Joy Banks, Florida & Caribbean Chapter, Museums, Arts & Humanities and Solo Librarians Divisions

I recently started working as a solo librarian in a collection closed to just about everyone. As I have been thinking about being future ready, I find myself overwhelmed. My supervisor doesn’t own a cell phone, I only own a stupid phone (that’s the opposite of a smart phone, right?), and the audience I serve is not real big on technology. So how do I move all of us into this future?

Answer: baby steps. I start by maximizing our online presence. Since we are so small, I am seeking collaborative opportunities outside my institution to push our collection out to as many places as possible, shepherding my users back to the library. I want to meet my users where they are, slowly drawing them into digitization (they like paper), email (they like phone calls), and social media (social what?). If I take a huge leap into the future, ignoring the fact that they may need to take quite a few more steps to reach where I am now, I will lose them and the value that my collection can hold.

Being future ready cannot possibly mean the same thing to all people. Or perhaps it does, but we will each reach this future in our own way. No one process will be adequate to meet the needs of every institution. As a profession, we also need to recognize that the digital divide does not just impact our audience; it also influences the way that institutions are able to implement “future ready” ideas. I want to lead my users into the future on a path they (and I) can follow and take their hands when it seems they may be losing their way.

Joy Banks is the Librarian at the Anton Brees Carillon Library at Bok Tower Gardens and arguably has one of the best office views in central Florida. She is enjoying her new adventures in the world of music libraries after serving just over four years as the cataloger in an academic institution. She earned her MSLS from Clarion University of Pennsylvania where she was an active member of the SLA student chapter. Currently, she is serving as the President-Elect and First Five Years Ambassador for the SLA Florida & Caribbean Chapter.

Michael Bellacosa, Fairfield County Chapter [immediate past-president], Museums, Arts and Humanities Division

Since my LIS career is just beginning after a radical professional transition, I am completely focused on moving into the future with all the change which that entails. Fortunately, my 18-year prior career as a trader, risk manager and business manager on Wall Street taught me many things about working in rapidly evolving and innovating environments: most importantly, either you plunge in to lead or you surf the wave or you get left behind [with a life preserver if you’re lucky].

As a newly-minted librarian, I have few preconceived notions about the profession: indeed, while I still like the term “librarian”, I have a very expansive view of the meaning of that word as well as the word “library”. Because my best strategy for breaking into this new field is to leverage my substantial [yet strictly speaking unrelated] resume, I am imagining the analogies between what I did before my MLS degree [completed last December] and what I can do now.

One trail I’ve been following is the relationship between managing the risk to portfolios of financial assets [i.e. hedging] and managing the risk to collections of digital assets [i.e. digital preservation]. I think the analogies can be generalized to physical and hybrid physical/digital collections. Further, many of the same risk management principles can also be applied to the digitization process itself. From this launching point, I’m working to invent a model for LIS professionals to use in making cost-benefit/risk-management business case arguments to non-LIS administrators in charge of the resources for funding such programs.

If I succeed at translating my skills and experience from the finance-world to the info-world and apply these to current and upcoming challenges in the LIS field, then I will have become “future ready”.

Michael Bellacosa completed his MLS in December 2010. Before commencing that program, he was a currency trader and a risk manager on Wall Street for nearly 20 years. His primary interests are in digital preservation, challenges from technological obsolescence, and the effective use of current information and communication technologies for preserving and providing access to special collections.  Michael presented the basic outline of his model at the “Contributed Papers” session on June 14 at 10am. Check SLA’s Web site for his handout.

by Quincie Rivers, Washington DC Chapter, Knowledge Management Division

InfoCurrent has had a ringside seat watching the library and information science world change over the last few decades. As the Information Management Division of CORESTAFF Services, InfoCurrent has a 40-year history of providing library services to a broad spectrum of business, industry and government clients.

While InfoCurrent continues to place traditional librarians, technicians and clerks, we are constantly being asked to find highly skilled professionals who can manage digital archives, content management systems, web content, digital rights management, taxonomy, e-learning, competitive intelligence and analysis and more.

To be “future ready” in today’s market means more than being proficient in traditional Library Sciences.  It means being futuristic, strategic, and quick to adapt to change. Employers are looking for librarians who are creative, flexible, innovative – who are at ease with technology and understand how that technology can help an organization manage their resources better. Information is key to a business’s growth. Hiring managers expect a librarian to be team oriented, collaborative, people focused. They want and need librarians who can become thought leaders, strategists and innovators.

As companies are exploring ways to recover and expand in the current economic climate, budgets continue to be under strict scrutiny.  Often with limited resources, library services must continue to evolve and become leaner, smarter and faster as the new age of technology and social media transforms our markets.

Organizations and businesses realize that the management of knowledge is a valuable commodity and necessary for growth.  It is not enough, however, just to manage information and provide a service but rather to proactively adopt new technologies and economies of scale.  Businesses who have sought skilled personnel to cost effectively deliver and streamline information now view these individuals in a far less traditional role.

How does one become future ready?  Become innovative and adapt to the evolution of business strategies as it relates to your specific industry.  While the demand for MLIS/MLS professionals remains high, the work environment will be a far less conventional business.  As long as you are flexible and have a curiosity for life-long learning, there will be a place in today’s future ready business world by translating traditional skills and adapting new technologies to their best and highest use.

The day of the back office librarian is vanishing. Professional Librarians are embedded in the teams they service. They are managing virtual researchers and collections, orchestrating the delivery of these valuable resources in whatever form they take. Expect to be part of a team collaboratively working to provide innovative solutions in a dynamic environment.

It’s an exciting time to be a librarian. At InfoCurrent we see the future every day.

InfoCurrent, with offices in Washington, DC, New York City, Boston and Houston, is the Information Management Division of CORESTAFF Services specializing in library and records management services.  InfoCurrent is a full-service, nationwide staffing firm offering temporary, temp-to-hire, direct hire and project management for almost every industry, on projects large and small, and on items from legal documents to art collections.  We keep pace with trends in both Library Sciences and Records Management, sharing best practices to help our clients build faster, nimbler – and smarter – organizations.

by Lisa Zwickey, Wisconsin Chapter, Transportation, Business & Finance, Leadership & Management Divisions

Future Ready Toolkit

This post is from SLA’s new Future Ready Toolkit. The Toolkit was constructed by SLA members who have drawn upon substantial professional experience and alignment research to help you hone your skills in a way that is relevant and global. The toolkit is collaboration, alignment, adaptation, and community put into action.

Overview

Ask yourself where – and what – you want your library to be 5, 10, 20 years from now. If you’re coming up blank, it’s time to write a vision statement. And to ensure you get to that visionary spot, write yourself a mission statement while you’re at it.

Definitions

Vision statement – Defines the desired or intended future state of an organization or enterprise in terms of its fundamental and/or strategic direction. (Wikipedia)

Mission statement – Defines the fundamental purpose of an organization or enterprise, succinctly describing why it exists and what it does to achieve its vision. (Wikipedia)

Key Elements and Ideas

A vision statement is intended to portray where you want your organization to be in the future – it is your inspiration and the frame of reference for all your strategic planning. As a special library, your vision may be to be the main resource for empowering your fellow employees to make decisions to keep the company innovative and profitable.

Questions to ask yourself when composing a vision statement are:

• What do we do today? (We empower.)
• For whom do we do it? (Fellow employees and, ultimately, our customers.)
• What is the benefit? (Innovation and profitability.)

Be realistic, positive and align your statement with organizational values and culture.

The mission statement spells out how you will accomplish that vision. It briefly sets out how the information is collected and provided, what methods are best suited to your company’s needs (keeping in mind future technologies), and how the information may be used. For example, to empower employees to make decisions to keep the company innovative and profitable, the library will proactively provide information and analysis using current and reliable resources, value-added service and compatible and useful technologies. You may also want to mention that the library staff is committed to examining new and innovation methods of information delivery in order to provide superior customer service.

Questions to ask yourself when composing a mission statement are:

• What do we want going forward? (To be the main informational and analytical resource in the company.)
• When do we want to do it? (Proactively)
• How do we want to do it? (By using current and reliable resources, value-added service, compatible and useful technologies, and superior customer service.)

Be broad enough to allow for creative, and especially, in our field, technological growth. Write a statement that will distinguish your library from your company’s other departments and make sure it serves as a framework to evaluate current activities.

Resources

Libraries, Mission and Marketing: Writing Mission Statements That Work, by Linda K. Wallace. Chicago: ALA, 2003. 82p. $27, ALA members $24.30 (ISBN 0-83890-867-5) LC 2003-15471.

Scorecards for Results: A Guide for Developing a Library Balanced Scorecard, by Joseph R. Matthews. Westport CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. 112 p. $45 (ISBN-10: 1591586984, ISBN-13: 978-1591586982)

“Do You Know What Your Mission Is?” by Janet L. Balas; Computers in Libraries, Feb. 1, 2007.  Word Count: 2115

“Fine-tuning Your Mission: Your Mission Statement Can Put You Right on Top of Your Market – Or Make You Irrelevant,” by Robert A. Sevier; University Business, June 1, 2003. Word Count: 2010

“Solutions: Mission Not Impossible,” by Russell J. White; Credit Union Management, Jan. 3, 2002. Word Count: 1109

Lisa joined J.J. Keller’s Research and Technical Library in 1991 and works with all areas of the company in the areas of business and statistical research, marketing, product development and strategic planning. Lisa has a degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a news reporter for a daily newspaper for six years before earning her master’s degree in Library and Information Science, also from UW-Madison. She has been a member of SLA since 1995.

By Karen Huffman, Washington D.C. Chapter, Knowledge Management Division

Future Ready Toolkit

This post is from SLA’s new Future Ready Toolkit. The Toolkit was constructed by SLA members who have drawn upon substantial professional experience and alignment research to help you hone your skills in a way that is relevant and global. The toolkit is collaboration, alignment, adaptation, and community put into action.

Overview

Organizational growth is closely correlated to individuals who are willing to network and collaborate outside their normal sphere of influence. People able to span the organizational hierarchy and build internal and external networks cannot help but grow and adapt. Growing adaptive organizations, transformational leaders realize the importance of blurring organizational lines, supporting collaborative communities and breaking down silos to encourage transparency. (Image on right: Wordle.net word cloud based on a Wikipedia article on “Stakeholder Analysis.”)

Definitions

Engagement

An act where two or more parties agree to a predetermined commitment.
Related terms: User adoption; collaboration; benefits.

Networks

Interrelated connections that can be physical, virtual, or both. Networks are relational-based. See also articles shared on the Future Ready 365 blog tagged “network.”
Related terms: Relationships; connections.

Partnerships

Two or more parties who have agreed to work towards a common vision, mission, purpose, and/or goals.
Related terms: Purpose-driven relationship; actionable, accountable relationship.

Project Management

A purposeful process that includes planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. The success of a project often relies on an analysis and involvement of stakeholders.
Related terms: Structured goal-oriented approach; task breakdown and analysis.

Stakeholders

Organizations and/or individuals who are positively or negatively impacted by decisions and/or actions. Anyone with a vested interested in a project, event, and/or outcome. Related terms: Users; clients; key, primary, and secondary stakeholders; stakeholder analysis.

Key Elements and Ideas

Crossing Boundaries for Growth and Collaboration

One of my ongoing goals is to foster collaboration and learning opportunities as well as continually grow personal and professional competencies. Last fall at KMWorld 2010, the speakers who spoke about “Optimizing Organizations through Collaboration” discussed the idea of “boundary crossing” which relates to some key elements and ideas around this topic on building a network to engage and partner with stakeholders:

• Analyze social and organizational networks to understand knowledge gaps.
• Ensure communities of practice are aligned to the business goals and encourage sustainability through people to people connections and participation.
• Capitalize on the power of social networks to build effective and adaptive learning organizations.
• Grow expertise and competencies requires knowing your current proficiencies, setting goals, and crossing many boundaries to grow new ideas and expand your knowledge.

The mind map (below) developed by Karen Huffman is based on David Snowden’s ASHEN framework (2000) and Patrick Lambe’s KM competencies for knowledge managers (2008).

SLA Members Shared Ideas

• Being there – being present: It’s an ongoing process of growing and cultivating relationships, building networks, gaining trust. ~Mary Talley
• Forming a community/building a network is a process that harnesses on-going process development and refinement as well as project management skills. ~Aimee Babcock-Ellis
• The goal and criteria for success when developing a network is to make it equally useful to both individuals and corporate management. ~Peggy Watkins
• Informed opinions about the possibilities and measured objectives that are jointly agreed upon. ~David Stern
• Stakeholder analysis – figuring out what they want – as well as marketing and negotiation skills. ~Vicky Platt
• Crossing Boundaries for Growth and Collaboration. ~Karen Huffman

To read more about their ideas, click here.

Models and Templates

Stakeholders

• MindTools offers some great “getting started” models/templates on Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management. It includes information on stakeholder analysis, winning support for projects and building communication from stakeholders. Great templates to employ with any project.

Project Management

• GovLoop’s Project Management Guide – the templates that capture the essential aspects of project management.
• Project Management Institute (PMI) website.

Resources

Books

Levin, Ginger (2008). Improve Your Interpersonal Skills to Achieve Greater Management Success! (Url: http://www.facebook.com/notes/management-concepts/are-you-connecting-with-your-stakeholders/422512295431.)

Sampson, Michael (2010). User Adoption Strategies: Shifting Second Wave People to New Collaboration Technology. (URL: http://www.michaelsampson.net/useradoption.html target=”_blank”.)

Blog

Boxes and Arrows: The design behind the design

• Setting Up Business Stakeholder Interviews, Part 1 by Michael Beavers on 2007/03/26. (URL: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/setting-up-business.)
• Setting Up Business Stakeholder Interviews Part 2 by Michael Beavers on 2007/04/01. (URL: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/setting-up-business22.)

Karen works for National Geographic Society as part of the Software as a Service (SaaS) team in the Information Systems & Technology division. She supports the enterprise’s business needs with hosted solutions such as Google Apps for Business as well as develops customized solutions for targeted customer groups within the organization. She has been a member of SLA since 1999, serving in various roles including chair of the KM division (2009-2010) and developing resources for SLA-sponsored initiatives like 23 Things.

by Nettie Seaberry, New York Chapter, Leadership & Management, Solo Librarians Divisions

Several years ago, I had an idea that would have put my organization at the forefront of providing a service that our constituents would have wholeheartedly embraced. The research was done, interested parties queried, price structures developed and legal counsel consulted, but no matter how many times I sent emails or called staff meetings to discuss the concept, I couldn’t seem to move the needle. It was apparent that the timing just wasn’t right. Retirement and leadership changes were cause for this revenue generating idea to be placed on the back burner. It slowly simmered but I never let the flame die.

Fast forward, new leadership, new ideas for moving the organization into the future were beginning to unfold. The organization’s past has been recognized as the cornerstone in the industry, but new leadership wants to chart a new direction. The time was right to reposition the idea. I used this shift to reintroduce the project and it was enthusiastically embraced. The green light has been given and it will be launched in 2011. As we work through a strategic plan for the organization under the management, I have several ideas on tap that I envision will bring more value to the information center and benefit the organization.

If you have the good fortune of staying the course within your organization you’ll have the opportunity to show your value time and time again, but you have to put yourself out there. You can’t sit in a corner, you can’t hide your talents and creativity, you have to make your moves when the time is right, stay focused and position yourself and your services to show that you’re ready, willing and able to be future ready.

Nettie Seaberry is the Director of the Minority Business Information Center at the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) in New York City. As a solo librarian she is responsible for development, implementation and administration of the Information Center, which includes establishing policies, collection development and management, research, staff supervision, information technology management, Webmaster and Volunteer Coordinator for NMSDC’s annual conferences. She currently serves as a Director on the Board of SLA.

Ann Koopman, Philadelphia Chapter, Multiple Divisions

It’s over thirty years since I entered library school, armed with a fresh BA in the liberal arts, and hoping to go into rare books and archives.  We students thought we were hot stuff, running to the computer center with our shoeboxes full of punch cards that contained PL1 code, or learning to search online services using a phone-cradle modem – skills every “modern” librarian would need!

But we weren’t so much learning specific skills as how to think about professional issues, and how to open our minds to receive and act on new ideas.   For me, that’s the core of being future ready, in any decade and any place.

What are some of the characteristics that allow a person to be flexible, to flow with change and even thrive on it?   What should we all be cultivating in order to shape our own futures?

• Curiosity & willingness to experiment with new ideas and technologies.
  SLA is an especially good source for exposure to new trends and for opportunities to learn new skills.
• Sharing, teamwork, and collaboration.
  Social animals thrive on community and inclusion; we all need the support of our colleagues, both as mentors and mentees.   We also need to integrate ourselves powerfully with our clients, demonstrating our value to the team.   It’s through engagement that we earn validation.
• Solid foundations and respect for the past.
  Knowing who we are and what we believe in provides the confidence needed to build new models.
• Proactivity.
  I love the “pick yourself” post (Dale Stanley, http://futureready365.sla.org/04/06/pick-yourself/).  When we take responsibility for our own continuous learning and for acquiring the new skills needed to cope with a changing professional environment, we position ourselves to embrace and even make new opportunities.  Step up to volunteer yourself for assignments or association tasks that expand your horizons.
• A sense of humor and pleasure in accomplishment.
  If you’re not having fun, what’s the point?  Joseph Campbell’s “follow your bliss” has proven to be a pretty good mantra over the years.

Of course, participation in SLA is one key to professional growth, from CE courses to networking, to leadership development.  It’s where you can find your voice to shape the conversation about issues that are important to you.

Over the years I’ve owned a paper conservation business, worked as a science & engineering librarian, become a medical librarian, morphed into a web content editor, and who knows what the future holds?  It will surely be fascinating.

Ann Koopman is the JEFFLINE Editor for the Academic & Instructional Support & Resources (AISR)  at Thomas Jefferson University.   She is a candidate for Division Cabinet Chair-Elect for the 2012 SLA Board of Directors.

by Dale Stanley

Seth Godin recently blogged on the topic of “Reject the Tyranny of Being Picked” http://bit.ly/fGzcCW. I cannot think of a more pertinent and helpful concept in making ourselves “Future Ready.” We have grown up waiting to be “picked.” Whether it is for teams on the playground, for “Mr. Right,” to be recognized for our great service/profession, for the next promotion, or for some wonderful employer to somehow find our resume on LinkedIn. The best advice I can imagine is to stop waiting to be picked. And DO something.  Any little next action is sufficient as a start. The best career move I ever made is when I took a half- day, figured out why I was bored, and then decided what just one next physical action to do about it. When you become proactive, you begin the journey of making your own future.  This, of course, is the best way to be “future ready.” If you want to learn more about being proactive and having goals, read Stephen Covey http://bit.ly/6N9pR7. If you want to begin to realize the power of “next actions,” read David Allen http://www.davidco.com/. But the main thing is to stop waiting. And, as Seth puts it, “Pick yourself.”

Dale Stanley is the Director of Literature Resources at Gilead Sciences, an occasional consultant with SMR International, and has been co-instructor with Guy St.Clair and Cindy Hill in SLA’s Click University certificate programs in Knowledge Management and Knowledge Services.  He has many years of industry experience leading information groups in the medical device, industrial/office products, and pharmaceutical industries.

by Kimberly Silk, Toronto Chapter, Business & Finance, Academic, Leadership & Management Divisions

I graduated from what is now known as the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto in 1998, and since that time I have been mentored by many successful people, both within the information profession, and outside of it. Some of these mentors did not know they influenced me, but many of them did, and do, and I owe much of my own success to their wisdom, kindness and generosity.

Very early on in my information career, even while in graduate school, I was sure that I would not become a conventional librarian. Though I love libraries and am inspired by the knowledge they hold, I’ve always known I would not succeed in that workplace. Thanks to several wonderful professors and practitioners, I became aware of a wide variety of environments where information professionals could pursue their passions. These places were not libraries, or even information centres. But, they all employed information professionals, and those info pros were pivotal to the organization’s success.

Over the past ten years I’ve been asked to speak as someone who has pursued an “alternative” library career. I really enjoy talking about my career (who doesn’t??) but I’m surprised at how often I’m still asked. It seems to me that our profession should be evolving more quickly. I am concerned that my career path is still considered “alternative”. Here we are more than a decade into the 21^st century, where conventional library jobs continue to disappear, and at the same time the information profession is changing so quickly we struggle to define it. How can it be that my choice to not work in a conventional library is still unusual?

I am not alone in my confusion. You need to look no further than the struggles of our very own SLA to see that we’re all trying to figure out who we are, and what we want to be when we grow up. As president of the Faculty of Information Alumni Association, I talk with many students and new graduates, and it’s clear they’re nervous about the future. Of course feeling nervous as you enter a new profession is normal; still, I believe it’s our responsibility as practitioners to help new information professionals feel more confident in themselves, and optimistic about our profession.

Practitioners have a lot to offer new info pros: experience, knowledge, passion, and positive anticipation of the future. Many of us are being the change we want to see in our world. We are forging new paths, redefining our profession and weathering the bumpy road as we go. We run up against obstacles such as the squelchers who fear change, even though change is necessary, because the alternative is unthinkable. The world is changing quickly – we know we must evolve or die.

I believe we need to take personal responsibility for the future of our profession. We cannot do much about the squelchers, and it may be best to ignore them. Our energy is much better spent focusing on the future, and the future lies in the hearts and minds of the new information professionals. All of us can be active change agents through mentoring. Those of us who consider ourselves leaders can make an even bigger impact by mentoring our new colleagues – by talking with them about the exciting changes our profession is going through, the amazing opportunities opening up to us, and the adrenaline rush of achieving new firsts. I’m paying it forward through mentorship, and encourage you to, too. The most effective way to change the world is to make a positive contribution to the future, and for us, the future is the new information professional.

Kimberly Silk is the Data Librarian at the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She is also President of the Faculty of Information Alumni Association, and Technology Director for the Toronto Chapter of SLA. While she lovingly embraces the librarian moniker, her current job is the first that has ever held that title. Kim loves what she does, and likes to infect others with her enthusiasm. You can read her blog at www.KimberlySilk.com and email her at kimberly.silk@gmail.com.

by Cynthia Eastman, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Engineering and Environmental & Resource Mgmt Divisions

We as individuals need to be future ready but so does our support structure, in other words, SLA. We talk about attracting members from outside our traditional venues but if they don’t see any division or caucus activity that is in their line of work how can we ask them to join? If we want to attract members from non-traditional fields, we need to identify those potential fields and think about what SLA should have in place to attract those people. One approach would be to identify say three fields where we think we can attract new members and then set up a new forum for those fields. Obviously these forums won’t be like divisions but they could grow into divisions over time. Perhaps they are just a few existing members getting together for discussion sessions at the annual meeting. Yes, we already have caucuses that do this but I suggest we do away with the formal caucus formation process for these forums. Perhaps it’s as simple as asking for a few volunteers to lead a discussion and then setting up a web page where discussion notes and other information can be posted.

Switching to the opposite direction, is it time to look at de-structuring some of our current divisions to help us attract and retain active volunteers? At every conference I hear stories about the difficulties some divisions have filling Board positions and supporting conference sessions. On top of that are the burn-out stories where someone steps up to be Division chair and then disappears from volunteer roles after their term ends (or even sooner). Can we come up with a “small division” option with fewer positions to worry about and a lower number of sessions to plan? Yes, I know that divisions aren’t required to fill all positions or to do the maximum number of sessions allowed. But many people are intimidated away before we get them to a point where they understand the option to wrestle things down to a manageable level.

The keynote speaker at this year’s Leadership Summit showed that “Opportunities to Gain Leadership Experience” is not one of the aspects of association membership that is rated high by non-volunteers. If we want to turn those folks into volunteers, we need to think about new options for engagement. Less structure and fewer procedural requirements might be one way to go.

Cynthia is Corporate Librarian at Kennedy Jenks Consultants, an environmental engineering firm in San Francisco. Prior to Kennedy Jenks, Cynthia was Director of Information Services as Keyser Marston Associates, a real estate consulting firm. She is program planner for the Engineering Division for the Philly and Chicago annual conferences and has served as Chair of the Environment and Resource Management Division.