By John J. DiGilio, National Manager of Research Services, Reed Smith LLP

Back when the internet was still young, so was I . . . well somewhat. I was fresh out of law school and fresh out of work. Two things were certain to me back then: I had no desire to practice law and I was happiest when I was researching in the library. When I made up my mind to pursue a degree in information science, one of my closest friends and an early tech guru, asked me if I was crazy. According to his digital crystal ball, once this “internet thing” took off, libraries and librarians would surely go the way of the dinosaur. All of these years later, I am pleased to say that not only have I failed to fossilize, but that I am happier than ever to call myself a librarian. Librarians are survivors!

It’s a new millennium. Yes, the internet is bigger than anyone imagined. Yes, libraries have gotten smaller in many respects. Maybe we saw that coming. But in a stroke of tenacity and adaptability, librarians have become, in my opinion, more integral than ever. In this age of easy access and information on demand, we are more than the gatekeepers. We are the curators of relevance. We are information quality control at its finest! Staying relevant has not been an easy road and many of my colleagues in the industry are struggling with changing technology and tightening fiscal belts. Yet, I have just to look around to see many others adapting to new roles and processes that few of us might have expected even just a few years ago. Call it a “can do attitude” or even career Darwinism. I think of it as the very nature of librarianship. It is quality, innovation, and service despite and in response to changing circumstances. It’s what we do!

Being future ready means being adaptable and responsive. It requires keeping your finger on the pulse of change and meeting it head on with new methods, fresh ideas, and unwavering enthusiasm. It is also embracing the fact that as times change, so too will the definition and domain of the librarian. It is only natural. Librarians can and do adapt. We do survive. Above all, we can thrive in the face of change. Here are just a few of the skills I believe that can keep us from getting voted off the island (OK, bad “Survivor” reference!):

• Anticipate change.  Change is a given, whether we like it or not. Yet it seldom blindsides us. Librarians are imminently positioned to see what is coming our way. We are out there interacting with the resources, vendors, and information – the very agents of change – on a daily basis. If you are not already leveraging your contacts, networks, and conferences to help you prepare for tomorrow, you really need to start doing so. Change cannot sneak up on you if you have eyes in the back of your head. Old librarian stereotypes aside, you do have eyes in the back of your head right?
• After you ask WHY, ask HOW!  Like I said above, change is a given. So is the fact that we are not always going to like the changes that occur. It is only natural to lament when the rug is pulled from beneath you. But once you get done sweating over why something has changed (an important question in and of itself), it is time to start thinking about how you are going to adapt. As librarians, our goal is to continue to deliver quality service and work regardless. Shrinking budgets and spaces be damned, our goals do not change. Regardless of the size of the institutions we serve, we are each part of a team that keeps that place running. Want to show them how integral you are to the team and your workplace? Show them just how much you really can do with the resources you are given. As Tim Gunn would say, “Make it work!”
• Don’t just shift . . . SHINE! Finally, it is not enough to just make the most of change. Shifting approaches and expectations may be the bulk of the battle, but they are not enough to win the war for survival. What good is besting change if no one knows what you are doing? You have got to be able to talk up what you and your department are doing in ways that are meaningful to your institution. From raising the bar on the quality of information and results to saving money, the powers that be need to know the impact of your work and changes. Don’t be shy about tooting your own horn. Just toot it strategically.  No one wants a cacophony of self-congratulations. A sweet tune of success is enough to tempt the ears of those at the top.

I could go on and on about the ways in which librarians can thrive in changing and even uncertain times. I have at times even been accused of being too optimistic about the changes that are shaping our industry and its future. You can call me a Pollyanna. I really do not mind. If I did not believe it and practice it, I would not preach it. Librarianship, in all of its evolving names and forms, is every bit as exciting to me as it was when I was starting info school. I still love what I do and, most importantly, I am still doing it. That friend, the tech guru with the gloomy prognostications? He is not in tech anymore. In fact, I am trying to get him to try librarianship too. I am certain there is a future in it!

John DiGilio is the National Manager of Research Services for Reed Smith, LLP. He has over 20 years experience in libraries and has written for numerous publications and taught college and graduate courses for attorneys and librarians. He has twice been awarded SLA’s Dana Award. John blogs at iBraryGuy, and follow him via Twitter (@iBraryGuy).

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.

by Pamela Wall

OK, already! I get it. I really do.

In order to be Future Ready, you have to be actively getting ready. You (and when I say you, I really mean me) can not be on the sidelines anymore believing that the skills gathered and gleaned to prepare the library and the library professional for the twenty-first century and centuries to come should be put on a shelf somewhere awaiting some perfect time.

According to a blog post I read recently, the future is now. Waiting for some mystical, magical, and mysterious time is not the wisest course of action and continuing to wait while not putting any of my hard-earned professional skills to use is tantamount to malpractice. Malpractice was the theme of another post. I just want to let you (this time, I really mean you) know that I’ve been inspired by someone else’s original thoughts. The rest that follows really is mine. With this post, I am not trying to revolutionize anyone. I am only trying to revolutionize myself. Keeping that in mind, this is what I resolve to do.

I will work hard to organize my library. I inherited the library at the engineering firm for which I work from another co-worker. You may be saying “OK. Big deal!” To those of you who uttered that thought, allow me to tell you that the co-worker who organized the library was not a librarian. I am not sure that she has ever worked in one. I am sure that she’s been to one because she worked for months to get the collection in order. She used what skills she had to generate call numbers for each of the books. She got the library together without the assistance of any library professional and for that, I commend her. She subsequently left the company, and the library became my responsibility. I had absolutely no idea how to manage it. I knew that the call number system of Book1, Book2, etc. was no longer appropriate especially since materials were coming into the library that belonged between Book1 and Book2. One thing I did was to enroll my pretty self in an accredited Library Science program. I have also begun to broker discussions with a real librarian, and she helped me to select a real, viable system for organization. With other relationships I will develop and the techniques I will learn, I will analyze what is done to manage collections and use those methods to manage my own.

The engineering firm for which I work has four engineers in our office. You may be thinking “Four engineers? Big deal!” To you I say that they are some of the best I’ve ever worked with, and in our town, my little firm has an excellent reputation. I can certainly say that they’ve been able to keep this sister in soft shoes for the past nine-plus years. They are not walking around the office saying, “Well, when we get 15 P.E.’s on staff, then we’ll really be awesome.” They are not waiting for that. The standard of care for engineers states that they will exhibit quality workmanship for all projects on which they work. The standard of care does not say that they have to have a labor force of a certain size to produce quality. This principle works for one as well as it works for 1,000. As the engineers in my office are doing, I will most emphatically do. I am the only librarian (well, not a real librarian. I don’t have my degree yet) on staff, but I will not wait for an increase in the company’s labor force or the library’s collection before I can exhibit the quality of my profession. I will do these things and more so that my library and I are Future Ready. My co-laborers in the information field, this is my standard of care…my resolution.

Pamela Wall is a student in the MLS program at the North Carolina Central University.