The LONE STAR LIBRARIAN
Winter 1996 Issue
Submitted by Bob Ruliffson, Treasurer
SUMMARY 7/1/95 to 6/21/96
Starting Balance 7/1/95 $21,321.79
Income $20,815.63
Expenses $25,420.89
Balance 6/21/96 $16,716.53
INCOME and EXPENSE DETAIL
see below
ACCOUNT BALANCES
Checking $2,717.93
SLA Pooled Money Market Account $13,998.60
Total $16,716.53
SPRING 1996 MEETING SUMMARY
Income $5,215.00
Expenses $6,805.38
Net loss ($1,590.38)
by Dell Johnson
This two day Continuing Education (CE) course was taught by Michael Koenig, a professor from Rosary College (River Forest, IL) Graduate School of Library & Information Science, who has an MLIS and an MBA in statistical methods in addition to his PhD. The course outline led me to believe I would get descriptions and advice on using such analytical tools as systems analysis, cost-benefit analysis, sampling techniques, data flow analysis, critical path methodology, and queuing theory. The outline listed units on budgets, cost allocation, data design and structure, determining the value, impact and cost of information and knowledge management principles.
I was extremely disappointed in the content of this course, as were other attendees I spoke with. Koenig did not follow his outline and frequently spoke off the topic. The notebook of materials given us was not in order and much of it was illegible. The overhead transparencies were often illegible, too. Sometimes a class like this is helped by providing the attendees a good bibliography to use for their own reading, but Koenig's contains a preponderance of material dated 10-15 years ago. Koenig didn't seem to understand the level of expertise or expectations of his audience, consequently he made the mistake of giving a very theoretical approach, rather than a practical, immediately applicable approach.
Topics Koenig mentioned that I hope to learn more about in the future include the concepts of "Net present value" and "sunk cost" which help one figure the future value of some investment, allowing for inflation and discounting costs that cannot be recovered. One item of great interest to me, a mathematical formula for guiding journal selection/deletion decisions, was included among printed materials but never discussed. Another potentially useful item in the handouts was Koenig's article on "Libraries and their Impact on Productivity." Now this could have answered some very important questions, but it was not covered in the course. The article includes an explanation of some cost-benefit formulae, but without accompanying explanation and question/answer time, you could get just as much reading it in the journal literature Koenig compiled it from. The last handout, not included in the course packet, was his article "Intellectual Capital & Knowledge Management" dated May 1996, but containing few references to any literature later than 1993. The course would have benefited from the inclusion of a section on using the analytical tools to provide or evaluate "knowledge management" services.
Conference General Session:
Neuharth, founder of USA Today and former Chairman and CEO of Gannett Enterprises and author of SOB, discussed "What They Don't Know Hurts Them," describing the need for freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the "free spirit." Neuharth is an interesting, but low key speaker with an important message against censorship. He stressed that information literacy is extremely important in society. He said that the formula of USA Today's success is in providing the maximum amount of information with the minimum amount of time and hassle. Information must be reliable and understandable. He discussed information professionals as interpreters of information.
The 3 panelists described the position of their info centers within their larger organizations and discussed the pros and cons of various reporting structures.
Peterson's Cargill info center serves 5000 researchers worldwide with a staff of 10 professional librarians. They report to the VP of public affairs. Peterson is happy that the info center has been removed from the cost "charge back" system and feels that this structure allows her staff to function better. They have participating roles as members of cross functional teams, they emphasize desktop delivery of electronic information and they maintain a database called the "Center of Knowledge Assets" which lists internal subject experts in all fields of agriculture, food, transport and financial services (the company's areas of business).
Spiegelman's library serves the 8000 employees of Westinghouse's Energy Systems Division. As manager of 50 employees in 3 departments, she reports to the Director of Resources, who in turn reports to the division president. They are required to do activity-based cost chargebacks, which Spiegelman does not like, but accepts in order to be "not feeding at the corporate trough." Other areas to which she has reported include: Strategic Resources (very high status, but trough feeders are vulnerable to turnover!), Controller and MIS (nice, due to many little pots of money under their control, which she could sometimes tap), and Human Resources (nice for "benign neglect" of her dept., but trough feeders...). Her advice: "speak the language of your management," make your manager look good (who would do otherwise???), try to report in a technical area if you have a choice, and follow the CREEP principles as you consider info center reporting position: Compensation, Respect, Education (the higher the better in a boss), Enthusiasm, and Power.
Campbell, at Boeing since 1966, serves 26,000 customers with a staff of 42 employees, plus temps for clerical work. She was tapped to combine many small Boeing technical libraries into a lager library system in Boeing Information and Support Services. They provide a corporate Intranet as well as access to the Internet, end-user searching, indexing and abstracting of technical publications. She advised listeners to think strategically, translate trends, pursue cross functional teams, join competitive analysis groups, persuade management to use the library, be opportunistic and realistic. "Don't bitch; don't burn bridges." Advice for changing reporting position: get target manager to ask for you; become known as a "star" for some service, such as the corp Intranet, etc.
Michael Moore, Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS)
Rahman Kahn, PhD, National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
The focus of this session was on government agency acquisition and desemination of technical reports, foreign open source materials, economic and market information, summaries of ongoing or planned R&D projects, etc. Through FBIS and NTIS. The presentation explained that FBIS print reports are being phased out this summer and web access is being substituted. (Yes!!). These two doc delivery agencies DO comply with copyright restrictions and pay royalties on copyrighted items, even to the extent of tracking down copyright holder info when such information is not apparent on the item. Web access points: www.ntis.gov, www.fedworld.gov, and wnc.fedworld.gov
Moderator: Denise Chockrek, Taylor & Co., Dallas
This session was extremely overcrowded. 400 handouts disappeared immediately, but tapes could be ordered.
House's most important revelation was that the best "online" tool for getting hidden company information is the telephone. He says that 70% of the needed information will be gleaned only by using the phone. He gives tips and trick to getting people to talk, but says always identify yourself accurately and NEVER do anything unethical or against you company's policies to get information. A preliminary search in online databases and printed resources should always be followed by checking with local government, regulatory, and journalistic sources near the target company. The phone is the best tool for this. Researchers should ask themselves "Who would know the information I want?" Often a good source is the competition of the target company. One approach to the phone call routine is to describe your interest as being in the entire industry or segment, rather than specifically in the target company. Once a competitor makes comments about the target, then the researcher can ask the target company person to respond to that comment. Use silence as a tool. Most people will talk to fill a silence, so do not be afraid to be quiet while your subject thinks of an answer or while she/he gets uncomfortable enough to blurt out some information. Often former employees who have recently left a company are willing to say more about it than they normally would. Also contact suppliers, customers, taxing and regulatory agencies, building permit offices, local newspapers and business journals, etc. etc. Expect that you will NOT get the entire answer on the hidden companies, but be willing to collect seemingly irrelevant data and have it often fall into place as clues to the big picture.
Peter Costello, Bain & Company
Moderator: Nola Sterling, Federal Home Bank of Seattle
Bain & Co. is a strategic consulting firm with 1600 employees worldwide. Costello is in charge of the library, with its 10 professional librarians. They field 850-950 questions per week and have a goal of 24 hour turnaround. Costello uses customer surveys to get the feedback necessary to maintain his $1.25 million annual budget. Surveys ask about overall satisfaction, value of resources in library and on the employees' desktops, value of training for end-user searching, availability of help, whether the library adds value to the customers' work, whether the library understands customers' needs, etc. The major library customers are asked to participate in librarians performance reviews.
Comments on outsourcing include: management seldom considers the money lost on inefficiency of outsourcing. So, libraries are often high on the list of services to be considered for outsourcing. Bain & Co. library has made a video containing testimonials from satisfied customers which is used for new employee orientation and other pertinent meetings. The tape emphasizes that the librarians gather data, repackage it according to requirements and that the library is always open.
Advice from Costello includes his focus for the future:
In conclusion, Costello states that an educated management is your best ally and reiterates that the library must be included as part of new employee training.
Beginning this summer, SLA will begin publication of the monthly magazine Information Outlook, which will replace the Special List and Special Libraries. The officers and board have agreed to entertain the idea of a name change for the organization if the membership wants to address that issue.
In addition to the reports from chapters and divisions, the treasurer and the seating of new board members at the meeting, incoming president Sylvia Piggott gave an inspirational talk called "Keeping Ourselves Relevant in the New Information Age." Piggott says we must be aware of the environment our businesses operate in and be prepared for changing roles within that environment, including becoming trainers facilitating user self-sufficiency and becoming technological experts. Corporate libraries will need to "reengineer" themselves in order to adapt to corporate changes. Look for: collaboration, fiscal responsibility, flexibility, self empowerment, high performance, marketing, continuous improvement, results orientation, political savvy, business language, and audience-centered approaches to service.
The payback for improvement will be that we can compete successfully and improve our survival rate. ***
By Dell Johnson
The Lone Star Librarian will be starting volume 49 with issue 1 in Sept. under the primary editorship of Ann Griffith, 2nd VP Elect. She and I met in Houston (after the chapter meetings) for a strategy session and for passing along materials she needs to take over many of the editorial duties. I see my role next year as advisor and editorial contributor, since Ann is ready willing and anxious to take over production. We look forward to working with the new Advertising Liaison, Roger Bell, to generate some revenue with the LSL. I provided a set of all the issues for vol 47 and vol 48 for the archivist, Denise Hampton.
The Austin LPG has been fairly inactive this Spring and Summer. We currently have no activities planned, but have just sent out the summer edition of InfoBytes. Micheal Harper has resigned as co-chair. Her position is being filled by Renee Daulong. Zoe May will continue as co-chair.
The Chapter Bylaws were revised in 1994. Currently, the main function of the Bylaws Chair is to answer Board and member questions about the content and application of the bylaws. During the 1995/96 year, two information requests were received and handled by the Bylaws Chair.
This is my first column in a Lone Star Librarian, but certainly not my first correspondence with Texas Chapter members this year. Our thirty-plus member board communicates daily (even hourly!) via electronic mail, and so I have been at the keyboard many times with our committee chairs and officers. If you have any concerns, questions, ideas, or comments, please feel free to send them to me or to the appropriate committee chair. The Executive Board and Advisory Council names are posted at the end of the newsletter.
Also new to this issue is our trusty newsletter editor, Ann Griffith. Ann is working closely with Dell Johnson to launch this first issue and I would like to thank her publicly for her diligent efforts on our behalf.
There are other new board members and I would like to introduce to you our treasurer, Kevin Park of American Airlines, and our Advertising Manager/Vendor Liaison, Roger Bell of American General. Great Americans. (Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.) Also new are the Denton Student Liaison Co-Chairs, Melanie Scott and Jennifer Stearman.
Many of our other board members have switched positions or returned to serve. Mike Zimmerman is leading the DFW LPG in addition to co-chairing the Program Committee for the Southwest Regional Conference in Albuquerque with Nancy Cash. Nancy is our Parliamentarian. She saved your erring President a time or two during the Executive Board meeting in Houston this past July.
Others of our Board have continued in their positions, providing much needed continuity in these turbulent times. Thanks go to Una Gourlay for continuing as International Relations Chair, Alice Fosson as Employment Chair, and Denise Hampton as Archivist.
Our Nominations Committee, headed by Randy Tibbits, will be contacting the membership early in 1997 for likely candidates, so please let him know if you are interested in serving.
The most important document in this issue is the Strategic Plan 1996-2001. The Strategic Planning Committee, headed by Carolyn Ernst, devoted over 100 hours to the draft document presented at the Summer Planning Meeting . A non-partisan facilitator helped guide meeting attendees though the process of committing our ideas to paper in a coherent form, based on the draft of the Strategic Planning Committee. Please take time to read the Plan over. Any changes you think should be made or any comments/suggestions you may have about the document should be forwarded to me by November 1, 1996. I will forward any correspondence to the board for consideration.
I am proud to call myself a Special Librarian and look forward to serving as your President. Be sure to communicate your ideas with your board and help us reach strategically to the future.
Elizabeth Halliday-Reynolds suggested that any posting received should be posted to the Texas Chapter Home Page. Great idea, if these jobseekers have access to the Internet. (Note: This has been set up at URL www.eden.com/~texassla/.)
This past year has been full of activity on a variety of issues of concern to SLA's Government Relations program. I have attempted to keep Texas Chapter members aware of some of these issues through reports to the board as well as updated articles in the Lone Star Librarian. This task will become easier with the implementation of SLA's Homepage with it's extensive section on Government Relations. With the departure of Sandy Morton-Schwalb as Government Relations Director in December, the SLA Board of Directors took the opportunity to do an indepth review of the program and developed a more focused approach now being implemented by Roxanne Fulcher who joined SLA in April. I was able to meet with Roxanne during the Boston Conference and was very impressed with the progress she has made in such a short time.
The Board has chosen to focus on five main areas in Government Relations:
These are not the only areas of interest to SLA and its members, but these issues are being discussed and policies are being developed around them in a variety of venues and offer a focus for our efforts. Position papers on each area as well as an overview of the program are available on the SLA Homepage. (direct address: http://www.sla.org/govt/index.html).
In addition, Roxanne is compiling an informal information update (http://www.sla.org/govt/update.html) on a periodic basis which contains a focus on one or more of the manifestations of the issues including recent developments, what's ahead, how to follow developments and when appropriate, information on becoming involved.
As a new member of the Association Government Relations committee, I attended a series of meetings during the Boston Conference where we discussed the new directions and uncovered additional arenas of concern. One of these in particular was the issue of government action at the state level. While it is gratifying that states watch each other and often follow the lead of one or more states in implementing new policies so as not to "reinvent the wheel," it is also a concern that the state policies and programs from these leaders may not be furthering some of our key issues such as access to information. An example of this is some proposed legislation in California (often a leader in many areas) which would permit local governments to contract out the gathering and dissemination of government records and allow the contract awardee to set fees to gain access to the information. Those in attendance agreed that in particular the Chapter GR chairs should try to monitor state legislative and regulatory activity more closely and share that information with other chapters through an e-mail list that is being developed to include all the GR representative and interested others. I would appreciate feedback from any Texas chapter member concerning their knowledge of any state legislative or regulatory activity that could impact special libraries, libraries in general or citizens at large in the context of access to information, information infrastructure, competitiveness, etc.
One of my goals for the coming year is to work with our Texas Chapter Webmaster to build links from our page to the government relations section of the SLA Homepage. I would also like to hear from Chapter members about their concerns in the area of government relations. The state legislature meets this year and I will plan to participate in the state library legislative day and encourage anyone else with an interest to participate.
Following are the goals for 1996-1997 which the IR Committee established at the annual meeting in Boston:
With these in mind, the following activities have been identified for 1996-97:
Another action item is to review the opportunity for offering videotapes, or some other medium, for distance learning. Mary Corcoran is responsible for this action item.
Identify what role the IRC needs to play in the international meeting set for the year 2000. This meeting is planned for October, 2000 and is being headed up by David Bender. Mel Westerman is responsible for this action item.
There is also an initiative to encourage chapters, divisions, and individuals to donate subscriptions of selected journals for distribution to libraries in Cuba. Wilda Newman is responsible for this action item.
With a significant amount of activity being encouraged at the Chapter level, I would like to form an IR Committee, and will hope to find volunteers at the Planning Meeting.
My initiative to find volunteers who will network with new non-North American members has begun well, but we have scope for much more participation.
Ben Toon, past student liaison chair, has stepped down to fulfill his new appointment as chair-elect for the SLA telecommunications division. The Texas chapter thanks him for a great year and wishes him good luck in his new position. The new student liaison co-chairs for the 96-98 term are Melanie Scott (EDS) and Jennifer Stearman (F1 Services).
News from the student chapters includes a report of the end of year picnic. Student members met in June to wish graduating members good luck and to welcome new members. Fifteen students participated in the casual evening of music, volley ball and a discussion of career plans. Chapter presidents for the 96-97 year are Vivian Land, UNT; TWA, to be announced August 1.
June 27th was the planning meeting for the 1996-97 student year. Both faculty advisors, Evelyn Curry (TWU) and Yvonne Chandler (UNT) attended. Upcoming student events include an open house, in mid September, and a fall tour of special libraries, in early October.
Also on the roster of fall activities is a survey of library students and practitioners. The goal of the survey is to align our organization more closely to the library schools by identifying and coordinating real world experiences for students. Support this state wide campaign by completing the survey by the August 2nd deadline.
I have made changes to our web page since our last meeting. The new version supports frame technology. Individuals without frame supported browsers can still view the original rendition of the page.
The Public Relations Committee has been active since our last meeting. We were successful in asking Governor George W. Bush to declare April 18, 1996 Texas Special Librarians Day. Twelve Austin area SLA members attended the proclamation ceremony at the State Capitol and were photographed with Governor Bush. The SLA members included representatives from corporate libraries, state agencies, academic libraries, information brokers, and library school. A copy of the photo appeared in Lone Star Librarian and will be placed in the Chapter archives.
The Committee printed posters for International Special Librarians Day (ISLD) using a template provided by SLA headquarters. These posters were distributed along with a sheet of ISLD logos to attendees of the Spring Meeting in Austin. We hope to make these free marketing materials available to the entire membership via the Lone Star Librarian prior to the 1997 International Special Librarians Day.
I attended the Public Relations Chairs' Workshop at the Annual Meeting in Boston. The meeting was fairly informal and attendance was small. Our chapter has participated in many of the same types of PR activities as other chapters and divisions such as having a booth at trade shows. Mark Serepca, SLA Director of Public Relations, stressed that headquarters will try to be more proactive in enhancing the image of librarians and less reactive and "whiny." He also spoke briefly about the hiring of the public relations firm Read-Poland Associates. According to Serepca, Read-Poland was hired for a modest budget and will primarily be involved with promoting the profession to executives and decision-makers through placement of articles in the appropriate periodicals. Michael Sheward of Read-Poland dropped by the Texas Chapter Open House to introduce himself. He noted that Read-Poland is based in Austin, and suggested I could work with the Austin team members.
Second VP Dell Johnson is working on again obtaining a booth at the SEMICON Southwest trade show in Austin this October. I plan to work with Dell on coordinating the booth. Our attendance last year resulted in a large, favorable article in 'The Inside Line: Community News for the Electronics Industry'. Volunteers are welcome!
The DFW/LPG finished it's 1995-96 year by sponsoring a "Strategic Planning Workshop for Special Librarians" on April 19th at the Federal Reserve Bank. Richard Hulser, a Consultant in IBM's Higher Education division, lead us through Strategic Planning Basics, and shared some practical tips on Strategic Planning "How to's" he uses in his practice.
Margaret Carroll, resigned as Chair of the DFW/LPG because of her recent election as 1st VP/President Elect of the Tx Chapter. Mike Zimmerman, Federal Reserve Bank Library Director, assumes the Chairman's position for the 1996-98 period.
The DFW/LPG Planning Meeting was held August 8 to adopt a 1996-97 program schedule.
by Ben Toon
"If we only knew what we know at TI."
- Jerry Junkins, Chairman, President, & CEO of Texas Instruments
Reengineering, TQM, team-building, workforce empowerment, Kaizen. Companies have been using these and other "flavor of the month" management practices during the last ten years, all in the pursuit of greater efficiency and profits. Librarians, like other types of managers who have used some of these techniques, often take cynical views when asked to adopt a new way of doing business. Whether it comes from the experience of prior failed management experiments, or the fact that managing a library is different than managing other parts of the company, we often groan, then go along, when a new technique takes the fancy of upper management. But I've recently learned of a new management practice which may have a positive impact on the corporate library.
On May 22 and 23, I attended a conference on Knowledge Management sponsored by the American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) in Houston. Although I was unversed in the concept of Knowledge Management (KM), I was familiar with many of the buzz words I heard during the two-day event -- Intranets, groupware, intellectual assets, and learning organizations.
Seen as the next development in what is described as the knowledge economy, Knowledge Management (KM) has risen out of the quality movement as a way for businesses to capture, organize, and disseminate knowledge found within the company.
To differentiate between information and knowledge, information, in the context of KM, consists of "facts and data organized to describe a particular situation," while knowledge consists of "truths and beliefs, perspectives and concepts, judgments and expectations, methodologies and know-how." A great wealth of this "knowledge" lies in people's heads, and is referred to as tacit knowledge. Knowledge Management attempts to capture some of this tacit knowledge and put it to work for the organization.
Knowledge Management takes advantage of recent developments in computer technology, and embraces groupware as a way of accomplishing the tasks of collecting, organizing, and sharing knowledge. But technology alone can not make KM happen. Three other major components that are essential to Knowledge Management are:
"...any company planning a Knowledge Management process can learn from their library staff...librarians by definition have a stake in Knowledge Management." The conference focused on the results of a benchmarking study conducted by the American Productivity & Quality Center on behalf of its members. The study looked at some of the best companies that embody knowledge management and focused on the KM process within each company and the common elements of each effort. All the companies studied used some form of groupware - Lotus Notes or Intranet. Other commonalties are:
For each company studied, several tangible resources were created from the Knowledge Management initiative. Best practices databases, corporate yellow pages, better management of patents and other intellectual assets are among the most popular outcomes.
When a company starts a KM initiative, there are two main approaches to implementing it based on user behavior when seeking knowledge. The "push" method is when knowledge is actively captured or recorded, organized in a central area (database) and "pushed" out into the organization. The "pull" method assumes users will actively seek out information, so knowledge is pooled in de-centralized areas. Neither approach wins alone, and a combination of the two has proven to work out the best.
Observations
For all the new ideas that Knowledge Management expresses, many of the issues facing companies that implement KM are similar to issues we have been dealing with for quite some time.
How Librarians can become involved in Knowledge Management Processes
Whether you know it or not, you are already a part of your organization's knowledge structure. By being in a position where people come to you seeking information, each day you learn more about who knows what in the organization. How many times have you told a patron that another department or person has the information they need? Personally, this happens to me two or three times a day. By knowing who the gatekeepers of knowledge in the organization are, you have a mental map of your organization's knowledge structure.
Let people in your organization know your skills and experience in this area. If you've been actively marketing your library or yourself, leadership probably knows that you're an expert with organizing information or working with information technology. Creating online organization-wide resources like web sites or searchable catalogs can go a long way in spreading your fame as an information guru in your organization.
Use this to your advantage by keeping close tabs on the organization's grapevine. If you hear your organization is adopting new information technology to improve internal communications, find out who is heading up the project and try to get invited to some of the meetings. Once you know more about the project and what it's attempting to do, you can assess whether you have something to offer.
Conclusion
Most Knowledge Management initiatives don't start out as formal projects. They usually begin with a department setting up a Lotus Notes or Web server to facilitate communications between various groups. You could say that these initiatives don't become Knowledge Management until the CIO attends a conference or reads a book about it, and this is probably true.
Remember, one of the ideas of implementing Knowledge Management is to keep the organization from re-inventing the wheel. If you have knowledge or skills to offer in a KM project, speak up and participate. As facilitators of opening information and knowledge access, librarians by definition have a stake in Knowledge Management.
A Brief Knowledge Management Reading List:
American Productivity & Quality Center's International Benchmark Clearinghouse. Knowledge Management: Final Report. APQC, 1996. (713) 685-4666. This is the final result of a six month benchmarking study and is available for purchase to members of APQC.
Sequent Computer Systems, Inc. Corporate Digital Libraries: An Introduction. & Knowledge Management: An Introduction. Sequent Computer Systems, Inc, 1996. (800) 257-9044. These two white papers gives one company's perspective on Knowledge Management. Sequent also markets KM applications.
Wigg, Karl M. Knowledge Management Foundations, Knowledge Management, and Knowledge Management Methods. Schema Press, 1992 - 1994. (817) 572-6254. Mr. Wigg is a noted pioneer in the field of Knowledge Management. His three books takes KM from theoretical understanding to real world applications.
Senge, Peter M. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday / Currency, 1990. Available at most bookstores. Knowledge Management builds on many of the ideas presented in this landmark book.
Janice Findley graduated, got married, and now manages the Ericsson technical library in Richardson, Texas.
JJ Whitaker is now working at the Ericsson engineering library in Richardson, Texas.
Have you ever wished Ann Landers was a librarian? One of the disadvantages of being a special librarian is that we are special. No one else in our organization does what we do or understands the problems we face. When a problems seems intractable, there isn't a handy colleague at the next desk to offer a suggestion.
In this column, we hope to do just that. We will select a letter each quarter and provide our solution (if there is one), or ways to cope (if there isn't an answer). We will protect the guilty and the innocent - your name will be confidential and we'll disguise the circumstances if necessary.
So send us your problems - library related only. If you're a victim of space planner abuse, if your collection is being molested, if you're battling print dependency, or if you're not sure you should enter a long-term relationship with a CD-ROM, we're listening! Although we are library consultants, no salesman will call and you won't be added to our mailing list.
Chris & Carolyn
To The Help Desk:
How can I find time for more networking activities when my days are already so busy?
Signed:
Buried under work
Dear Buried:
Networking within your company takes only minutes. Perhaps you're avoiding it because you're afraid it will generate even more business? The purpose of networking is to generate SUPPORT. Networking should not be a sales call. You want to make contact with people you would not ordinarily meet. By providing a face and a personality to go with the title librarian, you expand your sphere of influence.
Networking opportunities are available wherever there are people. Don't be afraid to get out of the library! Eat lunch in the cafeteria, not at your desk. On your way to a table you can say hello to library users who may introduce you to others at their table. If you only have 15 minutes to gulp your lunch because of pending projects, you can decline invitations to sit down. At least you have made contact and the next time you meet you can take time to cultivate the relationship.
When you've finished a project or completed a demanding online search, you probably feel like taking a break just to clear your head. Make it a networking break. Get some exercise, take deep breaths, and go welcome the manager who joined the company two weeks ago. All you need to say is, "Hi, welcome to the company. I'm the librarian. If there's ever anything I can do for you, please give me a call. Here's my card." All networking does not have to be on company time. Capitalize on your personal interests. You could join the company chapter of Toastmasters or help organize the Thanksgiving food drive. Casual contacts may yield great results when you meet again across a conference table. If your company sponsors activities such as a 10K run, sign up. If you're not an Olympic hopeful, you can work the registration desk.
When you need help, whether it's to complete a project, justify your budget, or move a box, you will find it easier to call someone you know. Those who think of you as an enthusiastic, energetic, intelligent and helpful person, even if they have never used the library, will be glad to give you support. You can build that support 5 minutes at a time.
Tenneco Building, Houston Texas
Friday, July 19, 1996
President Susan Yancey called the meeting to order at 2:55pm.
Minutes of the spring board meeting were approved by Mike Zimmerman and seconded by Gail Wilson.
Susan Yancey introduced the new board members present: Kevin Park, Treasurer, and Ann Griffth, Second Vice President Elect and Lone Star Librarian Editor. She presented the outgoing president, Gail Wilson with a special "LoneStar" pillow along with her thanks for a job well done. Elizabeth Halliday-Reynolds was also recognized for her effort in setting up our home page - and presented with a "Lone Star" home t-shirt.
Kevin Park, Treasurer announced that we can make requests to the association for extra funding. Those requests are due by August 15th. We currently have $2300 in our bank account (which will be moved to Dallas) and $13,000 in our mutual fund. A discussion ensued regarding the idea to request funding from the association to help us develop and enhance our Texas Chapter website.
Leah Bartlett requests that correct covers for each procedure manual is sent to the board member holding the corresponding board position. Carolyn Ernst will receive a manual for the position of Strategic Planning Committee Chair.
The employment committee chair has prepared a report on all employment requests for 1995/96.
Roger Bell is the new Advertising and Vendor Liaison.
Una Gurlay gave a report on the activities of the International Relations group. She is encountering problems with coordination from the association. She's like to have more members in the Texas Chapter involved in the international relations group. Thus far only Denise Chockrek has volunteered. She also asked that the Texas Chapter contribute funding for a magazine subscription for Cuban libraries.
Teresa Matlock is asking for Houston LPG attendance at the IAA meetings. Sandy Silverman was asked, as Houston LPG chair, to find out how SLA could fit in. We will check with association headquarters to find out if SLA can be part of an alliance. (IAA = Information Association Alliance).
New Business:
Susan Yancey announced that if the Student Liaison committee send spring and fall chapter reports to the association, the chapter will receive a bonus of $100.00.
The fall board meeting will take place on October 31, 1996 at 7:30am at Little Anita's Mexican Restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico during the Southwest Regional Conference.
The date and place for the spring meeting is not yet determined. The topic under consideration is "Benchmarking."
At 3:40 p.m. Dell Johnson moved that the meeting adjourn. Motion seconded by Margaret Carroll.
Attendance included:
Executive Board
President - Susan Yancey
First Vice President - Margaret Carroll
Second Vice President-Dell Johnson
2nd Vice President Elect - Ann Griffith
Secretary - Olga Wise
Treasurer - Kevin Park
Past President - Gail Wilson
Advisory Council
Networking Chair - Elizabeth Halliday-Reynolds
Houston LPG Chair - Sandra Silverman
Austin Student Liason - Marilyn Redmond
Parliamentarian - Nancy Cash
DFW LPG Chair - Michael Zimmerman
Strategic Planning Chair - Carolyn Ernst
International Relations - Una Gurlay
Public Relations/Austin LPG - Renee Daulong
Austin LPG - Co-Chair - Zoe May
Affirmative Action Liason - Judy Jennings
Nominations Chair - Randy Tibbits
Survey Committee Chair - Blaise Turney
Submitted by Olga Wise, Secretary
This is my first effort at editing a newsletter, and it is a learning experience. As some of you know, the hardest part has been dealing with the fact that my company uses Macintoshes while most of the world does not. I want to thank Dell Johnson for all her support in helping me with this first issue and thanks to all of the contributors, especially those who wrestled with file formatting.
Volume 49 offers some new features. The URL for The Lone Star Librarian (and the Texas Chapter SLA home page) is posted on the bottom of page 3, in the box describing this publication. We hope this will be a permanent addition. We are also introducing a new column called "The Help Desk" to take and answer your questions. We hope to implement further changes in The Lone Star Librarian in response to member input.
It is a privilege to serve as the Texas Chapter newsletter editor and I will work to provide the best communication tool possible. Please send your suggestions, comments, contributions, and feedback in and help keep the LSL useful and newsworthy.
Thank you.
Ann Griffith, 2nd VP Elect
anng@nortel.com
The Texas Chapter is looking towards the future and making plans! In order to address concerns, issues and needs of the membership, it was first necessary to gather information from the members that would provide a basis to develop a strategic plan. After consideration of several methods of gathering information, it was decided that a survey would provide all members a chance to provide input most effectively. After researching other membership surveys and input from the Board and Advisory Council, a survey was developed to meet the following goals:
The membership survey was sent to the members in May, 1996. To date, 224 replies out of 566 surveys have been received for a 39.6% return rate. Our thanks to all who took the time and effort to reply as a great deal of valuable information necessary for planning came back from the members. Members gave many thoughtful and thought-provoking answers that stimulated a lot of discussion with the strategic planning committee and the Board and Council in working on the development of the new strategic plan.
A short summarization of the raw data from the survey follows. We are currently exploring putting the survey and the results on the Chapter's homepage. If any member would like a print copy in the meantime, please email Blaise Turney who will forward a copy.
Responses from the following profile of our members:
We are mostly female, 86.9% compared to 13.1% for men;
45% of the respondents were in the 40-49 age group, with only 8.2%
in the 20-29 age group and 23.2% in their thirties;
We have a majority white membership, 93.3% compared to 6.6% for
others;
Although we have large age groups, our years of experience are more
evenly distributed with members having 11-20 years of experience
making up 34% of the responses;
Our members are highly educated with 187 responding that they hold
a MLS or equivalent or higher as their degree. Few, however,
are currently working on further degrees;
55.1% of the respondents classify themselves as corporate
librarians, with the next largest groups being academics (9.4%),
government (8.5%), and other (8.1%). 23.6% also indicated that
they worked by themselves as solo librarians;
Houston slightly edged out Dallas as having the most respondents
(37.8% to 34.1%) followed by Austin (19.8%). Interestingly
enough, the membership indicated that their preferred place to
meet would be San Antonio (183 responses), followed by Austin
(153 replies), then Dallas/Fort Worth (148) and Houston (126);
Finally, our members do belong to many other information
organizations such as ALA (60 replies) and other (99
responses including SCIP, DALL, HALL, SWALL, etc.). We keep in
touch with a variety of technology, with the large majority of
members having access to e-mail, fax, the internet, and
video-conferencing.
Professional Activities:
Only 1/3 of our members (out of a possible 224) indicated that they had attended an SLA annual conference in the last two years. Figures for the Texas Chapter SLA meeting were slightly better with 93 marking they had attended at least one meeting in the same time period.
Members indicated that cost and programs are very important factors they consider in deciding whether to attend meetings/conferences. Distance, continuing education, scheduling conflicts, and time from work are also either very important or somewhat important factors.
Although we currently have three state meetings (Spring, Fall, and Summer planning) a slight majority indicated that they would be satisfied with one state meeting (99 responses to 89 for two meetings), preferably January through March and on a Friday (122 replies) or Saturday (73). $41-50 average cost for a meeting received the most responses (71).
Members listed the following events they prefer at meetings:
Speaker/Lecture (145 responses) Demonstration of new technology/service (142 responses) Vendor exhibits (81 responses) Panel discussion (70 responses) Tour of library (61 responses) Informal roundtable discussion (60 responses)
A variety of topics/issues and a variety of speakers were listed by members that they would like to see in future meetings including,:
Technology Customer services
Management issues Future of librarianship
The Internet Knowledge management
Solo Librarians Leadership issues
The five most frequently used resources members use to keep informed are:
Professional journals 176 replies
Networking/colleagues 145 replies
Conferences and meetings 141 replies
Workshops 103 replies
SLA/divisions 84 replies;
Members, by a large majority, consider continuing education very important (178 yes to 35 no).
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