by Molly Hagen, Minnesota Chapter
by Liz Scheibel, Minnesota Chapter, B&F and Legal Divisions

We have found that Information professionals and Librarians are extremely welcoming to and excited for new people entering the profession – everyone wants to help! We are so grateful for the help and advice we received during our school years, and that support continues now as we are both in our first professional jobs.

Everyone wants to help new info pros, but are you ready to help? Do you know what fresh MLIS grads in your SLA chapter and in introductory level professionals in your department need from you? We’re a profession of planners and organizers. Have you planned how you will help new people and gotten your resources and ideas for doing so organized?

As new information professionals who are just becoming “old” enough to look back, here are four ways we believe you can give to the future of our profession:

1. Network with newcomers, over and over again. New people are important! Take some meaningful time to get to know them before recruiting them for something beyond basic membership or simple attendance. Learning about their skills, interests, and goals means that when the time is right, you’ll be able to ask your new colleagues to do something that is appropriate for them – and they’ll be more likely to say yes and do a good job.

2. Be the best mentor you can be. Signed up to be a mentor? Good for you! Your work has just begun. Study up and research it – read about it, meditate on it, talk to others who have done it and find out what made the relationship successful. Prepare like you would for a job interview. (Calling Minnesota Chapter members: as the chairs of our Chapter’s Mentoring Program, we’re here to help.)

3. Help connect classroom education to real world work. A good conversation starter with a student (or someone doing an internship) is asking them what classes they are taking or what they are studying. Keep the conversation going by describing how you use that kind of training or information in your real work. Making the connection between the classroom and what someone in the field actually does is one of the hardest things about making the jump between being a future information professional and a current information professional. Help them connect the dots.

4. Don’t just get them jobs, make them jobs. A key to being future ready is to avoid assumptions that hold us back, and one of the most devastating assumptions we make is that we can’t control job creation. Too often our assistance for job seekers stops at referring them to open positions, helping them network, and, at best, creating temporary positions or internships. It’s a tough economy for new people; many good ones are looking for their first break. Have you ever brainstormed about what you would do with an additional employee in your department? Have you sat down and made the plan – the job description, the qualifications, the proposal to management? Have you ever thought that another area of your institution, or even another institution altogether, could use an information professional, and then tried to make it happen? If you want to help new people in your field, create someone a job. It’s the thing they need the most. Then enjoy reaping the rewards of having a brand new information expert in your midst – his or her energy and fresh ideas will inspire you to even greater heights.

We know experienced professionals in our field are generous with their time and knowledge. Hopefully, these thoughts will spur some future ready thinking and planning on how to put that generosity into action! After all, being future ready means being ready for the future members of our professional communities.

Molly Hagen is the new Learning Center Associate at Thomson Reuters in Eagan, Minnesota. She graduated with her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2010. She can be reached at molly.hagen@thomsonreuters.com, or on Twitter @mollyhagen.

Liz Scheibel started her position as Librarian at Lindquist & Vennum PLLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota in April of 2010. She graduated with her MLIS from St. Catherine University in 2011. She can be reached at escheibel@lindquist.com, or on Twitter @emcscheibel.

The authors are members of the Minnesota Chapter of SLA and are the new co-chairs of the chapter’s Diversity and Mentoring Committee. They are available to provide mentoring connections to local information professionals, as well as sparkling conversation for information professionals new and old.

by Dru Frykberg, senior librarian for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota Chapter, Advertising & Marketing, Business & Finance, Government Information Divisions

Warnings of a possible new recession surfaced this month amidst unimpressive job growth, declining consumer spending and a tanking stock market. Meanwhile, I recently returned to work after a three-week layoff, the result of Minnesota’s government shutdown.

I really didn’t need more reasons to take this Future Ready stuff seriously – I was already a convert.

I made what I considered a smart move to librarianship in the mid-1990s – when the Internet was soaring and so was our economy. I left journalism for a career offering more regular hours, better pay (really), and plenty of job openings.

Today, I still believe library work was the right choice, especially when I see news jobs and organizations disappearing. In fact, a recent issue of my alumni magazine devoted itself to how journalists can better prepare for mid-career transitions.

Information professionals should be planning and preparing for career changes, too, whether that means adapting to new demands in our current jobs, making ourselves more indispensable within our organizations, or considering transitions to related and high-demand fields.

A U.S. Department of Labor tool, mySkills myFuture at www.myskillsmyfuture.org, aims to help by providing a bridge to new careers based on a job seeker’s work history.

mySkills myFuture is about to celebrate its first anniversary. The Obama administration encouraged its development to prevent a double-dip recession by helping those in low-demand or vanishing professions find new jobs.

Here’s how mySkills myFuture works: Enter your current or past job and you’re presented with occupations requiring comparable skills. Submit “librarian” and these matches with especially bright outlooks are suggested:

• Market research analysts
• Public relations specialists
• Personnel recruiters
• Training and development specialists
• Instructional coordinators
• Employment interviewers

From there, you can learn about the recommended careers, find job openings and discover how to prepare for these new opportunities.

I’m not saying we all should become market research analysts. But perhaps some of us can use mySkills myFuture, and similar resources, to get ideas for additional training to make ourselves more marketable.

I work with market research analysts and this information makes me want to pick their brains even more to learn how I can boost my analytical skills. Not only would this help me provide clients better results and insights, but it would increase my value within my organization and in the job market. In this climate of doing more with less, I might just keep my job by working as both an information professional and analyst.

We should also partner with these types of professionals within our workplaces to learn from them, tout our expertise and services, and together produce good work.

That’s what I try to do with my public relations colleagues. I provide research for our staff writers, and occasionally I research and write articles. But who knows, in the future my agency or the labor market might demand information professionals with public relations skills, and this ongoing experience will help keep me employed.

And let’s take the results from mySkills myFuture a step further and promote SLA to these professionals who have occupational skills and interests similar to our own.

Dru Frykberg, president-elect of SLA’s Minnesota Chapter, is a senior librarian for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. She has spent more than 15 years working in government, academic and public libraries. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and criminal justice, and a master’s in library science from Indiana University in Bloomington. Contact her at dru.frykberg@state.mn.us.

By Qin Tang, Minnesota Chapter, Transportation Division

In the last few years, I have learned a great deal about what makes a great leader through intensive reading on leadership, attending workshops, interviewing leaders and witnessing a true leader in action. That leader is – Tom Sorel, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, where I serve as a librarian. I would like to share a few things I have learned.

Let’s start with the basics of what leadership is about.

In Leadership Challenge, authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner say leadership is not about position or title, power or authority, status or wealth, being a CEO, president or a hero. Leadership is about relationships. It is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow. It’s about character and what you do.

The fact is, everyone can be a leader. You are a leader in some way even if you don’t hold an official title in the organization. You are the most important leader in your organization, in your family and your life. Learning leadership skills is everyone’s business. Leadership opportunities are everywhere.

To be a better leader and a future ready leader, we need to move away from the traditional leadership styles that are individual-centered and to a more relationally oriented style – transformational leadership, democratic leadership, servant leadership and collaborative leadership.

This new approach to leadership means rather than having a hero who tells us what to do, we need a servant who inspires us, empowers us and helps us do the work ourselves. Leadership is shifted from “power over” to “power with.”

A true leader is a transformational leader, not a transactional manager. A transformational leader helps his or her followers become self-empowered leaders and change agents. Transformational leaders can articulate vision and values clearly so their followers, the new self-empowered leaders, know where to go and what to do.

In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, author John Maxwell says: “To lead tomorrow, learn today. Leadership doesn’t develop in a day. It takes a lifetime.”

Starting today, cultivate the following characteristics of great leaders:

• Characters – “Leadership is character in action.” – James Hunter
• Competence – Your emotional intelligence is as important as your IQ, if not more important. Hire people who are competent and smarter than you. “Competence is doing the right thing, the right way at the right time.” -Sheila Murray Bethel
• Collaboration – Seek to forge alliances both inside and outside of the organization. “Including colleagues and constituents in decision-making and problem solving strengthens organizations and builds participants’ commitment.” – David D. Chrislip
• Compassion – Create a caring, respectful, people-centered culture within your organization. “Take care of your people and they will take care of your business, not just because they have to, but because they want to.” – Lee Cockerell
• Connection – Connect with yourself, connect with others personally, and connect to the world. Forging the bond between people can strengthen teamwork. “Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand.” – John Maxwell
• Continued learning – All great leaders are lifelong learners.
• Empowerment – “Only secure leaders give power to others. Leading well is not about enriching yourself, it’s about empowering others. Believe in people and give your power away.”  - John Maxwell
• Humility –Have a humble spirit. Admit mistakes and learn from them. To be the best leader is to be the best servant. Choose service to others over self-interest.
• Humor and fun – Don’t take yourself too seriously. Have a sense of humor. Laugh at yourself so others will laugh with you. Celebrate and make work fun.
• Inspiring and motivational – “Leaders are to influence people and inspire people to act.” – James Hunter
• Mentoring and legacy – “When you invest in others, you gain the opportunity to create a legacy that will outlive you. The best leaders lead today with tomorrow in mind by making sure they invest in leaders who will carry their legacy forward.” – John Maxwell
• Openness and transparency – Openness in mind, heart, policies and dealings encourages curiosity, creativity and innovation.
• Trust – Character and competence are the foundations of trust; trust is the foundation of leadership. When you believe in people, they will believe in themselves and rise to greatness.
• Vision, purpose and values – “Leadership is getting people to want to do what you want them to do because they share your purpose, vision and values.” – Kevin Freiberg

Along the leadership development journey and in your practice as a leader, pay attention to the following pitfalls:

• Having tunnel vision
• Micromanaging
• Demanding perfection
• Having low self-esteem and confidence
• Having emotional insecurity and immaturity
• Making decisions based on emotions
• Acting as a roadblock between upper managers and employees
• Acting differently in front of their superiors and subordinates
• Blaming others for failures and taking credit for others’ successes
• Making assumptions without fact-checking
• Reacting negatively to criticism.
• Showing favoritism
• Being rules-oriented rather than people-oriented

Learning about leadership skills from reading and attending classes is important; learning from other leaders is equally as important. Both good and bad examples can teach us valuable lessons.

But what’s even more important in this process is application and practice. We become better leaders by applying our learning, knowledge and experience to our everyday lives. To become better leaders, we must be willing to change and grow.

Wherever you are in your organization and in your life, start the leadership journey today with the first step. Be the leader you were created to be and be future ready.

Qin Tang is a librarian at the Minnesota Department of Transportation. After graduating from college in China, she studied in Germany for five years on a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service receiving her MA in German. She came to the U.S. in 1991 and fell in love with libraries as she spent countless hours reading and using the Madison Public Library to learn English. She received her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1994. Qin has worked in public, academic, corporate and government libraries. She was profiled in the March 2007 issue of Information Outlook - “A roundabout route to Minnesota”. Qin is also a writer and blogger. Read her article “There is no place like the library” and connect with her via LinkedIn or Twitter @TangQin.

by Margaret Ostrander, Minnesota Chapter, IT & KM Divisions

Sometimes being future ready means growing our roots in new directions. At the core of our professional ethos is a service ethic focused on the needs of our users.

A recent enterprise search implementation at Thomson Reuters provides a compelling case study for keeping users at the heart of everything we do. Just one indicator of what this project provided to users is an astounding turnabout in data points before and after the search implementation – where previously 90% of our users’ experience with search was strongly negative, this trend was flipped to a 90% strongly positive user experience after the launch of our new search.

Our users’ delight can be attributed directly to rigorous user-focused methods of testing and validating the search experience.

User Observation: Design with the user in mind

User observation focuses the interaction of typical end-users with the user interface features of the search engine.  In our case, relevance of search results is not studied in this portion of testing. Instead, the goal is to increase knowledge about how people actually use search results pages, to identify areas that work for users and those that are barriers. User experience testing also opens doors to hear unanticipated feedback from users about their preferences in using an enterprise search tool.

A major tenant underlying user observation is that analysis of what users actually do, versus what they say, provides a more actionable picture into their needs, preferences and stumbling blocks – and thus a sound basis for the design of an easy-to-use system.

After brief warm-up questions, a moderator guides the user, prompting for reactions, thoughts, insights and feedback. While scripted search scenarios provide valuable comparative data across all users, the most robust and valuable information is mined from searches that users come up with themselves. This portion of user observation offered the team clear insights, and a hands-on, real understanding about both the users and their information needs.

Relevancy Testing: Optimizing search results from the user’s point of view

Clearly, the most important thing to determine when looking at any search engine is how valuable search results are to the user.  Actual search behavior of enterprise users formed the basis of carefully selecting a mix of test queries for relevancy testing. The majority of queries were intentionally drawn from the pool of the most common search queries that our users use, found in the “short head” of search logs, but also balanced with queries from the “long tail” and other examples seen in user observation sessions.

Specific information needs of users were associated with each query so that search results could be judged accurately and consistently. Again, these use cases were defined based on real life examples. Selecting a good group of queries for relevancy testing is as much an art as a science, and the search team found this aspect of relevancy testing to be particularly challenging and interesting.

Iterative rounds of relevancy testing were conducted by corporate librarians on the search team, with a variety of scoring methods for each query. Testing results were used to adjust the search engine’s relevancy settings until search results reached an optimized state. The hard numbers provided by the relevancy testing protocol were also critical in gaining an objective view in how relevant search results corresponded to user needs. The numbers also moved us away from the danger of reacting to biased “gut feelings” towards a clear, accurate methodology that accounted for relevancy as users see it.

Alpha Testing: Involving power users

As the launch of the search engine drew closer, a light weight testing protocol involved a core group of intranet power users. Testers were asked to explore the new search environment.  At this point, we were especially excited to find that in 81% of queries, Alpha users were finding what they needed on the first try, and 97% did not experience any technical problems.  These and other data points verified that the user interface design and search results relevancy was meeting – and often exceeding –  the expectations of Alpha users. At the same time, Alpha user feedback uncovered a few issues that were significant to resolve before moving into a broader Beta release.

Beta Testing: Widen the net of user feedback

Close before the search engine went live, a group of 10,000 users were invited to use search in a Beta environment. Feedback gained through focused survey questions revealed Beta users’ experience was also overwhelmingly positive, mirroring that of our Alpha users. The focus at this point was to test the search engine’s capacity for increased, live traffic and to spot any red flags prior to launch. Beta results were also valued by senior stakeholders, as they could see in a quick snapshot of real users’ experience and feedback before the new search tool was rolled out to all employees.

Additional Testing

Further testing critical to an optimal user experience included testing content processing, content permissioning, browser compatibility, performance (speed), and load testing. The methodologies presented here aim to provide repeatable, proven, and practical tactics to test an enterprise search engine so that its relevance, usability, and accuracy can be optimized for a superior user experience.

Margaret Ostrander, MLIS, is an information professional who enjoys connecting people with knowledge through innovative uses of technology.  She is Manager of Search at Thomson Reuters, a provider of intelligent information for the world’s businesses and professionals. She was recently a co-recipient of the Innovation in Action Award from the Minnesota Chapter of SLA, and was named an SLA Rising Star in 2009.  Margaret recently co-presented on User Observation techniques at the Libraries & Technology conference and a MN SLA Chapter continuing education event.  She has published articles on information seeking behavior in the international journal New Library World (2010) and the “Best Young Professionals” issue of Library Hi Tech (2008). Margaret invites you to connect with her at http://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretostrander.

by Sam Wiggins, Europe Chapter, Legal Division

When I finished my library traineeship in a law firm at the end of August 2010, I thought that I had a good understanding of the skill set required to forge a career in the sector. I started my Masters qualification a month later, and continued to consciously think about the tasks required of a professional law librarian, and how best to learn about them during the year (MA qualifications in the UK are an intensive 12 months).

A little over 3 months in, I started to think more abstractly about the profession and its future; more specifically where new professionals fit into the picture. The world of the information professional is fast moving, and the tangible skills we possess need to be constantly updated, but it will be ideas that provide the means to stay ahead of users’ expectations. I fully appreciate that a solid skill set is a must; but it is the less tangible ideas that will shape how these are implemented in the future.

As a new professional I have less practical experience than most, and my perceptions of what the profession can offer to its users are still being formulated, but I do not look on this as a disadvantage. In fact, be prepared to challenge yourself whenever your perceptions of the profession become static, as it instantly stunts the opportunity for creativity, passion and the possibility of moving forward. Occasionally ideas can result in suggestions that may seem implausible at first, but often they can be implemented with a little time and thought. As a new professional, the challenge is to check this sense of aspiration against practicality, without diminishing these ideas. Aims will occasionally need to be scaled down to match solutions that can be realised, but those ideas can still be the start of something. It can be as small as questioning an established practice, or providing a sense of enthusiasm that filters throughout a team inspiring others.

When I enter my first professional post in September, I will lack the experience of other members of the team, but hope to bring a fresh pair of eyes to the table. Being Future Ready is therefore not only about the organisation itself but the people within it. And my suggestion as to what you can do to be future ready? Ask a young member of the team how they perceive issues. Encourage them to come out of their shell. The current crop of new professionals will become future leaders and managers; why not start to nurture them now, passing on that experience, blending it with the enthusiasm we have? Who knows, something magical might come out of that two way dialogue.

Samuel Wiggins is currently studying for his MA Librarianship at the University of Sheffield and upon graduation will take up the position of Information Officer for a London law firm. He can be found on Twitter (@LibWig)and writes a blog at libwig.wordpress.com.

by Bacilio Mendez, New York Chapter, Legal Division

When I began library school, dare I say, in earnest, I had grand notions of one day being either a performing or visual arts librarian/archivist–it just made sense; I had majored in modern dance at Oberlin College and, at the time, was working as a junior fashion editor at JCK Magazine. I thought that I had found my niche.

So there I was, chugging along, half-way through the graduate degree program at Pratt Institute’s School of Information and Library Science (SILS), minding my own business, when the magazine job which I was incredibly thankful to have landed, as it helped fund one-third of my degree, suddenly wanted to send me abroad to scout the latest in watch and jewelry trends at BASELWORLD – The Watch and Jewelry Show. I was ecstatic! (Who wouldn’t be?) But with the time difference, phenomenal jet-lag, and a tight editorial deadline looming, I completely missed my registration time for the following semester.

On my way back stateside, I recall sitting in a Swiss airport and thinking I could always sweet-talk my way into “something better,” as I nonchalantly registered for Contemporary Issues in Law Librarianship. I clicked “add” simply to have the hours necessary to qualify as a full-time student so that I could get my financial aid and didn’t give the class a second thought.

Later on, when it became clear that I was not going to be able to “drop” the class and that I was stuck, I figured that I would keep my head down, grit my teeth, try to do my best, and deal with getting my first mediocre grade in graduate school. Once the class got going, however, I never gave the performing/visual arts a second thought. I could get more into my conversion, but I digress. I have another story to tell.

The first library conference that I attended was a requirement for students in Contemporary Issues in Law Librarianship and just happened to be held on the campus of a very prestigious law school that shall remain nameless. It was my second year of study at Pratt SILS and, as I hinted at earlier, I had only just discovered law librarianship as a career path. I had stumbled into law librarianship, but wanted to fully immerse myself so I went to this conference wide eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to take feverish notes.

I was astounded by how knowledgeable every speaker at the conference seemed, how long every panel title was, and within minutes was convinced that I had found “my people.” That is, until the last session of the last day.

The Director [hereinafter, TD], of the law library of the prestigious law school, was schedule to give a talk on library security, which I thought would focus on loss prevention, but ended up turning into TD spouting on about the greatness of the prestigious law school’s prestigious library. I forgave the posturing and puffery as simply what library director’s tend to do, but after a few minutes I found that TD was not one of my people, was someone that I would never count among my people, and even considered nominating TD to be brought before the council that I knew in my heart of hearts must exist simply to strip librarians who have lost their way of their library cards.

I actually found myself wanting to hiss during TD’s lengthy speech because of the air that TD took when speaking about the “homeless issue” that the prestigious law school had and how the worst part of TD’s job was “dealing with” said “homeless issue.” At one point, TD even went into great detail about how offended he was by one homeless “patron’s” odor [I would like to point out that TD actually made "air quotes" around the word "patron" several times when speaking so they are used in the previous sentence to demonstrate TD's disdain, not my personal feelings for homeless patrons.] and how happy TD was when the winter months “shooed the problem away to a local shelter.” What I would have given for a tomato at that very moment.

Now, as I have made exceedingly clear, this conference was being held on the campus of a prestigious law school. At this point, you may, as I was, be asking yourself: “If this is such a prestigious law school, such a hallowed institution, how does a homeless person get into the law library to begin with?” A brilliant question…which went unasked. I, myself, was both too unnerved and too aware of how “inappropriate” it would be to call out TD, on their own campus. To this day I regret not seizing the opportunity, but thankfully there were enough comrades in arms giving me knowing, and calming, sideways glances for me to know that TD was to be pitied more than vilified.

To further compound my annoyance, TD actually answered the very question that was giving me an ulcer. TD pointed out that part of the prestigious library’s brilliant security plan was that no one could gain entry to the library without being a current student, faculty member, or the holder of an alumni id card which carries a substantial yearly maintenance fee.

I was livid, but still held my tongue. Instead, I wrote on the panel comment card something like the following: “Perhaps TD should be more concerned that graduates of your prestigious law school are HOMELESS and less concerned with ‘library security.’ My guess is that homeless patrons would rather not smell, be characterized as the worst part of anyone’s job, or BE HOMELESS AT ALL. A little compassion and empathy would go a long way on both sides of this equation!”

Having since worked alongside pro se litigants at both the King’s County Supreme Court Law Library of the New York State Unified Court System and the Law Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. I think back on TD’s talk on “library security” quite often and I laugh because TD’s short talk taught me more lessons than any graduate school class could ever hope to impart.

I learned that:

• the job of a law librarian–public access, academic, and corporate alike–must be viewed as equal parts librarian, social worker, and therapist (or hair stylist, if you prefer).
• compassion and empathy are often more useful, and perhaps more often employed, than knowledge of the law and that when that is forgotten it is time to no longer be a law librarian.
• law librarianship is not for the faint of the heart, for those that need constant praise, or for the TDs of the world.
• law librarianship should be left to those more like Aisha A. Harvey, Chip Ward, Linda Tashbook, and Joshua Jackson.
• I have to be more fiercely protective of the patrons I serve than the profession itself because without them there is no profession.
• to be Future Ready, we must all realize that the problem is not the homeless.

Bacilio Mendez II is a graduate of Pratt Institute’s School of Information and Library Science where he served the King’s County Supreme Court Law Library of the New York State Unified Court System as the 2010 Nathan R. Sobel Law Library Fellow. Bacilio currently attends New York Law School, is the sitting Chair of both the SLA-NY & SLA Legal Division Diversity Committees, and is also Co-Chair of the SLA GLBT Issues Caucus.

by Robert Guerrero, Philadelphia Chapter, Legal Division

In 2002, I attended my first SLA Annual Conference in Los Angeles where I took in a session discussing a device fresh to market, the Sony eReader. Much of the debate centered on its shortcomings and deficiencies, and ultimately on its greatest flaw…. it wasn’t a book! Yet, I remember leaving that conference thinking the ebook was something to keep an eye on for The Future.

Hello Future! In April 2011, CNN reported that ebook sales topped paperbacks for the first time in history. All the major book retailers have released their own e-book readers, and those that were late to market (i.e. Borders), fell victim to this tsunami of sea change. But what does this mean for my users in the legal profession? How can I assist them in this great transition? Being ready for the future requires investigation, preparation and (ultimately) implementation.

First, it is important to know what your users are using. For me, I prefer to engage my users in casual conversations in the elevator or by the water cooler. Do you use an ereader? Which kind? What do you think? What are the pluses and minuses? But this may only scratch the surface of potential adopters. I also bring this up during training sessions. This forum allows us to get into more of the technical aspects. But to really conduct a full investigation, a formal survey is the best route. I make it a part of summer and fall associate orientation. Hard data on what tools users are using is gold for preparing for the next step.

It is also important to know if the information your users use and need is available in their preferred format. In the legal industry, electronic book content is growing at an exponential rate. For example, the number of legal ebooks available through Lexis has more than doubled in just the last three months alone! And if the content isn’t yet available, let your publishers know. Will this reduce the amount of print materials required in the library? How does licensing and access work in this new medium? These are questions worth asking and answering. Your users will certainly want to know before fully embracing any new format.

Finally, it is important to know where and how it will be used. Can ebook readers be taken into court? Can these devices replace cumbersome print source materials such as rules, codes, and case notebooks? Before implementation can be realized, many of these questions need to be addressed. But as we move along during this transition from a print to a shared print/electronic medium, many questions remain. Taking the time to investigate and prepare are key to the implementation process and to ensuring that information professionals lead the way as books become more compact, digital and accessible to our users.

Robert Guerrero is the library manager at the law firm of Richards, Layton & Finger in Wilmington, DE, He is the current president of the Philadelphia Chapter of SLA, and a member of the Legal Division and Baseball Caucus. He can be reached at guerrero@rlf.com.

by Jessica King, Kentucky and Philadelphia Chapters, Legal Division

Ever since SLA in June the word, “align” has been stuck in my head. I feel like I’ve heard it in presentations, read it in blog posts and I have been using it more than ever. I’m not sure if it is the case or not but I’m going to credit this to some kind of conference osmosis. Aligning what I do with my firm’s goals establishes myself as an essential resource to my firm and is one way I can be Future Ready.

Recently my firm launched an initiative to establish standardized practices and create more efficiencies in workflow in order to provide better service. To ensure that it doesn’t die the way some (most?) initiatives tend to in law firms, management has worked closely with administrative staff, IT, marketing and the library to create and promote new workflows/ideas. I have learned more about how my firm operates and wishes to operate in the future. With this knowledge, I have also taken the advice of more seasoned law firm librarians and have taken steps to align the initiative, named Practice Excellence^®, with library operations:

1. I use the initiative’s logo in my catalog and in library documents. This is in line with management’s wish to increase signage throughout the firm.
2. I have participated in practice group meetings as a representative of the initiative’s original steering committee.
3. I organized the purchase and distribution of supplemental materials for the firm related to the imitative.
4. I have contributed to marketing materials to be used for internal purposes. I credit this to the good relationship I have with my firm’s marketing department.

I have other projects underway such as keeping a database of related articles to the imitative in our catalog and researching KM trends that relate to the work we are doing. I apply the principles of Practice Excellence^® to tasks I already do, such as training and current awareness, in order to establish the library and myself as a resource during this shift in the firm’s practice. The examples I have listed may seem like small things but it is through small changes such as these that I think we can be Future Ready today. In my case I see what I am doing as a literal definition of Future Ready since I am readying myself and others for my firm’s future. I know my firm appreciates the unique skill set I have applied to the initiative and I believe a greater value is placed on the services I provide. Hopefully my experience will get you thinking about how you can be proactive and align your library, and most importantly yourself, with your organization’s larger goals.

Jessica King is a solo law librarian for Barley Snyder, a firm based in central Pennsylvania.

Tricia Thomas, Georgia Chapter, Legal Division Chair Elect-Elect

The Green movement and measures to be more environmentally conscious have been around for several years. The concept is certainly not a new one. But the Alston & Bird library decided to take a look at our some of our processes and discover ways that we could “green things up” around here. This review has ranged from examining some of our day-to-day processes to giving our physical book collection a closer look.

The Alston & Bird Atlanta office will soon be consolidating operations from two high rises into one.  Currently, the Atlanta library collection exists in a main library and 15 different satellite locations. We are looking to eliminate those satellite libraries and consolidate the Atlanta library collection into a single location, which will likely mean reduced floor space. This possible consolidation means we need to decide which texts are no longer used, out-of-date, or no longer published and eliminate those texts from our collection. For those texts that take up a lot of physical space, we need to consider exclusive online options such as eBooks and online databases. At the moment, we are looking at the possibility of moving several LexisNexis and Law Journal Seminars Press texts over to eBook access only. Of course, this may open up a whole can of pricing and licensing worms, but we feel it’s a move in a more green direction since we’ll be using less paper and space. Plus, moving more resources online gives our attorneys and staff more opportunities to do their legal research remotely. The ability to do more at home, at a client site, or at a professional conference means less commuting into the office resulting in less vehicle emissions polluting our atmosphere.

Another process the Alston & Bird library is looking to change is our Bluebooking and cite checking services. The Alston & Bird library takes pride in our years of experience cite checking briefs, memos, client letters, and other firm work products. For years, when a document has been submitted to the library for cite checking, we have printed that document, penciled in our suggestions and changes, and scanned a copy back to the attorney. Sometimes, we are also printing a copy of a Westcheck report which would identify any negative history associated with the cited cases. Recently, we have started testing a product by Microsoft called OneNote. OneNote has been around for several years but we have found a way to integrate it into our cite checking processes without disrupting any versions of the attorney’s document. OneNote allows us to draw, highlight, type, link other documents, and collaborate with our team members without ever having to print the first piece of paper. Not only is OneNote helping us kill less trees, it’s yet another example of how technology is allowing us to work and collaborate more efficiently in and out of the office.

These are just a couple of examples of how the Alston & Bird library is Future Ready. How is your library preparing for the future?

Tricia Thomas currently serves as the Legal Division’s Chair Elect-Elect. In addition to SLA, Tricia is a long-standing member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), the Atlanta Law Libraries Association (ALLA), and the Southeastern chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries (SEAALL). From 2006 to 2008, Tricia assisted the chair of SLA’s Legal Division by serving on the division’s planning committee for the 2008 annual conference in Seattle, Washington. Most recently, from 2010 to 2011, she served as SLA Legal Division Director. Additionally, Tricia has co-authored several articles on legal research and knowledge management in law firms and has participated in presentations on these topics throughout the United States.

Tricia has worked in law firm libraries for nearly 20 years and serves as the Library Manager for Alston & Bird’s Atlanta office. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oglethorpe University and a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Valdosta State University.