de Stricker

Our Professional Connections - Powerful Assets for Employers - Deserve Investment

My ardent belief in the value of professional associations is no secret, and I support my comments by service on boards of directors, on committees, and in special assignments. As a result of many active roles held over the decades, I have experienced how valuable it is to be but a message away from having doors opened, getting crucial contacts established, and so on.

In previous posts, I have focused in various ways on the gains information professionals achieve by belonging to and being active in the relevant associations. Over and above formal continuing education, our colleagues' willingness to support fellow professionals is gold when it comes to bolstering our skills. The luxury of garnering input from fellow association members is key to our ability to grow as professionals as we solve day to day challenges. But there's more: Our professional connections are assets to our employers - not just bullet points on our resumes - and should be promoted as such.

Of course, our direct clients benefit when we leverage connections on their behalf - for example, when we zero in on unique content in a matter of minutes via the guidance of our peers. In a more general way, our employers benefit when we can build on the professional connections made at last month's conference or during years of service in an association - for example, as we use our peers' insight and experience, shared at meetings and on discussion lists, to inform the activities we undertake.

When expenses and time associated with conference or meeting attendance are legitimately under scrutiny, it is important to build the business case why the investment we make in building professional networks is very much worthwhile: That investment - our contributions in return for the takeaways - is our means of gaining admission to the combined expertise of our professional networks … for the good of the work we do.

The specific business advantage of our collegial networks deserves being featured clearly in our official resumes and social profiles. If we have previously taken networking activities for granted (as in "yes of course I have served in leadership roles in professional groups"), it may be time to articulate explicitly the positive results arising for our employers and clients. The annual performance review could be a good regular occasion - but why not take the opportunity whenever it arises?

What Will Library/Information/Knowledge Graduates Be Doing 25 Years Hence?

Want to lose track of time for an hour? Here's a suggestion: Just hop online, punch in your personal variation of "are librarians obsolete" … then follow the lively conversations. (Naturally, they vary according to the professional specialty being considered - public and corporate librarians, for example, have their respective aspects of the discussion - tune the search accordingly.)

What prompted my foray was Steve Coffman's wonderfully insightful article in the April 2012 issue of Searcher (http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/apr12/Coffman--The-Decline-and-Fall-of-the-Library-Empire.shtml). In it, he describes a pattern that should give us all reason to reflect: With every new tool or technology - from web directories to ebooks - it seems the librarians embraced it eagerly and then … the world moved on and economic forces coupled with expanding access to information pushed us further away from relevance and demand: "Each of the services we've provided in the digital arena has been - or is being - superseded by new and better technologies or by other organizations better suited to deliver services electronically. […] So after more than 50 years in the digital market, libraries have come right back to where they started. Our dream of an electronic library has been built, but others own and manage it."

Granted, Coffman focuses on public libraries. But what he's on to pertains as well in the area of IM/KM, where it's quite common to encounter the views that every educated individual is a qualified researcher and that corporate memory and enterprise search is a matter for IT professionals using their favorite tools. Lots of great information can indeed be had with very little effort (on the run using mobile devices, no less), and tools for knowledge worker collaboration are indeed eagerly embraced. In such a perceptual environment, it's no surprise any former corporate library has had to reinvent itself so as to offer completely new services (where it wasn't simply eliminated, of course).

As a result of my professional volunteer activities, I have plenty of occasions to ponder the future of our "tribe". It's inspiring to watch dynamic young professionals succeed … and yet - thinking once more about the lack of influence I touched on in a recent post - there are times I wonder whether we are indeed watching a once clearly defined profession splintering into so many subspecialties it will have trouble remaining and being seen as a definable occupational path. It would be a dream come true to see all my newly graduating colleagues have careers as rewarding and fulfilling as the one I was privileged to have … yet a large dose of realistic assessment will likely be needed: What are the implications of our skills appearing to be subsumed into every other profession? How will evolution in media, communications, and publishing and their underlying infrastructure impact the way in which today's MIS graduates work 25 years hence?

Coffman's article doesn't offer a direct answer (though there's a promise of a sequel). But it serves admirably as inspiration for more discussion about our profession's sustainability.

Could you Be a Business Analyst? Yes!

At the recent annual superconference held by Ontario Library Association, I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of highly motivated listeners about the possibilities for employment in areas beyond the standard types of jobs we ordinarily might consider.

Africa Hands' 1 December 2011 FUMSI article "Where the jobs Are: Listings and resources for LIS professionals" (http://web.fumsi.com/go/article/find/65124) is a helpful inventory for building a monitoring system to identify opportunities; as an example, it matter-of-factly covers the information industry and professional publishing as areas to include. I then took a look at the "employment vocabulary" in popular mainstream job sites and found, as expected, a number of positions without any connection to librarianship but with requirements screaming for information professionals' qualifications. Here are some typical examples (abbreviated for clarity):

1. Conduct research, compile data, and prepare papers for consideration and presentation by executives; meet with individuals, special interest groups and others on behalf of executives, committees and boards of directors; prepare reports, letters, financial statements and other documents; analyze incoming and outgoing submissions and reports and coordinate the preparation of briefs and reports for executives.

2. Develop strategic insights by understanding market research data; develop business strategies and present them to key stakeholders; be informed of internal/external factors that may affect client operations. Manage key deliverables by creating and managing project plans. Provide effective direction by performing systems training for clients and their users; cultivating client relationships; maintaining a consultative role.

3. Investigate, assess and make recommendations for programs, policy and evaluation. Proactively problem solve, recommend ideas and strategies, and share information and best practices for complex issues. Prepare financial and statistical reports. Develop marketing outreach strategies, including research, presentations, briefing materials and other external communications.

4. Requires demonstrated knowledge of communication and information theory, methods, techniques and practices, and stakeholder relations in order to plan, coordinate and implement initiatives and projects; knowledge of contract and vendor management processes and practices in order to coordinate and administer the procurement process; knowledge of Internet, satellite broadcasting, digital video conferencing equipment and Wide Area Network technologies in order to provide customized and professional events to clients.

An employment area of particular promise is enterprise information management. The 2 February 2012 study "AIIM Market Survey Finds 76 Percent of Business Executives Would Pay a Salary Premium to Hire Certified Information Professionals" (http://mwne.ws/yhXuM3) and the 2 August 2011 Gartner "CIO Alert: You Need Information Professionals" (see http://bit.ly/xPBhyf) are good examples of the discussion taking place in the CIO community. The latter's summary states "To fully exploit information, enterprises need to assign personnel to explicitly manage it. Here, we describe eight emerging information management related roles." Such studies' use of terms like information liability, information governance, data quality management, and digital archives speaks to awareness of the business need for qualified organizational stewardship of information over and above the usual IT roles.

PS: I acknowledge Lauren Bailey who regularly writes for accredited online colleges (blauren99@gmail.com). Lauren approached me recently with comments regarding the employment opportunities for librarians, thus inspiring this post.

Information Management Close to Home: A crucial component in "instructions for relatives" documents

Following the recent tragic and untimely passing of a colleague, a friend of his reached out to me for suggestions as to "what to do with his manuscripts". Having corresponded with my colleague for some years about those manuscripts (some of which but not all were available in various online publishing portals), I encouraged that somehow, they be harvested from multiple locations and made available in one place for the general enjoyment of interested readers in future. In addition, I mentioned the disposition of profiles on social media sites.

The friend embarked upon a project turning out to be far more extensive and time consuming than we could have anticipated.

It's a painful topic, but the simple implications with respect to what we need to leave behind are worth pondering:

1: Anyone can download or recreate what is available on public websites. What about the trove of materials in computers, mobile devices, sticks, and free cloud storage locations? For example, could it be that a massive report, book, or other significant item was close to completion, needing only a bit of work on the part of someone familiar with the project for it to be sent on to the intended recipient or be published? Without access to file locations and passwords, executors may be unable to retrieve anything at all.

2: Anticipate the need to remove "ghost" websites and blogs. Of course, any paid accounts automatically close when the bills go unpaid at the end of the subscription period, so a deceased's website(s) and blog(s) will eventually disappear; but it may be advisable to actively remove, upon harvesting any wanted content, the presences owned by the deceased. Provide executors with detailed contact information for domain registrars and web hosts and sign an authorization form for use in conjunction with proof of death.

3: Anticipate the need to delete profiles from social media sites. Equip executors and power-of-attorney holders with the instruments required to prove they are indeed authorized to request the disposition of the profiles in question. Document the procedure required by each company (Host A requires B documentation and social media site C requires a copy of D form with a death certificate) to save the executors many hours of research. In addition, it is helpful for executors to have guidance with respect to any desires regarding a "memorial" virtual presence.

To the "special file folder in a desk drawer" containing insurance and banking information, we ought to add all the information our executors will need to deal appropriately with our electronic legacy when we're gone, along with explicit instructions for the treatment of content.

I'm indebted to my colleague Connie Crosby for her reference to the "Death and Digital Legacy" blog at www.deathanddigitallegacy.com where much more detail can be found.

Info Pros: Star Performers

In the spirit of the holiday season, I trust my readers will indulge me in some allegorical thinking about our profession:

Treated by dear and incredibly generous friends to a Canadian Tenors concert in Toronto (www.canadiantenors.com), I had the opportunity to watch at close range the intricate workings of the orchestra supporting those four magnificent singers: The musicians worked the piano, strings, and percussion - what an amazing array of drums, cymbals, hanging xylophones, rainstick type instruments, and other sound producing objects I don't know how to name! - with obvious engagement and enjoyment to organize and sequence thousands of individual notes into a harmonious, powerful, and sometimes surprising result. The light manager provided a splendid visual complement to the music, and the copious amounts of water vapor released into the concert hall lent a touch of magic. Each song performed reached back through decades or centuries to revered composers and was given life in the moment by the latest technology - in a manner uniquely suited to the occasion and the audience.

Giving thought to the vast planning and coordination required to produce an experience so clearly enjoyed by the sold-out house, it struck me: Isn't that what info pros do, too? Don't we, well, "orchestrate" myriad individual preparatory and immediate actions in order to "produce" the experience our audiences receive? Don't we collaborate within our organizations and across the profession to gain the skills to, well, "play those instruments with such perfect timing"? Don't we rely on the work done in decades and centuries before us and on the latest technology to meet our clients' unique needs? Don't we plan and organize so that the "star performers" - our users - get to deliver outstanding results?

As for the tenors - they, too, seemed like info pros to me - bringing to bear their education and talent on producing value. We're talking world class operatic stars … who related to the audience with humility, warm humor, and personable ease. In just that way I so often see information professionals being utterly modest and unassuming about their work, no matter how outstanding it is: Don't they deliver spectacular performances in the way they hit just the right notes when they do research or produce strategic plans (etc etc)?

Indeed we info pros do not perform in misty, colored lights on a background of exquisite music to deliver value to our clients. But in my humble opinion, we are pretty close.

Thank you for indulging me. Peace and Good Will on Earth this Solstice.