Delivering Value to Your Clients or Organizaton

Information professionals deliver value to their organization or risk becoming expendable.

I recently delivered a webinar program to members of the Association of Independent Information Professionals on how to deliver value added analysis. You can download the slide deck titled Adding Value to Your Research: Value Added Analysis to get the gist of the presentation.

Cyberspace is abuzz right now as specialized librarians debate the merits of renaming their professional organization. The current name is SLA: Special Libraries Association. The suggested name is Association of Strategic Knowledge Professionals.

The proposed name actually represents a mind shift from information management to something broader. Some info pros appear to object to this change. From my angle it represents an appropriate evolution in our profession. To demonstrate the value in what we do, we have to wrap value into the services and solutions we offer.

Value added analysis serves as one proven strategy for an evolving profession.

Develop Your Professional Skills - Focus on Management

As independent info pros we are on our own when it comes to professional development. Manager Tools can help meet the need for management and leadership training. Manager Tools offers podcasts on valuable topics including timely meetings, presentation attire, attention management, how to remember names, how to leave a voicemail, and lots more. Podcasts are categorized as Manager Tools and Career Tools. Take a look.

Learn something new today.

The Trustworthiness of Sources

What role should the info pro play in vetting the trustworthiness of sources?

Short Answer: A large and active role.

Longer Answer: Most information professionals received training either in school, on the job, or through personal experience, that helps us evaluate a source and measure its credibility. Having this skill helps us point our constituents in the right direction. With the information floodgates standing wide open and information flowing all around us 24/7, info pros have a professional obligation to help manage that flow.

We should speak out on the wide variations in source reliability and educate the public on the importance of understanding a source's bias. Who is better qualified to do this than a trained librarian or information professional?

First, let's understand what we mean by bias and what our clients might need to know about the sources they consult. It is common knowledge that the National Review is a conservatively biased magazine, while The Nation represents the liberal point of view. Both are thoughtfully written and trustworthy. Historically they have not relied on exaggeration or misrepresentation to make a point. While biased, they are trustworthy. An info pro would know that and should make it known to others.

Here's a different kind of example. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is widely known in the United States for quality entertainment, educational shows, and trustworthy news programs. PBS is mandated by law to present objectivity and balance in its broadcasts. PBS posts its editorial standards on its web site, and an independent review board assesses whether PBS is meeting these standards. If our constituents are relying on PBS forinformation that may impact their business decisions, voting behavior, or other important decision making, they should know this.

Fox Broadcasting Company, on the other hand has no such mandate or oversight. Operated by News Corporation, Fox Broadcasting offers widely popular entertainment programming including shows such as So You Think You Can Dance and House. They deliver news programming through The Fox News Channel (FNC). Rupert Murdoch created FNC as an alternative to what he considered a liberally biased media. We know from the example of the National Review and The Nation that a conservative or liberal bias does not necessarily impact reliability or trustworthiness. Either a liberal or a conservative media outlet can provide fact-based arguments. The Fox News Channel has not proven itself to be trustworthy when it comes to delivering the news. Examples abound, but a representative one can be found on the Factcheck.org site. The example is a misrepresentation of the facts made by Glenn Beck about the Cash for Clunkers program. If our constituents are relying on Fox News forinformation that may impact their business decisions, voting behavior, or other important decision-making, they should know this.

Information professionals have an opportunity and an obligation to speak out on the trustworthiness of sources - now and always.

What's In a Name?

Let's assume you are an information professional. Given the fact that you are reading this blog, that seems like a safe assumption.

At a social gathering, when people ask you what you do, how do you reply? Do you give your job title - Information Specialist, Knowledge Analyst, Chief Researcher? Do you offer your educational background along with a job description - "I'm a librarian by training, and I provide research and analysis to corporate decision-makers." Do you dodge the topic and change the subject - "So, do you think Elizabeth Taylor will marry again?"

The conversation goes on in our individual spheres as well as at the broader level. The Special Libraries Association, known since its inception to have an awkward name, is looking at a name change. This is not the first time. The last effort ended in the practice of foregoing the full name for initials - SLA. Time has proven that to be a less than satisfying solution.

So, what are some of the options? Association of Knowledge Engineers (my personal favorite at this point), Specialized Librarians and Information Professionals, and Knowledge and Information Specialist Society are among the proposals. SLA leadership is on board with the initiative. CEO Janice Lachance has posted her position to the SLA Wiki on Why SLA Must Consider a Name Change. To participate in the discussion, use Twitter and #slaname or visit the SLA Name Change wiki. The conversation is sure to be lively.

Finding Prsentations Online

Information comes in many formats. Last month we talked about images, audio files, and video clips on the Internet. Another ubiquitous form of communication is the PowerPoint presentation. Slide decks, as they are often called in business enterprises, can contain a bounty of information including statistics, lists, strategies, and sometimes confidential information.

Docstoc and Slideshare are two sources of slide decks, and Google Advanced Search provides a tool for narrowing results to this format.

Docstoc is an online community dedicated to sharing professional documents. With free registration, users can upload documents for sharing and download or copy documents when those rights have been granted. Docstoc supports sharing of the following formats: .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .txt, and .rft. Documents are categorized as legal, business, personal finance, technology, education, jobs & careers, tax, real estate, current events, or politics and history. A search on "market share" led to some interesting slide decks on the automotive market, a word document on the airline market, and a pdf with instructions on how to find market share information. Docstoc lets you filter the results to the most viewed, most downloaded, most recent, most reviewed, and highest rated.

SlideShare claims to be the largest community for sharing presentations. Free registration permits uploading and downloading, and SlideShare offers an option called Slidecasts. In researching this article I found a slidecast of a children's storybook called Ravens Love to Sing, being read aloud in Japanese. SlideShare files can include video and automated slide shows, and when you select a slide deck to view, SlideShare will point you toward related presentations. Using this feature I found several useful presentations on how to use Twitter.

A third option for tracking down slide decks is Google's Advanced Search mode. From the Google home page click on Advanced Search. Enter your search terms and look down the
page for File type. From here you can select the .ppt format to limit the search to PowerPoint files. Try entering your company name in the box labeled "all these words." In the boxes labeled "one or more of these words" put "confidential", "proprietary", and "private" without the quotes. I hope you don't find the results to be *too* interesting!

Volunteering Provides Professional Development Opportunities

When did you last hear of an organization sending its info pro off to the Wharton Executive MBA program, or any other advanced management training program for that matter? Has it ever been done? If so, I've not heard about it. So who's looking after the professional development of our information professionals? It is my observation that most info pros are either solo or tucked into an organizational corner where professional needs are little understood. For their own good and the good of their enterprise, info pros would do well to take matters into their own hands.

First a word on why we care. With a strong understanding of how businesses work and how leaders function within an organization, the info pro can deliver the highest value and return on investment. Business acumen leads to better decisions for the info pro and the enterprise.

So what skills and training do we need? Consider project management, strategic planning, budgeting, event planning, team leadership, and negotiation skills as core competencies for working within most organizations.

If you're not going to the Wharton School for an Executive MBA, how about volunteering within your professional association. This strategy has long been advocated as a means to network and make valuable contacts with professional colleagues. It is also an extremely effective way to learn the above mentioned skills while working with seasoned leaders within the association.

Think about the professional or non-profit organizations you are a part of. Think about how the routine activities of most organizations lend themselves to leadership and management training: coordinating a newsletter or blog; developing or updating a strategic plan; serving as treasurer or on the finance committee; planning programs or annual meetings or seminars; serving on the governing board; chairing a committee and managing the people on your team; negotiating priorities among the members or a contract with a caterer. These activities all advance the goals of the organization while providing the volunteers with valuable training.

A good organization will have the depth of leadership and experience to provide role models and mentors to those willing to volunteer and learn. I can say from my own experience that volunteering in professional and other non-profit organizations has provided more leadership and management training than I could have ever predicted, and it has served me well in the business environment.

Take matters into your own hands. Go forth and volunteer!

Finding Business Information in Audio, Video, and Image Formats

For a recent article in FUMSI: Find, Use, Manage, & Share Information, I researched the many search engines available for locating audio, video, and images on the Web. "Finding Videos, Audio and Images on the Web: Search Tools" gives some useful links to sources that can deliver business-related search results.

The weakest link seems to be good search tools for podcasts and other non-music audio files. If you have some resources to suggest, we'd live to hear about them.