Infographic - Interview Tips

Future Role for Libraries?

Earlier this week I read a blog post which argued that, despite years of projects (eg, to ‘catalogue the web’ by OCLC and others, to set up ‘virtual reference’ services, to provide ebooks, etc) libraries have been largely unsuccessful at becoming the leaders in the new digital information world.  Others, such as Google, Amazon, Library Thing, etc, have had no such difficulties engaging with the public.  If libraries’ forays into the web2.0 world have largely failed, and book borrowing and library visits are declining, then what are libraries for, now?

Another blog post, which I saw yesterday, suggested that “libraries are a technology for free, large scaleinter-generational transfer of knowledge and culture,”.  However, one could easily substitute “the internet is” for “libraries are” in this sentence and it would be equally, or perhaps even more, true. 

Given this background, what is the remaining USP of libraries?  What feature do they have, that the internet cannot offer?  What benefits does this bring?  One obvious one that springs to mind is - a physical space.  A place to congregate.  A place for direct person to person knowledge transfer, collaboration and sharing. 

I think libraries need to consider what activities, related to information and knowledge transfer, can only take place in a physical space.  Those are the activities, and those are the benefits, of libraries that we should be promoting, advocating for and marketing – to users and to potential new users.

Communication vs Collaboration - what's the difference?

Today I was reading a post by Sam Marshall of Clearbox Consulting about Sharepoint based intranets, and the sentence What defines collaboration is that multiple people work towards an end goal. caught my eye.

As a member of the group promoting the Defragmentation discussions, about encouraging information sector groups to collaborate more effectively, this definition struck a chord.  We have been trying to persuade the various groups to collaborate (for example to jointly produce concrete products such as an Information Manifesto that all groups could use to promote the value of information professionals).  However, I've started to wonder whether effective collaboration can take place before regular communication is established? 

It seems to me that (despite some great personal links between a few of the members of some of the groups) there is little or no regular, effective, senior level communication between the boards, management committees, trustees, etc, etc, of the various groups.  I am aware that some of the groups have tried to establish this, with varying degrees of success, while other groups seem to see it as less of a priority.

Without this communication, which could build familiarity and trust, perhaps asking for collaboration on joint projects is just too much to expect. 

Event - SLA 40th Anniversary Reception

View from 15th floor of Rothschild's new offices

Last night an amazing view greeted everyone as we arrived for SLA Europe's 40th anniversary reception.   

Kindly hosted by Rothschild in their newly re-developed and re-opened office building on St Swithin's Lane in the City of London, we were treated to wonderful views of the City, from the Gherkin via the Bank of England to St Paul's from the floor to ceiling glass walls of their entertainment suite on the 15th floor.

The drinks and delightful nibbles got the party going with a swing, as members past and current caught up with the latest gossip.


Darren Chapman of TFPL, current SLA Europe President, welcomed everyone and thanked the Board, members and sponsors, past, present and future, for their support in making SLA Europe such a success.  Veronica Kennard, Information Director at Rothschild and our host, also said a few words commemorating her time as an active SLA member.  

Darren and Veronica then cut the cake, which had four tiers - one for each decade of SLA Europe's operation.  

It was a lovely opportunity to chat to friends and colleagues, old and new, from the world of business information. 

Veronica had challenged all of to meet and talk to at least one new person during the course of the evening, and I managed to succeed by chatting to a lovely lady from the British Library whom I'd not met before.

After a very enjoyable evening I reluctantly set off for home, at the end of a very busy and tiring but productive day.  

Nominated!

I was delighted to receive an email yesterday, letting me know that one of my blog posts has been nominated for an award!

In November last year I participated in the CILIP Online Election Hustings, and blogged about the experience here.

More information on these awards can be found on this website.  I must admit I hadn't heard of these awards before being contacted by them!  Details of when to vote can be found below:


Nominations Posted & Voting Starts:       February 27, 2012 (12:01 EST)
Voting ends, 1^st place winner is chosen:  March 06, 2012 (11:59 PM EST)

Which job is right for me?

When you are reviewing jobs from agencies, job boards or industry magazine adverts, how do you decide which opportunities to apply for? It is tempting to look for impressive job titles, well known organisation and good salaries – but are those the best indicators of a job you’ll enjoy?

To be able to effectively sift through all the jobs available, first of all you need to spend a bit of time on yourself. If you spend some time reflecting on your own values, what motivates you, and what gives you satisfaction at work, then you will be able to look beyond the flashy headlines to assess the job itself more effectively.

If you are to fit comfortably into an organisation and feel energised and motivated to work there and give your best, then you need to be sure that their organisational values are a good match to yours. If they operate on the ‘make the most profit at any cost’ principle, while you gain satisfaction from going the extra mile to give great service, you are likely to find your natural inclinations at odds with their operating policy much of the time. Likewise, if you are driven to earn the highest bonus while they place most emphasis on customer care, you are likely to feel impatient with their slower pace of life quite frequently.

Perhaps you are motivated by receiving praise and recognition in front of your peers for a job well done? Check whether a prospective firm offers internal award schemes. Perhaps getting a promotion is important to you? Find out what their internal career development and appraisal process is like.

Think about what aspects of your current and past jobs have given you greatest satisfaction – that ‘wow’ factor of a job really well done. Was it hearing from a user about positive effects of the information you’ve found for them, completing a library reorganisation or move, or learning new skills so you’re ready to tackle something more challenging? How many of these satisfying activities would a new job involve?

Having thought through all the aspects of a job and an organisation that will make it right for you allows you to frame the right questions to ask of your recruiter, to look for in adverts and job descriptions, and to ask at job interviews. Always remember that these interactions should be two way conversations! Armed with this more in-depth information you will be able to make a better decision when it comes to which job to apply for – and which offer to accept.

Event - NetIKX 'Social Media - What Next and What Can We Do With It?''

Yesterday's NetIKX half-day seminar, with Stephen Dale and Geoff Mccaleb was a fascinating look at where the world of social media is heading.

Stephen kicked off proceedings with a YouTube video which asked a simple question:

Is Google the #1 most visited website?

The answer, of course, is 'no'!  The most visited website is Facebook - which has 30m users in the UK alone; that is almost 50% of the population.  The statistics in the video came fast and furious, but as Steve summarised it all the numbers are "big and getting bigger!"

Key themes for 2012 are collaboration, gamification and networking.  While all the social networks are growing in membership and usage, Google+ has had by far the highest rate of growth, reaching 25m users much more quickly than any of its forerunners.

Importantly for businesses is the fact that we are now in a situation where content and information is in abundance while resources are constrained, two way business, communities and value in relationships rule the day rather than 'top down' one way marketing.

Steve contended that the focus now is all about sharing - sharing user generated content, sharing recommendations, sharing bookmarks, sharing interests, sharing ideas.

He pointed out that curation of all this content and working as community facilitators, was an important role going forward for people with information management skills.  Social media sites exist dedicated to gathering information relevant to a community and sharing it already exist (eg; paper.li, storify, scoop.it, etc).

Other key trends Steve highlighted included big data (where data sets grow so large they cannot be analysed using conventional database management tools), mobile internet  (which will be outselling desktop platforms by 2013), and location based services (including augmented reality where your mobile combines GPS, visual and internet data sources into one display).

Steve summarised by saying that social media is most definitely not a fad, it's ubiquitous, growing rapidly and creating new and interesting ways to share information.  People need help with content overload and knowledge curation - and we are best placed to meet this need.

Geoffrey echoed this theme, starting off his presentation by saying that social is taking over the web.  He gave some interesting examples of this in relation to recruitment, including that 89% of US companies used social media tools in recruitment in 2011, either to source candidates or to screen them.

He illustrated the power of social media not only by referring to the Arab Spring and Occupy protests, but also by highlighting that the SOPA protests were covered by only 1 mainstream media outlet (CNN), so Congress changed its mind based almost solely on pressure from a social media campaign.

Dispelling any lingering feeling that social media somehow 'isn't real' or 'is just virtual' or 'just for kids', he also gave examples of companies whose sales and stock prices have been massively affected by social media (positively or negatively), including Southwestern Airlines, Dominos Pizza and Comcast.  Reputation management has moved far beyond a press release in the newspaper, and time to address customer complaints raised on Twitter or Facebook is down to 48hours or less.

After a break for coffee we reconvened into breakout groups to discuss a range of questions:

• what is the information risk of using social media?
• what role could/should information intermediaries play?
• which social media tools to use, when
• are social media tools appropriate to use within organisations?
• how can social media help engagement with communities?

During the feedback session after this, the main theme to come up was a discussion of the sustainability of social media - both speakers felt it was here to stay, and that while technologies will undoubtedly keep improving (eg, to enable more sharing via audio/video), the sharing itself will continue, with value coming from the leveraging of connections and relationships.

Information professionals will have a key role to play in this development, curating content, analysing big data, creating visualisations and infographics, evaluating information, validating it and being a trusted facilitator.  To achieve this, traditional skills of information organisation and retrieval will need the addition of more ICT skills, for data analysis, mobile apps, and social media network engagement.