Library Buzz

Knowledge Management Roundtable: What’s New in KM?
SLA 2009 Conference
Monday, 15 June 2009 7:00AM - 9:00AM

KM Vision and Strategy
KM reporting lines -

• IT Department
• Library
• HR Department (Learning/Training Centers)

The logical development is still data – information – knowledge – wisdom

Folks are sensing a new environment for KM in communication.

In the past KM was static – building a database that did not get used.
With Web 2.0 tools (social networks, inter-activity) KM has become more dynamic.

KM in other countries:

• US – IT focus
• UK – HR focus
• Australia – somewhere in between the two

KM is what is in your head and that is hard to capture in a database. One person mentioned the 30% Rule – Most people can only tell about 30% of what they know and can only write about 30% of what the say. In other words, we know more than we can say and we can say more than we can write. So, a database will never capture everything.

A KM worker at Harvard Medical says that KM there is in Patient Education and always has been.

Another company has KM in their HR Department because HR has a mandate for organizational excellence. KM is about a culture of sharing resources and they begin with new hires.

KM Worst Practices – programs that were tried and were not effective

Write a KM strategy, shelve it and forget about it.
Another KM effort ignored the corporate engagement part. You need to get buy-in from top to bottom.

Other people said that they provided rewards and recognition for people to participate in resource sharing (KM).

KM is generally viewed by most staff as an added step to their work. Web 2.0 tools provide an opportunity to make KM resource sharing part of the social networking that they are already doing. Many folks report their projects etc. on Twitter and Facebook, so something like that might be able to capture KM in the future.

The Roundtable was sponsored by the SLA Knowledge Management Division.

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Why Corporate Governance Matters
Financial Institutions Roundtable Speaker
Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Nell Minnow, President
Corporate Library

A little bit about libraries:

Nell opened by saying how much she has always loved libraries. And her sister is a librarian, Mary Minnow who also has a law degree and runs the LibraryLaw Blog

The Corporate Library is dedicated to research and analysis, finding the right information. That is why they chose the name of the company.

Corporate Governance:

Companies are hiding information in plain sight. They provide data on pay for their officers and directors, but they don’t necessarily reveal the salaries of the highest paid individuals.

TARP companies cannot offer bonuses so they adjust the salaries of their CEOs and other officers. These adjustments are always sizeable increases.

CEO contracts are part of the SEC filings (10K filings) and they are public. But some companies play games with filing them e.g. submitted after filing a Proxy statement so that shareholders don’t necessarily see them.

Nell mentioned a website – www.footnoted.org as a good resource on tracking compensation and benefits offered at various companies.

In addition to the Golden Parachutes that many executives have had – huge dividends awarded even as their companies failed – there are new options sometimes referred to as bullet-proof options or spring-loaded options.

Shareholders should be looking at what benchmarks are in place for measuring the effectiveness of the CEO.

The Corporate Library rates companies for the way the handle their CEOs. They look at contracts and benefits. If it looks as though the board of directors is unable to stand up to the CEO that is a bad reflection on the company. AIG, Countrywide, Enron were among many that Corporate Library rated badly.

One element that the Corporate Library looks at is how the company responds to shareholders’ proposals. One company had proposals from a 60% block of shareholders and the CEO was dismissing the proposal. Perhaps the proposal doesn’t have business merit, but the CEO should not be ignoring 60% of the shareholders. Would they ignore 60% of their customers?

Currently the SEC is proposing rules to allow shareholders to propose actual directors rather than just voting on a slate that has been proposed.

Other resources that Nell mentioned to find out company practices:

Shareowner Education Network

Motley Fool discussion boards

Yahoo message boards

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Competitive Intelligence and the Government Librarian
SLA 2009
Tuesday, 16 Jun 2009
9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

This was a very informative session given by Roberta Shaffer, Director of FLICC/Fedlink.

Competitive Intelligence is a process used to gather data – same as what librarians have called Information Analytics.

CI is morphing into business intelligence or in the government – strategic intelligence.

Self-knowledge is needed in order to give us a good perspective before we look outward to competitors within the industry.

90% of our CI comes from open sources.

Roberta talked about collecting a mosaic of data because there will still be spaces between the data.

CI leads to a measurable competitive advantage.

Librarians use trusted sources – CI often uses soft sources – rumors, gossip, op-eds, customer feedback etc.

Librarians need to take ownership of Web 2.0 tools – they are of great value when collecting CI – they are soft sources.

Use of gray literature is important.

Both Library Science and CI take an active approach to information. We anticipate the needs of our users.

We are guilty of having a favorite trend or resource. It is okay to use our favorite – but we have to be open to other resources and other data point to follow.

Roberta says that she follows the drugs approved by the FDA and the illnesses and conditions that they address. Other people look at housing starts or the barrel price of oil as a data point to watch and observe a trend.

Library Science and CI use the same resources and they data intensive.

How is CI used?

• To validate or change a business model
• To create networks, alliances and partnerships
• To evaluate core processes (budgeting, accounting, billing, hiring)
• To pursue R&D (skunk works, M&A, Tech Transfer [very important in gov’t])
• To analyze production systems or workflows
• To prioritize clientele
• To deploy delivery and communications channels
• To enhance customer experience
• To secure brand

Standard techniques in CI analysis:
Framing – how the organization fits in with competitors, industry, etc.

• SWOT: smaller org
• PEST: Political, Economic, Social, Technology
• PEST/LE: above plus Legal and Environmental
• STEEPLED: Social, technology, education, economics, politics, legal, environment, and demographics

Scanning - identify the external factors
STEP: Strategic Trend Evaluation Process
Wireless devices used in industry for tickets etc.

Forecasting - consider a range of future possibilities – not really a librarian activity, usually up to economists and sociologists

• short-term
• transitional
• long-term

Envisioning - select a vision for organization and give it a time frame

Strategic Plan pathway to the vision – tends to be the MBAs area

Business Plan

Emerging Leadership in the 21st Century

• Finland - education innovation – no majors, study based on problem-solving
• Philippines - workforce/work ethic – most productive country
• Korea – most industry is vertical so they own the whole process
• Nigeria – portal between Africa and her raw materials and Europe and US
• Netherlands – a very open society – look at acceptance of gay marriage as a bellwether of openness. Open is good for business, it attracts employees.
• Norway - citizen-empowered government, legislature asks citizenry for input. (but Norway doesn’t have much immigration and is an homogeneous society).
• Brazil – one of the BRIC countries looking to develop a new world currency (other countries are Russia, India and China). Brazil had oil reserves, arable land, leading exporter of soy, oil, minerals, wine production, etc.

Roberta mentioned that David Walker, the former Comptroller General (head of the GAO) said that we need to change the business model for the US government to one of crisis management. Let the states or regional groups of states conduct the other business of running the country.

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SLA starts in barely a week. I know all my readers are dying to know what sessions I’ll be attending. Ha! I’m not quite that narcissistic! But here goes…

Sunday, 14 Jun 2009

SLA Opening General Session and Awards Presentation

5:15 PM - 7:15 PM
Location: Convention Center Ballroom ABC
Former Secretary of State General Colin Powell will be our Featured Keynote.

International Spy Museum Tour

7:30 PM - 10:30 PM
Location: Int’l Spy Museum 800 F Street N.W.

Monday, 15 Jun 2009

Knowledge Management Roundtable: What’s New in KM?

7:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Convention Center 207B

Join fellow KM practitioners and interested individuals for a networking breakfast and a lively discussion on current trends.

SLA Hot Topic: ROI 2.0 Corporate Libraries

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Convention Center 145B

Learn how corporate libraries are helping their corporate parents to boost revenue, cut costs and save worker hours.

SLA INFO-EXPO White House Networking Lunch

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: INFO-EXPO

SLA Career Connection: Interviewing Tips and Techniques

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Renaissance Wash DC Hotel Meeting Room 3

How can you present yourself in the best way…especially when it really matters?

The New Face of the Special Librarian: Embedded Librarians

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 143C

Embedded librarians share their experiences and reveal current research findings.

Business and Finance Division Open House

5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: Renaissance Wash DC Hotel Grand Ballroom Central

Tuesday, 16 Jun 2009

B&F Division Financial Institutions & Investment Services Sections Combined
Breakfast

7:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Location: Convention Center 209A
Nell Minow, editor and chair of The Corporate Library, an independent research company specializing in corporate governance and analysis, will discuss why research matters in assessing investment risk in a global trading environment.

Competitive Intelligence and the Government Librarian

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Location: Convention Center 144B

The principles of competitive intelligence (CI) are not reserved for the private sector.

Critical Thinking

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 152A

How we can improve our critical thinking skills and engage them in our work?

Government Information Division Business Meeting

1:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 140B

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Issues Caucus Dinner

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Location: STARS Bistro & Bar 2120 P Street N.W.; 20037

Wednesday, 17 Jun 2009

Effective Communication Strategies: How to Understand and Be Understood
by Customers and Co-Workers

8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: Convention Center 144C

In this presentation you’ll learn: the four main communication styles and how to use each one.

SLA Closing General Session and Membership Meeting

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Location: Convention Center Ballroom ABC
Judy Woodruff will be moderating this closing session, with Robyn Meredith, Neil deGrasse Tyson and John Patrick.

SLA 2010 Kickoff & Closing Reception

2:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Convention Center Ballroom ABC

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Greetings all — SLA 2009 is almost upon us. In a week thousands of librarians will descend upon Washington DC for revelries to celebrate 100 years of the Special Libraries Association.

With that in mind - I am particularly inspired today to affirm my thrill at being a librarian. As I have recounted elsewhere I fell into being a librarian and I am very thankful that I landed here. I have had the good fortune to work with a number of excellent librarians, technicians and other information professionals.

And these days I am happily serving my varied customers and struggling with a 5+ year old PC that is running Windows XP. I am thriving with a single monitor and no blackberry. I’m a special librarian — but then most librarians are special!

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