This week’s posts come from truly gifted professionals of the SLA North Carolina chapter. While each representative has made an effort to keep their topics inline with the central theme of SLA Future Ready 365 blog, you will notice that each post provides a unique perspective and is intended to help a variety of readers that visit the blog. For more information about our members and the North Carolina chapter, be sure to visit ncarolina.sla.org.

We recently hosted a class of library school students at our non-profit/corporate library. One student asked, “What is the most valuable thing you learned in library school? My answer to this question was simple: the reference interview.

It may seem strange to emphasize something as basic as the reference interview in a “future-ready” blog. However, in my interactions with clients – mostly start-up entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device sectors – the reference interview is key to our mutual success.

To tell you the truth, I don’t actually remember what I was taught about the reference interview, other than a basic caution to make sure that you fully understand a client’s information needs before you start answering their question. It was taught in the general context of a university reference desk, not as a special librarian’s tool. At the time, something like this crossed my mind – “Well, duh…. of course I want to make sure the patron gets their question answered.” And I’m certain that if there were specific steps to the process, I considered those to be as inane as the pre-scripted dialog of a telemarketer.

But after 6 years of working with entrepreneurial clients, I have realized the true power of the reference interview when it is conducted in a manner appropriate to my setting. Fully understanding a client’s needs is especially crucial in a business environment where inaccurate or incomplete answers are a waste of time and money. Our clients come to us with varied expectations, and especially after seeing our very small print collection, some are skeptical about what we can do for them. These skeptical ones will ask a brief question and expect you to say, “no, I can’t answer that,” then move on. They don’t know our library…yet!

It’s extremely useful to sit down with these clients to discuss their underlying information needs. As we chat, they start sharing about their projects and I can step in to offer possible solutions. When they bring up questions that may be impossible to answer directly with their minimal budgets and our limited resources (we are a non-profit, after all!), I can advise them about alternative data and sources that they may not have considered. As opposed to most reference desk interactions, I usually have a longer-term conversation with my clients by phone or email, and I can continue to help reframe their questions and refine their needs. Whether they pay us to do research for them, or they carry on with the research themselves, the outcome has been improved by our discussion of the problem. I also learn a lot from my clients about how their world works, and what strategies they use to build their business. Educating myself through our discussions helps me to be more effective in dealing with all of my clients, because I understand their perspectives that much better.

Delivery preferences can also be determined in a reference interview. Some of my clients are scientists-turned-entrepreneurs, and they want to see every detail that I can dig up. Others are business folk and just want to see the bottom line, executive-summary style. Learning from my clients not only what they need, but how they want it delivered, means that they will be more satisfied with the results. That makes them more likely to come back for additional research and refer us to their colleagues. It also makes their business more successful, giving them a higher chance of obtaining funding and growing jobs in North Carolina, which is our main goal at the Biotechnology Center.

In his keynote presentation at the last SLA conference, Thomas Friedman told us that in the new economy jobs that can be outsourced, will be. Therefore, a big part of being “future-ready” means that librarians need to find our strengths and ways to distinguish ourselves not only from offshore workforces, but also from online tools like search engines. I find the reference interview to be an invaluable tool in training my clients not to treat me like another search engine – but to respect me, their librarian, as a valued partner in their work. Maybe that leads to repeat business for our library, maybe it keeps me crucial to my organization…. and just maybe it begins to change their perceptions about what a librarian is and does.

Karin Shank is a Research Librarian at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park, and active in the North Carolina chapter of SLA. She holds an M.S. dual degree in Crop Science and Botany from NC State University as well as a Masters in Library Science from North Carolina Central University.

by Gwen Alexander

As the dean of the School of Library and Information Management at Emporia State University, I spend a great deal of time thinking about how we should be offering learning experiences that will support 21^st century librarians. The two most important skills that come to mind immediately are both related to “change”:  1) leading/planning for change and 2) recognizing change as opportunity. New technologies and global developments have accelerated the pace of change recently, which engenders related questions:  How shall librarians learn the skills of adapting to change, recognizing opportunities, and planning and implementing changes for the future? Are these skills that can be taught in a master’s level course? How do people learn to discern change that adds value from change that harms? What about unintended consequences that result from change and its inherent opportunities? How can leaders of change overcome competing commitments to traditional librarianship?

In That Used to Be Us, written by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum, the authors discuss the unique role America plays in providing important public services across the globe and the consequences of failing to renew domestic sources of American prosperity and strength. They argue that a strong, pro-market federal government is necessary to create favorable conditions that promote private enterprise. I would add that one of these domestic sources has been, and continues to be, our libraries and the ethic of freedom of access to information for everyone. If this is true, librarians and supporters of libraries are tasked with the responsibility of updating libraries and library services to keep them relevant to 21^st century information needs. To accomplish this task, we need to know what is relevant to meeting 21^st century information needs.

I think our libraries need to focus on being community information/learning centers that support education and information literacy from birth through old age. Providing access to the world of knowledge (far more than the basic subjects in formal education) in a variety of formats is still what libraries and librarians do best. Libraries are not repositories for books, computer labs, or quiet places—they are educational institutions that are vital to all age groups. We need to make sure that the general public and individuals who are part of the funding process understand that libraries are necessary to the initial and continuing education of all age groups, from birth to old age.

I began with the idea that librarians need the skills to plan and lead change and recognize change that brings additional opportunities. I am ending with the thought that all change is not necessarily for the good and we need to be able to recognize the difference so we can know which path to choose. The “good” changes are those that support libraries as community information/learning centers. SLIM has initiated a concentration in Leadership and Administration that includes courses in management, leadership and leading change, marketing and public relations, and a choice of courses focused on public libraries, academic libraries, and special libraries. Recognizing the need for change, planning change, and implementing change are taught across the curriculum. This is the change we have made as our response to the need to educate students in how to move forward in our changing profession and environment and contribute to the library and information management field as professionals in the future.

Gwen Alexander is the Dean of Emporia State University’s School of Library and Information Management.

by Guy St. Clair, Australia & New Zealand and New York Chapters, Knowledge Management Division

I was honored recently to be asked to speak for SLA’s Information Technology Division. My presentation – which we’ll continue with in a second session at Chicago in 2012 – had to do with the future of knowledge services and the role of specialist librarians in the next decade. It was my privilege to share with colleagues my perceptions about our future.

None of us has a crystal ball of course, and we’re all wondering what the resolution – when it comes – to the current financial crisis and global insecurity will be. That said, though, we also can’t let these negative influences distract us from the goals that originally brought us into specialized librarianship. We chose librarianship – and particularly specialized librarianship – because it is a profession that enables us to excel in bringing knowledge development and knowledge sharing (KD/KS) into the companies and organizations where we are employed. We didn’t call it “KD/KS” – the acronym had not yet come into our professional vocabulary when most of us chose our careers – but the tools, techniques, and professional service delivery built into that acronym were certainly what delighted us about our work. And they continue to do so.

But the workplace has changed. And keeps changing. And we are constantly challenged to manage KD/KS in ways that meet the needs (also ever-changing) of our employing organizations. It isn’t easy, and some folks are just about ready to give up on being specialist librarians. But we won’t give up. Not when we’re getting advice from some of the smartest people in the world about how we can manage our own future. Did you get the point of Tom Friedman’s Keynote Speech on Sunday night at the Annual Conference in Philadelphia? He was clear: today’s (and future) employees create their own jobs.

It is an important message (so important, in fact, that Friedman devoted his July 13 column in The New York Times to the subject). As we think about being Future Ready and preparing ourselves for continuing our careers deeper into the 21^st century, we need to think about some of the people in our field who are doing just that, people who are creating (Freidman uses the term “inventing”) their own jobs.

From my perspective, these are people who are succeeding because they’ve been able to analyze what their managements require from information and knowledge professionals. Then they fit their contributions to match the corporate need. They have realistically identified their role in the larger organization, and when they look at the organizational “big picture,” they understand what their organizational leaders are looking for in information management, knowledge management, and strategic learning. Indeed, those three elements (found in every organizational function) are the very basis of what enterprise management wants from those of us who work in the knowledge domain. Combined, they make up what we call knowledge services and their successful performance is fundamental to organizational effectiveness. The people doing this work – whether in specialized libraries or not – are the organization’s knowledge thought leaders.

So we ask the question:

Can I – as a specialist librarian – be a knowledge thought leader for the company?

Absolutely.

Here’s how:

First: Start with taking a look at the organization’s “big picture.” And at your own (this is where the ambition comes in). Think about your personal goals, your ideals, what you want to do (meaning “What do I really want to do?”). And as you look at your professional life, it’s pretty well defined:

As an information and knowledge professional, you’re working in what we call “the knowledge domain.” You work with knowledge, with strategic knowledge for your company or organization, and your job is to focus on how knowledge is used to advance – to move forward – the goals of your employing organization, to ensure that the company succeeds in achieving its mission. And since your work is part of the knowledge domain, your career is a career in which you direct KD/KS in your organization. Your career is impacted by (and is going to be further impacted by) how well you work with knowledge management (KM) and knowledge services.

Now: Step back from your day-to-day activities and think about how you can match your company’s information and knowledge needs to your own ambitions and your own professional abilities. Connect all that with what you want from your professional life and create the job you want. You can do that by working in one of two roles (these, too, I identified in Philadelphia):

Your first opportunity is to continue what you’re doing, working as a strategic knowledge professional. These are people who are often thought of as “information professionals,” “content professionals,” records managers, archivists, specialist librarians, or similar employees working in related roles, all supporting the management of the organization’s knowledge domain. They are knowledge professionals who can usually be counted on to contribute to an enterprise-wide understanding of a subject or group of subjects (strategic knowledge) through focused analysis, design, and/or development. They use their research skills to define problems and to identify alternatives, and they generally connect to professionals in other disciplines and work (generally) with captured knowledge – tangible information – in physical or electronic repositories. Their work is distinguished by the fact that the knowledge these professionals manage is strategic, directly connected to organizational or corporate effectiveness.

At another level, you take on the work of the organizational or corporate knowledge strategist. Your area of specialization is now knowledge strategy, the discipline that, naturally enough, closely connects to the work of the strategic knowledge professional. There is a difference, though, as SLA Member Andrew Berner notes: one of the most distinguishing characteristics of knowledge strategy is that it is not a collection-based approach to KD/KS. Knowledge strategy – as a discipline – is management-based.

As a knowledge strategist, your work becomes – at the strategic level – the management of knowledge services. With knowledge services usually defined – as I’ve noted – as the convergence of information management, KM, and strategic learning, or, perhaps better put, as developing and implementing strategies for managing information, knowledge, and corporate or organizational learning, these activities allow the knowledge strategist to focus on matching the corporate knowledge strategy with the organization’s business strategy. As employees, knowledge strategists are expected to design and plan knowledge-related activities and policy, and they are particularly expected to give attention to future knowledge-related roles and activities that affect corporate or organizational success.

Choose: So what’s it to be? Strategic knowledge professional or knowledge strategist? It’s your choice, and either choice is a good one (and a valuable one) for your employer. One role, perhaps, is more service-oriented and the other is more managerial, but either is a good choice, and it all depends on what you want from your career. Both options allow you to respond to your ambition and – at the same time – use your expertise to lead the company as a knowledge thought leader. That’s a good scenario for any specialist librarian. Good luck.

Guy St. Clair (guystclair@smr-knowledge.com) is President and Consulting Specialist for Knowledge Services at SMR (Strategic Management Resources), a management consulting practice in New York, NY. In his “other” career, St. Clair teaches two courses for Columbia University’s M.S. in Information and Knowledge Strategy program and consults as the program’s Subject Matter Expert (SMR). Guy St. Clair was SLA’s President in 1991-1992.

by Kama Siegel, Oregon Chapter, Solo Librarians Division

Without being overly derivative of all of the posters who have come before me, I’m going to discuss many of the themes you’ve heard throughout the life of this blog. Except that I’m going to apply it to recent events in my own professional life by making it into a story. Don’t worry, though, the themes will be easy to spot.

Once upon a time, I was content — if a teeny bit bored — at my position as a law librarian at a mid-sized firm. Particularly in this economy, in the extremely competitive city of Portland, Oregon, I counted myself lucky to have a job at all. But I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to be a law librarian for the rest of my career.

Someone close to me has a position in a small company whose mission and structure I admire very much. After a few years, I decided I wanted to also work at this company, so I set about figuring out how. (Theme #1: be proactive!) I had met the president of the company a few times at non-work events, and had actually gone in and spoken to a few staff members about how to maximize their use of social media. (Theme #2: show them your “extra” — thanks, Thomas Friedman!)

Then a setback: they didn’t think they’d have money in the budget to hire me until the beginning of 2012. (Theme #3: be flexible!) I dug into my duties at the law firm with renewed vigor (Theme #4: give your very best service to your patrons!) and waited to hear from the other company. A few weeks later, I got a call from the CFO, asking me if I’d like to come in and talk to him about a different project, one for which I had very little experience. (Theme #3 again.)

Long story short, I was able to convince the CFO that I could without a doubt do this extra project about which I knew next to nothing (Theme #6: be confident! Also, Theme #7: step outside your comfort zone!). Successful completion of the project will subsequently make me indispensable to the company, and we will live happily ever after (Theme #8: be optimistic!).

The purpose of this post is not to toot my own horn about my new position, but rather to illustrate that taking on an opportunity that drops into your lap = future ready. Being willing — note that I do not use the word “unafraid” — to dive into unfamiliar territory = future ready. Knowing you can machete your way through that territory = future ready. And in my case, plunging my career into glorious chaos = future ready (Theme #9: blaze your own trail!)

Kama Siegel is the President of the Oregon chapter. She recently left her stable, cushy, 16-year career in the legal field to plunge headlong into the unknown at Alta Planning & Design in Portland, Oregon.

by Amy Maule, Oregon Chapter, Competitive Intelligence and Information Technology Divisions

At our annual conference last month, Thomas Friedman talked about the challenge of standing out in a world where potentially thousands of people are ready to do your job better and for less money.  Employers aren’t looking for someone who can DO the job, they’re looking for someone who can invent and reinvent the job based on the needs of an evolving organization.

His statement really hit home for me.  I work with a small consulting team at a major engineering firm doing primary and secondary source research, writing, editing, information and document management, a bit of intranet support, and whatever else comes up.  I see my job as a kind of extreme-embedded-librarian gig, but my business card says “Analyst,” and my coworkers couldn’t care less about librarianship.  My boss recently told me that I’m appreciated most for my adaptability–I’m always ready to learn a new skill or contribute in a new way. I’m constantly inventing and re-inventing my job.

For example: Earlier this year, I helped a co-worker with some statistical research, writing and editing of a report for the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.  A few months later, we were asked to do similar analysis of a specific site in the province.  Because I had helped write the previous report, I was asked to co-author the second report, which included a trip to Newfoundland for in-person site analysis.  The initial report opened the doors for exciting travel and more direct project involvement.

I’m sharing my experience with you because I’ve learned that being Future Ready can mean more than staying on top of new technology or developing the skills needed to run the library of the future.  It can mean thinking outside the library and inventing and reinventing yourself as a professional.  The skills that make you a good librarian could help you to stand out elsewhere in your organization–you just need to reinvent your job in a way that lets you shine.

Here are my tips for being Future Ready in the uncertain climate of today’s special libraries:

• Look for ways to use your skills outside the library.  You might discover that skills we take for granted will set you apart in other groups.
• Think about how you can adapt your skills set to contribute in new ways.
• Do even the most routine tasks quickly and well, because sometimes the little things lead to big opportunities. (But do have boundaries.  I only make coffee when I’m hosting an SLA event!)
• Worry less about whether the bosses think libraries are valuable.  Make sure they know that you are valuable.
• Stay actively involved in SLA.  Contact with like-minded professionals is even more important when you’re venturing into unexplored territory!

I hope that next time you browse the job listings or ponder ways to advance with your current employer you’ll remember that in addition to being a librarian, you are a highly skilled, adaptable professional.  There are great opportunities for enthusiastic, creative, organized people like us inside the library and out.

Amy Maule is most recently known to her coworkers as a “Business Location Analyst” for CH2M HILL’s Industrial & Advanced Technology group.  She worked in public, academic, law and corporate libraries prior to becoming embedded in an engineering consulting team.  Amy is also president elect of the Oregon Chapter of SLA.