It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know

At one time I found this unsettling. It seems wrong that connections could be more important than knowledge, skills, or capabilities. Well, think of it this way - what good are knowledge, skills, or capabilities without connections? Who will use your knowledge, tell others about your skills, or benefit from your capabilities?

The info biz is about nothing if not networking. At some level it's not even about the information, it's about putting the information into the hands of the people who need it. Having a robust network increases the odds of making this happen.

So, what are some options for growing and sustaining your network? For face-to-face relationship building, it's hard to beat the professional associations. You can join those related to your profession (in my case that's AIIP and SLA) or to the industry of your market. The local chamber of commerce or a service club such as Rotary are other options. Of course once you join you will want to volunteer on a committee, write for the association publication, or speak at association events in order to increase your visibility and build deeper relationships.

If you work inside of an organization, be sure to follow the same advice. Raise your profile and make yourself known by volunteering. Getting to know people beyond that casual "hi" in the halls will immediately expand your sphere of influence.

For virtual networks there are a number of options. Some have been discussed in this blog before. Be sure to explore LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Facebook to see if they have potential for you.

For more on networking visit Bootstrapper's 75+ Tips on Becoming a Better Networker, AARP's Value of Networking, and from Searcher Magazine, Online Social Networks, Virtual Communities, and Information Professionals by Reid and Gray.

Remember, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Who do you know?

Analysis and the Executive Summary

Do you create executive summaries for your clients' project reports? First, let's define "executive summary." For purposes of this discussion, we're not talking about my business plan in a nutshell as described by Guy Kawasaki in his blog. We're talking about the summary that brings together research findings to answer a question or series of questions.

If you do not include executive summaries in your research reports, why not? Indeed some clients prefer do all the summarizing on their own, but in my experience they represent the exception rather than the rule. As we all face info glut and data smog, most clients value a nicely written snapshot of the situation with the key questions answered up front.

What is it about info pros that makes us ideally suited to creating an information overview or executive summary? Stephen Abram has been heard to say that info pros are skilled at identifying patterns. I'm pretty sure that's one of the skills that helps us summarize mass quantities of information. I think we also have the ability to pull salient points from text heavy sources and distill the points into a few words. Hopefully we write well.

What other skills are required to create a useful research summary? Your comments are encouraged and most welcome.

Video Fun

Hang with your fellow info pros, and you will surely learn something interesting and useful.

At Internet Librarian 2008 in Monterey CA I had the opportunity to hear from cutting edge info pro Connie Crosby. She shared a bundle of new tools and technologies, and I want you to know about two of them.

Utterli lets you share text, pictures, video, and audio with your friends, even from your mobile phone. You can form groups and post to your entire community. I notice that GreenPeace, Photographers, DancingWithTheStars, and GTD (Getting Things Done) all have Utterli groups. Sadly, as I write this only one group is tagged "libraries." Come on info pros, let's make our Utterli presence felt. Note: Postings to Utterli are called utters.

Ustream is the live interactive video broadcast platform that enables anyone with a camera and an Internet connection to quickly and easily broadcast to a global audience of unlimited size. Interactive means that viewers can interact directly with whoever is broadcasting. People Ustream everything including speeches, talk shows, music, conference sessions, school and business events, training, sporting events, and special events like weddings, recitals, and parties. As I write there are 1081 live shows streaming. CompTV is up and running with 122 viewers talking about an ongoing talent contest. The one with the most viewers (13105) is the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam.







Cute, but boy can those puppies squeal.

Only 4 Ustream shows are tagged "libraries." Unfortunately they look like beta tests with little to offer. I'm guessing we can improve on that. What can we do that would draw more viewers than Shiba Inu puppies? Hmmmm.

Cindy Shamel