de Stricker

Info Pros: Star Performers

In the spirit of the holiday season, I trust my readers will indulge me in some allegorical thinking about our profession:

Treated by dear and incredibly generous friends to a Canadian Tenors concert in Toronto (www.canadiantenors.com), I had the opportunity to watch at close range the intricate workings of the orchestra supporting those four magnificent singers: The musicians worked the piano, strings, and percussion - what an amazing array of drums, cymbals, hanging xylophones, rainstick type instruments, and other sound producing objects I don't know how to name! - with obvious engagement and enjoyment to organize and sequence thousands of individual notes into a harmonious, powerful, and sometimes surprising result. The light manager provided a splendid visual complement to the music, and the copious amounts of water vapor released into the concert hall lent a touch of magic. Each song performed reached back through decades or centuries to revered composers and was given life in the moment by the latest technology - in a manner uniquely suited to the occasion and the audience.

Giving thought to the vast planning and coordination required to produce an experience so clearly enjoyed by the sold-out house, it struck me: Isn't that what info pros do, too? Don't we, well, "orchestrate" myriad individual preparatory and immediate actions in order to "produce" the experience our audiences receive? Don't we collaborate within our organizations and across the profession to gain the skills to, well, "play those instruments with such perfect timing"? Don't we rely on the work done in decades and centuries before us and on the latest technology to meet our clients' unique needs? Don't we plan and organize so that the "star performers" - our users - get to deliver outstanding results?

As for the tenors - they, too, seemed like info pros to me - bringing to bear their education and talent on producing value. We're talking world class operatic stars … who related to the audience with humility, warm humor, and personable ease. In just that way I so often see information professionals being utterly modest and unassuming about their work, no matter how outstanding it is: Don't they deliver spectacular performances in the way they hit just the right notes when they do research or produce strategic plans (etc etc)?

Indeed we info pros do not perform in misty, colored lights on a background of exquisite music to deliver value to our clients. But in my humble opinion, we are pretty close.

Thank you for indulging me. Peace and Good Will on Earth this Solstice.

Business Case Packaging: The Role of Visuals and Presentation Skills

Thank you to Karen Huffman for inviting me to guest webex today for her Library Technologies & Project Management class at Catholic University of America.  Karen had asked me to cover the subject of developing business cases, and I provided a highly condensed version of the material in my book on the topic (http://books.infotoday.com/books/BusinessCasesforInfoPros.shtml).  The exchange after the presentation touched on some aspects I'd like to share here, with credit to the class members.  Those aspects go into the series of what my colleagues and I refer to as 'things we didn't hear about when we went to school'.

 

Make it visual:

 

At senior levels, some decisions are made quite quickly - contributing factors could include prior familiarity with the circumstances at hand, previous evidence pointing toward an approach, and the combined voices of stakeholders having chimed in.  In the "boardroom moment", there is not enough time to wade through long texts or spreadsheets - instead, punchy visuals summarizing data and illustrating desirable future states can be powerful persuaders.  There is a reason data visualization is a hot business area - given the same number of seconds for a person to assimilate information, much more can be crammed into visual means than is possible to communicate through the written and spoken word.

 

To be sure, a business case document must be solidly backed up with evidence, indicators, references to published literature, quotes from authorities, and so on.  But crystallizing facts and statistics into images to help decision makers understand quickly the key messages could be the factor setting one case apart from others when the votes are cast.  Of course, visualization may be a challenge for information professionals because our cases may be abstract to put it mildly; teaming up with people talented in the art of creating visuals or looking for an appropriate continuing education course could be advantageous.

 

Make it memorable:

 

In my book, I emphasized the value of practicing a business case presentation so that it comes across with factual heft, research strength, and professional polish … what I didn't say but wholeheartedly endorse is that - as a class member pointed out - our few minutes in front of the executive committee must also be vivid and memorable.

 

For information professionals advancing and advocating initiatives, I believe "it's not about us, it's about the stakeholders".  We do not ask for funding … the stakeholders do.  We are not pushing for change … the opinion leaders / knowledge workers / sales & client service reps (etc) are.  Yet we are likely one day to be standing there in the boardroom, having 10 minutes to pitch our proposal and put all our research and previous work into one concise delivery.  Skills in getting and keeping the attention of a tough audience are paramount!  "Where do I learn such skills?" you may ask.  I told Karen's class that several of my colleagues have described the strong boost in confidence they gained from the Toastmasters process (www.toastmasters.org).  Several avenues can be explored … the key is to be goal oriented about the need to build skill in engaging an audience.

 

Many thanks to Karen's class for raising these points.

When Access to Information Specialists Bites the Dust

As an example how elimination of library services is not a rarity, a colleague shared this February 11 article in Editor & Publisher dealing with the upcoming closure of the Wall Street Journal news research library:

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003940607

Such an announcement is unhappy news in our profession.  Two snippets stood out for me.

First, as I often get questions dealing with the ROI of information services, I pay attention whenever any measure is ventured.  The librarian is quoted as saying about the reporters' access to various databases that it cannot replace "knowledge about how to research using all the tricks we've learned over the years. We figure that the reporters will probably spend 10 times our compensation trying to do their own research." 

Second, as my work frequently brings up examples of the value of access to information from the more distant past, this quote points to a gap that could prove to be a greater barrier than it may seem: "I'm ... worried about the microfilm. Between where the Proquest historical database leaves off and our PDF archives begins, there is about 10 years where the only physical form of the paper exists on microfilm."  Given typical newsroom deadlines, microfilm may be impractical to use.  I see many illustrations in day to day work how inconvenience in access translates into no access because there simply isn't time.

Information specialists regularly discuss the matter of quality in research and trade examples how their specialized training and experience enable them to dig up nuggets no one else was able to find.  Let's hope, as the WSJ librarian does, that there will be a rehire later this year - for her sake certainly, but mostly for the sake of the reporters.

An IKM Awareness Checklist: Part 9 of 10

A Library or Information Center

A note on terminology:  Discussions have gone on for as long as we can remember about the best way to name an organizational unit providing information services.  The concern that "library" would connote dusty books drove a trend toward variants of "knowledge center" - with the occasional anecdotes that employees did not understand the meaning of the new name and mistook it to refer to, say, an employee training center ("oh you mean the library - why didn't you say so?"). The discussion's longevity underscores the never ending need to raise awareness among employees about the services a library / information center offers. 

In choosing an approach to information support for knowledge workers, executives may regard a library or information center as one element in such support; other options exist.  Here are some considerations I have touched on in past articles and presentations:

IF THERE IS NO LIBRARY / INFORMATION CENTER IN THE ORGANIZATION

9a.  Is it known know how knowledge workers are getting the information they need?

9b.  Are the productivity implications of current independent practices known - for example, could the information gathering task be carried out by others while employees focus on interpretation?  (It is possible the subject matter at hand is so specialized that only domain experts are able to research what sources  are "out there" and mine them.) 

9c.  What is said by employees who came from organizations where they could consult with information experts?

IF THERE IS ONE

9d.  Do knowledge workers understand the full range of services offered, and to what degree and for what reasons do they make use of them? 

9e.  How do department managers ensure their team members take advantage of the research expertise in the library? 

9f.  Has an assessment been done to ensure alignment between employee needs and library services and to review library activity emphasis in light of the evolving operational and business environment? 

Next in the series:  Summation

Librarians are keepers, right?

The Globe and Mail's 10 February 2007 Focus Section features an Ian Brown piece entitled "The urge to purge" dealing with the challenges of all the "stuff" we accumulate - especially books.  From personal collections his article's focus moves on to library holdings, and he comments how among North American public libraries, there is a trend to get rid of whatever hasn't been used in a certain amount of time. Professor Dilevko of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies is quoted: "When only the most popular books are found on library shelves, the intellectual choices available to patrons shrink and become standardized."  Unfortunately, funding models and space constraints can and do lead to popularity-driven weeding policies that effectively push out great, time-honored authors in favor of current commercial sucesses.

The article does not mention the ongoing legal wrangles over a certain large scale book digitization initiative, but I imagine my fellow librarian readers joined me in pondering the benefits of efforts to preserve electronic access, for all time, for everyone, to all our published heritage - and in wondering why the controversy can't be resoved to everyone's satisfaction.  But that's another story altogether!

By the way: Did you know Toronto's public library system is the "biggest circulating library in North America"?  Hm!!