prepare every player in the information industry as to what lies ahead.

Participating SLA members also will have an opportunity, via webinars, to be briefed on the Shore findings and to receive a summary report. For more details and to register interest, please visit www.shore.com/newrules2009.

The future of conferences (podcast)

No doubt you recognize that the SLA Annual Conference has been changing.  In fact, new conference models are being adopted within the conference industry in order to change them from events focused around the number of bodies that attend to events focused on knowledge transfer (which is why conferences really do exist). 

A panel of conference professionals talk about the future of conferences in this podcast from Future Tense (ABC Radio Network).  Topics include current new conference models (e.g., bar camps, unconferences, world cafes and open space events) as well as models that might be adopted in the future, creating community, the use of technology and  how the current conference industry is like the music industry of years past.  (I'd never thought of correlating the changes in the conference industry to grunge music.)

Both the podcast (27 min.) and transcript are available.  No matter if you're organizing a conference of just attending, this podcast may help you consider different models that will make the conference experience more compelling.

SLA Members Get Free Trial of BNA Stimulus News Dashboard

Did you know that our SLA members can now receive a complimentary trial to the BNAInfoDash Economic Stimulus Dashboard?

As the economic stimulus bill creates billions of dollars in funding opportunities, your organization may be among the many that need a source of reliable, focused, up-to-the-minute information. SLA would like to make you aware of an innovative tool created by one of our partners--BNA.

The BNA InfoDash Economic Stimulus Dashboard offers tailored, relevant content to empower your organization's decision-making--in an easy dashboard format. Track the flow of economic stimulus news and dollars, with breakdowns covering infrastructure, energy and environment, health care, communications, education, taxes, labor and employment, and funding opportunities and awards.  The dashboard filters news from thousands of authoritative sources, including premium BNA content.

Begin your complimentary trial now

Bridging The Past- Big Praise for the SLA Centennial Timeline

If you haven't seen it yet, please take a moment to read this fabulous editorial from Dick Kaser in the June issue of Information Today!

From the article...

"There’s much to read between the lines. But in this simple schematic, we see a vital organization evolving with its times, surviving economic ups and downs, enduring wars, and adapting to technological change.

The SLA centennial site is a reflection of where the organization stands at the end of 100 years. It’s very 2.0: There are Flickr photos to peruse and user-generated oral histories to read. There’s even a set of YouTube videos to watch.

What the site’s users seem to be saying with their contributions is that they are not only proud to be a part of today’s SLA, but they are proud of who they are and what they do for the enterprises they serve. An ad agency couldn’t be paid enough to produce finer testimonials than these."

A Library Themed Ben & Jerry's Flavor?

There is a newly formed Facebook group for a Library Themed Ben & Jerry’s Flavor. But what do libraries and Ben & Jerry’s have to do with each other?

Andy Woodworth, a Librarian with the Burlington County Library System in New Jersey says, "In these economic conditions, the role of the library is becoming more important in the lives of its patrons. Diminished incomes have stopped people from buying books, newspapers, magazines, music and movies as well as dropping services like home internet. They are turning to the library for the media and materials that they would have normally bought for themselves in the past. With employers moving their hiring applications to their websites and most job searches move online, the ability for people to be able to access the internet increases in importance. In reaction to this, libraries have added job hunting, resume writing, and interview materials, classes, and programs. On top of this, we are helping people everyday navigate this new age of information. But we are still struggling to maintain services in the face of stagnant or slashed state, county, and municipal budgets.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream has a long history for corporate advocacy for different causes. From their mission statement, they seek to conduct business in a socially responsible and environmentally sensible way. Over the years, they’ve created flavors to raise awareness for poverty, global warming, water preservation, family farmers, disadvantaged children, and world peace. Their activism extends to their employees who volunteer their time for community projects. Plus, they make some pretty tasty ice cream.

Join the group, spread the word, and let’s make the library an even cooler place to be!"

SLA at 100: Conference Preview in "Library Journal"

Centennial celebration brings fewer, more advanced programs and career strategies for the future

"Zamora told LJ that this year's meeting will again offer fewer but longer sessions. Conference planners are studying metrics for three concurrent years to improve the conference model. In this second year, they asked divisions once more to contribute fewer programs but cosponsor more with one another. Zamora characterized the sessions as higher in quality, more advanced, and broader in appeal. Additionally, seven Spotlight Sessions, introduced last year, will focus on popular topics and are expected to attract some 300 people. Conference planners will examine metrics after the conference to make adjustments."

Read the whole article by Lynn Blumenstein for more information on the SLA Alignment Project, Click University, and CE programs, as well as a few highlighted sessions from SLA 2009!

How to Survive Redundancy and Recession

The April 2009 issue of Information World Review features a great article that quotes SLA CEO Janice Lachance. The article is all about how info pros looking to protect their jobs, or find new employment, can have the most success in this brutal economy.

Janice's advice is applicable to all info pros and SLA members. From those who are confident in the security of their jobs to those looking to set themselves apart from the crowd in crowded job market, Janice and other experts provide a great platform from which you can market yourself into the next level of your career.

From the IWR article, How to Survive Redundancy and Recession by, Archana Venkatraman:

Lachance believes the key to recovery is “to build in trust because at this point, companies are not willing to take any risk”. She points to corporates’ need for valid, actionable information as proof that businesses will continue to invest in people who can provide this kind of information.

She adds: “The current crisis has forced all organisations and institutions to rethink their approach and make difficult decisions on staff. But this creates enormous opportunities for information professionals around the globe to be proactive and part of the organisation’s mission and strategy, and to make themselves more resourceful and useful.”

Lachance advises information professionals looking for work to “change the way they talk about their function and value”. Critical thinking, strategic analysis and provision of valuable, unbiased information are key to success because companies are looking for precise, valid and accurate information.