Hello from Wisconsin! We are delighted to contribute a week’s worth of postings from the Midwest! You’ll see that Wisconsin isn’t just about the cheese—our chapter boasts 120 members from diverse environments: corporate, law, academic, and other settings, many of us from unique national companies and associations. Our state’s two library schools have renewed focus on special librarianship and growing interest from our student members is evident. We are an active, enthusiastic chapter and happy to contribute our thoughts on future readiness! It’s great in the Dairy State!

To be Future Ready, I think all comes down to making connections with your users/clients. Ask them questions, listen to them, find out what their interests are and then connect them to the information and resources they need in a timely and cost-effective manner. Be a trusted partner and keep things as simple as possible!

Diane Gurtner received her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is currently an Information Scientist in Research, Development & Quality at Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer. She was previously employed in the Corporate Information Center of an insurance and financial services company. Diane has served the SLA Wisconsin Chapter in several board roles including Secretary, Program Chair and President.

Howdy from the beautiful Rocky Mountains! The Rocky Mountain chapter of SLA is thrilled to contribute this week’s FutureReady365 posts. We are a small, diverse community of 150+ members spread across a four-state region (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota). We have a medley of posts from public school, government, higher education and independent professionals that we hope will prompt conversations, comments and thoughts on being future ready. Happy reading!

My first encounter with the term “economic gardening” was on an SLA job posting in the spring of 2008. My heart opened up and my brain engaged just reading the explanation of the economic gardening concept in the job description. The idea of nurturing local businesses already existing in the community sounded like one of those genius ideas that are so obvious once you hear it you wonder why it isn’t practiced everywhere. Several sophisticated theoretical concepts underlie the practice of economic gardening but the basic idea is that rather than focusing on bringing new businesses into a community (the traditional approach to economic development) an economic gardening program supports and helps to grow those businesses already operating in the community.

Economic gardening recognizes that economies are built by entrepreneurs and therefore focuses on three principles designed to make communities attractive to entrepreneurs – infrastructure, information and connections. Infrastructure pertains to amenities in the community that entrepreneurial folks look for, like open space, museums, libraries and a good school system. Because access to high value information is critical for business success, a highly skilled business librarian has always been a part of Littleton’s economic gardening team. Known as the “Economic Intelligence Specialist,” this team member is encouraged to seek out and use the latest tools and techniques available for business research and analysis and then to apply the information retrieved to help businesses solve problems. Connections have to do with both individual and organizational resources. Littleton’s economic gardening program provides local business owners with connections to experts and other influential people and also nurtures relationships with resource-rich organizations like universities and research labs that may be critical for a business’s growth.

A serendipitous glance at the SLA job board on a spring day resulted in an unexpected career shift into an innovative, exciting program I had no idea existed. Now, three years into the job, I’ve found that my professional skills and abilities are growing along right along with the businesses we help in our economic gardening program. And that’s my short story about being future ready.

Recca Larson has worked for the City of Littleton’s Business/Industry Affairs Department since 2008. Her fascination with business research and research databases was awakened as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Graduate School of Library Science. Out in the real world she spent a satisfying decade setting up and running research services for several Fortune 500 companies. Recca also worked many years for Dialog, heading a team of business librarians advising Dialog customers on search strategies designed to answer complex business questions. She’s been an RMSLA member since 2008 and was previously a member of the San Andreas and San Francisco chapters of SLA.

by Mirah Dow, Associate Professor, Coordinator, PhD Program, School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University

Equipped, organized, arranged, primed, willing, and able?  I hope so, but to do what?

As a university professor who first experienced work and life in big businesses (Hesston Corporation, now AGCO; and Gulf States Paper Corporation, now The Westervelt Company; and Proctor & Gamble), I am often frustrated by the distance that often seems to exist between the corporate world and academic communities such as the award-winning institutions I have worked in for the past two decades.  It seems to me, corporate and academic communities have lots in common, especially when it comes to topics such as “learning (life-long).” I’m wondering if we (librarians) can put aside the typical debate that often divides corporate and academic worlds about whether to be focused on the “bottom-line” or “people” long enough to think about future ready learning. Yes, I know we can.

Special librarians, along with librarians in all types of libraries, today perhaps more than ever before, must be able to posit significant philosophical, professional and technical knowledge. To be future ready, I believe today’s librarians and information professionals must be able to apply philosophy from a variety of cognate disciplines to new problems and issues in virtual and physical libraries. As future ready researchers, we must have the intellectual capacity to focus on the phenomenon of information regardless of the format or context; attend to the entire information transfer cycle from creation to deletion of information; and, recognize the interdisciplinary nature of our field, which draws from scientific and social science disciplines, as well as from information science and library science.

I suggest these future ready learning goals .

Develop the intellectual capacity to connect and integrate several academic disciples or schools of thought, professions, or technologies in the pursuit of a common task. Interdisciplinary studies and skills are needed today more than ever to cross traditional, academic disciplinary boundaries as new opportunities and challenges in the information age emerge.

Know and be able to articulate theory that can potentially be used to construct new theoretical frameworks relevant and useful in the investigation of new information problems and topics. Be able to articulate awareness that out of various paradigms of social science thought develops related assumptions, theories, models, tools and practices.

Be committed to communicating information and knowledge to people. Librarians and information professionals must be moral agents responsible to themselves, others, and society as a whole. Embrace and convey values  and ethics of library and information science such as service to society; access to information in many forms and formats; reading and the book are important; respect for truth and the search for truth; tolerance; the public good; justice; and aesthetics.

Think across all cognitive domains, which according to Bloom (1956, 1994) are knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. In doing so, demonstrate abilities to remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create, and to use critical thinking and writing skills within a critical, social theory framework.

Use and conduct research.  Because information practices are always open to change and always demand responsible, professional services, research in library and information studies addresses many critical issues. How does electronic information change libraries and other scholarly organizations? How do libraries anticipate community needs in the 21^st century? What is the librarian’s role in adding value to electronic information? There are many more critical topics and questions to be asked and answered.

Communicate, in writing and orally, clear and concise scholarly and professional knowledge of content and practice. Ensure the accuracy of research through ethical reporting of research results. Use excellent communication skills to instruct others to develop information and technology skills and to work in teams.

Ready?  Have you achieved each of these future ready learning goals? If yes, great!

Get set. In case you are wondering, I hope you will consider taking yourself into the future through participation (if you have not already done so) in a Library and Information Studies, Master of Library Science (MLS) and/or PhD degree program. The American Library Association provides a searchable database for programs. There are many programs designed to educate dynamic leaders in the field of library and information science who are prepared to bridge the theory-practice divide.

I hope you will strongly consider applying to Emporia State University, School of Library and Information Management’ s MLS or PhD degree program. We provide an environment that fosters interdisciplinary and multicultural learning experiences, and will help you to achieve these six (and more), future-ready learning goals.  We are now accepting applications for a new PhD cohort that will begin fall 2012.  We accept MLS applications each semester and offer blended MLS course delivery in Kansas, Colorado, Utah, and Oregon.  See our website for program requirements, application procedure, and schedule of new program start dates (by location).

Go . Go into the future able to bridge the theory-practice divide. The Master of Library Science and/or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree program in library and information studies can enable you to be future-ready. Let’s talk.

Reference

Anderson, L. W., & Sosniak, L. A.  (Eds.)  (1994). Bloom’s taxonomy:  A forty-year retrospective.  Ninety-third yearbook of the national Society for the Study of Education, Part 2.  Chicago, IL:  University of Chicago Press.

Bloom, B.S., & Krathwohl, D.R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives:  The classification of educational goals, by a committee of college and university examiners.  Handbook I:  Cognitive Domain.  N.Y., N.Y.:  Longmans, Green.

Mirah Dow is an Associate Professor at the School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University, where she teaches foundations of information science, psychology of information use, organization theory, and research and inquiry to Master of Library Science and PhD students.  During the past five years, she has investigated the effects of state-licensed school library media specialists (LMS) on student achievement in Kansas as represented by state assessment proficiency rates at the school  level.  Dr. Dow currently coordinates SLIM’s PhD program.  From 1994-1999, Dr. Dow was director of a special library, The Kansas Resource Center on Autism, at The Teachers College, ESU. She can be reached at Mdow@emporia.edu.

Faculty Profile: http://slim.emporia.edu/

by Kristin McNally

Growing up on The Jetsons, I thought the future would include a house in the sky, travel by flying car, and fulfillment of every need at the push of a button.

While I don’t have Rosie the robot to keep my home in pristine condition and my car’s rubber tires are still firmly planted to the ground, Hanna-Barbera was heading in the right direction with the theme of micro technology. My wall is adorn with hanging flat televisions, my phone is a miniature computer with applications like video chat, navigation and even a way to see which local gas station has the best price.

I may not have my every need at the push of a button, but I can find the answer to almost any question in a matter of seconds. Knowledge is easier than ever to disseminate, access and share, which means the information industry is rapidly evolving to keep up with the progression of technology. Are we still relevant? Useful? Needed? With the right tools, the answer is yes.

I am so proud to work for a company focused on innovation. Every day I learn more about how Swets is paving the way for libraries to fit in the future. With less than a year of experience in the industry, I have found myself amazed with the complexities involved in running a library. I always the thought the books just appeared on the doorstep, a sticker was slapped inside, and someone shoved it where it was alphabetically appropriate. Needless to say, I have been proven wrong.

Swets has designed our platform, SwetsWise, in such a sophisticated manner that it is easily accessible and fully functional through a smart phone browser.

eBooks in SwetsWise has recently integrated a Google Books Preview, providing users with added values like reviews, ratings and suggestions for related content along with basic information including a cover shot and in most cases the table of contents, literary introduction, and publishing details.

We also have a cutting edge search product boasting the latest technology in federated search. This second-generation development introduces speed to amazing quality, offering clustered, relevance-ranked results to appear in seconds. Its affordability compared to Discovery is even more appealing. There will always be value in the technical and organizational support of information and information users.

Swets has carefully developed the tools you need to excel despite the many hurdles you currently face. Our customers have helped immensely in turning this dream into reality. We have made it easier than ever to hear your needs by implementing User Voice in SwetsWise. This enormous worldwide suggestion box allows customers to offer suggestions for improvement and continued development. Plus, you can vote on your favorite or most agreeable recommendations to help us to rank your requests.

Bubble car or not, the future is here. Providers, publishers and information professionals need to join forces to effectively develop, evolve and survive. At Swets, we are leading the effort to help you compete in a technology driven market with expectations of mobile access and immediacy. We hope you’ll join us for the ride.

Kristin McNally is the Communications Specialist at Swets. As the world’s leading Information Service provider, Swets powers the work of thousands of academic, corporate, medical and government organizations, simplifying the way you acquire, access and manage your resources. To learn more, visit www.swets.com.

by Marilyn Bromley, Washington DC Chapter

When Cindy Romaine announced Future Ready as the theme of her presidential year, I thought “what a great idea/slogan/catchphrase! What does it mean???” So I continued to ponder the question, confident that the fog would lift and the sun illuminate the way.

As it turned out, after thinking some more, I understood what Future Ready meant to me in a negative way – when I realized what I was NOT doing. 

According to the Outsell report Information Management Trends and Benchmarks 2010 by Roger Strouse (November 15, 2010), information managers need to “get on the device train.” 37% of IM functions currently deliver content to handheld devices, but that means that 63% of us do not. Roger writes, “The device train has left the station and a majority of information managers are left milling about on the platform.” 

More and more content is being created and delivered specifically for mobile devices, so we don’t have the excuse that there is nothing to offer. Since I work for a legal publisher, I know this to be true.

Further, our workplaces are full of employees whose lives live on a handheld device, and the idea that they think we’re irrelevant sends shivers down my spine. Outsell feels that we need to have “a stronger sense of urgency in catering to these platforms” and I agree.

So what am I doing to be Future Ready?

Here in the BNA Library, we’ve just bought an iPad, and some of us have Kindles and Nooks and many of us have iPhones and Androids. With all these devices, at our next Open House we plan to have a petting zoo. It may be that only the managers of Gens X & Y will be the ones who show up, but if we can help them speak the same language as their staff, and “live the future” too, then we’ve done a good thing. As an additional benefit, we can show what’s out there in the legal marketplace, and help managing editors imagine BNA’s next “killer app.”

It’s nice to see all of you here on the platform, but let’s get on that train!

Marilyn Bromley is Library Director at BNA and past-chair of the Social Science Division.  Her work interests are competitive intelligence, ROI, and copyright issues.

Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures.  Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki is the author of ten books including Enchantment, Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

Cindy Romaine, SLA President 2011, caught up with Guy at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, where he was talking about his new book Enchantment: the Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions. The ideas he brings forward in the book seem particularly relevant for information professionals right now.

This year, at the Consumer Electronic Show, you introduced ten ideas from your new book Enchantment: the Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions. I came away from your talk convinced that librarians and information professionals need to learn about enchantment and take that lesson to heart. Using a broad brush, tell us what Enchantment is about.

Did you hear the story that a reporter asked Tom Clancy what his new book was about and he said, “It’s about $26.00,”? Mine is about $14, street. Actually, my book is about learning skills to become more enchanting so that you can delight your customers, employees, and bosses.

One key point you mention in Enchantment is achieving trustworthiness, which requires a knowledge of our users. What’s the best way to gain that knowledge and trust?

There isn’t a “best way” to gain knowledge and trust. Rather, the process requires an array of skills. The starting point of becoming trustworthy is that you trust others. There is a definite order here: first, you trust others and then they trust you. Then you need to be a baker, not an eater. A baker makes a bigger pie so that everyone’s slice is larger. An eater just tries to get as much of a finite pie as possible. Finally, trustworthy people are transparent and give for intrinsic,  as opposed to quid-pro-quo, reasons.

In an era of diminished resources and limited bandwidth, it’s tempting for information professionals to hunker down and focus on their core competencies. Yet in your new book, you share your idea of “defaulting to yes.” How does that work?

Defaulting to yes and focusing on core competencies are not mutually exclusive. Defaulting to yes means that when you meet people, you’re always thinking, “How can I help this person? If she asks for help, I will try to help.” Whether you help along the lines of your core competencies or not isn’t the key. What’s important is that you want to say yes and help.

I would think this is how librarians think anyway. Isn’t your default attitude to help people find information? Librarians can skip this part of the book.

This is me enchanting my boss. What does it look like?

Like it or not, the key to enchanting your boss is to drop everything when your boss asks you to do something. This can produce sub-optimal prioritization of tasks in the “big picture,” but it works. I never said enchanting people would be easy.

As you’d be the first to admit, not everyone has your phenomenal chutzpah. So, some of your prescriptions may seem a bit daunting. Can anyone be an enchanter? Please expand on this a little.

Enchantment is a matter of degrees, not either/or. Almost everyone can be more enchanting. Enchantment is like fitness: almost everyone can be more fit. Imagine if people were either fit or not fit, and there wasn’t anything you could do to change that.

I’m intrigued by your concept of reciprocity. In fact, I’ve been drawn into it, in asking you for this blog post—a great bit of mental jujitsu, by the way. What do you mean when you advise people to say “I know you would do the same for me?”

Reciprocity is what makes society work, and when society doesn’t work, it’s often because someone has violated the basic principle that if people help you, you should someday help them back. My hero, Robert Cialdini, is the person who taught me that when people thank you for doing something, the optimal response is “I know you would do the same for me.”

This phrase communicates three important points: first, I believe you’re an honorable person; second, we both know I did something significant for you; and third, someday you should repay me. That’s a lot of meaning packed into a simple phrase.

Cindy Romaine & Guy Kawasaki

In your book, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy: Creating Disruption for Fun and Profit you encourage people, when investigating their competitors to, “by all means, suck up to a research librarian.” We certainly appreciate the plug! Can you explain what you meant there and provide an example of your relationship with research librarians over the years?

Research librarians at the time I wrote that book held the keys to the golden castle of all the knowledge that was written down on paper. Mere mortals had a difficult time acquiring this knowledge without help. I can remember using the Reader’s Abridged Guide to Periodical Literature for hours in my youth.

Fast forward to today. There’s probably more knowledge than ever, and it’s more accessible than ever but the reinvented research librarian holds the key for using the Internet in the most effective manner. Many, but not all, people know how to use Google and Wikipedia, but Google and Wikipedia do not provide all of human knowledge. Some of that knowledge is locked away in private databases and some of that knowledge is difficult for a novice to find. That’s where research librarians still hold the key. They are the ultimate information curator no matter what hocus, pocus you hear about the “semantic web.”

You have your hand in many pies—writing, speaking, and running your company Alltop.com and Garage Ventures. How has a librarian or information professional helped you along the way?

Honestly, I don’t do much in-depth research for my writing, speaking, and running Alltop.com. The nature of my work is grinding it out and sucking it up. I’m the Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) of technology.

What’s your advice for a new college graduate just entering the workforce as an information professional?

The bottom line is that the Internet is the greatest threat or greatest promise ever to an information professional. On one hand, it democratizes information–bad news, does this mean information professionals are no longer necessary? On the other hand, there is so much information that it’s harder to find good, credible sources–good news, does this mean information professionals are more necessary than ever? A new college graduate should understand this dichotomy and, I think, has to reinvent what “information professional” means.

Get enchanted! Find Guy Kawasaki’s new book at his website: Enchantment: the Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions.

Richard Kowalski, Consumer Electronics Association

I began my 2011 at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this year. This was the fifth consecutive show that I have worked at, and again I was amazed by the advances in technology in just the past year. The show itself was a reminder to me that information professionals need to maintain their technology literacy in order to be Future Ready.

Keeping up to date on the latest gadgets can be challenging, but it is well worth it as an information professional. If you know what the newer devices are capable of, they can be more useful to you in both your personal and professional life. Your technology literacy can make you more efficient at what you do, and fostering technology literacy among your coworkers can help them become more productive as well.

As I see it, the devices to watch right now are e-readers, tablet PCs and smartphones. They are allowing us to do things we haven’t been able to do before. E-readers aren’t just for books. They are gaining popularity as an easier-on-the-eyes format on which we can read electronic documents of all sorts. Tablets and smartphones on 3G and 4G networks are allowing for information access in places and at speeds that we haven’t seen before, which is likely to heighten our colleagues’ expectations of information delivery from us and our services.  

These new devices are also bringing us into the world of apps. Although some apps simply provide information that could otherwise be found on the Internet, they usually allow for quicker access to that information than navigating through a mobile browser.  More importantly, many apps go beyond what a browser could offer by providing ways to manipulate information or by using information from your cell phone such as location data. Read Ryan Jones’ Bridging the Google Gap, with an App for more on the possibilities of apps.

I don’t see any of the new devices outright replacing computers, our traditional portals for Internet content. Instead, they are becoming part of a broad ecosystem of devices that we can use in the enterprise. A key thing to pay attention to will be the compatibility and portability of information among new types of devices. At the least, information professionals should stay aware of the useful software that is readily available on these devices. Some of us may find ourselves developing our own apps and services for these devices when the need arises.

How can you keep updated on tech? Educate yourself by asking people about their new smartphone or tablet PC. Talk to sales reps at electronics stores. At the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), we have a monthly show-and-tell lunch where we talk about our newest gadgets. Sites like CNET, gdgt, and PC Magazine can keep you up to date with reviews of new products. Tech bloggers like David Pogue, Walt Mossberg, and Rob Pegoraro provide useful insight into the ever-changing world of technology. For keeping updated on apps specifically, see Appolicious or browse the app stores themselves: iTunes App Store and Android Market.

Here’s to getting the most out of your gadgets in 2011!

Rick Kowalski is the librarian at the Consumer Electronics Association. He is a member of the Washington D.C. Chapter and Competitive Intelligence Division of SLA. 

by Richard Huffine, SLA Board of Directors, Division Cabinet-Chair Elect

I am becoming future ready by pursuing new publishing models on behalf of my organization. I work for a Federal research organization with over 130 years of experience producing research to inform decision-makers. Our research has shaped policy and practice and the library has played an important role in supporting both the research and the dissemination of that research. Our library maintains the complete catalog of publications by our staff and we have converted more than half of our backlist catalog for on-line access. The future is digital, we know that but what will it mean to be digital in the future?

Do we want our research products listed in the Amazon Marketplace? Google’s ebookstore or Apple’s iBookstore? What does it mean to publish an ebook versus a traditional report? How do these new outlets (and their associated standards) change the way we prepare our research for dissemination and use by other researchers, students, and the general public?

The Library is the perfect place to be exploring these new publishing models and work with the institution to adapt to these new approaches to dissemination of information. Our library purchases ebooks, on-line journals, and database content. We are working with our users to figure out how Blackberries, iPhones, iPads and other tools will be used to consume information and to put data in the hands of our researchers in the field. Future Ready for me is about preparing my organization for the future and hopefully placing us ahead of the curve.

Richard Huffine is SLA’s Division Cabinet Chair-Elect. He is the National Library Coordinator at the U.S. Geological Survey.  He has been active in SLA since 2004 as the founding Chair of the Government Information Division.  He is also an active member of ALA, and is President-Elect of the District of Columbia Library Association.

by Christian Gray, Southern California Chapter, Pharmaceutical & Health Technology Division

My Future Ready tool kit: I have not rated, ranked nor explained where these links will take you or what value you might find… I truly believe that a key attribute to being Future Ready is a healthy curiosity. Please comment on those you find interesting or useful.

www.cluetrain.com

http://blog.duarte.com

www.slideshare.net

www.wikinomics.com

www.technologyreview.com

http://gist.com

www.fmyi.com

www.mailchimp.com

www.mindomo.com

www.jigsaw.com

www.yammer.com

www.roomtoread.org

www.ted.com

www.boingboing.com

http://radar.oreilly.com

www.techcrunch.com

www.presentationzen.com

www.tweetdeck.com

www.altimetergroup.com

www.wordle.net

www.salesforce.com

www.animoto.com

Christian Gray | Business Development
Reprints Desk, Inc. | The Content Workflow Company regarding SLA, I’m also the former Vendor Relations Chair