by Kate W. Flewelling

A colleague recently dubbed me the “nomadic, geriatric librarian.”  At 32, I am hardly geriatric, but I do provide information support to those who treat our hospital’s oldest patients, and I leave my office (and the library) as often as possible.  I am mobile, and busy clinicians and students need me to be where they are.

At my institution, an academic medical center, the “ACE Team” (Acute Care for the Elderly) meets once a day in a hospital conference room (geriatrics patients can be on any service–cardiology, neurology, medicine–making bedside rounds impractical).  ACE Team members include an attending physician, a post-residency fellow, a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, a pharmacist and residents/medical students on two week geriatrics rotations.   As cases are presented, I listen for clinical information needs.  Often, attendees will have additional literature search requests or a request for “one good article on….” or “clinical practice guidelines for….”  If I think a question can be answered in less than five minutes, I look it up on the spot on an iPad (I have also used an iPod Touch).  Other questions are taken back to the library for prompt response.

Schedule permitting, I have been attending rounds twice a week since October 2010.  In that short time, I have been accepted wholeheartedly into the ACE Team, including being invited to the division’s holiday potluck.  I send welcome emails to residents and medical students as they start their rotation.  The welcome emails contain a link to a reading list on RefShare that I created in consultation with the team.  I have received questions from all members of the team and have had in-office consultations with a number of them.

While I feel like I am providing a valuable service, I am constantly learning myself.  Going to rounds is like visiting another country whose language I can read but am not yet fluent.  I have a much richer understanding of the context in which clinicians work and am able to hear in real time their thought process.  I am a better librarian to all my health sciences professional patrons as a result.  I have also gained invaluable life lessons on what kind of “old age” I want for myself and family members.

Some advice for those who would like to start rounding:

• Ask for a meeting with the department chair to discuss how the library might better serve the department and mention rounding as an option.
• Before the meeting, do some reading on the specialty and current issues.  Attend the department’s grand rounds a few times.
• Become an expert on point-of-care databases, especially those with mobile versions.
• Be as mobile as you can with available technology.
• Be prepared to explain what you are doing there and the services you provide.
• Listen, listen, listen.

Kate W. Flewelling is Coordinator of Instruction at the  Upstate Medical University Health Sciences Library, Syracuse, NY.  Her email address is flewellk@upstate.edu.

by Babette Bensoussan, Director, The MindShifts Group

When I was asked to write on the theme of “What does it mean to be future ready?” I thought no problem. There is so much information out there that it would be an easy blog to write.

After all, today we have more information sources available to us as well as wonderful search capabilities that there really is very little we cannot find out. However, I believe this is where the problem starts.

It got me thinking – as a competitive intelligence practitioner – what does it really mean to be future ready? If I look at this question from a competitive intelligence (CI) perspective then my answer must always suggest options for being future ready.

So what does that mean?

Let me start with the original question itself. What are the assumptions here – are they positive or negative? Does the question relate to individual future readiness or organisational future readiness? What are some critical uncertainties around the future that would impact anyone’s readiness?

I would need to be clear about these factors before I drive through the plethora of information. Otherwise I am like a man with a buoy bobbing up and down in a sea of information and going nowhere.

And talking about the plethora of information…. It is not just the information that is available on the internet or has been published that is important. Rather when it comes to the future, it is important to talk to people. Yes, I know you can ask people on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for answers however I really wonder how many people would answer an unknown. Most of us are unknown. We don’t have familiar names or great swaths of followers like Ashton Kutcher or Lance Armstrong.

This means we need to go forth and seek answers from people who may have an idea of what any plausible future will look like. From an organisational perspective that could mean talking to academics, journalists, futurists, customers, suppliers, distributors to just name a few. Many of them may not have published their future developments or intentions on the internet for you to find via a single search on Google!

Let’s say I now have all this information and am well informed about possible futures. Does that make me future ready? In my opinion, absolutely not.

I would suggest we need to analyse the information in light of our current situation. This is without a doubt one of the weakest steps as managers and individuals we face. Analysis is the cornerstone for insights yet far too often we see summaries instead!!

As an organisation for example, all the information needs to be analysed in context of the organisation’s capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, etc to identify the gaps it needs to address to be future ready, irrespective of the future that plays out. Some suggested analytical techniques that would help here would be techniques such as Scenario Analysis, Critical Success Factors, Driving Forces Analysis, even SWOT (done properly mind you – not the silly little four boxes!!).

The output of these techniques would identify options, opportunities, and threats that an organisation could address to make itself future ready. This is the real insight.

To be future ready for me is not just about knowing what future may likely play out but about being prepared and alert to meet any future with the best possible advantage. What do you think?

Babette Bensoussan is passionate about CI, is a SCIP Meritorious Recipient and a best selling author. For more information on her work visit http://www.mindshifts.com.au/

by Danielle Salomon, Southern California Chapter, Business & Finance Division

To be future-ready, we need to look at the way young people are using information.  If we examine the attitudes and behaviors surrounding the use of information by young people, it becomes clear that many of the existing standards in our field will be challenged.  For example, in Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media, author Carrie James tells the story of Daniel, a high-school senior who contributes to Wikipedia and uses one of his entries in a school paper:

After reading Daniel’s paper, his teacher calls him into her office and accuses him of plagiarism, noting that he used verbatim lines from Wikipedia without giving proper credit to the source.  Daniel replies that since he was a contributor to the Wikipedia article, his use does not constitute plagiarism…Above all, he asserts, the purpose of Wikipedia is to make knowledge available for widespread use.  It does not provide the names of article authors, and he will not be cited by others for his contributions.  In fact, authorship is irrelevant.[1]

The rise of collaborative authorship, distributed scholarship, and participatory communities is creating differences in the way young people think about authorship and ownership, and their expectations with respect to use and attribution. Some of the legal and ethical standards that apply to the use of information today are likely to change in the near future to reflect how users are participating in the new media landscape.  In the midst of this changing environment, information professionals need to take the lead in developing new standards, instead of focusing solely on enforcing existing standards.  Information professionals are uniquely qualified to shape the public policy debate on these issues, and craft policies that reflect how users use information, while still protecting core values such as access, equality, and intellectual freedom.  We need to work with younger generations of users to advocate for standards that foster education, support the advancement of scholarship, encourage innovation, and protect intellectual property.

Carrie James, Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media:  A Synthesis from the GoodPlay Project (Cambridge, MA:  MIT Press, 2009), 45.

Danielle Salomon is an MLIS student in the UCLA Department of Information Studies. She is a soon-to-be, newly-minted information professional and a leader in the school.

by Jane Kirby, Oregon Chapter, Government Information Division

A few weeks ago, a library customer hailed me in the parking lot as I returned from lunch.  “Hi Jane, I have a DVD to return.  I’ll stop by the library when you open at 1:00.”  I glanced at my watch: 12:50. “No need wait,” I said.  “I’ll take it now so you can be on your way.  I know you have a manager’s meeting this afternoon.”  I smiled as I walked into my building. “Working in a special library is like being a librarian in a small town,” I thought. “You represent the library wherever you go and you always know what’s going on.”

We special librarians are in a position to know our customers very well.  After all, we have a long-term clientele made up of co-workers and business associates. This close-knit relationship offers a unique opportunity to anticipate and respond to our customers’ information needs. If we simply tap into the grapevine, we’ll quickly learn how we can help.

Is the government affairs manager convening a task force and looking for volunteers?  Step up and join the team.  Who better than a librarian to provide research and analysis for a high-visibility project? 

Does one of the engineers have a reputation for being demanding and difficult to please?  Win her over with the current awareness service and you might find your library’s best advocate.

Or, how about the young data analyst who is overwhelmed with a major project, not to mention a new baby at home?  Save him some time by delivering information to his cubicle. It only takes a minute.

Reach out.  Listen. Be flexible. The Future Ready special library melds high touch with high technology.