SLA 2007: Synergy Session - Monday

The Synergy Session was comprised of innovative thinkers: Stephen Abrams, Sirsi/Dynix, Clifford Lynch of CNI, Eugenie Prime, retired from H-P and currently working with NIH on their board. Tom Hogan, one of the founders of Info Today was the moderator.

Tom Hogan used a quote from Yogi Berra: 'you can learn a lot by watching.' Tom also suggested a publication by Stephen Abrams that was recently published by SLA, Out Front.

The format of the session was that Tom would ask a question and address it to one of the panelists. After the panelist answered, then the others would chime in. I will note the question and put the name in parentheses of the person to whom the question was addressed. My notes of the answers are noted under the question.

Bottom line: Core competancies are: curiousity, creativity, conviction, courage, ability to accept change.
Bottom line: Try new things and iterate when they don't work.

1. How can we persuade business leaders to invest in an information professional? (Eugenie)
-We have to be convinced that we are worth the investment. We can't accomplish anything if we don't believe in what we are doing.
-deliver results.
-no fantastic powerpoints, no statistics. Tell real life stories that made a difference when you talk with leaders, e.g. how you helped land the client, how you helped win the case.
-no magic bullet. Tell customers the effort it took to get the answer to their desk. Never say "oh, it was nothing." Abolish the culture of victimization. Tell people that it isn't a competitive advantage to only use Google, then give examples.

I would add that all information professionals should make the firm/company leaders their customers. Start with alerts.

2. How can librarians help organizations manage/use information that sprouts up all the time? (Cliff)
-quantity of information available is vast; Information professionals have experience dealing with information management. Do what you do best, then talk about it.
-Non specialists rely on Google for their information. Make the people who come to you look good. Give them quality, targeted information.

3. Librarians rely on the OPAC to feed information to users, but it is not working for customers. How can librarians give Google experience to customers (Stephen).
-don't dumb down OPAC, but don't work on improving OPAC. OPACs meet librarian needs. OPACs show users our brilliance without telling them why what they are looking at is brilliant. All information users need a portal type experience. The portal can sit on top of OPAC.
-librarians make the questions better (reference interview), which helps to give the user better answers. Librarians/humans need to be added back into Google.
-the advantage of Google is speed: one click anytime. There is no ILL, no library hours.

Google is good at who, what, where.
Librarians are good at how and why.

4. How do we deal with different learning styles/techniques of those under 25/35? (Eugenie)
-need common goal/vision and to embrace strengths
-learn from each other
-Have more respect for different learning styles. Create reward structures. Learning styles have changed.

5. What innovations/technology has had the greatest impact in past 5 years? What are the core competencies for the future? (Cliff)
-competancies: adaptability and paying attention broadly.
-what we are seeing right now is the cumulative effects of a lot of new tech: Putting them all together and seeing the group of technologies coming together.
-use whatever is necessary to get the job done: curiousity, creativity, conviction, courage, ability to accept change.
-social skills transferred to technology.

6. What do we need to do to be most sought after information guides? (Eugenie)
-no magic bullet, just be the best know what they need and give users the means
-end users are present in a different way.

7. Can the Web 2.0 group of technology make a difference in a corporate environment? Where does the library fit in? (Cliff)
-Web 2.0 is a collection of technology, not one thing
-great need for people to work together
-collaboration is key. Group approaches to opportunities/problems which will build on collaborative tech tools. Collaboration will make corporate environments successful.

8. Effect of not addressing profession as a business? (Eugenie)
-Librarians are being impacted by outsourcing, Google, etc. The only way to combat these challenges is to always operate according to business principles.
-Stop whining. Everything is being outsourced; just deal with it.

9. How do we figure out what users really need (Stephen)
-iterate. Everything will fail the first time. Stop evaluating the first try. Iterate your ideas and let the ideas group up.
-watch users without them knowing it. Use anthropoligic techniques. Don't filter through the librarian filter.

10. What tools will SLA provide to help members to demostrate value to top management?
-SLA should provide some resources. One single person cannot do it alone.
-Speak to business leader where they are.
-Route special edition of SLA Outlook geared towards business leaders.
-Learning lab within SLA
-CIO, CTO are positions that say that info is important.
-One value of profession is that we are used to working together.