by Eileen Davenport, Illinois Chapter, Business & Finance and Food, Agriculture & Nutrition Divisions

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” this oft-used Charles Dickens quote describes the situation of all library/research and information center environments today. The idea of an “information economy” might suggest to some that any kind of knowledge repository would be a priority for organizations of all kinds, but paradoxically (and frustratingly), experience indicates otherwise. For further exploration, let’s look at the definitions. 

As a closet Luddite, I began with Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, copyright 1974.  Unsurprisingly, neither “information economy” nor “knowledge economy” appears, although “information retrieval” (the techniques of storing and recovering and often disseminating recorded data esp. through the use of a computerized system) does.  

The next step: the Oxford English Dictionary. That venerable resource does not include a definition for “information economy” but it defines “knowledge economy” as a cycle where growth is thought to be dependent on the effective acquisition, dissemination, and use of information, rather than the traditional means of production.  Sounds good to me.

 To be thorough, and in keeping with the rule of three, I also searched Google and Bing for definitions.

But even with a definition of what this type of economy is, what are the practical applications of being part of the information/knowledge economy? Knowledge and information is put on a pedestal, but information centers and libraries are not acknowledged as the base of that pedestal. Instead, this observer has come to view the situation as a kind of the-emperor-has-no-clothes scenario: everyone values information, but no one wants to fully fund it. And recent developments in my hometown illustrate this: Rahm Emanuel’s cuts to the library budgets exceed the definition of draconian – massive personnel cuts and further reductions to operating hours. And, even sadder: he can justifiably argue that his budget makes more provisions for public libraries than other major systems. Public library budgets are just that – public. What is going on in many private organizations is comparable, but not as widely followed. Most people reading this have experienced it, or at least know someone who has.  If not, please share your strategies. 

What we are left with is an information/knowledge economy where people have unprecedented access to information, but their understanding of and facility with that information is highly varied. Besides the other technological innovations that drive the evolution of the profession, the necessity of combining the center and the service is the next big challenge. Not only do we have to make our skills Future Ready, but the organization must understand that libraries/research and information centers are future relevant. How do we make sure that the concept is shared by the decision-makers?  Lacking the method depicted in Inception as a viable alternative, what works?  There must be a workable medium between the expanding entity of The Desk Set and the relic from Shooting the Past, mustn’t there?

Eileen Davenport works as a librarian for an investment bank and a community college in the Chicago area.  An avid reader of blogs, this is her first contribution to one.

Scott Schulman, President, Dow Jones Corporate Markets

A colleague of mine once said of the Internet that “free costs too much.” This was no Neanderthal. On the contrary, he recognized the inherent and significant value of the medium and even much of the content therein. He was referring rather to the time we waste and the opportunities we miss, to the imprecision and outright inaccuracy of a Web that is at once essential and untrustworthy.

The world is waking up to the reality that having all the information in the world just a few keystrokes away isn’t enough. Certainly not for business. To get from data to decision takes more than just information. It requires most of all trusted content along with a reasonable assurance that you’re finding and not just searching.

The free Web is an amazing resource – that is for sure. But not every link is worth following. Not every source on the free Web is reliable. We know that. In a knowledge economy where commerce is driven by ideas, businesses cannot take a haphazard approach to information. They need sources they can trust, that save time, avoid information overload and anticipate their needs. Business needs sources to help improve awareness and efficiency and that curtail risk.

You would have thought that by now we’d have a more nuanced view of the value of Internet content. Today’s prime search engines aren’t designed to minimize the clutter; they’re designed to maximize your clicks because that’s where the money is made.

Then there are the results themselves. They are in large part the reflection of connections. The more links to a given page, the greater weight given the results. The more likely the page is to attract traffic, the more likely it will turn up in your search. Not exactly how you find the needle in the haystack if you’re a businessperson looking for opportunities. Independent research from Outsell indicates that one in three businesses searches fail. That’s zero productivity one third of the time. Why would a competent manager abide such waste? The real costs of inefficient search are probably much higher than just a one-third productivity haircut. Not having the right information at the right time is both cost and risk for business.

What business wouldn’t pay for the right information at the right time? Yet some still set “free” as the price point for awareness and thus their future. The Internet changed a lot of things, and rightly so. One thing it hasn’t changed is the value of quality. It is as essential in business information as ever.  Quality information, presented in effective ways, still has value; and that value is worth paying for.

Scott D. Schulman is president of the Corporate Markets Group of Dow Jones & Company where he leads the innovative business news and information products serving professionals and corporations worldwide. These services are designed to help business professionals better monitor and uncover opportunities in the markets, industries, companies and regions that matter most to them.

Mr. Schulman oversees core brands including Factiva, one of the largest electronic business aggregators and archives in the world, as well as Dow Jones Companies & Executives, Dow Jones Insight, Dow Jones Watchlist, The Wall Street Journal Professional Edition and more. These brands and other Corporate Markets Group services are designed to meet the needs of professionals in consulting and professional services, enterprise and business management; public relations and corporate communications; research and knowledge management; and risk and compliance. Mr. Schulman is currently leading a significant investment and expansion in Factiva as well as Dow Jones’ offerings in risk and compliance and corporate communications.