de Stricker

Community Spirit: A New Library

Much of my work involves assessments of the value or return on investment flowing from information services and libraries, and colleagues often raise in conversation the challenges associated with making a credible case that it is worth paying for the content and expertise to support an organization or commmunity through a library.  Imagine my joy in receiving the following message from a friend who - in addition to having secured two thirds of the necessary funding from the provincial and federal governments - has thrown himself into the role of personal network fund raiser for a new public library:

Our new library is destined to be a hub for the community catering to the diverse needs of all citizens.   For example:

P our distance education partnership with the local College will allow us to provide skills training to those who do not have access to transportation or have limited funds

P our youth will now benefit from weekend movies in our new multi-purpose meeting room

P our seniors can retreat to the reading lounge equipped with comfortable chairs and a gas fireplace

P our youth lacking high speed Internet access at home can take advantage of our wireless connection and many computer stations 

P our young children will enjoy the new younger years discovery space and enhanced programming

P our partnership with the College will bring general interest courses to our community

P our reading garden will provide a place to reflect, meditate, and escape with your book 

P our facility will provide a venue where our families can learn and play together

P our green building will embrace the latest in energy efficient and environmental  technologies and provide an off-grid emergency preparedness center during times of crisis

P our state of the art library resource center will be equipped with the latest in electronics catering to business meeting, training and workshop needs

So why are we so committed to a new library for the Municipality?  To us, it's all about creating a level playing field where all citizens regardless of age or income can come and enjoy life’s hidden treasures.  We look to the library as a social equalizer where anyone can access the internet, borrow a movie, read a book, browse a magazine, watch a film, learn a new skill, work on a hobby, find employment, work on a school project, type a letter, fax a resume or simply play in a safe and welcoming environment.  

My friend's letter was timely as the giving season is near, and this year's donation is going to that new library.  Kudos and thanks to a friend who never ceases to look out for the well being of those around him.  If you would like to join in supporting the effort, I'll put you in touch. 

We can Count Them ... But do They Count?

Einstein, Drucker, and others have pointed to the conundrum that "not everything we measure is important, and what is important may be impossible to measure".  The topic of "Information Services Return on Investment" figures regularly in my professional activities - to wit, I will be a panel member at a session offered October 27 by the Ottawa Chapter of the Canadian Association for Special Libraries and Information Services (CASLIS is a section of the Canadian Library Association).  Here are some key aspects of the conundrum associated with demonstrating the value of information centers, libraries, intranets, collaboration tools, and the like:

 

►The professional literature on ROI from libraries and information centers features quite a few titles sounding promising …some with publication dates in the 1970s.  We have been working on the challenge for a long time.

 

►As examples, perceptions of value derived from research into renewable energy tend to be positive, and few would question the value of diagnostic imaging technology.  Such 'carte blanche' acceptance of associated investments is more elusive when it comes to information centers and libraries.

 

►The fact that many of the costs of information centers are "sunk" - that is, we must pay for library systems and content licenses before the first customer arrives and regardless whether 100 or 1000 employees avail of our content and research service offerings - bedevils us.  Cost cannot be scaled with consumption (but to make matters even more complicated, consumption may not be seen as translating into value).

 

►Metrics of activity - searches, article downloads, page views, turnstile counts, circulation, reference questions, and so on - are a staple of operational reporting, yet the valid question is raised:  What do the numbers mean?  Does "5000 views" suggest users are confused or indicate users are getting appropriate information in apporiate volume? It is no surprise that executives express difficulty in translating counts into an understanding of impact.

 

►Calculations such as literature research time saved by knowledge workers as a result of our assistance point to ROI but are at best indicative.  Moreover, time savings and other soft benefits such as reduced risk and better-informed decision making may be nice-to-haves in the context of budgetary scrutiny.

 

►To provide context for impact assessment, we need to show the difference our work makes:  To what kind of decision/policy/project/deliverable was our assistance applied?  Was the outcome different from what it might have been without the information or guidance we provided?  Although answers to such questions cannot constitute proof of ROI, they may be essential in demonstrating our contribution to the success of the organization we serve. 

 

Should you have succeeded in developing new ways to assess and indicate the value and impact of your work, anecdotally or otherwise … thousands of your colleagues would be grateful to hear about them!  In the spirit of Thanksgiving - October 12 in Canada - I give thanks in advance to those who share.

But the Locals Know!

On a recent road trip, it struck me how often the provincial and local maps' road number designations did not correlate with physical road signs.  Chalking it up to budgetary constraints hindering the placing of signs, I remembered a phenomenon I call 'but the locals know'.

The map shows we needed to get north onto provincial route 37, transferring in the town of Elmin.  We got to Elmin's major lighted intersection - but no route signs are there.  Ah - a police car happens by and we roll down windows to hear that "route 37, that would be Elmin Shore Road, back 2 blocks to your left".  300 feet down that road, indeed a sign says 'route 37'. 

Later that day, we came to an intersection expecting road number signs.  None to be seen - but I espied by noting their shape the back of such signs kitty corner.  Go straight and make a U turn and so indeed we can see the road number signs.  So ... We believe the locals know ... but they are not sharing their knowledge with non-locals through signs.

Translating road sign experience to organizational work raises many questions.  As an example:  If new people came to do work, would clear road signs be there for them ... or would they have to rely on local knowledge?  Making clear signs and relying on local lore each have a cost - up front or as it happens.  What is the greater cost - making up the sign or dealing with the questions?

An IKM Awareness Checklist: Part 7 of 10

Making the business case for new - or old - money

Many colleagues over the years have shared comments to the overall effect of "there is general agreement that it is desirable to do well in the area of information and knowledge management … but there is reluctance to commit significant funds". Such a sentiment is not surprising given how difficult it is to prove a concrete return on investment when expenditures are made for information content, services, or activity. In "Business Cases for Info Pros: Here's Why, Here's How" (http://books.infotoday.com/books/BusinessCasesforInfoPros.shtml) I provide guidelines for constructing the arguments in favor of information related investments - and naturally, I would love to hear from anyone who adopted them! The excerpt shown below (numbered as in the other checklists) illustrates situations where the normal submission instruments used in an organization's budget cycle probably won't cut it:

Some investments - for example, replacing aging or failing technical infrastructure - justify themselves because the negative consequences of not investing are obvious. Whenever something new is contemplated that is not in the category of "must do - or else", business case documents are called for. These generic examples reflect common organizational scenarios familiar to information professionals:

7a. Due to a significant number of employees taking early retirement, there is a shortage of corporate memory. Business teams have found themselves repeating earlier work because lessons learned from previous efforts were not identified in a timely manner. We need a strategy and a tool or system for capturing key information objects produced in the course of the organization's work.

7b. Due to the fact that the organization's business teams are spread over multiple locations or different floors, the teams sometimes arrive independently at similar project ideas and miss out on potential synergy. We need a reliable mechanism for ensuring each team knows what the others are planning - without adding to the information overload everyone is already experiencing.

7c. Over time, as reliance on email and rapid electronic exchange of document drafts has grown, proliferation of files has become a major problem. Thousands of files crowd shared drives, and there are loud complaints that "we can't find the documents we need - and if we do find a document, we can't be sure it is the final official version". Everyone's time is wasted as individuals send out blanket "does anyone have a copy of" requests. We need a policy and a convenient repository where official copies of non-trivial documents are safeguarded and searchable.

7d. The Intranet was simple and easy to navigate when it was first rolled out years ago. By now, it is widely regarded as a frustrating experience because its original structure has been compromised through ad hoc development.  We need a complete redesign - with a view to sustainability of structure.

7e. The customer service agents are without a "bible" of official information they can give to customers with confidence. As a result, each customer interaction takes much longer than it ought to take, and the agents are saying they don't feel certain they are giving out the best information. We need a central database of "correct answers" for the agents to consult as they deal with callers - along with a mechanism for updating it when new information becomes available or when agents discover new, useful insights.

7f.  As the organization's business emphasis has shifted and as new end user oriented tools are readily available on the internet, a new assessment is needed as to what information should be purchased and licensed. We need an audit of the current practices and of knowledge workers' actual needs so that we may plan and fund an appropriate information support strategy.

But ... could full blown business cases be necessary even when the request is "only" for an additional position or part time assistance -- or indeed for NOT reducing the budget for information related activity? Most certainly. Giving decision makers insight into the reasons for and benefits of investment is a business requirement - and the process of preparing a business case offers an opportunity to think in business terms about every activity currently being funded (for example, could existing budgets be shifted from current to new efforts?).

Next in the series: The Intranet