by Gretchen Leslie, Oregon Chapter, Science-Technology Division
I am writing this post because I believe we, as an association, have not really done a good job of researching our industry—the information industry—and using that research to better position our members and our association in the future. We talk about being “Future Ready,” but I have not seen us applying our core research competencies to scoping where the growth is and what the trending is in the information industry, what skills we need to find work in the coming information industry scenario, who our potential partners can be, and where the hidden snakes lay on our path to the future. The research, data, and analysis are out there, generated by companies such as Outsell Inc., Simba, IDC, and Gartner. Are we using it? If not, why not?
So I guess this post is a call to action for the association leadership to begin a program to buy and use the published research about the information industry. Perhaps we could even partner with other associations, and cooperatively build a sustainable way to get the needed data and analysis on a continual basis. That way, we could always benchmark on where we are as informational professionals, vs. where the information industry is headed.
What do the rest of you think of this “info pros – research thyself!” approach to mapping out what Future Ready means? I’d like to hear from my colleagues in SLA about the idea of using market research on ourselves; making market research of the information industry part of our websites and continuing education, applying the ideas of where the information industry is moving to how and what we teach in information science graduate programs, and ultimately, building a better understanding of the global information industry and where we fit in the future as information professionals.
Gretchen Leslie has a 35+ year career in special libraries, and has always wondered why we cannot do a better job of analyzing our own industry.
Law librarians are pursuing one aspect of your idea at LISVendor.info.
Hello Michael! That is a very interesting wiki, I esp. recommend the “Tips Tricks and Successes” section — a lot of good advice in those. Thanks for commenting on my blog post. Gretchen
Gretchen,
I had two simulataneous (almost simultaneous?) reactions as I read your post. One – that SLA AND EACH OF OUR LIBRARIES and ourselves would benefit by an ongoing process of keeping current with market research about the information industry. As individuals we can read professional literature and actively engage in professional education; as organizations we can invest in the higher ticket market research and and actually use it for discussion and planning.
And/but, two, SLA invested a great amount of time and resources into the highly valuable aliggnment (with our customers and industries) research. That research seems sadly underutilized by most of us – chapters and members and maybe even national — I’d suggest we use our own research and build on it as well. The alignment research recognized the meed to also stay connected with trends in general business and industrey (at least, I’m reading that into it).
I agree with you Gretchen that we info pros – as individuals, as “libraries and information centers”, and as an association, need to continually “market research” ourselves – in context with the broader customer community — and find ways to use that information effectively.
I would endorse SLA finding a way to partner with one or more of these outside firms as they engage in their related market research.
Hi Nora! You and Craig both referred to the alignment process– yes, our membership’s underwhelming response to that process and final analysis is one of the reasons I posted my blog. I find it a puzzle that we as info pros deal with getting our customers the data they need to drive their organizations and business decisions — but we cannot import that same kind of data driven analysis into mapping our future, and getting ready for it. Why is this? To quote Outsell “2010 Information Industry Market Size, Share & Forecast Report…. the entire information industry…[is a] $366 billion industry.” We have got to figure out where we fit into this huge picture NOW, because technically, the future is tomorrow morning. Thanks for commenting on my post! Gretchen
One problem I’d have is that I wouldn’t know where to start. I would need to know what statistics and studies would be relevant to me in my particular industry, then I would need a budget to acquire that information.
HI Ben, well yes, knowing where is start is the pickle part of this for all of us. But, what I am hoping happens, is that SLA find the market leader vendors for our information industry, and maybe some other info pro associations also, and get a deal going where the SLA management folks purchase — for we the members — the market data and analysis we need. That way, we go to the SLA website, and find the studies and reports just like we find tools like Information Outlook, CLICK U, and the 23 things. Knowing about our industry, the information industry, should be a part of the servies offered to members. Thanks for commenting on my blog post! Gretchen
My first response to this post is that SLA did already do its own research on where the information industry is going when it conducted its Alignment Project survey, and most SLA members didn’t like the findings. What can SLA — and we members! — do to get us to accept findings we don’t want to hear and make ourselves more Future Ready?
Outsell was a paid participant in the Alignment project, and funneled their findings into the project to accompany the original research performed by Fleishman-Hillard. So we benefited from their work.