San Diego, California is home of beautiful weather, spectacular beaches- and a group of highly motivated, driven and future-ready information professionals. The SLA-San Diego Chapter is proud to join in the conversation with our SLA peers about what it means to be Future Ready.  Our San Diego membership boasts a wide range of professional experience and expertise, and we hope that you find our contributions to the FutureReady365 blog to be both thought-provoking and useful!

by Dolly Goulart, San Diego Chapter, Competitive Intelligence, Engineering, Legal, Leadership & Management, and Science-Technology Divisions

At your next meeting, look around. Who do you see sitting at the table? What roles do they fill? Are you regularly sitting amongst librarians or information providers, or are you regularly sitting with a cross-functional group, representing various business units, roles, or functions? If your answer is the first, why isn’t it the latter?

The overused stereotype of the librarian as a back-office or behind-the-scenes support person makes it easy for those in our role to resign ourselves to a position of reactiveness. As highly knowledgeable professionals within the organization, it is in the best interest of everyone involved – you, the client, and the organization – for information professionals to recognize their value and forge themselves a seat at the table.

Recognizing one’s value doesn’t always come easily. It takes self-reflection, future awareness, and the ability to part with comfort. Understanding the importance of our role is not enough. If you understand, but don’t demonstrate your value, you are not any further ahead. Consistently demonstrating your value requires one to evaluate the role they want to fill. The way we present ourselves determines the success we’ll encounter. Do you want to be an advocate for comprehensive information that answers strategic needs, or do you want to be a fill-in secretary, providing transactional-based support without building an equally respecting relationship with your clients? I know which role I want to fill and work every day to make sure the team I manage is viewed in the most professional capacity possible. I don’t fight for a seat amongst other highly competent business professionals. I let the work of our team speak for itself, resulting in strong partnerships across the company and strategically aligned participation. Do we still have work to do on this front? Yes. Is there alignment that we still need to strengthen? Yes. Do we increase our value almost daily, thereby increasing the level of respect and ultimately inclusion? Absolutely.

Back to the stereotype. Why is that we spend so much time evaluating old stereotypes and using them as crutches to keep us from moving forward? It’s so easy to think that someone doesn’t need a librarian in the room, or that they’ll come to us when they need us. Isn’t it more important to look towards the future, forget about the past, and for each and every one of us, determine the best approach to making sure we’re included in the discussion, whatever that discussion is? Personally, I get excited about tomorrow. I get excited about the possibilities and the potentials. I don’t dwell too much on why or why not and I don’t look too far back. Am I a risk taker? Maybe, maybe not. More than anything, I’m passionate about my role and the role librarians can fill. I don’t apologize for that passion because that is what keeps me engaged. It is also what gets me invited to the table.

Dolly Goulart has over seventeen years of experience in the information industry, including more than ten years of corporate experience in wireless and telecommunications. She is currently the manager of Research & Analysis for Qualcomm Library & Information Services, leading a team that supports a global population of Qualcomm employees. In addition to providing industry research and competitive IP intelligence, the team partners heavily with strategic and cross departmental groups to provide business critical research deliverables.

by Hal Kirkwood, Indiana Chapter, Business & Finance, Competitive Intelligence Divisions

‘Alice remarked in great surprise, “Why, I do believe we’ve been under this tree the whole time! In our country, you’d generally get to somewhere else if you ran very fast for a long time.”’

“A slow sort of country!” replied the Queen. “Now, here you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.”

An article that I have kept and reread over and over is by Arnold Hirshon in Advances in Librarianship entitled ‘Running with the Red Queen: Breaking New Habits to Survive in the Virtual World’. In this article he talks about reinventing reference, meeting increased customer expectations, changing strategic directions, changing our physical spaces, changing how we collaborate, coping with the speed of technological change, and integrating technology effectively.

This article was written in 1996.

These issues are as relevant now as they were 15 years ago. The competition from Google, the multitude of technological options available, the need for building information literacy skills, the necessity to change our physical spaces and how we connect with our constituents are all challenges we as information professionals must face today. We must define our role. We must create the future. To remain relevant we have to run twice as fast to get anywhere, this is what Future Ready means to me.

Hal Kirkwood is the Associate Head of the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management & Economics at Purdue University. He is a past-chair of the Business & Finance Division.
Hal is currently running for one of the two Director positions on the SLA Board. He can be reached at kirkwood@purdue.edu.

by Rebecca Jones

A few weeks ago Jane Dysart, Kim Silk and I were fortunate to hear Daniel Pink talk at the Rotman School of Management Life-Long Learning Conference for Leaders, ‘How to Get Your Business Back to Reality.” His latest book, Drive, bases “the surprising things that motivate us” on 40 years of human motivation research.  It wasn’t his discussion about what does or doesn’t motivate us that caught my attention, although that is fascinating and worth a blog post(!); it was his discussion about the need for organizations to challenge and re-think base assumptions on which they are building their strategies.

I’m increasingly concerned that that the library sector and information profession must do just that: challenge, re-frame and quite possibly re-think our base assumptions and the practices and approaches built on those assumptions. Pink re labels assumptions “orthodoxies”.  Labelling and viewing what we, as a sector and profession view to be truths as “orthodoxies” rather than assumptions forces us to see the deep-rooted concreteness of these “truths”.  It is these deep roots that make it somewhat painful to question the validity of these orthodoxies today and, more importantly, tomorrow and into the future.

I laugh, both because laughter is healthy and because for a profession that has an orthodoxy (yes,  a truth – an assumption!)  of finding and delivering answers to any question, we aren’t really too comfortable asking and considering questions about our practices, approaches, strategies or organizations. I don’t think we’re really any different than any other sector; wrestling with those types of questions is akin to wrestling itself – invigorating for some, uncomfortable for others and the outcome is unknown.  And, yet, to be future ready we must challenge those orthodoxies and ensure our practices, perceptions and approaches are ready for the future – whatever that future may hold. I may not like wrestling, but I absolutely hate the thought of seeing the library sector or the information profession perceived as irrelevant in the future, so I’m willing to be uncomfortable and to engage in the challenging discussions and re-framing required.

SLA is designing its future. Next week the Board will begin considering the assumptions and “orthodoxies” held true by an association that’s more than 100 years old. SLA’s future for the next 100 years will be designed by standing in that future as Jane Dysart challenged the association to do in Information Outlook in 1993 when she was SLA President.  Jane has always questioned orthodoxies, often without even realizing she’s doing it, because she is naturally curious. She has taught me so much about the value – and fun! – of curiousity.  Curiousity leads to discoveries. We need to be curious about what type of association will be indispensable to an indispensable sector and an indispensable profession. We need to ask questions about what that association will “look like”, how it will enable its members and how members will enable it. How will the association differ from other information and library sector associations?  Will members come together at an annual conference in the future? Why? How? What services will so delight members that they’ll prize the association above all others?  Curiousity rarely, if ever, “killed the cat” and it will help us discover the questions, re-frame our assumptions, and design the future we want, need and will delight in.

Get involved in SLA’s Strategic Vision Project. Stand in the future & see the SLA that will be indispensable for you – and contribute your voice here.( http://futureready365.sla.org/05/27/sla-strategic-vision-project/)

Jane Dysart, Juanita Richardson & Kimberly Silk at SLA 2010

Rebecca is a partner with Dysart & Jones Associates. She is the former director continuing education at University of Toronto’s iSchool, and still an instructor & member of the Advisory Board.   Early in her career she was incredibly lucky to work for 14 years in large corporations in managerial roles in libraries, records management, human resources and IT. She’s an SLA Fellow and, with her wonderful Competencies Committee colleagues, a recipient of SLA Leadership Award.

by Toni Wilson, Cincinnati Chapter, Competitive Intelligence Division

What is, and what is not, competitive intelligence? Practiced correctly, CI accommodates the ability for organizations to be ready for the future, by anticipating changes in the marketplace and avoiding surprises that might blindside our end users and clients, often as they are focused on making decisions and plans based on what the marketplace looks like today.

When we think about our respective marketplaces, we can’t be focused only on how “the game” is played at present. In the future, new competitors will enter the game. They seek to disrupt the way our organizations play the game, so they will move out of turn or invent new moves. Or, the rules of the game itself may change, affecting all of the players. Because of all of this likely change, CI is not really about the competitors themselves, but about keeping our organizations competitive into the future.

Information professionals are uniquely qualified to provide insights regarding the future of our competitive environments because we are chiefly responsible for gathering the facts that indicate change. Fact-gathering is the first step and foundation of every successful CI process, so our role in the process is invaluable. While gathering facts, we see all of the puzzle pieces before anyone else–-sometimes we’re the only ones who see all of the pieces – and can easily put them together to create a picture of the potential future.

A relatable way to explain what CI is, and its value, is by referring to a quote from The Great One, Wayne Gretsky. He often said: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” We can achieve greatness by helping our end users and clients know where the puck might be going-–what the future competitive environment might look like–-so our organizations can play there, remain competitive, and win the game.
Toni Wilson is the principal consultant at MarketSmart Research Services. She is an experienced competitive intelligence practitioner, having performed hundreds of projects over the past 20+ years, in a variety of industries and throughout the world. Prior to establishing MarketSmart Research in 2000, Toni was a corporate intelligence professional at LexisNexis for more than a dozen years. She is an expert in sources, tools and techniques for intelligence collection, and frequently speaks to groups and coaches individuals regarding the CI process. Toni is a volunteer leader, prolific author, enthusiastic mentor and professional award winner. She is the current chair of SLA’s Competitive Intelligence Division.

by Vicki Valleroy, Pacific Northwest Chapter, Competitive Intelligence Division

Recently Best Practices for Corporate Libraries was published, in which 57% of the authors were SLA members!  As one of the authors of the chapter titled “Application of Technology & Change Management in Staff Development”, I would like to share some excerpts that touch on some essential future skills.  Enjoy!

“Future skills include not only specialized skills but pivotal skills, such as project management and leadership.  The requirements for Library Specialist and Librarian positions were reviewed to determine what education or specialized skills were to be extended to include more in-depth technical knowledge, content management and information management skills, in addition to expanded skills/knowledge about copyright, intellectual property, metrics, and process based management skills.  Specialized skills are defined as tactical areas that are not unique across the company.  Acquiring these skills are the responsibilities of the staff as they develop and share their career goals and aspirations with their managers.

As important as the skills themselves is the staff’s willingness to change.  We researched change management principles and practices and chose those elements that we felt we could influence and/or control.  We created programs or activities to address these issues.  We attempted to augment our readiness to change by giving the staff adequate information, social support, participation in decision making, personal impact, and efficacy (an individual’s confidence in their ability to perform adequately in the new environment).

Due to the time needed to plan the approach and the implementation time needed, the staff development team took several years to address the issue of future skills and staff training.  During the first year, we established the future skills needed for our new library delivery model.  In the second year, the team addressed library specific competencies needed for new research and communication tools.  The team restructured the training and self-development goals by targeting specific competencies to support the company’s skills initiative.  A more focused approach to develop technical skills was needed to deliver services.  Building on the Special Libraries Association’s innovative “23 Things” self-directed training program, the team developed the Core Competencies goal, which specifically targets staff applying and demonstrating skills in selected areas.”

As professionals, we need to encourage and support each other  to take control of our own learning, to use available technology to optimize both interpersonal and professional competencies, and to put into use our ever changing lifelong learning skills.

Vicki began her professional career in health information management, developing future skills by supervising over 30 staff members on two campuses; coordinating the upgrade of computer software and hardware for medical records and coding; and participating in staff/management labor union negotiations.

After receiving her master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington, she joined Boeing Library Services.  Currently she is co-leading the merging of the ViRT (Virtual Reference Team) and Research teams, and is particularly interested in using employee involvement best practices in developing high performance teams.   Recently Vicki completed the Change Management certificate program offered through Pepperdine University.  In 2009 she was honored with The Boeing Company’s (SSG) Shared Services Group Service Ambassador Award. She is actively involved in professional associations, locally and nationally, currently serving on the SLA 2012 Conference Planning Advisory Council.   Vicki is a co-author of “The Application of Technology and Change Management in Staff Development” in the newly published book Best Practices in Corporate Libraries.

WE WANT YOU! Participate in the SLA Strategic Vision Project

SLA President Cindy Romaine has tasked members of the Board of Directors with developing a strategic roadmap for the association. The “Strategic Vision Project” has as its goal to provide direction and a strategic vision for SLA through 2014. The Board has been divided into three topic-related sub-groups:

• Skills & Membership Sub-Group: What skills do association current and future members need, and how best can we assist them in acquiring these? How can we build and retain association membership?
• Collaboration & Community Sub-Group: Are there other associations, groups, and projects with which SLA can collaborate to achieve a new goal, which we could not create individually?
• Alignment & Services Sub-Group: How can we incorporate the SLA Alignment Project research and strategies into association and member performance? What services can the association provide to facilitate this?

So, we would like to pick your collective and individual brains. What advice and/or suggestions do you have on these themes? Kindly post here—or contact any or all Board members. The Board will continue discussing this at its June meetings in Philadelphia.

Thanks!

Ann Sweeney, Ulla de Stricker, & Sara Tompson

Over the past 18 years, Ann Sweeney has served the European Union Delegation as Librarian, Webmaster, and now Senior Information & Communication Officer: Electronic Publications. Ann’s 40+ years’ career as a librarian spans positions at the Columbia University Graduate Business Library, the US Defense Intelligence Agency, the Port Authority of NY & NJ, the National Academy of Sciences, and public libraries.
Ann is active in SLA: having held multiple leadership positions over the years including Social Science Division past Chair, and current International Relations Section Chair. She received the 2006 Member Achievement Award, the DSOC 2009 Gale Group Murray Wortzel Award, and has organized the Annual Conference’s International Reception for more than a decade. Outside of SLA, she provided guidance on EU materials for the American Society of International Law’s Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL) Editorial Review Group, and is a frequent speaker at TRB, the World Bank/IMF Joint Library, Georgetown University Law Library, and similar venues.

Ulla de Stricker is an Information and Knowledge Management Consultant helping clients address challenges and opportunities of discovering and capturing information objects and protecting and leveraging organizational memory. She is a well known speaker at professional events and frequent contributor to the professional literature. Her website www.destricker.com provides additional information and access to her KM blog.

Sara Tompson is serving as a Director on the SLA Board from 2011-2013.  She is a member of the SLA Finance Committee, and the Board liaison to all the California chapters, the Rio Grande, NM chapter, the SciTech Division, the Research & Development Committee and the Professional Development Council.  Currently finishing up a three year administrative appointment as a Library Associate Dean at the University of Southern California, Tompson will become the USC Libraries Head of Instruction and Orientation on July 1, 2011.  In her spare time she is an instrument rated private pilot, and enjoys flying her husband and friends around beautiful California.

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 Regina Mays and Gayle Baker

Today, many libraries find it necessary to demonstrate the impact of what they do and to illustrate how the products and services of the library contribute to the goals of the overarching institution. The future ready librarian must have an array of tools to accomplish this.

Return on Investment (ROI) is an approach that is commonly used in evaluating business investments. In the strictest sense, ROI is a quantitative measure expressed as a ratio of the value returned to the institution for each monetary unit invested in the library.  Since a library is not a business, however, and the value it provides is not always a direct monetary return, some researchers are broadening the conception of ROI to include returns that affect the bottom line downstream and measure inherent values.

Special libraries are no strangers to ROI. In fact, special libraries have been the frontrunners of this type of research. Griffiths and King performed numerous studies in both corporate and government agency libraries in the 80s and 90s using cost/benefit analysis and ROI. More recent ROI studies in special libraries have found returns of anywhere from 2:1 to 18.6:1 or even higher.

The first thing to ask when beginning to design an ROI study is: what constitutes value? A good place to start is by looking at the goals of your organization and identifying ways that the library might contribute to those goals. For example, two recent studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Tennessee on ROI of academic libraries to the grants process focused on the monetary return of grant funding secured partly through the help of library-provided citations. Another value in that equation is the support of faculty research and productivity in general, which may not have a direct immediate monetary return to the university, but contributes value nonetheless.  In the second study, 94.5% of submitted research proposals included citations obtained through the University of Tennessee Libraries.  Faculty members commented about how access to electronic journals helped them, not only with their research, but also with their teaching.

ROI is one of many approaches to assessment and is most effective as part of a suite of methods. Just as you wouldn’t use a screwdriver to hammer a nail, ROI won’t be the best tool to use in every area. ROI is especially useful when there is an immediate return, for example helping your institution secure grants or contracts. But for those areas in which it is appropriate, it can be a very effective way of measuring the return on invested resources and demonstrating the value of the library’s contribution to the goals of users and to the goals of the organization as a whole.

Finally, these results should be communicated in ways that are meaningful and relatable. Often, putting a human face on the numbers is an effective approach.  For example, adding interviews to accompany the numbers or developing personas of typical uses and users.

Some useful links:

• Cornell University Library: Library value calculations: http://research.library.cornell.edu/value
• Lib-Value Project (IMLS grant # LG-06-0909152-09): Much information, including a free searchable database of over 800 items on value and ROI literature on all types of libraries: http://libvalue.cci.utk.edu/
• NN/LM MidContinental Region: Online tools for evaluating programs and services: http://nnlm.gov/mcr/evaluation/tools.html
• ACRL Value of Academic Libraries Report: A good overview of value research in all types of libraries, including special libraries: http://www.acrl.ala.org/value/

Regina Mays is Program Manager for the IMLS funded study Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries (“Lib-Value”) based at the Center for Information and Communication Studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN.

Gayle Baker is Professor and Electronic Resources Coordinator at The University of Tennessee Libraries in Knoxville, TN, and has worked there since 1990. She is one of the librarians who is participating in the Lib-Value project.

by Sue Wolper, President and CEO, Wolper Subscription Services

One of the challenging trends I see in the information marketplace today is that of relying on vendors to define your needs and to unilaterally develop the solutions that meet their interpretation of your needs.  As a participant in the information industry, I offer these recommendations to information professionals to ensure that you, your users and your organization are Future Ready:

Listen To Your Organization and Your Users When Defining Needs

Vendors and purchasers alike say that they are listening to user needs, but are we really listening?  Not only should we listen with our ears but also observe with our eyes what behaviors users demonstrate when seeking or applying information.  Be inquisitive and ask probing questions – why and how are more important than who, what and where.  Ask users how they would prefer to seek and apply information in a perfect world unbounded by today’s realities.  Then step back from the immediate interaction and ask yourself and others what information seeking and using behaviors will align best with the goals of your organization or community.  Is it really in the best interests of your organization to make finding information so simple that the user no longer has to think?  Shouldn’t users be questioning whether this is the best information, the right information, and accurate information to solve their problem?  What are the long-term implications for fostering user behavior that is satisfied with information that is the easiest to find?  Ask yourself whether user expectations are in alignment with the goals of the organization.  Temper the solution you choose to meet user needs with your own professional knowledge, expertise and experience.  Then seek a vendor that meets those needs, and is willing to modify their product offerings to truly meet the needs of your users and your organization.

Resist the Urge to be First

New technology is exciting, intriguing and addictive!  Instantaneous obsolescence is now built-in to every innovative advance.  Buy any new electronic device today and it is out-dated by the time you get it home and unpack it.  So resist that urge to be the first one to have the latest version just because it is new.  Don’t get overwhelmed by all the choices and options in the marketplace.  Evaluate the solutions in the context of what your users and organization really need.  There are noteworthy developments that do define future products, however, the time will come when that product is relevant to your needs.  On the other hand, don’t become complacent and satisfied with “good enough”.  But relax and don’t get caught up in the frenzy of “new and improved” cycles in product development.

Collaborate with Vendors in an Open-Minded Manner

Once you know what your true needs are, seek out vendors who are willing to listen to you.  Find vendors whose product development approach incorporates customer perspectives and involvement.  Discover the vendors who are agile, resilient, and responsive as well as have the vision and skills to deliver what their customers require.  Sometimes it is the smaller vendors who have these qualities because they need to in order to survive in the competitive marketplace.  Innovation often comes from the smaller vendors who recognize an unmet customer need and develop their offerings to satisfy that requirement.

Cooperate with Like-Minded Institutions

Too often it is the Big Players that define the market, whether they are the buyers or the sellers.  Seek out and join with other institutions that have similar needs, regardless of their size or purchasing power.  Speak up about your concerns regarding product functionality, desired features and unsatisfied needs.

Engage in more dialogue with your colleagues and with vendors to find collaborative solutions, after you have listened to your users.  Help vendors to meet your needs – now and in the future.

*”Seek first to understand, then to be understood” from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Sue Wolper is President and CEO of Wolper Subscription Services, a one-stop information management resource whose High Tech, High Touch® approach delivers the perfect combination of next-generation technology and time-proven, personalized service.  Learn more at www.wolper.com.

by Debi Beall, Oregon Chapter, Competitive Intelligence Division

Future Ready for a corporate library means being relevant to your company’s changing needs by staying nimble and looking for new ways to support the company’s goals and strategies. The Intel Library has always been focused on the needs of the company, but a couple of years ago, we tried a new, more proactive approach. As a result, we have undergone a transformation that has empowered our staff and increased visibility throughout the company.

The Intel Library has been publishing the Executive News Summary on a daily basis for the past 10 years. This publication was created at the request of Craig Barrett as a way to stay informed without having to scan endless news clippings. Two years ago, we decided to expand our publications with more in-depth industry newsletters, called Monitors. These weekly Monitors are specifically focused on Intel’s Global Strategy and key market segments and include an analysis of the news that week. The Monitors are a deeper dive into the areas of key importance to the success of the company. They have been wildly successful (we now publish 11 Monitors) and have resulted in several changes:

1. Fewer requests are coming into the library since the information people need is already being selected and distributed.
2. Each staff member has developed a deep understanding of the topic of their Monitor, becoming the experts that others turn to for insight.
3. Different business units throughout the company have linked the Intel Library Monitor that most applies to their business to their business unit web site.
4. The Intel Library is now more than an information repository. It is a place to gain critical insights into each of the Monitor markets.

Now that the Monitors have been institutionalized, we are looking to the future again. Next on our plate is improving access for mobile devices and a step into visual analytics. We have developed a rich data repository that is ready to be mined for insights. Visual analytics will take us to the next step, offering added value to Intel and contributing to the success of the company.

Debi Beall began her career as a Systems Engineer for IBM, then switched careers becoming a librarian with the Phoenix Public Library. Debi joined Motorola in 1992 as a Research Specialist, where she ultimately transitioned to a position as a Competitive Intelligence Analyst. She most recently joined Intel as a Research Analyst for the Intel Library in October 2008.