Dear Members:

The rapid evolution of the information industry, along with input from SLA members, has spurred the SLA Board of Directors to develop an updated strategic vision for SLA. This vision will serve as a roadmap for our association between now and 2014 to provide the best career-enhancing benefits to our 9,000-plus members worldwide.

The strategic vision reflects the fact that SLA Board members listened to a lot of member input. Given the diversity of SLA’s membership (academic, corporate, self-employed, etc.), we expect every SLA member to find some aspects exciting…and other aspects less so.  The strategic vision is a high level summation of bold goals, and we know boldness carries risk.  But we want to be bold, and we want your participation to follow the input you provided.  The specifics of implementing the vision will depend entirely on member engagement, and details will vary among each chapters and division.

We invite you to read the strategic vision with care, and then consider where you wish to put your efforts.  Members are the drivers for success in reaching the vision’s elements; where do you fit so that your volunteer contribution will generate the greatest benefit for your SLA unit and for yourself?

Your avenues for responding include the Future Ready 365 blog (today and during the first week of December), your chapter, your division, any special interest group (example: First 5 Years), the Board, and your personal professional network within SLA.  To facilitate idea-sharing, members of the Board will be hosting a Future Ready blog post detailing each focus area, and will be responding to members’ comments and ideas beginning November 28^th through December 2^nd.

SLA leaders look forward to hearing from you. Send an email to your chapter president or division chair, comment on the 365 blog right now, or call a board member.  We are here for you!

We’re pleased to unveil this updated strategic vision—a plan that is at once ambitious and realistic:

Vision:

SLA is a vibrant, global association of professionals who are employed in every sector of the information and knowledge economy. Our members thrive where data, information, and knowledge intersect and our strategic partners support SLA because they believe in the association’s mission and the future of its members. The goal of SLA is to support information professionals as they contribute, in their varied and evolving roles, to the opportunities and achievements of organizations, communities, and society.

Key Areas of Focus:

To supplement the strategic vision, priorities have been identified to guide the association’s leaders, volunteers, and staff toward fulfillment.  Focus areas include:

Annual Conference: SLA’s chief member-benefit is its highest priority. We will increase collaboration across SLA’s divisions to provide more focused, refined content. This collaboration will leverage our professional experience and institutional knowledge to ensure increased relevance of programming for SLA’s conference attendees. While increasing specificity of topics is key, focus will also be placed on broadening opportunities for learning (November 28^th blog post by Mary Ellen Bates, Division Cabinet Chair).

Professional Development: SLA’s value to its membership will be enhanced not only through improved in-person development offerings, but in combination with a year-round, virtual education program. We will define a new approach to providing reliable and useful professional development programming, comprising virtual opportunities throughout the year, and partnerships with schools of library and information science to co-develop content, communications, and delivery of educational programs (November 29^th blog post by Sara Tompson, Director).

Creating Richer Volunteer Experiences to Develop In-Demand Skills: A fulfilled association-vision will depend heavily upon SLA’s volunteer-force—the network that gives the association its strength and relevance. What better incentive to become active in the association than the fact that it will benefit your career down the road? New skills picked up as volunteers in our chapters and divisions may just be the stepping stones to a promotion or achievement at work.  Added focus will be placed on creating richer volunteer experiences in the areas of web development (search engine optimization, plug-in development and research), marketing (developing a marketing plan for local events and programs), program management (overseeing budgets, fund raising with local vendor communities), and more. SLA’s volunteers will be powerfully well-rounded in the years to come (November 30^th blog post by Daniel Lee, Director).

Opening New Markets Through Collaboration: A bright future for SLA depends on collaboration with key partners within the information industry. We will strive toward an increase in opportunities available to SLA’s membership through affiliation with schools of library and information science and the vendors who provide products and services that empower SLA members (December 1^st blog post by Brent Mai, President-Elect).

Growth Through Diversification:  The information profession is evolving faster than ever, thanks to the rapid rate of technological change and innovation. In this evolution lies opportunity to grow SLA’s offerings to new and nontraditional sectors of the information profession, and to enhance SLA as a professional home for these groups—e.g. competitive intelligence specialists, IT development specialists, and software and standards trainers (December 2^nd blog post by Richard Huffine, Division Cabinet Chair-Elect).

Envisioning a Bright Future:

The focus areas described above are highlights of our plan to fulfill a prosperous vision for the future. It goes without saying that each area of focus is inter-woven—each one depends on the other. As always, the value here lies in the opportunity to network, to try on something new, to step out of our comfort zones, and to achieve more than ever before. The Board of Directors encourages members to discuss ways in which they may participate and contribute to making the vision a reality. I am confident that as I pass the torch to incoming President Brent Mai and President-Elect Deb Hunt that the strength of the association’s volunteer force and staff will put us in a position that is both stable and pioneering within the information industry.

Here’s to success in 2012 and beyond!
2011 SLA President,
Cindy Romaine

Cindy Romaine is the current SLA President and is focused on encouraging members to be Future Ready 24/7 in 2011.

Info-entrepreneurs, represented by the Association of Independent Information Professionals, stand out as innovative, forward thinking, and client focused information professionals.  This series of posts delivers future ready solutions and strategies from current and past presidents of AIIP.  As industry thought leaders they have much to share about staying ahead of the curve and delivering cost effective solutions to clients worldwide.  In this insightful series of postings readers will learn how to create a job for life by listening for opportunity, watching for changes, stretching to acquire new skills, finding a balance, planning for the long term, and drawing on your strengths. — C.S.

by Cynthia Hetherington

When I started out in the information business, I was dubbed the Virtual Librarian (virtuallibrarian.com), mostly in part for my assistance to the law enforcement world and security sectors as the go-to source for research assistance and training. That was too many years ago to count, but I still hold the title and a now very stale Web site. As I write this 365 piece from an airport kiosk, I realize that EVERYTHING has changed and NOTHING has changed. I’m still on the road 200+ days a year training in the security industry, and I am a Private Investigator myself as well. However, the material and resources have changed significantly.

Now I am teaching social network investigations and reminding the audience of the oft-missed deep and invisible Web, which is valuable in most criminal and civil cases.

That said, how I teach hasn’t changed. Informing my clients and attendees is done the same way today that it was 15 years ago. I also have been publishing a newsletter for the past 10 years, which has been profitable for at least the last four!

Education and publishing are two things every librarian should embrace and consider as resources to not only spread their name, but to also validate their resourcefulness in their community. The reasoning comes down to diversity. If the only thing you do is sit behind a reference desk answering questions, you’ll never grow professionally. The same chair you sat in as a new librarian will be the same one you leave when you retire.

In our dreadful economy, it is absolutely paramount that the extra skills you can nurture, develop, and sell yourself on will be considered assets to your organization.

Granted, you do not need to be offering full-day seminars in front of thousands of people, but small classes, topic-specific presentations, and articles on the same subject are a great start.

Within AIIP, I am always drawing out of our membership, “what makes you special?” We can all do research, manage archives, and understand information, so what makes you stand out amongst the rest of us? Everyone I’ve asked this question of has since written articles for our Connections journal, has further focused their business marketing, and has seriously considered going more toward a niche and less toward the broad spectrum of information scientist. They are all budding successes who can speak intelligently on their unique skill set.

If you’re lost and aren’t sure what your focus needs to be, then it’s time to sit down and have a conversation to decide where you see yourself down the road. Draw out the map of how you plan on getting there. Don’t be afraid to look for a mentor, such as in AIIP’s mentoring program, or find a coach, as we have a few among our ranks. And, by all means, talk to those who have been out there for years and get the details of their war stories.

Once prepared, stick to your plan, follow your strategy, and always consider that there is a venue waiting to hear your voice and read your informational pearls of wisdom.

Cynthia Hetherington is the current president of the Association of Independent Information Professionals and has more than 17 years of experience in research, investigations and corporate intelligence. She is the founder of Hetherington Group, a consulting, publishing and training firm focusing on intelligence, security, and investigations. A widely-published author, Cynthia authored Business Background Investigations (2007) and the Manual to Online Public Records (2008). She is the publisher of Data2know.com: Internet & Online Intelligence Newsletter and has co-authored articles on steganography, computer forensics, Internet investigations, and other security-focused monographs. She is also recognized for providing corporate security officials, military intelligence units, and federal, state and local agencies with training on online intelligence practices.