by Jamal Cromity, North Carolina Chapter, Information Technology and Leadership & Management Divisions

No one blogs or even tweets for arbitrary reasons. The intent of blogging and micro blogs post are for a number of people to read the messages and in some cases, have an impact on the professional lives of others.   For professional bloggers, visibility is an important driver. Stats and analytics are great indicators that post we make will be read by the many people who visit the blog site.

Did you know that since the inception of Future Ready 365, over 2 million people have viewed the site with over 185,000 unique visitors? Pretty impressive numbers considering the membership of SLA is just short of 10,000. In this case, where you post may be more important than what you post but if your content is good, well it is a win-win situation.

From a strategic perspective, blogging on others sites such as Future Ready is well documented as one of the best ways to advertise your own business, product, or blog. Just search the web and you will find a number of resources that discuss this marketing strategy.  As stated well by Tanya of Blogelina, “The trick is to find the right channels and determine which ones will work for you.”

So if you are not blogging on other sites, you might want to reconsider. Remember, your influence may only go as far as people can see you. Stats can help you choose the right places to post to for maximum visibility.

Jamal Cromity has worked in the information industry for over 15 years. He is currently a UX Specialist for ProQuest Dialog and is Associate Editor for the New Review of Information Networking. Jamal holds an MLS from NCCU , an MBA from NYIT and is PM (Project Management) certified. He has received awards and honors from many associations including ALA, SLA, NCSLA, and NCLA.

by Dennie Heye, Europe Chapter, Petroleum & Energy Resources Division

Future Ready to me means making choices on different levels: on a strategic level, a professional level but also in our daily work. As we are very service and customer oriented, we may have difficulties handling all the requests. In order to make sure I make the right between choices, I always ask myself two questions: “Does this have to be done?” and then “Should I be doing this?”

Consider whether a task, a chore or a project really needs to be done: how does this tie to your priorities? Do not fear to have this discussion with your colleagues, customer or manager. Often, when you can explain why a task is not that important in your opinion, the other can be convinced to share your view. For example: your boss wants you to brief him personally every week on the detailed status of all your projects and tasks. If you can explain to him that this will take valuable time away from priorities, but that you will brief him on the most important projects and tasks, he may be okay with that. Do not take every task handed without thinking about these questions.

Secondly, are you the right person to be doing it? Something may be very important, but you are not always the right person for it. If it does not fit your scope of work, your skills or time schedule it is better to have someone else to do it. Revisit these two reasons for yourself and with your team regularly.

Your time is always limited, so you need to do the right things in the right way. Being effective is about doing the right things for the right purpose. This all ties back to having priorities – otherwise you are not able to decide whether something is the right thing to do. It is essential that your team and yourself have a list of clear and agreed priorities.

Dennie Heye is Global Knowledge Manager at Shell International. He is also a member of SLA’s Information Outlook Advisory Committee and the International Relations Chair for the Petroleum & Energy Resources Division.

by David Cappoli, Southern California Chapter, Academic, Business & Finance, Information Technology, Leadership & Management Divisions

Even if I have just awoken from a long sleep; consumed a rich, dark chocolate bar followed by a Mountain Dew; and, had the din of my daughter’s anime videos assaulting my ears, when one of my cats melts on my lap in a curl of fur and legs, I am in a near perfect zone of comfort. Nothing can keep the warmth, soft fur, and purring, from combining to be a harmless but powerful narcotic lulling me into a contented state. At home and professionally, we all have our different comfort zones. And we generally wish to stay right where we are when we are feeling, well, nice and comfortable.

But professionally, while we all have comfort zones in which we prefer to work, we need to take on challenges that push at those boundaries of easy contentment. I am not advocating that we work in environments in which we are ill at ease. I am, though, promoting that we take chances when we might otherwise shy away from them because they represent the untried and unknown.  To be ready for the future, we need to drop that wariness and embrace a confidence that makes us willing to investigate options, broaden our skills, and constantly learn new approaches to solving problems. When asked to take on something new, yes, we can fret, but then we need to get beyond any dismay and start moving forward.

As librarians and information professionals, we have a strong service orientation that does not always bleed into a personal assurance when confronted with the untested. The inclination may be to say, “No, I’ve too much to handle at this time.”  Or, “That’s not my responsibility.” Whereas, we show our worth by responding, “I don’t know much about that, but let me do some exploring, and I’ll get back to you.” With this answer we’ve stated that we are not well-versed in the topic put to us, but we are more than willing to take up the challenge.

While we can search the literature and browse web sites in search of answers, we have our professional networks that can offer insight as to the best way to advance.  And we have SLA’s 23 Things, vast libraries at our disposal, webinars, continuing education opportunities, etc., all of which can make us better.

Moving out of our comfort zones not only enhances our own abilities, but our value as well.  And it is the only way to thrive in an ever-changing present and future.

David Cappoli is the digital resources librarian at the UCLA department of Information Studies. He is former president of the SLA Southern California chapter (2008) and was the chapter’s treasurer from 2004 – 2006. David was a member of the 2009 Centennial Commission of SLA, and a member of the 2009 Conference Planning Committee. Prior to coming to UCLA, he was a librarian at the LA Times, and was research database coordinator with Glasgow Polytechnic in Scotland.

by Sandra Crumlish, Southern California Chapter, Biomedical & Life Sciences and Leadership & Management Divisions

One thing I have learned in the corporate world is that space is a high commodity. For the past 21 years I have been able to keep the Library in the same place – a somewhat large room with one wall of windows. The ideal space to allow people to feel like they are away from the desk to read and acquire information in a different environment. As we concentrate on utilizing technologies of the future to ready ourselves, our libraries, and our organizations for what is to come, let’s not forget our physical presence – where that applies.

The Library tends to lead the organization in adopting new technologies and is the first to provide virtual resources for the global organization. As we transition to a more digital than a mainly print library I am eyeing my space as a vulnerable target, and the vultures are slowly starting to circle. Future Ready is not just about planning our futures in the profession and keeping up. For those of us who have physical libraries we have to be even more creative and innovative about how our space becomes Future Ready as our print collections diminish in the face of providing more electronic materials. We are planning now because looking into the future two or three years will show us with fewer shelves full of books and journals, although we will always retain a print collection, it will just be smaller.

Welcome to the future! While we do not plan to have space-age seating and workstations, we do plan to have a space that aesthetically encourages people to actually visit the Library. Some of our brainstorming ideas center around collaboration spaces that do not look anything like mini conference cubicles. We are talking about circular spaces that allow dynamic discussion with teamwork tools available, displays of devices, diagrams, anatomical representations of implanted devices (ours of course), programmers and remote care units, new technologies, etc. – past, present and future. By providing access to our past and present, with room to boost creativity, our researchers can plan and design for the future. This creative-enhancing space will provide unique resources for the future and they will not all be digital.

The future holds so many possibilities we should not limit ours. We have to think of interactive experiences – the younger generation is coming to work with those of us who may be a little long in the tooth, but there is room for both our worlds to meet, especially if we want to compete.

Sandra Crumlish, Manager St. Jude Medical CRMD Library & Resource Center, developed St. Jude Medical’s Library from a bare storeroom with a few journals to a multi-disciplined library and was the driving force to create a virtual library, providing enterprise-wide access to medical, technical, business, and industry electronic resources. Sandra’s current focus is in developing a knowledge management initiative for the company and is working with the IT Web Development Team to create more efficient and capable tools to achieve that end.

by August Jackson, Washington, DC Chapter, CI, IT, and Taxonomy Divisions

Two topics that most people go out of their way to avoid are fear and failure. I’m going to tell you about specific times I’ve felt fear or experienced failure. I share this to encourage you to listen to your fear and court smart failure to build a portfolio of experimentation to build new skills, buttress your reputation and expand your network.

Please forgive an MBA-toting strategy guy from throwing around a term like “portfolio.” Portfolio strategy consists of making multiple bets with varying levels of risk. The idea is that we have safe bets that will generate reliable returns. We also have a few options that may generate high returns but also might subject us to a higher potential for loss. When we invest in an index fund that tracks the S&P 500 or balance our 401(K) we’re employing portfolio strategy. Companies have portfolios of products that include legacy cash cows and new products that may either become superstars or flop.

The modern career should follow a portfolio strategy to augment day job “stability” with cutting edge projects and activities that may pay off big– or not. We need to take on projects and use tools with the full knowledge that they might not pan out.

Experimentation matters for librarians and related elite knowledge workers because there is an expectation that we are on the vanguard of information technology and tools. Our stakeholders rely on us to be the early adopters that are aware of what’s far over the horizon. That’s a critical value we deliver. We don’t have the luxury to wait for certainty that a new tool or medium is the next Twitter before we engage with it.

Here are my criteria for choosing experiments:

1. The experiment has the potential to deliver value to my professional community.
2. There is an opportunity to develop new skills.
3. The project does not require me to seek anyone’s permission. I love projects that have no expense or that I can fund out of my own pocket and that I can do on my spare time.

The issue of permission deserves attention. For many librarians with whom I speak this is a major source of fear that keeps them from experimenting with tools and projects that clearly interest them. So many work places have prohibitive policies and arcane processes. Policies spell out what cannot be done with company-owned tools in the name of productivity, information security or reputation. Steer clear of these issues and build experimental projects that are separate from your day job.

Now I want to tell you about two experiments I’ve undertaken. The first is The Competitive Intelligence Podcast, which I first published in 2005. The first time I learned what podcasts are I saw their disrutpive potential. I was particularly excited by the low costs of production and distribution that would open up opportunities to reach niche markets. I enjoyed setting up my own web site, RSS feed and learning how to record and edit digital audio. The first episodes were very low quality, especially with respect to my ability to speak coherently and edit competently. In the years since I’ve published 40 episodes of the podcast that have been downloaded over 60,000 times. I’ve interviewed the leaders in my profession. I funded the modest costs for the podcast out of my own pocket. I’ve built a skill set that I’ve been able to use in my day job.

The second experiment is the Competitive Intelligence Twitter Chat undertaken with my fellow CI professionals Sean Campbell and Scott Swigart. A Twitter chat is a scheduled, real-time discussion around a specific topic with a common hashtag. In our case we used the #cichat hashtag. Our chat was only the second Twitter chat in which I had ever participated, so I barely knew what I was doing. Our first chats were not very well attended, and participation was going down. After a few months we decided that we should step back and re-evluate the medium, our promotion of the sessions and the logistics. We may revisit the project in the future, but in the meantime we did make some new connections, and now I’m an experienced Twitter chat leader.

A good experiment will generate a modest amount of fear. You’ll also know that you’re in a good place if you don’t know entirely what you’re doing and that you’ll learn as you go. If you’re not a little afraid and don’t face some real risk of failure then you’re not experimenting enough. This is the type of experimentation that is key to evolving your career to be Future Ready.

August Jackson is a competitive intelligence and strategy professional who focuses on the role of information and data as the basis for competitive advantage. In his day job he supports Verizon’s enterprise
strategy and market intelligence. He also cofounded Mosi Systems to help organizations improve insight and foresight using cutting edge technologies to organize and analyze data and information. He blogs at
http://augustjackson.net and also produces the Competitive Intelligence Podcast which can be found at http://www.cipodcast.com. August can be reached by e-mail at august@augustjackson.net and you
can follow him on Twitter @8of12.

by Jeanne Miller, Michigan Chapter, Leadership & Management, Solo Librarians Divisions

I love the concept of Future Ready and applaud Cindy for coming up with that theme for her presidential year. I’ve been a librarian for a long time: my library school education pre-dated desktop computers and all that has followed.

I have lived through many iterations of feeling the need to be “future ready.” Each version has been a journey into a new aspect of my career, a new way to leverage the skills I developed in library school, a breath of fresh air in my workaday world. SLA helped me along the way. I went to sessions at SLA conferences, listening to people talk about gopher sites, the internet, and the world wide web – wondering if I really understood what those were and what they would mean for the way I did my work. When I attended a web design class in which the instructor discussed usability issues, I thought “Now here’s a no-brainer. Librarians have always thought about how our users will look for the information they want. This is not a new skill for us!”

But at this point in my life, future-ready also means retirement-ready. As much as I have loved my years as a librarian, I am ready to step into something else…something in the future. What will it be? How will I keep up? Will I still be information-savvy if I’m not in the workplace? How am I going to handle this version of future-ready?

Jeanne Miller received her AMLS in 1975 and has been providing information ever since. Throughout her career she has worked in special libraries in academic settings. Currently she serves as Director of Information Services and Publications for the University of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women. Jeanne is a past chair of Solo Division of SLA, former caucus convenor of the Women’s Issues Caucus (now dissolved) and has been an SLA member for over 20 years.

By Sue Mecklem, Oregon Chapter, Legal Division

I’m back from my first SLA conference, which was a wonderful, stimulating experience. I attended some interesting Legal Division and CI sessions, heard thought-provoking speeches by Thomas Friedman and James Kane, met some great people, and came back feeling energized about the profession.

One of the best parts of attending the conference is that I finally feel like I “get” what Future Ready is all about within the context of working as a librarian in a large law firm. I’d frankly been a bit irritated with the whole idea, in great part because law firms are typically late adopters of technology and not known as innovators. (See Eric Mankin’s article “Innovation in Practice: Why’s It’s So Hard” to learn why firms are slow adopters.)  I felt left out of the party because SLA was focusing on these wonderful technological advances and cool toys (e.g. 23 Things, the Innovation Lab) and as much fun as I had testing them out and playing with them, I couldn’t see much value for my law firm.

But…my days being immersed in all things Future Ready at the SLA conference have shown me that Future Ready is not at all about the technology. It’s not about the gadgets or cool social networking tools that we just don’t use here at the law firm. It’s not about the coolest open-source software.

What Future Ready is about is looking forward while keeping your eye on the here and now, and doing what we all do best – being ready to connect people with information, in whatever format they need at that particular moment. At law firms, being Future Ready may mean slow adoption of new technologies and introducing new ideas in a measured manner, but the underlying readiness to connect our attorneys to quality information is what’s important. Law firms are not known for innovative practices but because of recent changes in the economy, the practice of law must change because clients are demanding it.

I’ve let the ideas and information I encountered at the conference marinate since I got back from Philly and I’ve come up with a few things we law librarians can do to gently pull slow adopters into the future. The first is to become more comfortable with technology and online tools ourselves. Knowing how to search Twitter for news about a potential client, how to search LinkedIn for an executive’s current place of employment, and how to send emails and attachments that are readable on mobile devices are basic skills we all need, and will help us show the value of new tools to the decision makers.

The second thing we can do is be patient and offer to train attorneys the way they learn best. High performers often hate looking like they don’t know something and can get easily frustrated so individual training might work better than lecturing to a group of people. Other ways to reach out include creating podcasts and online guides so attorneys can refer to them when they need them.

A third important thing is to find advocates within your firm who are interested in new ways of doing things. Attorneys interested in new technology can help informally market new ideas from the library when they tell their colleagues about them. Share interesting tidbits and cool new tools with the community of those who are interested, even if they are small in number. They will pass along helpful, interesting information to their colleagues.

Being Future Ready within the context of a law firm means encouraging the use of new technology and new ways of thinking, being patient with slow adopters, and collaborating and aligning with attorneys and others who are forward thinkers. It really is as basic as connecting attorneys with information, in new ways.

Sue Mecklem is the Reference Librarian in the Portland office of law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. She’s an active member of the Oregon Chapter of SLA and serves as its secretary.

by April Kessler, Texas Chapter, Business & Finance and Academic Divisions

It is easy for us to get bogged down in the day-to-day activities and not really plan for the future. That takes time and energy that most of don’t have the luxury of these days. The SLA Annual Conference gives me the opportunity and incentive to make that time. It’s a time for me to re-energize and to make plans for new services and new approaches.

This conference was even more special to me because I was honored to receive the Achievement in Academic Business Librarianship Award for 2011 from the Business & Finance Division and College & University Business Section. The award recognizes the accomplishments of librarians who are new to the field of academic business librarianship with 3-7 years experience in an academic library position.

I have the privilege of working with the research faculty, staff, and 6,000 students at the highly ranked McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Serving this large group of users as the only business librarian can be challenging. We have a huge number of undergraduate students and our executive MBA students are in evening, weekend, and Dallas and Houston programs. To improve services I’ve been creating popular online tutorials that demonstrate how to best utilize the library’s business resources. The videos are available for the public on the UTBusinessLibrarian’s YouTube Channel. I also worked closely with the instruction librarians here at UT to create an interactive business research tutorial to help the undergraduates get a better understanding of the research basics for their Business Communication writing class.

I’m looking forward to implementing some of the new things I learned in Philadelphia at SLA 2011. This year I saw creative ideas for instruction, resources for looking into emerging markets, and innovative ways to collaborate with faculty. I also did a little primary research of my own on the best Philly Cheesesteaks. Although, 2 sandwich shops does not a scientific study make, my vote for best cheesesteak goes to Jim’s wiz wit.

Thank you B&F and SLA for this amazing award and for another great conference!

April is the Business Librarian for the University of Texas Libraries. As a solo librarian she supports the research needs of 193 faculty members, 4,300 undergraduates, and over 1600 graduate students at the McCombs School of Business. April has introduced many innovative ways to provide instruction and research help to her user population including very popular and useful online tutorials. April was chosen to participate in ACRL’s highly selective Immersion Program for instruction librarians in 2010 and is currently the president-elect for SLA’s Texas Chapter.

Amy Affelt, Chair of SLA PR Advisory Council and SLA Alignment Ambassador, Illinois Chapter, Business & Finance and Leadership & Management Divisions

Being Future Ready certainly requires us be nimble and quick…and to maybe even jump over a candlestick.  In a corporate information environment, Future Ready really is, as SLA President Cindy Romaine has described, “an attitude–to be more adaptable and flexible.”  That nimbleness and quickness means that we need to respond to requestors’ needs with value-added information deliverables whenever and wherever they are needed, and although it can seem inconvenient, oftentimes this is outside the hours of the traditional workday.

We bring value when we address and fill stakeholders’ information gaps and pain points, and these gaps and pain points become more pronounced in emergent situations.  It may require additional staffing, staggered scheduling, or a willingness on the part of information professionals to answer urgent requests that are sent via Blackberry at times when we are “off the clock.”  But it is at those times, when we receive that “3 a.m. phone call” (hat tip Hillary Clinton), that the importance of having information professionals at the ready becomes most apparent.

It is a cliché that those who survive are not the smartest or fastest but those most adaptable to change, but in an era where budgets are slashed and every department is being scrutinized, it is imperative that information professionals adapt to changing work environments and changing stakeholder needs.  We need to be up for what will be the biggest challenge of our careers—the Challenge to Change.  We are at our most valuable when we bring stellar research skills to the exact moment of requestor need.  We need to meet that challenge by mapping out team staffing pathways to make that happen.

Amy Affelt is Director of Database Research at Compass Lexecon, where she creates information and knowledge deliverables for PhD economists who testify in litigation.  She is also a writer and speaker on issues of interest to the information industry such as evaluating information integrity and quality, adding value to information, and marketing of information services.  She was awarded a 2011 SLA Presidential Citation for her leadership and work on the Future Ready Toolkit.

by Marianne E. Giltrud, Librarian and Adjunct Faculty, The Catholic University of America

I recently posted to the Future Ready, Linked In group the following:
We’ve just gotten back from SLA Annual Conference and the ideas, creativity and connections are still fresh in my mind and the energy was palpable…Where do we go from here? What is our next step to solidify our knowledge and participation in the future? What trends, impacts and disruptions do we need to be keenly aware of so that we can ride the wave of the future??? What does it mean to be an International Organization? What cultural norms and ethnic considerations do we need to be aware of so that we can bridge the gap in a flattened, connected and success based world?

I have been asked to expand on my comments and I am awed and amazed at the opportunity to do so. To that end, I would like to tease out each question above with the hopes that this will provoke ideas, discussion and questions that serve to shape our future now.

Where do we go from here?
I ask this because it seems incumbent upon us to advance our knowledge, skills, and abilities derived from the conference experience. To me, a blog post is a venue to articulate, envision and brainstorm about the future while learning from our past.

In library school, Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat was required reading at a time when many business schools read and discussed it like the Bible. Friedman’s opening session focused us on the question of, “How do we compete in a world that is Flat, Crowded and Disrupted?” He asked us to reach down within ourselves to meet the challenge of the future today by thinking critically about thechallenges and opportunities we face in a global economy. Moreover, in today’s world we confront an unprecedented paradigm shift in the realm of labor and economics. For example, during the Great Depression (1929-1939), jobs creation did not face the significant technological disruptions that we find today. In the economic downturn of 2008-2009, the jobs that were eliminated, are today only being replaced by one technical position whereas before there may have been seven jobs performing that function. That’s a 14% permanent reduction in jobs! We can no longer sit idly by and wait it out. We need to become entrepreneurs in our profession. Inherent in this process, is the need to leverage our creativity, engagement and participation from a global perspective.

What is our next step to solidify our knowledge and decide our participation in the future?

I believe continued discussion in this and other frameworks provides an insightful medium to brainstorm, share knowledge and reflect on the myriad skill sets, that library and information professionals bring to the table each and every day. We are conveners of knowledge who collaborate, facilitate and advance wisdom inside and outside the walls of our organizations. Larry Prusak challenged us to articulate the why’s and how’s, in order to enhance judgment and decision making in a world overwhelmed with knowledge alone. We need to be the lens of “Cognitive Diversity.” This is done through our innate ability to read between the lines, synthesize and evaluate our biases hence render decisions framed in the context of understanding the differences in disparate and opposite ideas. As a profession we are highly skilled to consider the issues and provide arguments grounded in reason, intellect and yes, even virtue.

What trends, impacts and disruptions do we need to be keenly aware so that we can ride the wave of the future???
Thomas Friedman speaks about “Cultural Diversity” and how having individuals from very different cultural backgrounds can bring insight into issues, events and considerations in the world today. What this means is that we may not always be aware of our biases and how they filter how we see the world and our relationship to it. Unfortunately, this limits our viewpoints and tends to shape our thinking in avery narrow way. Moreover, technology has disrupted the world and will continue to do so. Looking to the events in the Egypt, where Facebook was integral to the overthrow of the government shows exactly how intelligent, passionate and informed individuals can shift the outcome of a nation in real time. What does that mean to us? These uprisings are reflective of a global world economy that seeks to level the ground and prove that they can make a difference. If we can anticipate the future and be ready to adapt, then we can move forward and ride the wave into the future.

More disrupters…..
Bruce Rosenstein challenged us to “Live in More Than One World” by following Peter Druckerian Management philosophy and create a bucket list in key areas of our life to expand upon our skills, reflect and prepare for the future today. I spoke with Bruce at the conference and he said that in his new position at the Leader to Leader Institute, he works locally, engages internationally and is networked to accomplish his priorities across the nation. He has experienced first-hand the economic and technological disruptions today. That experience has provided him with a unique insight not only into his process but recommendations for us to reflect upon as possible ways to manifest the agility necessary in our world today.

What cultural norms and ethnic considerations do we need to be aware of so that we can bridge the gap in a flattened, connected and success based world?
In my undergrad studies, I took organizational psychology from a professor who was writing a book andstudying the perception of Aborigines, the indigenous people of Australia. The purpose of the study was to determine if the subject could identify and replicate the pattern of placing round blocks on the rods inserted on a piece of wood. The tester and the subject faced each other with a wooden plank that had wooden dowels placed upright about an inch apart. The tester placed blocks on the rods, and the subjects not only replicated the pattern but anticipated the next move…What they found out was that, instead of trying to remember the order of placement which we might do, i.e. center first, then right side,left side, etc. that the subjects were reading micro-expressions and nuances in body language to determine where to place the next block. That takes body language and reading a person to a whole new level. My point is that if we are competing with people who have that level of skill as it relates to human relations, negotiations and other interactions do we have that level of insight, awareness, and emotional intelligence to succeed?

To be successful and remain relevant, it is incumbent upon us not only as an organization but also as individuals who are part of the greater whole, to articulate meaningful strategies derived from a “CrowdSourced,” “In the Trenches,” and “Ground Truth” aggregated knowledge framework to improve judgment and decision making on important issues impacting us every day. In order to do this we need to rethink the “aboutness” of our profession and move forward on the path of future ready.

Marianne E. Giltrud, is a Librarian and Adjunct Faculty, at The Catholic University of America where she combines her extensive experience in knowledge services, technology, business, and program planning in support of the University Libraries.  Marianne is a member of the D.C. Chapter of the Special Libraries Association Program Planning Committee and Steering Committee Head, the CUA School of Library and Information Science, “A Century of Knowledge, Service and Discovery” Centennial Celebration.  A graduate of Catholic University School of Library and Information Science, she has written social science reviews for Library Journal, spoken and made poster presentation at research symposia on a variety of topics including mobile technology, information literacy and digital media and emerging technologies.