The LONE STAR LIBRARIAN
Spring 1997 Issue
December 6, 1996 Volume 49:2
A quarterly publication of the Texas Chapter, Special Libraries Association ISSN 0739-4950
The Lone Star Librarian, a quarterly newsletter [ISSN 0739-4950],. is the official publication of the T exas Chapter of the Special Libraries Association. The contents or articles and editorials are not to b e considered as being or representing the official position of the Texas Chapter. The Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for statements and opinions advanced by the contributors to the Association's publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official position of the S LA.
Acceptance of advertising does not imply endorsement of the product by the Chapter or the Associat ion.
Address inquiries to: Texas Chapter, Special Libraries Association, 5200 Meadowcreek Ste. 1134, Da llas, Tx 75248-4024.
Address manuscripts, comments, notices, etc. to the Publications Committee. Inquir ies for advertising rates and advertising orders should be addresses to the Advertising Manager. Texas Chapter SLA members automatically receive subscriptions to the Lone Star Librarian.
By Mike Zimmerman, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
On October 31st through November 2nd under blue skies and perfect New Mexico weather, 225 people came t ogether at the Sheraton Old Town in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend The Once and Future Libr ary: Technology in Transition. Five state SLA chapters; Texas, Oklahoma, San Diego, Colorado, and Rio Grande, cooperated for almost three years to bring this event, the first of its kind for the region, t o the combined membership.
The librarians who worked on bringing this conference to reality continually worked toward a slate o f programs, which would be both visionary yet practical, so the attendees would leave New Mexico energi zed with ideas for today and vision for tomorrow. The informal feedback we heard while attending the s essions makes us feel we accomplished this task.
The librarians who worked on bringing this conference to reality continually worked toward a slate o f programs, which would be both visionary yet practical, so the attendees would leave New Mexico energi zed with ideas for today and vision for tomorrow. The informal feedback we heard while attending the s essions makes us feel we accomplished this task.
Denise Chochrek, Nancy Cash and I had the opportunity to bring this conference from inception to imp lementation, and it was a great experience. Speaking for myself, there were times I felt like a proud parent watching his child take those first significant steps; you are not sure where they are going, bu t you know wherever they go, it will be important. The same idea was in effect as we worked putting t his conference into place. There were times direction was not sure, but in Albuquerque, it was evident everyone's hard work was paying off.
The San Diego and Texas Chapters had responsibility to provide speakers. For the purposes of this n ewsletter, I will focus on the speakers the Texas Chapter invited. The speakers invited by the Texas Ch apter all had very good presentations, and attendees to their sessions came away with energy and ideas.
Our keynote speaker, UT Austin's Graduate School of Library and Information Science Dean, Dr. Brooke Sheldon, focused on what core competencies would be needed by librarians in the 21st century and how h er audience could nurture these as they moved forward to the year 2000. MCI's Larry Enoch showed his a udience how to be "information predators" and how to manage the crush of technology in such a way as to add value to interactions with their clients. Texas Tech University's J. Wesley Cochran navigated his session through the murky waters of electronic copyright and gave practical ideas on how to stay away from the Sargasso Sea of litigation. Tandem Computers' Olga Wise led a discussion on how to work as pa rtners with MIS. She fashioned her presentation in such a way as to help her audience present good ide as rather than just receive them. PCA Health Plus's Barbara Denton used a similar tactic in her presen tation when she led a discussion of what could be proactively accomplished in a corporate library setti ng by a staff vitally interested in their customers' informational needs. Finally, St. Mary University 's Margaret Sylvia enlightened her audience on the current and soon-to-be state of multimedia and just how far-reaching the technology would be in our lives.
The dust has settled, the humidity is back, and as I sit in my office in downtown Dallas I am gla d those of us who got to attend this conference were able to experience a very positive picture of our professional future. Denise, Nancy and I want to thank all of our speakers for the great effort they p ut forth for this conference and we hope to work with them again in the near future.
I want to thank both Denise and Nancy for partnering with me to bring this conference from paper to reality. I have enjoyed our partnership. The Regional Conference will possibly be held again in two years; when this happens the membership will be notified.
Editor's note: Mike Zimmerman and Nancy Cash served as Program Co-Chairs and Denise Chochrek served as General Conference Chair at the first ever Southwest Regional Conference. Mike modestly neglected to mention that this conference was such a success, people had to be turned away at on-site registration because the conference facilities reached full capacity. Job well done, and congratulations to all who had a hand it setting up the conference!
By Rene Daulong, Public Relations Chair
SLA has contracted with Read-Poland, a public relations firm. SLA headquarter's (HQ) goal is not to ch ange our image with the general public, but to change our image with decision makers. To this end, Rea d-Poland has been charged with placing articles in the types of publications that corporate leaders rea d - CIO, Forbes, etc. A key component of these articles is testimonials about the importance of specia l librarians within organizations. However, many companies will not permit the use of these testimonia ls if their name is included. If you can provide a testimonial, particularly one containing a specific example, such as saving your company big bucks, please contact SLA PR Director Mark Serepca at mark@sla.org or (202) 234-4700 x634.
Have you ever wished Ann Landers was a librarian? One of the disadvantages of being a special librari an is that we are special. No one else in our organization does what we do or understands the problems we face. When a problem seems intractable, there often isn't a handy colleague at the next desk to of fer a suggestion.
We will select a letter each quarter and provide our solution (if there is one), or ways to cope (if th ere 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 co llection 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:
The executives in my company have just received Internet access. The CIO has decided that everything an yone will ever need can be retrieved using Yahoo! How do I convince him otherwise and save my job?
Signed, Caught in the Web
Dear Caught:
It was bound to happen. Executives are often blown away by the graphics and apparent ease of finding in formation on the World Wide Web. It's up to you to educate the executives on the appropriate use of the Web. To accomplish this you will need to be positive, proactive and aggressive.
We suggest the following steps:
In your presentation, acknowledge the benefits of the Internet in quickly locating certain types of inf ormation. Next, point out those situations where the commercial services are faster and more effective. Take advantage of the CIO's discovery of Yahoo! to expand his or her understanding of the role the librarian can play. A positive, enthusiastic, and energetic person ality can be just as captivating as the flashing graphics in Yahoo!
The Help Desk is written by Chris Dobson and Carolyn Ernst of F1 Services, Inc., a library consulting firm in Dallas. Send your questions via e-mail to
f1srvcs@ix.netcom.com with "Help Desk" on the subject line, or snail-mail to 3141 Hood Street, Suite 61 0, Dallas, TX 75219.President Susan Yancey called the meeting to order at 7:15 AM.
Margaret Carroll reported that our Spring meeting will be on Friday, March 14, 1997 in Dallas, Texas. Later in the meeting the suggestion was made that the meeting be extended to a day a nd a half, since we'll be having only one state meeting per year. All in attendance approved this idea . Tentatively, the plan is to have our meeting start at noon on Thursday, March 13th and continue to Fr iday, March 14th. The Thursday slot would be Internet search engine comparisons by a professor from Sim mons Library School; the Friday session would be an all day workshop on Benchmarking. There will be pre -meeting exercises for attendees to log best practices. Registration fees approved: $100 - before February 15 for Texas SLA members $125 - after February 15 for Texas SLA members $50 - before February 15 for students $60 - after February 15 for students
The Texas Chapter Open House at SLA Seattle in June will be held at the Microsoft Museum. There is space for only 88 bus riders to the site. The open house will be limited to Texas Chapter people only. The logistics of carrying out this requirement have not yet been determined.
In reply to a query from the Membership Director, the board recommended that the Membership Directory remain unbound. The directory should include new members, but address changes can be published on our home page.
In reply to a query from the Networking Chair, the board recommended that we find out about rates from Onramp, since our service for the TSLA homepage via Eden has not been satisfactory.
Margaret Carroll offered to see if Microsoft would make room for the chapter's home page on one of thei r servers.
Margaret Carroll suggested the Summer planning meeting be held in Salado and will be making arrangement s for that meeting.
Kimberly Speyers-Duran announced that the American Productivity and Quality Center in Houston has an opening for a new staff member.
The meeting adjourned at 8:10 AM.
In attendance:
It's time to begin the election process for SLA Texas Chapter Officers for 1996/97.
The offices to be filled are the following:
If you would like to find out more about any of the offices with a thought toward nominating yourself o r someone else, please let one of the members of the Nominations Committee know. In order to finish the election in ti me for the Dallas meeting in March, we need to hear from
Kimberly Speyers-Duran - American Productivity and Quality Center, Houston Olga B. Wise - Tandem, Austin* Nancy Cash - Exxon, Dallas* Mike Zimmerman - Federal Reserve, Dallas Margaret Carroll - Microsoft, Dallas*
Respectfully submitted by Olga Wise, Secretary
anyone who would like to run by the end of December.
The members of the Nominating Committee are:
Randy Tibbits Rice University 713-528-3553 tibbits@rice.edu Peggy Shaw Rice University 713-527-6062 pshaw@rice.edu Richard Fletcher Booz Allen Hamilton Inc 214-746-6500 fletcher_richard@bah.com
by Dell Johnson, SEMATECH
Articles:
Describes the necessity for a corporate vision, including core ideology (value and purpose) and envi sioned future, as facilitated by forming "big, hairy audacious goals" (10-to-30 years out).
Describes several recent trends on strategic planning and gives profiles of the experts who writ e and teach about them: Gary Hamel, Competing for the Future; Adrian Slywotsky, Value Migration; James Moore, The Death of Competition.
Gives a roadmap and matrix format for thinking about strategic renewal (or "pruning"), which the author says should be considered every two years.
Gives 10 principles that outline "a way of thinking about the challenge of crating strategy -- t he challenge of becoming an industry revolutionary" and describes 9 "Routes to Industry Revolution."
Porter, the author of Competitive Strategy, differentiates between operational effectiveness and strategy, explaining that both are necessary for success. Strategic positioning, differentiation from competitors, and making the trade-offs needed to limit expenditure of resources are the keys to longev ity in business. Good fit among the operational activities provides sustainability in the marketplace .
Books:
A straight-forward step-by-step guide to the strategic planning process, directed at senior mana gers and professional consultants who will guide an organization's strategic planning process.
Using principles from game theory, the authors explain ways of bringing together competition and cooperation in business practices. To maximize business opportunity, finding the right strategy a nd making the right decisions are crucial steps. Important topics covered include making a Value Net to locate players and interdependencies and understanding and using the 5 basic elements of game theo ry [players, added values, rules, tactics, and scope]. Separate chapters explain in detail the signifi cance each of the 5 elements has for the reader's business activities. Business is a dynamic "game" an d constant change makes competing successfully very difficult. By "changing the game" it plays, a bus iness can avoid the pitfall of remaining static within the changing business arena.
The author uses biological analogies to illustrate how successful business strategy helps co mpanies coevolve with others to create more attractive futures. By thinking in terms of whole business "ecosystems," businesses can create new markets. And business leaders can anticipate future changes a nd evolve early to be prepared to face the changing landscape.
Offers the theory that strategy is also the creative destruction of the opponent's advantage . Describes 4 arenas and 7 approaches that can help companies win strategic advantage.
The author discusses successful change and the forces that drive it, including errors that can c ause failure of the process. He particularly focuses on globalization of the economy as an important d river of change. He presents and explains an 8-stage process for creating major change that can ensure success. Leadership qualities are much more crucial to the process than traditional management activit ies; therefore Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor, recommends lifelong leadership and learning as goals for corporate executives.
"Knowing where you are is the key to getting where you want to go." This books explains how awareness of transitions and patterns can be used in strategic planning.
Part of the Irwin Series in Management and the Behavioral Sciences, this is a textbook which int roduces the "critical business skills of planning and managing strategic activities." The text contain s dozens of case studies to illustrate the concepts presented in the text.
A textbooks designed for CEOs, COOs, executives, and managers who see a need to improve the stra tegic planning and management of their organizations. The author deems it particularly appropriate for those who manage engineering and research or technology, where business planning often is not an area of expertise.
Readings and case applications selected from Strategic Planning Management journal, whose reader s are practicing managers and academics interested in creating and executing business strategies. Chose n for inclusion are "short, pithy and easy-to-read articles."
A collection of articles from the Harvard Business Review which covers the progress of the s trategy field. Chosen as timeless (not tied to fads or past trends), influential and representative of various topics. The editors have included an introduction on the background of strategy theory as well as comments on the contributions and lessons learned from the articles they chose.
Explains strategic thinking as the science of game theory, giving illustrative examples and case studies while removing mathematics and jargon.
The final stage of the life of a business occurs as value begins to "migrate" outward. Leade rs must be aware of the approach of this phase and use "radar screen" vision (as opposed to "tunnel vis ion") to recognize patterns that signal this phase. The author explains the strategic patterns that sig nal the need for change. He suggests a prescription for anticipating value migration, defeating institu tional memory and profiting from value migration. The key question which must be answered is "What five moves will capture most of my industry's value growth?" Envisioning successful moves to answer this is crucial to any business.
Gives results of 10 years of management research among Japanese corporations by SANNO Unive rsity, Tokyo. Discusses how to develop strategic capabilities, how to respond to the market and create an environment for future growth, how to recognize and create trends in new product development, and a map of 15 managerial profiles for improving creative management skills.
End of year greetings, fellow Texas Chapter members. The year may be closing fiscally for some, but th e Chapter's year end is not till June so we are midstream in our 1996-97 calendar year. You'll be hearing from the Nominating Committee soon for possible candidates for First Vice-President/President Elect as well as Secretary. Contact Randy Tibbits (tibbits@is.rice.edu or 713 528-3553) with your ideas. Immediately following the drafting of the slate , we'll all meet together again in Dallas for our Spring Meeting. Details on that venture are given elsewhere in this n ewsletter so read on! The theme couldn't be more career rewarding as we learn benchmarking techniques from an expert and share our best practices with colleagues. On to Seattle in June for the best Chapte r event in decades, carefully planned by our own VP, Margaret Carroll.
I was fortunate to attend the Southwest Regional Conference in Albuquerque in October and came away energized by speakers such as our own Olga Wise and Dr. Larry Prusak. I was so impressed with the session on Internet search engines that I tried to get t he speaker, Candy Schwartz of Simmons College GSLIS to come to Dallas for our spring meeting, but it's spring break time for her and she's off to Europe. Sorry, gang, couldn't compete with her on that!
SLA's membership campaign is in full swing so that we maximize our membership count by a December 31, 1996 deadline. Remind any deactivated co-workers to reactivate, or any new librarians in your area to sign up. Make sure they put your name on their application so that you and the Texas Chapter get credit for the recruit. I have extra membership applications if you need them.
Hope the New Year brings all the best to you!
As the 104th Congress winds down and the 105th Congress begins to take shape, there are a number of issues progressing in other areas of government. The first three items below are mentioned in the latest Government Relations report issued November 30 by John Crosby. The remaining items have been gle aned from other sources.
WIPO Treaty Talks December 2-20
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) meeting in Geneva is considering treaty proposals o n questions which could have a chilling effect on a wide variety of communications including the Intern et in the Global and National Information Infrastructure. Under these proposals: facts like box scores of ball games become property of the sports leagues subjec t to copyright; ephemeral copies of Web pages loaded on a server in the browsing process would be "reproductions" subject to copyright fees; manufacturers of "copying" equipment, libraries and Inte rnet Service Providers could be liable for infringement either by themselves or by users of their services under guidelines that essentially negate the commonly accepted "fair use" standard now in pla ce. SLA participated in information meetings sponsored by the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) November 12 and 13 with Mr. Jukka Liedes of WIPO. Subsequent to these meetings, SLA and others of the Digital Futures Coalition communicated to the PTO detailed and specific objections to various portions of the draft treaty and urged in the strongest possible terms that the discussions be postpone d until further study and a stronger concensus can emerge. Even Michael DiMario, Public Printer, expressed concerns regarding the possible effects of this treaty on the Federal Library Depository Prog ram since many government publications are contracted out and could be considered "private property" under the proposed treaty. A transcript of the November 12 meeting is available at (http://ww w.uspto.gov/web/menu/menu5.html), and a copy of SLA s response is posted in the Government Relations area of the SLA Homepage (http://www.sla.org/).
ConFU Comments by SLA
The Conference on Fair Use met November 25 and gave due consideration to a number of comments submitted by SLA and other library organizations on guide lines in the areas of Digital Images, Distance Learning, Educational Multimedia, Inter-Library Loan/ Document Delivery, and Computer Software Use. The parties to this conference - representing information content providers, librarians and educators - have yet to reach full concensus on many aspects of these difficult issues and agreed t o issue an interim report to the Patent and Trademark Office with a final report due in May 1997. The i nterim report is due up on the PTO web site [http://www.uspto.gov] by December 6.
SLA Contributes to Fight Against Communications Decency Act
By order of the Board of Directors, SLA recently contributed $10,000 to the legal battle against the U. S. Communications Decency Act (CDA). The case is currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. To learn more abo ut the ongoing legal battle against the CDA, visit the Center for Democracy and Technology web site at (http://www.cdt.org).
Libraries for the Future Comments on Universal Service Recommendations
Jamie McClelland, Technology and Policy Specialist at Libraries for the Future (LFF), has prepared a wo rking document discussing the ramifications and next steps following the November 7 recommendations of the Federal-State Joint Board to the Federal Communications Commission on Universal Service at (http://www.lff.org/technology/jbdecision.html) The Board's recommendations were quite broad and genera lly favorable to public libraries and schools suggesting deeply discounted rates for a broad variety of telecommunications services including Internet access. Comments are due on the recommendations by Dece mber 16 and final action is set for early May. With general guidelines set at the Federal level, the ne xt step takes place at the state level and the LFF has issued an action alert at (http://www.lff.org/advocacy/action.html) with additional details.
Texas Legislative Day February 10-11, 1997
The Texas Legislature will meet in 1997 and the Texas Library Association is again sponsoring a library legislative day on Februrary 11. Some briefing meetings are normally held the preceding evening while others are held ear ly in the morning of the event. Librarians, library board members, Friends of Libraries and citizens c oncerned about libraries are encouraged to register by January 10 and participate by visiting state leg islators in teams. The free registration form can be printed off at (http://www.txla.org/html/leg_reg.html) and a schedule will soon be posted at http://www.txla.org/html/ calendar.html#legday). Please let me know if you are interested in attending, especially local Austin folk.
SLA updates from Government Relations Director John Crosby can be viewed from the SLA Homepage or you can subscribe to the SLA-GR discussion list to receive e-mail copies of each update as well as participating in discussions on the various issues. To subscribe, send an e-mail to lists@lists.sla.org with the following message: subscribe sla-gr [your name]. Your input and participation are most welcome. Also, I value your input and views concerning these issues as they relate to members of the Texas Chapter. Contact me at ecmittag@mmm.com with your ideas.
Another excellent site for detailed information and analysis on federal regulatory and legislative acti on pertinent to libraries is the American Library Association's Washington Office gopher (ALA Washington Office Newsline v.5 (1996): gopher:// ala1.ala.org/11/alagophwashoff/alagophwashoffnewsline/alawon.v5). ALA's status allows them to request t heir members advocate specific positions in their communications with their representatives, while SLA does not do this. However, the information at this site can certainly be used to reinforce your own pos ition and views on pertinent issues in your correspondence.
The following has been changed on the SLA Texas Chapter home page since we last met:
Strategic Goal: Improve Delivery of information Objective: Promoting the Internet as a communication c hannel
I have expanded the job section of the page to include out of state jobs that come our way.
There is a new link to Student Chapter Web Pages. Please help get the word out to any students that you know. I will be glad to add their Chapter Web Page to the list.
Kathy Fowler (MCC, Austin) has graciously assisted me in getting the newsletter into html format and posted on the page.
Any information that is sent to me for posting is put on the page within 7 days of receiving it. I do of course look at the date of the event. If it is happening within the 7 days or shortly after I make a point to put it on within 24 hours. If this is unacceptable to the board please let me know.
Please e-mail me if you have ideas/plans for the page.
The Houston Local Planning Group is having its annual Winter Social on Thursday, December 19, 1996 fro m 5:15 to 7:30 PM in conjunction with Majors Scientific Books, Inc. We had such a wonderful time last year that we decided to do it again. We will meet at Majors Bookstore at 7205 Fann in (at Swanson) for a welcome by the bookstore manager, Kris Naylot, refreshments, delightful entertain ment, and an opportunity to browse and make purchases. A 10% discount will be offered to attendees - b ring your spouse. There is ample free parking. RSVP by Tuesday, December 17 Paula Howe, Exxon Law Library, 713-656-4383 Any questions? Contact Sandy Silverman, Houston Public Li brary. phone: 713-247-3463, fax: 713-247-3302, e-mail: ssilverm@sparc.hpl.lib.tx.us
On November 7, 1996 the Texas Chapter's Houston LPG joined forces with the Houston Area Law Librarians to co-sponsor an Open House for graduate students of the University of North Texas School of Library and Information Sciences. The invitees were asked to "Join the Information Revolution" and 95 attendees responded to t he call. The reception offered Houston area extension course students an opportunity to meet and talk informally with information professionals from all aspects of the library and information science world . They were also able to meet the new Dean for Academic Affairs for Distance Education, Philip M. Turn er, and talk about admission requirements, financial aid, and curriculum in the UNT Houston program.
Editor's note: this last item was submitted by Susan Yancey on behalf of the Houston LPG.
This is the last issue of the Lone Star Librarian for 1996. Putting out the summer issue, my maiden ef fort, was a great learning experience. Many thanks to all those who contributed to and helped with the newsletter in 1996. Dell Johnson and I couldn't do it without you!
The December issue of the LSL continues the "Help Desk" column and contains various submissions to meet Chapter Strategic Plan goals and objectives. The Newsletter Committee also networked with TLA this su mmer to advertise one of their events, which was open to all, on the Texas SLA Chapter web site.
The next issue of the LSL is due out in March 1997, so pencil in the end of February as the deadline fo r submissions. Please send us your suggestions, comments, contributions, and feedback.
We hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday season and hope to be seeing some of you very soon at Chapter holiday parties.
Melanie Scott, Denton Student Liaison writes: Jennifer Stearman, co-chair, has stepped down due to her new position as Librarian starting the Microso ft North Car olina Branch Library in Charlotte. The Texas chapter thanks Jennifer for her assistance since June and wishes her g ood luck in her new position. Melanie Scott (EDS) will move from co-chair to chairman for the Denton S LA groups. Janice Findley, Ericsson Radio Systems Librarian will be in charge of the survey project Jennifer initi ated.
News from the student chapters includes TWU/UNT Open House held 9/24 in Dr. Hastings home (UNT professo r) in Denton , TX. Mike Zimmerman, President of the SLA-Dallas Group and Federal Reserve Bank Library Manager, spok e about SLA and the importance of associations in librarianship. Dean Philip Turner, who recently became head of t he School of Library and Information Sciences at UNT attended the event along with 20 students and professors.
SLA UNT President, Vivian Land reported the following activities for the SLA UNT group. Representative s from Micro soft gave a presentation regarding creating web pages at the October meeting. Ben Toon, librarian at F ujitsu Netwo rk Transmission Systems, Inc., and Mike Kenyon, from Texas Instruments gave presentations regarding des igning web p ages at the 11/12 meeting. A Christmas party is planned for 12/7 to be held at Dean Philip Turner's ho me in Denton , TX.
SLA sponsored Morgan Tucker (UNT) to attend the SLA Southwest Regional Conference in Albuquerque, New M exico, Octob er 31-November 1, 1996. Morgan will be reporting back to the group in the near future.
A handful of students from TWU/UNT and advisors attended the SLA-Dallas Group Meeting at the Federal Re serve Bank i n Dallas, regarding, "Getting Out of the Box: Knowledge Management" 10/17.
The TWU SLA Group met 10/22. Melanie Scott attended the meeting and highlighted planned activities for the 1996-19 97 school year. Julie Morgan is the group President until her graduation in December. President for n ext year is to be determined.
The fall tour of special libraries took place 10/25. Approximately 45 students and Dr. Curry (SLA TWU Faculty Advi sor) attended tours of the following: EDS Corporate Research Library, J.C. Penney Law Library, and Fri to Lay, Inc. Library. In addition to the tours, the following librarians spoke about their careers: Carolyn Davis , Research A nalyst, EDS; Eileen L. Santos, Legal Information Resources Manager, J.C. Penney; and Suzanne Ogden, Man ager, Librar y Services, Frito-Lay, Inc.
Plans for next year include a spring special library tour and career workshop to be held at TWU.
by Lois Weinstein, Director, The Medical Library Center of New York
How many times have we heard the phrase, "Think Globally, Act Locally"? Or how about, "Killing Two Birds With One Stone"? Well, each one of us can do this plus info rm/influence our elected government representatives for a very low cost, a small amount of time and los e weight while doing it (well,.....
"...politicians are elected and are more likely to respond to hundreds of "voices", even if the "voice " they currently hear is...a representative from our library or information associations." the last one is probably wishful thinking).
Seriously, we need to inform and educate elected government officials at all levels about our work , our achievements, our issues, especially with copyright, our value added services, and our profession al needs.
Politicians cannot be expected to write, negotiate and enact legislation on issues that are critical to us if they do not know what they are. It is true that our p rofessional associations do what they can, but politicians are elected and are more likely to respond t o hundreds of "voices", even if the "voice" they currently hear is of a representative from our library or information associations.
By following the steps listed below each one of us can begin to get more political!
Pros: Cost = none Time = 10 -20 minutes at your public library if data not available at work Calories = 50-250 (especially if you have to walk to public library) Cons: Must be repeated after every election.
Pros: Cost = some label stock or paper and the copies Time = 15-30 minutes depending on how many officials you wish to reach Calories = 50-100 [depends on how many mistakes have to be corrected while typing] Cons: Must be repeated after every election.
Pros: Cost = less than $1.00 [postage based on size of document] Time = less than a minute Calories = 5-10 Cons: Must be repeated for each publication.
Pros: Cost = none Time = 1 minute - ? (depends on where mailbox is) Calories = 50-? (depends on where mailbox is) Cons: None
Additional benefits to this proposal might include: <p. Articles written with less "library/information" technical jargon, thus making them more "readable " to everyone, not just politicians.
Front pages that carry articles that promote the value a librarian/information professional can br ing in providing high quality, low cost, timely information or focus on issues such as copyright. In m any cases these publications will be read by an aide rather than the elected person, so ideas and issue s important to politics should be on the first page rather than on the inside pages.
For those who adopt this idea, I encourage you to publish your results, whether positive or negative. In this way we can learn from each other how to do an even better job of keeping our officials informed.
Lois Weinstein Director, The Medical Library Center of New York (212) 427-1630 Fax: (212) 860-3496 email: mlcny@metgate.metro.orgEditor's note: The preceding was submitted by Dell Johnson, with the author's permission to reprint.
Prepared for the SLA Board by the Special Committee on Competencies for Special Librarians, October 1996
Joanne Marshall, Chair; Bill Fisher; Lynda Moulton; and Roberta Piccoli
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, October 1996
During the Board of Directors meeting at the 1996 Annual conference, a report on competencies for special librarians was presented. The information provided in the report was considered of such great importance to special librarians that the Board members thought it deserved t he widest possible dissemination. This executive summary, posted in its entirety on the SLA Home page at http://www.sla.or g/professional/comp.html, provides the highlights of the report in the form of a separately published d ocument that can be shared with colleagues, educators, students and employers.
In the information age, special librarians are essential - they provide the information edge for the kn owledge-based organization by responding with a sense of urgency to critical information needs. In orde r to fulfill this key role, special librarians require two main types of competencies:
Professional Competencies relate to the special librarian's knowledge in the areas of information resou rces, information access, technology, management and research and the ability to use these areas of kno wledge as a basis for providing library and information services.
Personal Competencies represent a set of skills, attitudes and values that enable librarians to work ef ficiently; be good communicators; focus on continuing learning throughout their careers; demonstrate th e value added nature of their contributions; and survive in the new world of work.
Last Updated: May 28, 1997
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