by Sarah Glassmeyer, Kentucky Chapter, Academic & Legal Divisions

Summertime is approaching which means many of us are daydreaming about summer vacation locales.   After a Northwest Indiana winter, I’m craving somewhere warm.  Sunny.  Not snow covered. Maybe I could go to the ocean?  Yes, sitting on a beach with an adult beverage (preferably served in a hollowed out piece of fruit) sounds like just the thing I need.

I have a confession, though:  I’m terrified of going into the ocean.  Like many people in my generation, I saw the movie “Jaws” at an impressionable age and ever since I have been convinced that going into the ocean would equal, if not certain death, then at least the loss of a limb or two.  So I stick to dry land.  Maybe I’ll wade in a little, but no deeper than “still visible feet” depth.

Funny thing about the movie “Jaws”…everyone talks about how scary the shark was, but if you re-watch it, I bet you’ll be surprised to see how little the shark is actually in the movie. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t fully appear until the 81 minute mark (in a 124 minute movie.)  Part of this was due to budgetary constraints on the production, but part of this was for classic Hitchcockian movie suspense reasons.

Alfred Hitchcock knew that the unknown was far more disturbing and scary than the known.  He explained it like this (paraphrasing): Four men are sitting at a table playing poker.  Unbeknownst to the audience, a bomb is placed under a table and it explodes.  That is surprise.   In another scenario, the audience sees that the bomb is under the table but it does not explode.  They don’t know when and if it ever will – and most of the time it doesn’t.  That is suspense.  Surprise is over in fifteen seconds.  Suspense can torture an audience for hours and, as the case with me and the ocean, radically alter one’s worldview.

So what does this have to do with information professionals?

How much do you change your life because you’re afraid of what might happen?  Maybe you don’t speak up in a meeting and share your great idea because you’re not sure if it’s stupid or not.  Or maybe you don’t want to change a procedure in your library because you’re worried that patrons will be upset.   Or maybe you don’t apply for a new job or run for an organizational office or otherwise try something new and different because..something might go wrong.  Who knows what it might be but it’s something!

I think to be future ready we need to stop worrying about the “what ifs” and “somethings.”  We all have our bombs under the table.  Stop waiting and worrying about when or if they’re ever going to go off.  You may be missing out on something great – personally, professionally or organizationally – because of it.

Sarah Glassmeyer is the Faculty Services and Outreach Librarian and an Assistant Professor of Law at Valparaiso University School of Law.  She blogs about the intersection of libraries, law and technology at http://sarahglassmeyer.com.

by Lynne McCay, Washington DC Chapter, ENCORE Convener-Elect

Encore! Encore! When I was performing on stage (my “other life” during my earliest years as a librarian), the sound of “Encore!” was thrilling and delicious. With that one little word the audience could express appreciation, joy, enthusiasm, and a plea for “more!” That’s the way I now look at my life in retirement—each day is a joy and an opportunity to do more.

Those who are just starting out in their careers might think of an “encore performance” as being far too distant, when actually we can all treat every day as an “encore.” We all have the opportunity every day to repeat or build on the good work from the day before. Many among us are pursuing librarianship as an “encore” profession and using the skills and talents of “earlier lives” to enrich our roles as information professionals. Some of us are nearing the end of Act 2 (or Act 3!) and beginning to write the script for an “encore performance.” And some of us—like me—are reveling in this unique state in life which appreciates, enjoys, and enthusiastically embraces each day that is new, and fresh, and different—and somehow “more.”

Most of the posts on this blog have been about being “Future Ready” professionally and they have provided useful tips and thoughtful insights. After thoroughly enjoying a most satisfying 40-year career as an information professional, I encourage you to be “Future Ready” personally as well—whatever tomorrow brings. It really is never too late. I will spend tomorrow teaching my 88-year old mother how to use her first computer. She is thrilled with the prospect of learning new ways of connecting with a wider “audience” and all I can say is, “Encore! Bravo! Encore!”

Lynne McCay retired on June 30, 2010 after 40 years of federal service with the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.  Lynne is a 30-year member of SLA currently serving on the Finance Committee and the Diversity Leadership Development Program Committee.  She will follow Susan Fifer Canby as convener of the Encore caucus in January 2012.

by James Kane

In 1930, a paper cup salesman for the Lilly Tulip Cup Company walked into a Walgreen’s Drug Store near 43rd St. and Bowen Ave. in Chicago, IL and changed the world.

That’s a pretty dramatic statement, but it’s true. You see, paper cups were big business in the early part of the 20th century. As scientists and public heath officials warned people about the dangers of drinking from unwashed glassware and shared eating utensils, disposable food and beverage products became all the rage. And, of course, where there is a rage, there is a salesman.

One prime target of these paper cup peddlers were drug stores. After prohibition became law in 1919, the introduction of the soda fountain in American drug stores not only filled the social void caused by the closing of bars and speakeasies, but ushered in the dawn of the soft drink. Egg cremes, Black Cows, and Cherry Phosphates became staples of the new American diet, and the glasses they were served in the target of every paper cup salesman in the country.

All except one.

While most cup vendors made the obvious pitch to the drug store owners and soda fountain managers – no more broken glasses, no more dishwashing, no more risk of spreading disease – our salesman had a different take.  When he first walked into the Walgreen’s off 43rd Street, he knew that he couldn’t make a sale using the same tired  arguments that others had made before him. So, instead of trying to sell the products he brought with him that day, he stood in the back of the room and watched.  More importantly, he learned.

It was just before noon when the store began to fill up with day’s lunch crowd.  He watched as the first ten patrons arrived and took up all the seats at the fountain’s counter. And then watched as one by one the people from the streets entered the store, looked around for a vacant seat, and walked out the door, having never bought a thing. It was all that watching that made everything clear.  He knew what Walgreen’s problem was, and it wasn’t paper cups.

The problem Walgreen’s had was the same problem every soda fountain of its day had.  Not enough space. Everyone wanted a seat, but those who got there first didn’t want to leave.  Without the turnover, the stores were losing sales – and lots of them! Our salesman knew by observing one potential customer after another walk out the door without being served that the answer was not cups, it was lids. He explained to the Walgreen’s manager how he would increase the soda fountain’s sales tenfold without adding even one foot of new counter space. Yes, he would provide them with paper cups, but every one of those cups would come with a lid, and the concept of “take out” was born.

This is a story about the power of insight and the importance of stepping back to see what the real problem is.  We all have our bag of goods – the things we try to sell to others every day. We come ready to explain our value and convince the non-believers of our importance, only to be left dumbfounded that they just don’t get it. The tried and true paper cup pitch is “we can SAVE you money.” The insightful one is “we can MAKE you money.”

We all fall into the trap of trying to sell what we have instead of selling what others need. The first requires doing nothing more than what you have always done, the second demands that you step back and understand what the real problem is. Being “future ready” is not only about knowing how to go forward, it’s about knowing when to step back. Knowing how to put yourself in the shoes of others and figuring out what they truly need and want.  What your boss needs.  What your institution and organization needs.  What your client and customer needs.  What your industry needs.  Sometimes you may have the solution in your bag.  Sometimes you will need to order lids.

Insight is not a magical gift we are born with. It is something we develop – by listening, by watching, by learning, and by practicing empathy. It takes some time to get good at it, but the results are definitely worth the effort.  They certainly were for our paper cup salesman. He made the sale to Walgreens, but practicing insight would bring him even  greater rewards. Standing in the back of the room and watching what was really going on gave birth to the take-out business, and forever changed the course of Ray Kroc’s life. Applying what he learned at the Walgreen’s drug store in 1930 would influence his decision to buy a small restaurant in San Bernadino, California 20 years later from brothers Dick and Mac McDonald. The rest, as they say, is history.

Merging the worlds of business, neuroscience, and behavioral psychology, James Kane is one of the leading researchers and consultants in the science of loyalty and the role it plays in human relationships and the communities we form.Kane makes the case that loyalty is a complex human emotion and a fundamental part of our human nature. When an organization or individual demonstrates those loyalty-building behaviors, they can develop relationships that will last a lifetime and result in unwavering and unlimited support.

SLA has retained the services of James Kane for a 12-month pilot program where he will audit and assess one Chapter’s current relationships, consult with and train Chapter leadership, and develop and implement loyalty strategies that will have broad applicability to other SLA units. He is the closing keynote presentation at the SLA Annual Conference in Philadelphia.  For more information see JamesKane.com

by Catherine Lavallée-Welch, Florida & Caribbean Chapter, Academic, IT and Sci-Tech Divisions

Could you describe the design of an academic library constructed in 2016? It’s easy to imagine following current trends: emphasis on the learning process and the creation of a learning community, more collaborative work, the increasing amount of electronic resources, the use of technology, increased interdisciplinarity, accountability and sustainability.

What about designing the building for 2031? Or 2061? Today’s librarian in charge of designing a new building must cope with a library evolving at a rate faster than any time since Gutenberg.

Faced with such an opportunity, I recently attended a conference on library space planning and revitalization. My main takeaway was to put the emphasis on the infrastructure, and not on fixtures or furniture. Key components are flexible, multi-use space, lots of natural light, extensive electrical wiring and the presence of quiet study zones. The types of services offered and the roles and functions of librarians and staff are evolving.

The new library is a place that is used simultaneously physically and virtually; a place that permits users to participate and collaborate in a learning, scholarly community.

Should we mention the “p” word? Yes, there will be “print” collections. Some new libraries opt for a digital-only collection through extensive storage and digitizing. Other lean toward the digital-heavy approach – see Helen Josephine’s excellent post on this blog on the new Engineering Library at Stanford University. I believe that libraries will utilize select print monographs until publishers use business models for e-books that meet all libraries’ and users’ needs. Don’t hide your print books; use the stacks as architectural elements to create zones. Libraries still have a huge symbolic value and book stacks are the clearest representation of such.

Conference attendees had the opportunity to visit the recently renovated Thompson Library at the Ohio State University. With large glass walls, the book tower is a prime visual focus. However, the building stays user-centered with a variety of seating areas for individual, communal and collaborative work.

I spoke to students about their library habits. A finance junior admitted to not checking out books and rarely using the electronic resources.  Still, he chooses the library to study over myriad options spread over the campus. He found when students go to the library, it’s to hunker down, get to work and study seriously. It’s the building – and the atmosphere within – that attracts him.

User studies offer one of the best ways to develop the library design. Users are usually thrilled to be a part of the process and the studies provide insights into unarticulated needs. Don’t limit recruitment to library staff, student workers or your regular users. Most important are the people who are not currently using your library.

What is keeping them away? What tools, spaces or services are you missing? What will convince them to utilize the facility? Don’t neglect to poll the school’s administration. What are the organizational strategic goals?

Gather input beyond surveys and focus groups. You can use design charrettes; usage observation; user diaries; photo surveys; usage mapping; interviews outside the library; late-night residence hall visits; reply cards left around the facility, etc.

Campus space is at a premium and financial resources are scarce. This situation may continue for a long time. Rest assured though that success in the short and long term will go to the flexible academic library closely aligned with user and organization culture and goals.

Catherine Lavallée-Welch is the Director of the University of South Florida Polytechnic Library. One of her current projects is planning and design of a library and learning commons  for her institution’s new campus. Catherine is a board member of the Florida and Caribbean Chapter and of the Academic Division. She’s a candidate for Division Cabinet Chair-Elect for the 2012 SLA Board of Directors.

by Cindy Hill , Multiple Chapters and Divisions

Some of my best memories of elementary school are of playground time, before, during and after class. My friends and I would race to the jungle gym, running to our favorite spot, the parallel bar, where we would spend wonderful hours (at least it felt like hours) hanging from bent knees and then start spinning around and around. When we found the just perfect moment, we would let go, flying up into the air and then landing as far away as momentum and our bodies would take us. While I’m pretty sure we knew we could get hurt (we landed on tan bark, not rubber mats) we also were fearless, physically agile and willing to take risks.

One aspect of being Future Ready is to take that youthful fearlessness and incorporate it into our work environment, especially when we are considering starting something new or changing an existing service. Too often it’s difficult to start something new for many reasons. Often there’s the fear of failure, lack of resources, concern about being able to provide the service to everyone, or not enough funding. Considering a new service or providing a new resource, but not sure how it will be received? One way to test its viability is to launch it as a pilot using the 3Ss + 1S more model, rather than a full-scale entity. You won’t find this model in any management or text book as a former executive VP at Sun Microsystems created it. The 3Ss + 1S more model stands for:

• Start small
• Be highly successful
• Make it scalable
• And keep statistics (aka metrics)

Start small: Create the big vision and then break it into smaller components. One way to start small is to limit the new service or resource to a specific group. Can it be introduced to a particular segment of your audience rather than the entire organization? By choosing a group that wants or needs the new service or resource, you are already working with a receptive audience, one that will give useful and constructive advice and observations and will be willing to work out any kinks with you. Which group would benefit most from being a “first adopter”? Would they then be your advocates and supporters?

Be highly successful: Plan for success by defining what success looks like. Is success having a specific group use it and want it to continue? Does success mean that the technology is working seamlessly? Or is success having the new resource embedded into the daily workflow of your users? By defining success before the initiative is launched, you will know when you have reached it.

Make it scalable: A highly successful initiative is one that can grow to meet the demands of potential users. Is there enough staff, funding, technological support and/or support from your internal or external partners as the demand expands? Is there a plan to acquire the needed resources in order to scale?

Keep statistics: Statistics should be both quantifiable and qualitative. How many people are using the new service or resource? How are they using it? What value is it adding to their productivity? What stories are they telling you about its value? Metrics provide the foundation for building a rationale to continue or scale the initiative.

With limited budgets, staff and resources, it’s often daunting to take a risk in changing a process, launching a new service, or introducing a new resource. Think back to your childhood days of playing, experimenting with new techniques, and being fearless and then bring those agile aspects into your daily life. As Tim O’Reilly, CEO of O’Reilly Media and innovator recommends, “Try fast, fail fast, keep trying and never give up.”

Cindy Hill is the manager of the Research Library at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She’s a past president of SLA and is currently chairing the 2012 Conference Planning Council. She is a newly selected Commissioner for the Los Altos Public Library and is a part-time faculty member at San Jose State University.  Cindy can be reached at cindyvhill@yahoo.com, tweets @cindyhill and can be found on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/cindyvhill. She’s currently working on her latest 3S + 1S initiative.

by Gretchen Leslie, Oregon Chapter, Science-Technology Division

I am writing this post because I believe we, as an association, have not really done a good job of researching our industry—the information industry—and using that research to better position our members  and our association in the future.  We talk about being “Future Ready,” but I have not seen us applying our core research competencies to scoping where the growth is and what the trending is in the information industry, what skills we need to find work in the coming information industry scenario, who our potential partners can be, and where the hidden snakes lay on our path to the future.  The research, data, and analysis are out there, generated by companies such as Outsell Inc., Simba, IDC, and Gartner.  Are we using it?  If not, why not?

So I guess this post is a call to action for the association leadership to begin a program to buy and use the published research about the information industry. Perhaps we could even partner with other associations, and cooperatively build a sustainable way to get the needed data and analysis on a continual basis.  That way, we could always benchmark on where we are as informational professionals, vs. where the information industry is headed.

What do the rest of you think of this “info pros – research thyself!” approach to mapping out what Future Ready means?  I’d like to hear from my colleagues in SLA about the idea of using market research on ourselves; making market research of the information industry part of our websites and continuing education, applying the ideas of where the information industry is moving to how and what we teach in information science graduate programs, and ultimately, building a better understanding of the global information industry and where we fit in the future as information professionals.

Gretchen Leslie has a 35+ year career in special libraries, and has always wondered why we cannot do a better job of analyzing our own industry.

by Jill Heinze, Virginia Chapter, CI Division

From my vantage point as a research analyst, I see novel-worthy tales play out daily in the form of mergers, lobbying, new product launches, bankruptcies, client wins and losses, and on and on. With all of the drama unfolding in the marketplace, how proficient are we at capturing that dynamism in our presentations and reports? If you’re like me, you could probably stand to become a better storyteller. Even more, if you listen to some observers, you have to become a respectable storyteller to be future-ready.

In his book A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink asserts, “When facts become so widely available and instantly accessible, each one becomes less valuable. What begins to matter is the ability to place these facts in context and to deliver them with emotional impact.” Skeptical? Consider the success of Freakonomics¸ the book that transformed a collection of dry statistics into possible explanations for how society works and become a bestseller.

When weaving your tales, try emulating what I consider to be the traits of a good storyteller:

Creates well-developed characters.

A talented storyteller knows the history of her characters, their emotional and physical make up, what motivates them, and how they will grow and evolve. Similarly, a business info pro could enhance research by communicating the back story and drivers influencing “characters” like companies, executives, politicians, and products, and include suggestions about how those characters could change or act in the future given certain market conditions.

Says enough, but not too much.

There are few things more tedious than reading a story that leaves nothing to the imagination. While I don’t suggest leaving out key details or making too many assumptions, I do recommend considering how you can say more with less. Sometimes a single descriptive adjective, a clear graph, or a powerful image can get the point across and even improve the audience’s retention.

Constructs a plot.

Stories have a beginning, middle, and end. If you feel you’re assembling a collection of facts but losing the point in the mix, step back and see how you can reorganize the information so that it has a logical, compelling progression and reinforces your main conclusions.

Displays unique insight.

The best authors examine everyday occurrences in a new light and discover something profound. Maybe you’re no Shakespeare, but sometimes it’s those little nuggets that are commonly overlooked that can add large amounts of value to your deliverables. Try looking for themes, outliers, contradictions, trends and anomalies to deepen your clients’ understanding of a topic.

A note of caution: Unlike fiction writers, info pros need to tell stories responsibly. If you exaggerate too much for dramatic effect, you could sacrifice your credibility and, even worse, support bad decision-making.

To get going on your page-turners, check out some of the suggestions in Pink’s book and start small. In my case, I’m making a concerted effort to use graphics to convey my meaning and ensuring that each of my PowerPoint slides paints a verbal and visual picture. The future-readiness of PowerPoint is, well, another story.

Jill Stover Heinze is a librarian, marketing research analyst, active member of SLA’s Competitive Intelligence Division (CID) and Virginia Chapter, and a proud member of her profession. She earned her M.S.L.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked in academic and business environments and is an invited presenter on library marketing topics. She is currently serving the CID as blog editor and is participating in the division’s annual conference planning.

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/

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.

by Deborah Rash, Minnesota Chapter

I got good and Future Ready last night by watching American Idol. I was working and tweeting while doing it, but in this case, the multitasking really was distracting from the main event, rather than the other way around.

I am not a fan of American Idol. I could take it or leave it, but most of the time I’m working and tweeting and just can’t pay enough attention. And now that Paula’s gone …

Whether fan or not, I suggest you check out the new judges on Idol this year. And watch a bit of the ingénue Oscar cohosts. Read “The Girl Who …” series. Pop over to TMZ.com every once in a while. And Google that Twitter trending topic you know nothing about.

Because sometimes these things matter, in two different equally important ways.

First, think about some of the trends that have been started by pop culture. Remember “The Rachel,” a haircut that is still popular sixteen years after Jennifer Aniston’s character in Friends got the look? Did you sip a cosmopolitan like the girls in Sex and the City (another late nineties screen-to-sales driver)? Working in marketing or any consumer driven industry these media effects do matter.

Now think about all of the forensic shows: NCIS, CSI, Bones etc. No police procedural is complete without a fingerprinting, particle-grabbing expert. Crime inflicted and mystery solved, packaged in a tight 60 minutes, minus the quarter hour or so of commercials. Why does that matter? Go ask the judge. Literally, ask a judge in a real courtroom and you’ll hear that the way cases are tidied up so quickly on these shows has changed the way that the average person, and thus the typical jury member thinks about how evidence should be presented. It’s been called the “CSI Effect.”

Similarly, if you watch the other ubiquitous type of TV drama, the one set in a hospital, you’ll get a very skewed perception of how medicine is practiced, not to mention how doctors comport themselves. Pop culture has changed the way we relate to health information in some of the same ways that going online to self-diagnose have.

Now you have to pay attention if you work in healthcare or a law firm. And if you sit in or near a cubicle, both Dilbert and The Office commentary might be overheard at the water cooler. So, office workers, listen up.

And if that isn’t enough of you who can glean information on marketing techniques, new product development, customer and client expectations or office politics, the rest of you can learn to love pop culture for a second reason. Think about the twenty-two-year-old new hires you are interacting with or the students you are teaching. The way people think and work bleeds into how they play and relax and sometimes knowing just enough to relate may be enough.

So, in preparation for the future, haircuts and bar drinks, maybe not so important. But jury deliberation and medical decisions and whatever is coming next? Might be.

And really, I’ve always loved that I have an excuse for watching Mad Men and reading People magazine. I’m working!

Deb Rash is a freelance consumer researcher and writer. Previously Deb was Knowledge Manager at Iconoculture and Carmichael Lynch, and had an advertising career at several agencies in Minneapolis. She is an active member of SLA, having served on the Annual Conference Advisory Council, multiple positions in the Advertising & Marketing Division and is immediate Past President of the Minnesota Chapter.