adding value in corporate libraries and information services · “strive not to be a success, but...
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ConstanCe ard
Adding Value in Corporate Libraries and Information Services
In assoCIatIon wIth PublIshed by
Adding Value in Corporate Libraries and Information Services
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arK1924
ConstanCe ard
Adding Value in Corporate Libraries and Information Services
In assoCIatIon wIthPublIshed by
Contents
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Contents
Executive summary ............................................................................................................VII
About the author................................................................................................................XI
Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................XIII
Part One: The corporate library – Skills, strategy and demonstrating value
Chapter 1: The basics of adding value – Skills, knowledge and ability ................................ 3Skills .................................................................................................................................... 3Relationship management ...................................................................................................... 4Financial management .......................................................................................................... 6Resource management: Beyond finances and strategic relationships ......................................... 9
Chapter 2: Talk the talk, walk the walk and strut the strut – Demonstrating value throughout and beyond the organisation .......................................................................... 13
Beyond what should be to execution .................................................................................... 16Balanced scorecard ............................................................................................................ 17Benchmarking .................................................................................................................... 18Return on investment: ROI ................................................................................................... 18Critical success factors ........................................................................................................ 19Gap analysis ...................................................................................................................... 19Other methods ................................................................................................................... 20Communicating value: It takes more than old-school marketing ............................................. 20The end game .................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 3: Functions – Do the job well ............................................................................. 25Search and research ........................................................................................................... 25Metadata and taxonomy...................................................................................................... 27Copyright and digital rights management ............................................................................. 29
Chapter 4: Training delivers visible value.......................................................................... 33Information literacy: Not just for college ............................................................................... 34Reasons to train .................................................................................................................. 35Cost savings ....................................................................................................................... 37What is fair game for information centre training? ................................................................. 37
Contents
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Methods ............................................................................................................................. 39Mechanisms for training ...................................................................................................... 40Emerging trends and future opportunities .............................................................................. 42
Chapter 5: Knowledge and information management – Expanding library services in the knowledge economy .................................................................................................. 45
Knowledge management pays the bottom line ...................................................................... 45Information services value delivered .................................................................................... 46Self-service ......................................................................................................................... 47Lessons learned .................................................................................................................. 47Communities of practice ...................................................................................................... 48Facilitated transfer of best practices ...................................................................................... 48Approaches distilled ............................................................................................................ 48KM tools ............................................................................................................................ 49KM governance .................................................................................................................. 51Evaluate and refresh ........................................................................................................... 52Top tips .............................................................................................................................. 53Accomplish success through strategic KM ............................................................................. 53Information management: The value of the human ............................................................... 53Whence comes the information? .......................................................................................... 55Why must the beast be tamed? ............................................................................................ 56Taming the beast and preserving the spirit ............................................................................ 56
Chapter 6: Transform competition to strategic triumphs through collaboration .................. 61Identifying the competition ................................................................................................... 61Strategic plan for triumph: Inside the army and into battle...................................................... 62Breaking down the opportunities and executing the strategy ................................................... 63Looking externally for allies and advantages ......................................................................... 64Collaboration: Weapon of choice ........................................................................................ 65
Chapter 7: The 21st century library – Digital collections and electronic books meet information centres .......................................................................................................... 69
Digital and electronic information: The new library ................................................................ 69Digital collections: From analogue to electronic .................................................................... 69Born digital ........................................................................................................................ 73Preserving, retrieving and retaining digital content ................................................................. 73E-books ............................................................................................................................. 75Challenges ......................................................................................................................... 78
Chapter 8: Applying social media for maximum benefit .................................................... 81Mobile devices ................................................................................................................... 81Research ............................................................................................................................ 82Curation and distribution of information ............................................................................... 83Communication .................................................................................................................. 83
Adding Value in Corporate Libraries and Information Services
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Collaboration ..................................................................................................................... 84Knowledge management ..................................................................................................... 85Marketing........................................................................................................................... 85Getting started with social media ......................................................................................... 86Making it work ................................................................................................................... 87
Chapter 9: Outsourcing – A path to opportunity ............................................................... 91Contract services: The other side of the coin ......................................................................... 93Opportunities and benefits in outsourcing ............................................................................. 93Strengthen staff ................................................................................................................... 94Strengthen alignment .......................................................................................................... 94Obstacles, risks and considerations ...................................................................................... 96Outsourcing vs offshoring: Clarifying the emotive issues ........................................................ 97Contracting ........................................................................................................................ 98Choosing and managing providers ...................................................................................... 99
Part Two: Case studies
Case study 1: Cost recovery to cost prevention – Five first steps to success ...................... 105Step 1: Develop a close relationship with accounting/finance ............................................... 106Step 2: Firm-wide contract knowledge ................................................................................ 106Step 3: Legal research training and education..................................................................... 107Step 4: Knowledge management ....................................................................................... 107Step 5: Contract management ........................................................................................... 107Tracking change ............................................................................................................... 107
Case study 2: When ‘Believe us, it is so worth the money!’ won't cut it – Communicating information value to senior executives ................................................... 109
The first challenge: Is the perception that ‘all is well’ accurate? ..........................................110The second challenge: Identifying what gets attention ........................................................111The third challenge: Find the evidence ............................................................................112The strategy: Let the evidence speak – through those with clout ..........................................112
Case study 3: Managing copyright and digital rights at the University of Reading ........... 115How to approach digital projects ....................................................................................115Starting out .................................................................................................................115Ownership ..................................................................................................................116Subject matter ..............................................................................................................116People ........................................................................................................................116Copyright ....................................................................................................................117Including copyright works in digital projects .....................................................................118Using images in presentations ........................................................................................119Finally… .....................................................................................................................119
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Case study 4: RSS feeds in the ESR Christchurch Library ................................................. 121
Case study 5: Successfully outsourcing international library, information and research services for a Fortune Global 500 company ...................................................... 127
Request for increased levels of service .............................................................................127Successful transition leads to new positions and functions ..................................................128Lessons learned............................................................................................................130
Case study 6: Creating a new library information service at NHS North West ................. 133Introductory meetings ....................................................................................................133Library service fully operational ......................................................................................134Wider projects .............................................................................................................136
Resources ....................................................................................................................... 139
Index ............................................................................................................................. 141
VII
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” Albert Einstein
“We are the curators of relevance.” DiGilio, J.J. ‘Adapt, Survive, Thrive’, Future Ready 365 Blog, 20 October 2011
THE FIRST step in adding value in corporate libraries and information services is embracing DiGilio’s statement. Curating relevance in today’s knowledge economy requires knowledge, skills and abilities that are integral components of an information professional’s being. While many of the tasks can be completed by technologists or other knowledge workers, it is the full spectrum of knowledge, skills, abilities and possibilities that an information professional applies to our information rich universe that is invaluable.
This report will break down the skills used, and tasks completed, by information professionals to prompt themselves and their organisations to think broadly about possibility. Attention will be focused on the unique offerings available to organisations that embrace those possibilities to further their goals and improve the institution’s people, processes and priorities.
Information professionals work with a variety of people who fill important roles at all hierarchical levels within the organisation. In many organisations the information centre is an intellectual retreat used to escape, focus and make connections. It is a great place to employ a basic skill – relationship
management. Leveraging connections throughout the organisation affords the librarian an opportunity to open communication lines that help shift services to stay in line with corporate initiatives. The relationships are also useful when needing to form partnerships that convey important messages up the ladder. Relationship management is an important and valuable political skill.
It’s not all about politics. Information professionals also manage finances, personnel and other resources used to support the work of the company. Being aware of finances beyond the scope of a line-item budget is necessary to remain relevant in today’s streamlined, cost-cutting business environs. Financial savvy information professionals measure impact and shift resources, whether they are human, technology, or information collection, to address organisational concerns. In a case study later in this report, law librarian Colleen Cable offers some practical advice about cost-prevention techniques that can be implemented to help shift those resources appropriately in a manner that reflects positively on the bottom-line.
This understanding of, and willingness to use, finances shifts easily into forming a means to demonstrate value. The report breaks down a variety of value measurements that can be used to formulate messages about the impact that services, and the professionals performing those services, bring to the organisation. The
Executive summary
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work is supplemented by a case study from Ulla de Stricker that outlines how to get the message of value to senior executives.
While employing savvy management techniques and communicating effectively about the value of services, the information centre is also delivering valuable services through core functions such as research, organisation of collections, and copyright compliance. These may seem old hat but tasks such as these are exactly why the information professional is important to any organisation. While the illusion of keyword search has made research seem an easy task that anyone can complete, the costs of bad information are high. Electronic data is easy to come by and yet hard to retrieve and manage appropriately. Professionals like Kevin Adams can distill information down to relevant components and deliver it to the interested party. His ‘RSS feeds in the ESR Christchurch Library’ case study offers a bit of how-to advice that you can employ for your own custom information dissemination projects.
Training by information professionals can help reduce costs in an organisation by increasing the information literacy skill of knowledge workers. The complexity of selecting the appropriate source to search and the construction of complicated queries can overwhelm someone who just needs the answer. Training affords librarians an opportunity to balance the need for independence and the opportunity to offer expert assistance.
Many times the answer being sought is owned by the enterprise and still not retrievable. Information professionals can apply their taxonomy and metadata work to the larger task of information and knowledge management. The difference between information management and knowledge management are subtle and distinct. The
value offered by an information professional in these processes does not preclude the necessity of information technology professionals; in fact the two enhance those information solutions when they collaborate.
Corporations must manage their information effectively to stay compliant and responsive. The electronic nature of business means that litigation has shifted from paper to bytes. E-discovery is something every business needs to be prepared for and information professionals, who can define protocols and governance policies, are essential to the preparation.
Competition in the knowledge economy is fierce. As collaboration and communication strategist Evan Rosen states: “Everyone is a knowledge worker.” Therefore, everyone uses information efficiently and can then take on the role of leadership in collecting, organising and disseminating information, right? Not really. Those folks who may have a great interest in, and ability to use, information rarely have the whole package of knowledge, skill and ability to use and deliver information to the advantage of the entire organisation. Shifting from competition to collaboration is easy when the partnerships are chosen strategically and the benefits are shared. Transforming competition to strategic triumph truly is the information professional’s ace in the sleeve.
Digital information is a prime example of a space that could be competitive but when using a partnership role with vendors and a collaborative role with IT, is transformed into a world of ‘what’s next?’. As technologies shift, evolve and are created, the information professional must stay informed. Using their technological savvy and interests they can provide relevant guidance to the organisation about what might be worthwhile and what the limitations
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Executive summary
Adding Value in Corporate Libraries and Information Services
IX
are. E-books are a good example. For pure consumption, e-books seem to be a great investment, but consumption is rarely how e-books are used in corporate settings. The librarian understands issues related not just to technology but also to user behaviour.
While e-books are still being tested, digitisation projects continue to move forward rapidly. The possibilities are endless. However, there are important considerations that should not be ignored, from retrievability to preservation, and even copyright and digital rights management. Emily Goodhand offers a unique perspective on copyright and digital rights in her case study in Part Two: ‘Managing copyright and digital rights at the University of Reading’.
Digital collections possess tremendous possibilities and when you factor in that much beloved trend called social media the possibilities become seemingly endless. Fortunately, Connie Crosby, principal consultant at Crosby Group Consulting, breaks it down into digestible explanations, although not 140 characters. She discusses the research possibilities as well as the distribution applications and hits all of the library topics with a social media application that delivers impact.
Inevitably, organisations will seek new paths to greater revenue. Outsourcing is an opportunity and a risk. The study looks at how to manage the processes and demonstrate values so that the information centre is a partner with outsourcing that strengthens the services. Adding expertise or reducing costs through a new business model may seem threatening, when in reality it allows for further strategic alignment and new possibilities. In Part Two, Beth Maser gives us a practical view of the process in her LAC Group case study, ‘Successfully outsourcing international library, information and research services for a Fortune Global 500 Company’.
An audit of talent and personality may cause an entirely different outcome for a process that you are planning. If the plan is formed in light of organisational strategy, mission and goals, and the audit forces a new direction, embrace the possibilities created. This is what library and knowledge manager Emily Hopkins demonstrates through her ‘Creating a new library information service at NHS North West’ in Part Two.
Making decisions based on fact and inspired by alignment is an operating principle that will allow for relevant curation, loyal customers, informed executives and talented staff who support the information centre in their ongoing effort to add value. When those elements combine the organisation succeeds and the corporate library continues its quest to curate relevance.
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CONSTANCE ARD offers business information and content management solutions through her consulting practice Answer Maven. Before launching the consulting practice, Constance was a practising law librarian for 12 years. She received her MSLIS from the University of Kentucky in 1995.
Throughout her career, Constance has worked to develop a strong background in management and research as well as project management. She specialises in working with organisations to assess information problems, user needs and expectations and offer solutions to improve and leverage company expertise to solve those problems. This specialty includes working closely with management, end-users and information technology. Technology and information are irrevocably intertwined and, in order to meet user requirements, information and content managers must work collaboratively with IT to ensure organisations meet their business goals. Constance is expert at facilitating those relationships.
Constance is preparing for 2012 speaking engagements at Enterprise Search Summit, the Association of Independent Information Professionals and the SLA Annual conference. She received the Outstanding Chapter Member Award from the Kentucky Chapter of Special Libraries Association in 2006 and the Professional Member Award in 2008. She also received the Kentucky Libraries Association Special Librarian of the Year Award in 2007.
About the author
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Acknowledgements
THE LIBRARY staff at both the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville were extremely helpful in locating resources and providing access to needed research materials. Shawn Livingston and James Manasco were always available to me for my queries and any author would be lucky to work with either of these professionals.
My special thanks to editors, readers and proofers Ulla de Stricker, Megan Feil and Andrea Hayden. The book has a wealth of information provided to me from phone conferences and interviews with information professionals in a variety of fields. My thanks to all, especially Emily Florio, Catherine Sanders Reach, Robert Burger, Margaret Edwards, Sharon Johnson, Marianne Barber, Bess Reynolds, Suzanne Krebsbach and Tiana French. I was delighted to work with the contributors of the case studies and other text. My deep gratitude is extended to Ulla de Stricker, Beth Maser, Kevin Adams, Connie Crosby, Emily Goodhand, Emily Hopkins and Colleen Cable.
A final thanks to Cammie Sizemore and the rest of my family.
Constance ArdJanuary 2012