by Robin Dodge, Southern California Chapter

We’re a profession full of people who are ready and willing to help, to teach, and to mentor. Taking advantage of this and all the networking opportunities SLA offers will help you hone those soft skills that are so critical to your professional success. Some view networking as merely a way to find a new job or new clients. This is a big mistake. Nobody likes those people who show up for one event, scout the room for the right prospects, blow off the people they don’t think are useful to them, and then never show up to another event again. Networking offers all kinds of intangible benefits, when approached with the right attitude. If you invest the time in building meaningful relationships, you will grow personally and professionally, and you’ll be ready for that new opportunity when it comes along. 

Spending the last year planning events for our Chapter, I’ve heard a lot of excuses for NOT networking or participating. I get it. You’re the busiest person on the planet. You think you have everything and everyone you need right within your own workplace. You’re not a social butterfly. You don’t have money, time, transportation, etc. You’d rather have a root-canal than drive across town during rush hour, or any hour for that matter. I’ve heard all of this and more, and at one point I was the one making these same excuses. But when you’re the one planning the events you have to go to all of them, and it changed my whole attitude about the importance of networking. Meeting, networking, and partnering with such a wide array of professionals broadened my perspective, increased my empathy and confidence, helped hone my critical thinking skills, and it’s been personally gratifying and fulfilling. Networking events are now much higher in my list of priorities. Your to-do list will still be there tomorrow, your email can wait, and that important meeting to discuss that important project for the gazillionth time probably isn’t really necessary. The monthly happy-hour or professional development seminar are much more rare and unique opportunities, and you should be taking advantage of them. Leave work early, drive across town, maybe even skip dinner with your family, and stop making excuses or waiting for the “next” event. (Yes, I said it. Your family will be there tomorrow, right along with your to-do list.)

If you don’t feel comfortable at networking events, and perhaps you don’t consider yourself to be very social, ask the event-organizer to give you a job to do. Then use that job as an excuse to talk to everyone you can. Or ask a well-networked peer to introduce you to a few others. Better yet, volunteer for a position on the Board of your Chapter or Division, and work your way into positions of increased responsibility. Once you feel comfortable with networking, reach out and help others become more comfortable with it. Remember that everyone has something to offer. You might not become fast friends with everyone you meet, but every single person who crosses paths with you has something to teach you. Making an effort to meet as many people as you can will provide you with all of those intangible benefits I mentioned, and it will lead to amazing opportunities, partnerships, and friendships. Soft skills are a necessity right now, and they are most definitely future-ready.

Robin Dodge is the Special Collections Librarian at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, and President of the SLA Southern California Chapter.

by Maria Bagshaw, Minnesota Chapter

As a self-described info-nerd with a passion for information and knowledge, I feel that these actions have helped prepare me for becoming an Information Professional (AKA Librarian) of the future.  In this information whirlwind, you can do a few things that will make the job easier.

1. Take advantage of online and in-person seminars and professional development.  You always learn something new and something that can help your patrons, too.  Especially note and test new technologies that your patrons may be into so at least you are aware of what they are and how they can be used.
2. Focus on customer service.  As you can see with all the “like” and ranking that happens via Facebook, Twitter, Travelocity and other sites, the time of the anonymous patron is in the past.  Be kind and listen with respect to all points of view with the knowledge that everyone can’t be made happy, but everyone can come away with the feeling of being respected.
3. Strive to have a good understanding of the balance between traditional and print media and new technology.  Although the medium is different, the basics are the same: delivery of information and, hopefully, knowledge.  Know when to use each one for the most effective service to your patron.
4. Become free from fear (I borrowed this from Seth Godin’s Tribes).  Don’t be afraid to try new things and get out of your comfort zone. Have a willingness to accept various points of view and even to change yourself, while maintaining the integrity and mission of being a librarian.

by Paul Henriques, Washington DC Chapter, Government Information Divison

Information professionals by nature work in a dynamic field full of change. This fact is nothing new. However, I don’t believe anything might have prepared me for being laid off twice from two different organizations in one year. While some might look at this negatively, I am viewing this as an opportunity.  

I recognized the previous organizations I worked for provided little opportunity for professional development due to financial constraints. I would have appreciated greater support to attend SLA conferences or study towards certificates. Along with the usual job applications and networking amongst peers by submitting referral applications to organizations, I am spending my time productively, for example, learning new databases where I can and perfecting my foreign language skills.  

A break in ones career must be treated as a chance to increase your value for your next employer. Along with educating myself further, I made a conscious decision to obtain citizenship in the European Union, which was an option open to me through my heritage. While some may say that times are tough in Europe, economic problems are present in almost every corner of the world. Enabling myself to work in 27 other countries is an ability that can only help my career going forward. I am also not limiting myself to specific regions in the United States, however, living in Washington, D.C. affords a lot of opportunities for employment.

Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian, Temple University

I was pleasantly surprised to become aware of the Future Ready 365 blog, and I’ll look forward to acquiring some good ideas from colleagues who are confronting the challenge of building a sustainable, resilient library. I’ve been writing and speaking about future-proofing for approximately the past two years, and have shared a number of ideas for ways in which librarians in all sectors of the profession can create libraries that are ready for whatever the future might hold. I first became interesting in pursuing this topic when I was asked to contribute to Library Journal’s issue on “Future Proofing Your Library”. I wrote:

Adopting new skills and new techniques to our work will help, but I also advocate that library workers need to take a whole new approach to how they identify problems and develop the right solutions. Design thinking is all about being a “problem finder” and then thoughtfully developing, in playfully creative ways and in teams of border-crossing professionals, appropriate solutions. A significant challenge for library workers is keeping up with user expectations. If we fail to provide our users with an experience that meets their expectations, then we lose, and in a hypercompetitive and hyperconsumptive society, that can be the greatest challenge to our long-term viability.

We must use design thinking to create great library experiences for our users, because when people can get their information anywhere, all that can differentiate our libraries is the unique experience we can deliver—but it must be based on personal relationships, it must deliver meaning to the user, and it must be well designed.

Any number of strategies may contribute to the librarian’s effort to create a future ready library. I offer a dozen such strategies in my article “Fit Libraries Are Future-Proof.” Some of the strategies are inspired by library practitioners; others come from for- and non-profit industries. The overarching philosophy that unites them is the design thinking approach, seeing oneself as a professional who brings intentional design to creating a future ready library. The point is that becoming future ready or future proof requires more than the occasional random actions and occurrences that move us forward incrementally. It demands intentional design. I hope others will take the time to follow the links in this post to learn more about design thinking and how it can contribute to a creating a fit library that is ready for anything the future throws our way.

Steven Bell is the Associate University Librarian at Temple University. He blogs at Kept-Up Academic Librarian, ACRLog, and Designing Better Libraries, and is coauthor of Academic Librarianship by Design. Learn more about his ideas on design thinking and user experience at stevenbell.info/design and http://dbl.lishost.org. You can follow Steven Bell at http://twitter.com/blendedlib.

by Diana Menashi

One topic that has been raised by my professors regarding the future of the field is the relationship between librarianship and technologies, such as e-readers (Amazon’s Kindle or Barnes and Noble’s Nook), social networking sites (Facebook), and an ever-expanding selection of search engines from Google to Bing. The popularity and frequency of use of these technologies raises the question as to the role of libraries and librarians and the way in which they are perceived by the community at large and/or by corporations in the present information age. There are those who argue that the presence of these technologies renders or has rendered libraries and their services obsolete. Still, there are those who argue that the information searching and research skills of librarians are invaluable and will continue to be so as the ease of access to information increases.

Libraries and librarians have addressed this issue by maintaining an active online presence on the Internet through social networks, and by promoting services through library websites. This serves as an example of the ways in which the field considers users’ needs and desires when identifying platforms that would be most effective at providing services.

I would like to see the profession ‘reborn’ in the minds of those who perceive libraries and librarians as antiquated artifacts of the pre-information age. I would like to see libraries and librarians demonstrate that skills such as online searching are much more complex than a search engine would have one believe – that constructing a search query requires deeper thought and consideration beyond imputing two or three word phrases into a search box. I would like to see librarians show their users that the skill set that they have acquired and developed over the years goes beyond tasks such as reference services and cataloging.

Librarians should conceive of ways in which to demonstrate that their skills could be used to directly impact the success of the firm or the corporation. Librarians should breathe new life into the profession by stepping beyond the desk, identifying problem areas, and using their skill set to determine a possible solution. Their skill set would provide a unique perspective on the problem which would serve as an additional option for the heads of the firm or the corporation to consider when devising a solution. This would dispel the idea that librarians’ skill sets can be easily duplicated by computer programs and machines which serves as evidence that human involvement is still a necessity and an invaluable tool within the information age. Librarians should continue to develop Knowledge Management so that it is easily understood by those not versed in it. This could ease librarians’ attempts to explain its purpose and therefore increase the extent to which it is sought out by users and applied by librarians which would be mutually beneficial to both parties.

Diana Menashi is an MLS student at St. John’s University with a concentration is in special libraries. She is planning to take courses in law librarianship to acquire an additional skill set.

by Debbie Schachter, Western Canada Chapter, Information Technology Division

It is a pleasure to be able to contribute to the Future Ready blog for 2011, particularly as I’ve recently been thinking about the past and the future of special libraries and our association, as part of a panel for SLA Western Canada Chapter’s 25^th Anniversary. The conclusions that were drawn by that panel and by the audience were mostly positive about the future, and not unexpected. Beyond the specific technology predictions offered, people generally talked about:

• the need to continue learning new skills;
• the need to develop community engagement processes with our users;
• the need to continue to network and support each other. 

I think one of the most important things that we can do to get ready for the future is to build a good personal foundation today; and we do that by developing our change management skills in both personal and professional contexts. It is said that you make your own “luck” through your plans and actions, rather than simply responding to the events that happen to you. If you are prepared, either through continuing education, new skills development, or even just psychologically prepared for the unexpected, you will be better prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. 

Scenario planning is a great way to do some of the mental exercises required for thinking of the future. Once you have started to look at some alternative realities, it is a heck of a lot easier to begin planning for these than if you are simply reacting to what is happening, as it happens. It is difficult to predict the future but we can plan scenarios based on what has happened before, and what we are seeing today. When I think about the work that I will be doing next year, I expect that much of it will be the same type of work, but there will be the challenges of unexpected changes, and obstacles that will need to be addressed, and skills that I will need to learn. 

I also want to say that the power of a movement, such as the Future Ready movement, can accomplish a lot for all of us. I don’t know what I will be doing in five or ten (or two!) years, but I do know that there are lots of smart librarians out there who are also thinking and planning and sharing. One of the areas in which we do excel is in our networking and sharing. The very nature of the Future Ready movement is about bringing the profession into the future together.

Debbie Schachter has held multiple leadership positions in SLA’s Western Canada Chapter.

by Scott Brown, Rocky Mountain Chapter, Competitive Intelligence Division

Over the past few years, I’ve earned my Masters in Counseling as a supplement to my career path. I earned my MLIS in 1999, and became interested in therapy and counseling soon afterward. My intent on getting my Masters in Counseling was to provide coaching services to information professionals, as well as to provide psychotherapy services to the public.

In November of 2009, I was asked to give a presentation on navigating transition to a group of corporate folks who were facing a large layoff. The layoff hadn’t happened yet, but the reality was that layoffs were imminent, and the topic was at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

After asking her permission, I shamelessly stole Cindy Romaine’s “Future Ready” tag as a title for the presentation. The full title was “Future-ready: Thriving in times of transition and change”.

In the presentation, I discussed both the logistics and the psychology of impending change. Logistics included things like detaching from your organizational email address; making sure you have the files you need from your work system; updating your resume; making appointments while you still have benefits.

These are important items. I also chose to focus on the other things that go along with change like this. How do you pass on your responsibilities to someone else, especially projects you’ve cared about for years, or something you started yourself? How do you let go? How do you understand why you feel crappy, scared, excited, angry, uncertain, hopeless and hopeful, all at the same time? How do you move forward from a job or duties that you don’t necessarily want to leave?

Part of the process of successfully navigating change is having the understanding that paradox is inherent in change. Change is scary AND exciting. Change will affect you in ways that you can’t control, AND you have the opportunity to have some control in the midst of change.

When our jobs and careers change, the effect on our life can be dramatic. So much of our identity can be wrapped up in our jobs and careers.

So what’s important about being future ready for me? I think about three factors:

• Being prepared
• Being connected
• Being open and flexible

Being prepared means looking ahead to not only what might happen that seems negative – losing my job, say – but also looking at where the opportunities might lie. Are there other ways I can leverage my skills? Am I happy doing what I’m doing? Is this an opportunity for me to drive change for myself? What really interest me at this point in my life and career? What are ALL the things that might be a part of my future?

The next step is, I realize I can’t do this myself. Number one, relying only on myself is not going to get me another job, and number two, I can’t possibly know all the options and opportunities out there. Likely, what’s going to happen next is something I would never be able to anticipate.

This is why my networks – all of them – are important to me. My networks keep me connected, visible, active and aware. Personally, in this respect, SLA is one of my strongest networks. I know SO many different people in different ways – and it’s one of the most helpful networks I have. I also know from my experience that it’s OK to ask for help from my SLA network.

Conversely, I make myself available to share my experience with my networks. “How can I help you?”

Lastly, I listen. I stay open to opportunities. I’ve had headhunters contact me for positions I never would have sought out, or even KNOWN to seek them out. I’ve been offered amazing opportunities in my organization that allowed me to not just build my skills, but also to increase my visibility and credibility in the organization. I’ve had people ask me to do work – paid work – which I never would have thought to offer.

At the 2010 SLA Conference, I was talking with a colleague who was in a new position, but was struggling with seeing the next step in her position and in her career.

“You want to know the secret?” I said. “When someone asks if you can do something, say ‘yes.’ Whether you think you have the ability or the knowledge or not at this moment, say ‘yes’. Because as an information professional, you have the skills to learn quickly, and the attention and insight to do well. You have the ability to turn yourself into an expert. And, more importantly, that person asked you because THEY think you can do it.”

When I think of ‘future ready’, this is what I think of: saying ‘yes’.

Scott Brown is the Owner of Social Information Group in Longmont, Colorado. Scott is SLA’s Division Cabinet Chair and has held past leadership roles in the Competitive Intelligence Division and Rocky Mountain Chapter.