Information Outlook, November 2008

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Information Outlook, 2008 Information Outlook, 2000s

11-2008

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Recommended Citation Special Libraries Association, "Information Outlook, November 2008" (2008). Information Outlook, 2008. 8. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2008/8

This Magazine is brought to you for free and open access by the Information Outlook, 2000s at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Information Outlook, 2008 by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 11 information 08 V 12 | N 11 outlook THE MAGAZINE OF THE SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION

FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

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www.10kwizard.com 11 information 08 V 12 | N 11 outlook THE MAGAZINE OF THE SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION

INFO VIEW WORKFLOW TRACKING 5 The Lessons from My 40 Solving the World Travels: We Are All Information Workflow Connected Tracking Dilemma STEPHEN ABRAM, SLA PRESIDENT ANN CULLEN, TOMALEE DOAN, TOBY PEARLSTEIN

INFO NEWS 6 SLA Announces Board of INFO TECH Directors Election Results 48 Preparing for Change in Technology and 7 SLA Adds New Dues Tier the Economy for Full Members Making STEPHEN ABRAM Less than US$ 18,000

INFO RIGHTS INFO SITES 50 Report Proposes 9 Looking for Like-Minded Limitations and People? Here’s How To Exceptions to Copyright Hook Up LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS 10 CAROLYN J. SOSNOWSKI

INFO BUSINESS FOCUS SLA MEMBER PROFILE 52 Launching Your Info IFLA Shines in 28 The World Is His Library Pro Career? Self Québec City FORREST GLENN SPENCER Promotion Is Key DEBBIE SCHACHTER

Accessing Health ONLINE RESOURCES Information in 34 Mining Government INFO MANAGEMENT Developing Countries Resources for Your 55 Be Prepared Before Information Needs the Recession Bites The Global Credit LISA ZWICKEY JOHN R. LATHAM Crunch 56 Coming Events Ad Index information outlook The Monthly Magazine of the Special Libraries Association Vol. 12, No. 11 November 2008

Editor: Max S. Busetti (e-mail: [email protected])

Columnists: Stephen Abram Lesley Ellen Harris Janice R. Lachance John R. Latham Debbie Schachter Carolyn J. Sosnowski Layout & Design: Constance Denning

Information Outlook® (ISSN 1091-0808) is the monthly, award-winning publication of the Special Libraries Association, 331 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, [email protected]. +1 703.647.4900

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4 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 INFO VIEW

members at the center of the action. The Lesson from My World Then again, many of the folks I talked to were from global institutions. Travels: We Are All Connected Why am I telling you this? Well, I was blessed to view this economic crisis from so many viewpoints over just a few weeks. I got one telling insight from Information in and of itself rarely knows this experience: We are all so intimately or respects artificial boundaries. We don’t connected, on so many levels. We need to either. cannot let our face to the outside world be falsely and narrowly informed BY STEPHEN ABRAM, SLA PRESIDENT merely by national boundaries, by language, by culture or by any other We are all in It’s been a big month. As I write this It was an amazing gift to hear and see simplistic categorization. this together. column (my last as president of SLA, the perspectives about global libraries although my regular InfoTech columns in such an intense setting, where the What’s the lesson for us? SLA is will continue) in the waning days beauty of the oldest walled city in North global. We must strive to be even more of September, we are living in truly America contrasted with the fascinating global and to be your connection to tumultuous times! It appears that we techno-wizardry of the information the world, and the world’s connection are undergoing an intensification of the profession meeting there. to you, wherever you reside around social, economic, demographic, elec- From there, I headed to the the globe. Information in and of itself toral and technological change that has Netherlands and visited six cities and rarely knows or respects artif cial been predicted for a number of years. some of the most amazingly innovative boundaries. We shouldn’t either. As Indeed, it was a centerpiece of both libraries I’ve ever seen. Some were we participate in this transition to this my and Janice Lachance’s remarks as focused on making a difference in global information and knowledge- we opened the 2008 association year economically depressed zones, while based world, we can rest assured that in Louisville. others were whiz-bang sparkly and there will be more bumps. There will be On 29 September, the US$ 700 crowded. As I left Amsterdam for my shocks and successes. There will be billion bail-out failed to pass Congress. fight through Singapore, CNN started mergers, acquisitions and failures. Even Is that over yet? How many banks, rumbling about the economy and the the simplest issues of our profession, brokers, loan companies, etc., made it health of the money, mortgage and such as copyright, are made necessarily through so far? Did the U.S. fnancial stock markets. more complex as SLA addresses this in diffculties spread worldwide with I arrived in Australia to give a global context. We are by def nition the same intensity? Also, the U.S. the endnote at the biennial ALIA one of the most globally connected presidential contest is becoming quite conference and participate in the frst professions, and we need to ensure interesting and appears to be a toss- joint SLA/ALIA three-city tour. Again, that our tent is informed by the fullest up as I write this column. How did it all eyes were on the U.S. and global diversity of our profession. go? Did the demographic change from markets as it was becoming clear that Before my presidential year ends, I increased numbers of younger, African- something big was happening. By then, will visit fellow SLA members in Sweden, American and Latino voters cause the I had seen CNN International, BBC New Mexico, Michigan, Alabama, election to play out differently? How and Sky News Australia versions from Maryland, and Western Canada, and, about the elections in Canada and New the perspectives of Europe, Singapore with other SLA folk, I’ll keynote a large Zealand? Did you hear about them at and Australia, and had gotten a good new regional SLA conference in New all? From my perspective as columnist/ sense of the early damages being done Delhi, India, for the SLA Asian Chapter, observer, I can’t even hazard a guess to the global economy and to their own one of our fastest growing chapters. This about what the world looks like a few national institutions. It even came up is stupendous. Our SLA network grows, weeks hence, but I’ll be interested to during my interviews in three different our connectedness grows, and the value see how this real-life soap plays out. cities on ABC (Australia) Radio. of an SLA membership in a world of Why am I thinking about this? Well, On to SLA New Zealand. That’s change grows, too. I’ve had the opportunity over the where the market meltdown increased Grow with us. Continue to invest past eight weeks to see the global to such an extent that by the time I in the global SLA community for situation from a number of foreign arrived in New York and Long Island networking, professional development countries. First, a group of your fellow (losing a whole day crossing the and advocacy. We all win when we SLA SLA members attended the IFLA International Dateline) I was meeting value connections. conference in Quebec City in August. with some shell-shocked fellow

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 5 INFO NEWS

Prior to joining Dow Jones in 1998, SLA Announces Board of Caputo served in various positions with The Dialog Corporation, most recently Directors Election Results as director of Dialog’s Quantum information professional program and the Classroom Instruction Program. Caputo Becomes 2009 SLA President Elect; Wolfish, She is an adjunct faculty member at Dept. Deck the University of Maryland, College Sweeny, Lee and Seaberry Elected to Serve on Board of Library and Information Services, as well as a member of the distance education faculty of the University of Tennessee, School of Information Sciences. In 2004, Caputo was named Anne Caputo, in 2011. SLA announced the results a recipient of SLA’s Rose L. Vormelker executive director of its Board of Directors election on 2 Award for mentoring students and of Dow Jones & October 2008. When the polls closed practicing professionals, and she was Company's Learning on 1 October, some 2,356 members named a Fellow of SLA at the 2008 & Information had cast their ballots and participated Annual Conference. Professional in the election. This year’s election was Voters also chose a chapter and Programs, was the first time SLA worked with the can- a division cabinet chair-elect as well elected as 2009 didates to record speeches and inter- as two directors to serve on the SLA SLA president-elect. view questions for posting to YouTube, Board of Directors: She will serve a three-year term on the as well as hosting a call-in forum for Ruth Wolfish, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, SLA board: as president-elect in 2009, the president-elect candidates before was elected as 2009 chapter cabinet president in 2010 and past-president the election began. chair-elect (two-year term on board:

DO YOU KNOW YOUR VALUE? FIND OUT HERE. 2008 SLA Salary Survey & Workplace Study is now available. Pick up your copy today.

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6 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 INFO NEWS

2009 as chair-elect and 2010 as chair). tion with distinction in various other Ann Sweeney, EU’s European leadership roles,” said SLA CEO Janice Info File Commission Delegation, Washington, Lachance. “I’d like to congratulate the Writing for Information Outlook DC, as 2009 division cabinet chair- new board members and offer them Information Outlook welcomes queries from authors about articles of interest to information professionals. elect (two-year term on board: 2009 as my gratitude in advance of their ser- For writer’s guidelines and a current editorial calendar, chair-elect and 2010 as chair). vice. SLA’s success is based in the see www.sla.org/WriteForIO or write to [email protected]. Please allow six to eight weeks for acceptance. Daniel Lee, Navigator Ltd, Toronto, strength, dedication and intellect of Ontario, Canada, as director (three- our members around the world, and Letters to the Editor Comments on articles or opinions on any topic year term on board) the sweat equity of our volunteers at all of interest to information professionals may be Nettie Seaberry, National Minority levels of the organization.” submitted as letters to the editor. They should be sent to [email protected], with a subject line of “Letter Supplier Development Council, New Caputo and the other newly-elected to Editor.” All letters should include the following: York City, as director (three-year term board members will begin their terms writer’s name, SLA volunteer title (if applicable), city and state/province, and phone number. (We on board). on the SLA Board of Directors on 1 won’t publish the phone number; but we may wish “I would like to express my gratitude January 2009, and participate in their to call for veriﬁcation.) Letters may be edited for brevity or clarity—or to conform to the publication’s to all of the 2009 candidates for taking first board meeting during the associa- style. Letter writers will have an opportunity to ap- the time and stepping up to the plate tion’s Annual Leadership Summit later prove extensive editing prior to publication. to run for election. Each candidate that month in Savannah, Georgia. SLA Permissions on the slate clearly deserved to be Authors may distribute their articles as photocop- ies or as postings to corporate intranet or personal nominated, and I am sure that we will Web sites—for educational purposes only—without continue to hear from these SLA stars advance permission. In all cases, the reprinted or republished articles must include a complete as they continue to serve the associa- citation and also reference the URL www.sla.org/ content/Shop/Information/index.cfm.

For permission to reprint Information Outlook articles in other publications, write to editor@sla. org. Include the issue in which the article was published, the title of the article, and a description of how the article would be used. SLA Adds New Dues Tier for Full Members Subscriptions Making Less than US$ 18,000 Print subscriptions are available for US$ 160 per year in the U.S., US$ 175 International, including postage. To order a subscription, see www.sla. org/merchandise. Click “Publications” in the left column under “Categories,” then scroll down to SLA, the global association for informa- for members with incomes equivalent “Information Outlook Subscription.” There is no tion professionals, has added a third tier to US$ 35,000 or more (dues of US$ discount to agencies. of dues for full members with incomes 160); one for members with incomes Bulk subscription orders may be sent by postal mail of less than US$ 18,000. Dues for below US$ 35,000 but above US$ to: Information Outlook Subscriptions, 331 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA. Enclose these members will be US$ 35. 18,000 (dues of US$ 99); and the third payment with the order to avoid delays in activation. The new dues tier was proposed at new tier for members with incomes Online subscriptions are included with membership a meeting with SLA’s Asian Chapter, below US$ 18,000 (dues of US$ 35). and are not available to non-member subscribers. attended by members from Australia, A current member benefit that Claims Hong Kong, India and Japan. This ini- allows members who become unem- Claims for missing issues should be sent to tiative is also an immediate response to ployed a one-time, one-year oppor- [email protected]. Claimants should include full name and address of the subscriber and the recent global economic crisis and tunity to pay dues of US$ 49 will volume and issue numbers of missing issues. will allow more members from around become unnecessary and will be Provision of additional information—such as purchase date of subscription, check number, invoice/ the globe to participate in the full range eliminated. Members will now be able account number—may reduce processing time. of SLA’s benefits. to pay the lowest dues as long as their Membership “SLA wants to provide its members income is below US$ 18,000, regard- Inquiries about SLA membership should be sent to with the best possible services and less of their employment status. [email protected]. resources, no matter where they “Members need the support of their To update your address or other account informa- live,” said SLA CEO Janice Lachance. association more than ever if they lose tion, to join SLA, or to renew your membership, go to www.sla.org/content/membership and select the “That means taking a close look at their jobs,” Lachance added. “Our appropriate item from the menu in the left column. our dues structure from time to time new dues structure will allow them to in relation to world economies and keep their professional skills and net- other factors affecting our members’ works intact.” SLA ability to participate.” With this addition, SLA will now have three dues tiers for full members: One

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 7

INFO SITES

and description, and is viewable in full Looking for Like-Minded People? size. Most are available for purchase. Members can post their own pictures, Here’s How to Hook Up which is also a treat (check out “Apple of His Eye: 1964”).

WhetherDept. Deck you share political views or other interests, it’s easy to find people in your area by using the browse or search functions.

BY CAROLYN J. SOSNOWSKI, MLIS

Meetup to the feeds you want (such as top www.meetup.com stories or feature articles). There’s Chances are you either have a blog, also an e-mail service for breaking use Facebook, or share information news and weekly summaries. on a wiki. But when was the last time you met, in-person, a group of people with whom you share a common inter- Mint est? That’s where Meetup comes in. It www.mint.com allows you to use the Internet to find In these days of economic instability, people who like to do the same things you might be watching your finances you like to do—and then you do them more closely. If you are hesitant to together. The “interests” run from poli- make an investment in an off-the- tics to support groups to social gather- shelf budgeting program, you might ings. It’s easy to find people in your want to try Mint, a personal money area by using the browse or search manager that has won accolades from functions. Locate meetups by city and several industry sources. This free, topic. There are about 50,000 groups Internet-based program pulls data in more than 3,500 interest areas from your accounts (this site pledges across the globe. If you can’t find what Shorpy it is secure) and analyzes and reports you are looking for, you can sign up http://www.shorpy.com/ the money flow. Mint also makes to be notified when a group is cre- In striking contrast to Lifehacker is suggestions for improved financial ated, or you can create one yourself. Shorpy, a blog that is a window to management by informing you of There’s a small charge to organize a a different age. From the old photo- companies and banks from which you group, which can be public or private. graphs posted here (most are from can make more interest or get better Each group can post photos, schedule the Library of Congress), we can really benefits. Budget tips and goal-setting events, and communicate with mem- see what the world used to look like round out the features. SLA bers through their own page. Get out and what people used to look like. The there and socialize! towns, the vehicles, the faces are mes- merizing. The comments to the posts show deep appreciation of the content Lifehacker and presentation. Each high-definition http://lifehacker.com/ photograph is accompanied by a date Using technology to make your life easier? Yes, technology can be complicated, but let Lifehacker steer you in the right direction. This nearly CAROLYN J. SOSNOWSKI, MLIS, is SLA’s information four-year-old blog is a mass of infor- specialist. She has 10 years of experience in libraries, including mation about search tools and brows- more than four years in SLA’s Information Center. She can be ers and software and hardware and reached at [email protected]. operating systems and gadgets and widgets. It can be overwhelming to read all the content, so just subscribe

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 9 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

A view of the hotel Château Frontenac, one of the most popular attractions in Québec City and the most prominent feature of the city’s skyline. Perched on a tall cape overlooking the Saint Lawrence River, the hotel is built near the Plains of Abraham, where the British defeated the French in 1759 during the Seven Years' War (also called the French and Indian War), to annex Québec.

10 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES IFLA Shines in Québec City

IFLA’S 74TH CONGRESS ATTRACTED 4,000 LIBRARIANS FROM 120 COUNTRIES AND ONCE AGAIN PROVIDED AN EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT INFORMATION POLICIES AND PRACTICES FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

BY MARYDEE OJALA

wo major international sions were situated both in the exhibit congress itself, which had as its local events took place in mid- hall and in the hallway outside the association sponsor not the Canadian August 2008: the Olympics exhibit hall, which did make for some Library Association, but the Association in Beijing and the 74th awkwardness. The Parliament building pour l’Advancement des Science et Tannual International World Library & across the street offered its hospitality des Techniques de la Documentation Information Congress and Exhibition of for some of the IFLA sections. (ASTED), a francophone Canadian the Federation of Library Associations After last year’s conference in library association. The opening cere- and Institutions (IFLA) in Québec City, Durban, South Africa, with its security mony—which featured an address by Canada. Okay, the Olympics attracted issues limiting delegates’ ability to eas- Canada’s Governor General Michaëlle more people and generated consider- ily walk around and explore the city, Jean, and the awarding of an honorary ably more media coverage than IFLA, it was refreshing to take in the ambi- doctorate to Ismael Serageldin, director but attracting 4,000 librarians from 120 ence of the old town part of Québec, a of the New Biblioteca Alexandrina in countries to a conference is an impres- charming 400-year old city thoroughly Egypt, by Laval University—was almost sive feat—maybe even worth a gold enjoying its heritage. On the opening entirely in French. Simultaneous trans- medal. IFLA’s theme, “Libraries Without weekend of the conference, the streets lation, the hallmark of a truly interna- Borders: Navigating Towards Greater were populated not only with tourists tional meeting, saved the day for non- Understanding,” was amply demon- and IFLA members, but also with locals French speaking attendees. strated in conference papers, poster dressed in historical costumes, ready to At most IFLA congresses, many del- presentations, social events and the explain what life was like in Québec City egates are from the local region, in this exhibit hall. in the past. case the United States and Canada, The Québec Convention Centre was which gives local librarians the oppor- ideal, with meeting rooms and the tunity to attend an international con- exhibit hall on the same floor. This Putting the International in IFLA ference without extensive international made it very convenient to move from The emphasis on Québec’s French travel. However, many SLA members sessions to the exhibits. Poster ses- language and culture permeated the regularly attend the IFLA annual con-

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 11 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

librarians from countries with limited resources is likely to decrease. Australian Jennefer Nicholson, the incoming Secretary General, was getting her “trial by fire” in Québec. Peter Johan Lor, the current Secretary General, is retiring from the post and, after receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Pretoria, will move to the University of Wisconsin for a professorship at its School of Information Studies.

Congress Presentations Not every attendee was absorbed by association business. My guess, in fact, is that most were more interested in learning from conference pre- SLA was well represented at the IFLA congress. Standing in front of the SLA booth, left to right, are: sentations. IFLA’s theme of “Libraries WIlda Newman, Sylvia Piggott, SLA CEO Janice Lachance, and Jesus Lau. Newman, Piggott and Lau Without Borders” was sufficiently all- are past members of the SLA board. Photo courtesy of David C. McQuillan, University of South Carolina encompassing that sessions on almost any topic qualified as relating to it. A ference, regardless of its venue. (Next nect all the pieces of the organization session on genealogy and local history year it will be Milan, Italy!) It’s not that with the ultimate aim of making it more concentrated on governments’ views SLA members love to travel (although democratic. An IFLA working group, of data privacy. The Libraries Serving I’m sure some do); they hold leader- charged with looking at future IFLA Disadvantaged Persons focused on older ship positions in IFLA and believe congresses, recommends more flex- adults (all those aging Baby Boomers!), in the IFLA core values of freedom ible programming but suggests keeping but also had a program on e-learning of access to information, freedom of the present five-day schedule (which and e-reading for disabled people. expression, guarantees of high quality actually stretches much longer than Managing libraries in a changing library and information service deliv- five for IFLA officers). Underscoring the environment was clearly of great inter- ery, and non-discrimination. importance of the copyright issue, IFLA est, as every seat in a very large room IFLA, now in its 81st year, describes now has a special policy officer, Stuart was taken. Sparking discussion during itself as “the leading international body Hamilton, on its board. A new IFLA Web the Education & Training session on representing the interests of library and site, based on open source software, library school student recruitment was information services and their users. will debut in January 2009. the idea that libraries might hire who- It is the global voice of the library and Librarians in developing countries are ever it took to do the job rather than information profession.” Headquartered concerned about the ending of IFLA’s requiring an MLS degree. Alignment in The Hague, Netherlands, IFLA has ALP, Action through Development for of curriculum with actual job require- members from 150 countries. SLA is Libraries Program. ALP has provided ments was another hot topic. Sessions an important part of this global voice, important support for regional speak- on library services to indigenous peo- with representation on 23 of the 45 ers to attend IFLA conferences and ple and preservation of indigenous IFLA sections. also funds training courses. Without cultures has become a central focus of ALP funding, attendance at IFLA by IFLA conferences. Structural Changes Changes in association structure were on the minds of IFLA stalwarts. To Changes in association structure were on streamline IFLA’s structure and make it more agile, the number of divisions will the minds of IFLA stalwarts. To streamline decrease from eight to five, and some IFLA’s structure and make it more agile, the sections will shift divisions. The ultimate aim is to open up some of the arcane number of divisions will decrease from eight policies of IFLA governance and con- to ﬁ ve and some sections will shift divisions.

12 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

The Web 2.0 Discussion Group, which included SLA President Stephen Abram as a panelist, was a mixture of rhetoric and practical advice. Stephen reiterated his belief that “free information” really means “unfettered information,” freely available but possibly with a fee attached. Karen Calhoun, OCLC’s vice president for WorldCat and Metadata and author of the “Calhoun Report: Changing Nature of the Catalog and its Integration with Other Discovery Tools,” talked about the need for cataloging to change from library focused to user focused, since access to library holdings no longer revolves around the OPAC. She also promoted the need for user tagging and noted that librarians and users define quality differently. The Agricultural Libraries Discussion Group hosted an interesting presenta- The IFLA booth in the exhibit hall had information about the association, its publications and future tion by Peter Ballantyne, president conferences. IFLA is the global voice of the library and information profession. of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists (www.iaald.org), on the use of 2.0 tools such as wikis, blogs, folksonomies, feeds, and mashups to share and disseminate agricultural research information. He showed an International Rice Research Institute presentation on the future of food posted to Slideshare and, on blip.tv, a fact finding mission to Brazil. He said that 2.0 is “attitude, mindset, not a toolkit.” In discussion following Ballantyne’s presentation, a Kenyan worried about the lost indigenous knowledge in his country. An academic bemoaned the fact that there’s little reward in universities for using 2.0 technologies, but great rewards for publishing in traditional journals.

Intellectual Property In the session “Copyright and Other Legal Matters with FAIFE” (FAIFE is IFLA’s Committee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression), speakers explained how different national views of copyright raise barriers to information access. Chabriol Colebach, from McMaster University, characterized Canadian Crown Copyright as a tool of The Canadian booth in the exhibit hall showed the delegates the range of Canadian culture censorship, not just merely inconvenient. and librarianship. The opening ceremony featured an address by Canada’s Governor General In Denmark, explained Staats- Michaëlle Jean.

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 13 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

officials were as forward-thinking and supportive of libraries). Another award, this one for US$ 3,000, went to Cuban designer Edgar Luy Perez for his winning design in the international information literacy logo contest. Supported by UNESCO and IFLA, the new logo can be freely down- loaded (www.infolitglobal.info/logo) and used as the international symbol of information literacy.

A Global Perspective IFLA congresses offer fascinating insights into libraries around the world and attitudes towards libraries and access to information in a variety of countries. They offer an excellent opportunity to learn about information A stunning view of Québec City, founded by the French in 1608. The city’s French heritage and cul- policies and practices from a global ture permeated the IFLA meeting. Next year, it will be Milan’s turn to host IFLA. perspective. While some sections’ programs hold little of interest to SLA mem- biblioteket’s Harald von Heilcrone, Hahn, University of Maryland, reported bers, there are other areas of intense Web sites are considered publishers on research showing that people pre- interest. IFLA has sections for Science under Danish law, making it impos- fer traditional library buildings, likening and Technology Libraries; Geography sible to have a Danish equivalent of them to “sacred places.” and Map Libraries; Newspapers; Law the Internet Archive. South African Libraries; Government Libraries; Health Denise Nicholson, from the University and Biosciences Libraries; and Social of Witwatersrand, contrasted copyright Mexican Program Wins Science Libraries—all with SLA mem- law in Uganda with that of South Africa. The 2008 winner of the Bill & Melinda ber representation. [Several SLA repre- Surprisingly, South Africa’s Copyright Gates Foundation’s Access to Learning sentatives have submitted their section Act of 1978 mandates much govern- Award of US$ 1 million was the reports. These reports can be found on ment information be copyrighted. One Vasconcelos Program in Veracruz, the SLA Web site, www.sla.org.] result: Government pamphlets about Mexico, which brings computer and I find IFLA to be a mixture of educa- HIV/AIDS cannot be copied and dis- information literacy training to remote tion, politics, theory, and practice. For tributed in rural areas without obtain- areas. Bill Gates Sr. presented the those wanting to know more about the ing government permission—a serious award in person in Québec. The cere- Québec congress, the American Library barrier to information dissemination. mony was simulcast in Veracruz. At one Association has a short, entertaining Uganda followed British copyright law point, attendees in Québec waved to video that captures the high points until 2006 and still has a more open the Mexican audience and they waved (http://www.alfocus.blip.tv/#1192418) approach than South Africa. back. The Vasconcelos program was and IFLA, on its Web site, has posted My section, Library Theory & created and managed by the Veracruz photos, blog post links, and videos (www. Research, focused its program secretary of public education, who was ifla.org/IV/ifla74/post-congress.htm). SLA on “Libraries as Space and Place.” in Québec for the award ceremony (and Speakers from China, the U.S., and wouldn’t it be nice if all government Europe had very different views on the topic. Conghui Fang, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, advocat- MARYDEE OJALA edits ONLINE: Exploring Technology & ed for libraries as “third place” for Resources for Information Professionals and is a long-time SLA students, Olaf Eigenbrodt, Humboldt member. She speaks frequently at conferences and national library University in Berlin, showed how Hanna meetings outside the U.S. Her undergraduate degree is from Brown Arendt’s concept of the public sphere University and her MLS was earned at the University of Pittsburgh. can help librarians find a new approach to library as space, and Trudi Bellardo

14 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 A precise argument requires precise searching.

With STN, you can find exactly the science and technology information your business needs to secure and protect patents. Multimillion-dollar decisions can hinge on a single molecule. That’s why STN gives you so many ways to explore chemical substances and sequences. CAplusSM ties together journal literature and patent research from 1907 to yesterday, coverage of over 50 patent offices worldwide, and the most current records from seven major patent-issuing authorities. You can also search CAplus, Derwent World Patents Index,® INPADOC, and other databases simultaneously. Plus, access the world’s largest repository of chemical substance information— CAS REGISTRYSM—and a wealth of publicly available sequence information. So when you’re dealing with patent infringement, patentability, or competitive intelligence, use STN and get the results you want. Precisely.

NORTH AMERICA EUROPE JAPAN CAS FIZ Karlsruhe JAICI (Japan Association for STN North America STN Europe International Chemical Information) Phone: 800-753-4227 (North America) Phone: +49-7247-808-555 STN Japan 614-447-3700 (worldwide) Internet: www.stn-international.de Phone: +81-3-5978-3621 Internet: www.cas.org Internet: www.jaici.or.jp FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES Accessing Health Information in Developing Countries GLOBALLY, THE DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE THAT NOW EXISTS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO TRANSFORM ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE. BUT EVEN IF THE TECHNOLOGY TO DELIVER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE, MANY BARRIERS TO EQUITABLE ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH INFORMATION REMAIN

BY CLAUDIA JUECH

hat do you do when other countries around the world. But to deliver information is available, many you have an unusual many people, particularly in develop- barriers to equitable access to quality pain in your lower right ing countries, are still cut off from the health information remain. side? You probably ask wealth of information that we in the familyW members or friends what they United States easily retrieve and utilize know about the symptoms of appen- as a matter of course. Connectivity dicitis or you Google appendicitis to Access to health information is According to the International find out more about it for yourself. increasingly recognized as a prerequi- Telecommunication Union (ITU), less The doctor whom you eventually con- site for achieving the United Nations’ than 4 percent of Africans have Internet sult uses Medline to learn more about Millennium Development Goals, and access, and broadband penetration in the new minimally invasive surgical the issue has never been so high on low-income countries is below 1 percent. technique and will report back on its the political agenda. The World Health Even where the Internet exists in devel- successful results to the members of Organization’s (WHO’s) 2004 report on oping countries, it is usually extremely his community of practice. The library knowledge for better health argued that expensive. The cost of Internet connec- in the hospital where you are treated “access to relevant, reliable, and up-to- tivity in Africa is the highest in the world, provides additional research on the rare date health and health research infor- US$ 250-300 per month, amounting to side effects you develop from the pain mation [in] the developing world must a multiple of the average local salary medication, and your nurse is currently be improved and must take into account in many cases. Where Internet access doing an e-learning course as part of the needs of diverse groups of constitu- is available, it is often slow and unre- her professional training. encies and stakeholders.” Admittedly, liable because the capacities of the Does this sound familiar? This sce- developing countries are now more submarine Internet cables that provide nario illustrates the way different actors connected than ever before, and the information exchange with Africa are within health systems disseminate, digital infrastructure that now exists hundreds of times less than those in access, and use health information and has the potential to transform access to other regions of the world. All of these knowledge in the United States and knowledge. But even if the technology factors make accessing and download-

16 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 17 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

JULY 2008 BELLAGIO DECLARATION ON ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING

Recognizing that:

1. Health information and knowledge are social determinants of health since inequities in access to information and knowledge generate and/or increase health inequities, meaning unjust, unnecessary and avoidable differences in health conditions of individuals and population groups.

2. Health information policies should be part of health policy in order to strengthen the use of information, knowledge, and evidence in decision making.

3. Health comprises health promotion, disease prevention and care to improve health conditions and equity, involving different stakeholders with different interests and needs. This requires a plurality of solutions in meaningful contexts.

4. National and global research programs are essential to identify information needs, to recognize barriers to access, translation and use of information and to evaluate the impact of information and knowledge sharing interventions on health outcomes.

5. The implementation of global eHealth initiatives should be based on partnerships involving various national and international players.

6. Health must be used to overcome barriers to access and use of quality health information and to enable the convergence of initiatives, products and solutions.

7. Priority should be given to settings with weak production of and access to information and knowledge.

8. The information and knowledge sources and tools developed and adapted by eHealth should be openly accessible and interoperable via adequate methods and technologies.

9. Information and knowledge sharing should be implemented through community participation, appropriate technology and integration of promotion, prevention, and care as a primary health care approach.

10. Human resource capabilities should be expanded to incorporate the necessary skills for health information and knowledge management and sharing to meet the needs of different users, applying appropriate standards, methods and technologies.

Recognizing all the above, we commit ourselves to mobilize efforts and resources toward the creation of an environment as a global public good to enable producers, intermediaries and users to develop and share content, methods and technologies. This new environment will increase the use of health information and promote knowledge sharing with a focus on international cooperation for the development of health information infrastructure and human resources.

We call for the creation of a task force with representatives from key stakeholders and donors to establish a plan of action for the implementation of this health information and knowledge-sharing enabling environment as a global public good. Finally, we urge national and international organizations, funding agencies, the private sector, governments and institutions to become our partners in this endeavor.

18 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

ing full-text articles and research materials extremely time-consuming and often impossible. A 2007 World Bank report, which analyzed Internet dif- fusion across 199 countries over 14 years, concluded that Internet penetration in low-income countries has only very slowly converged with that of the rest of the world. On a positive note, African countries have registered the world’s highest mobile phone growth, ranging from 50 to 400 percent in the last three years, according to the ITU, and approximately 40 percent of Africans now have access to a mobile network, although there are great dispari- ties between rural and urban areas. The Makerere University School of Medicine in Uganda, for example, tries to provide every medical student with a handheld computer (PDA) so that they can use reference tools and drug databases when treating patients. In the interim, concepts such as eGranary or Blue Trunk Library provide provisional solutions in areas with limited or no Internet access. The eGra- nary is a digital library, an external hard drive of sorts that provides an offline collection of approximately 10 million be accessible in formats and languages free access to the literature. Institutions pages from more than 1,200 Web sites that they will readily understand and in countries where GNP per capita lies and CD-ROMs. The collection also in a secure manner that protects indi- between US$ 1,000 and US$ 3,000 are includes books in their entirety, hun- vidual privacy and personal liberty. eligible for access at reduced prices, dreds of full-text journals, and dozens of but Internet costs and connectivity CD-ROMs, for all of which the team at speed still pose major barriers even for the University of Iowa obtained the nec- Availability of Health eligible institutions. essary copyright permission. Generally, Information These initiatives provide access to institutions using the eGranary, such as In recent years, a number of initiatives research produced mainly in developed universities, make the materials avail- have been established by international countries, often leaving research gen- able by putting them on their intranet organizations and public-private part- erated in developing countries miss- local area networks (LANs). For areas nerships to provide free or low-cost ing from the international knowledge that have neither computers nor a access to international scholarly journal base. The number of scholarly journals reliable electricity supply, librarians at literature for institutions and readers in published in developing countries that WHO started the Blue Trunk Library developing countries. For example, are added to Medline, for example, (BTL) project, which provides a collec- WHO’s Health InterNetwork Access to increases very slowly. This can be due tion of about 150 books and manuals Research Initiative (HINARI) provides to a lack of adherence to peer-review fitted into a blue metal trunk. free, or low-cost, access to the major standards or inconsistent publication. But the technical provision of infor- journals in biomedical and related But it results in a limited visibility of mation is only one aspect. Even if qual- social sciences to public institutions literature from developing countries in ity health information is available, the in developing countries. Eligibility for indices that measure research output demand for it still needs to be created HINARI membership is based on gross such as the Science Citation Index, and supported by adequate training national product (GNP) per capita. making it harder for researchers from measures. Health workers and patients Institutions in countries with GNP per the Global South to participate in the in developing countries also need it to capita below US$ 1,000 are eligible for scientific discourse. It also impedes

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 19 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

Even where the Internet exists in developing countries, it is usually extremely expensive. The cost of Internet connectivity in Africa is the highest in the world, US$ 250-300 per month, amounting to a multiple of the average local salary in many cases. transparency about what has been Cultural values, including perceptions toms, typhoid fever should be one published in institutions in the neigh- of gender roles and traditional medical of the first suggested diagnoses and boring city or across the border, where practices and knowledge, affect the treatment recommendations should very similar health problems most likely reception of health information and reflect local realities. prevail. While initiatives such as HINARI ultimately its application. largely depend on publishers and/or Contextualized health information The Bellagio Declaration consortia purchasing, the academic will also need to consider different The list of barriers, solutions, and community has been considering alter- types of diseases, and the availability projects is hardly exhaustive. To native mechanisms. Those mecha- of diagnostic tools and medications, learn more about the obstacles and nisms promote open access concepts among many other parameters. Under opportunities in the emerging field of and institutional repositories and will be the Hesperian Foundation’s open eHealth, the Rockefeller Foundation particularly—but not only—beneficial copyright policy, their publications, hosted “Making the eHealth for those at underfunded institutions, such as “Where There is No Doctor,” Connection” (www.ehealth-connec- and in developing countries, whose have been adapted and translated into tion.org), a month-long conference access under the traditional model is more than 80 different languages. series, at its Bellagio Center in Italy especially constrained. But the necessary contextualization in July 2008. The overall goal in of health information intermediaries convening participants from critical will be required at many different international stakeholder groups was Localization stages and will therefore come in to catalyze the formation of new col- Ethnologue, a Web encyclopedia, many different forms, from transla- laborations to develop strategies to counts about 7,000 living languages tion tools and medical librarians to address the challenges of implement- around the world. Regionally, Africa online communities of practice and ing a global eHealth agenda. and Asia show the greatest diversity, specialized on-site health workers. One of the eight week-long tracks with about 2,000 different languages Today, that pain you had in your was dedicated to issues related to the each. However, the majority of health lower right abdomen would prob- access and use of health information information is only available in English, ably play out much differently if you and knowledge. One outcome was the Spanish, French, and Portuguese, lived in a developing country. Even if drafting of the declaration on Access which, in many cases, are languages access to online health information to Quality Health Information and other than the native tongues of the were available, truly, the appendicitis Knowledge Sharing (see page 18). doctor and/or the patient. Add medi- diagnosis would probably be less rel- The next step will be to develop a cal jargon to the mix and you have, at evant. Perforations caused by typhoid concrete work plan that addresses best, health care workers and patients fever, an infectious disease that while barriers and explores solutions that not taking relevant information into rare in the United States is common are user- and demand-driven, openly account and, at worst, life-threatening in developing countries, often lead to accessible, and interoperable. SLA misunderstandings. But challenges the same symptoms as appendicitis. concerning the access to health infor- So, if doctors or patients in develop- mation go beyond language barriers. ing countries search for those symp-

CLAUDIA JUECH joined the Rockefeller Foundation in July 2007. As a managing director, she provides leadership and direction for the development and application of research concepts and tools for the Foundation. Previously, she managed Deutsche Bank Research’s InfoCenter, where she aggregated business, trend and competitive information and distributed it to the bank’s European staff. She has a degree in Information Science from the University of Applied Sciences Cologne and an International MBA degree from the University of Cologne.

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22 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES The Global Credit Crunch

THE DECIMATION OF INVESTMENT BANKING, FOLLOWED BY A SERIES OF COMMERCIAL BANK FAILURES AND SUBSEQUENT RESCUES OR NATIONALIZATION IN BOTH THE U.S. AND EUROPE, ARE JUST THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN A DEVASTATING FINANCIAL CRISIS, KNOWN AS THE CREDIT CRUNCH

BY SYLVIA JAMES

have been following the progress rose substantially. The inevitable rise ings of impending disaster in August of this credit crunch since it start- happened—cheap and easy money 2007 when the first news came through ed. When it began last summer, dried up and the secondary banks col- detailing the problems with the sub- it seemed to me very like a crisis lapsed. Sounds familiar? Substitute the prime lenders' mortgage debt default I lived and worked through in the early collapse of riskier sub-prime mortgages in the U.S. Nothing seemed to get 1970s in London at the beginning of that started this crisis for those second- resolved quickly and growing ever more my career. Known as the “lifeboat,” the ary loans, investment banks for the sec- gloomy I wrote an article for Business then-UK regulator of banks, the Bank of ondary banks and the root cause of the Information Alert in January this year,2 England, saved a group of British banks current crunch is exactly the same, as where I expressed my pessimism about called the secondary banks. These rath- this long forgotten time in England.1 the way the crisis was being handled er odd financial institutions specialized It took years for the secondary bank and then an article for SLA Europe News in extending credit to borrowers that crisis to work through the system in in July,3 where I expressed the need had taken out second mortgages (and the UK in the 1970s. There were some for information professionals to engage so had lesser claims on the real estate very depressing years to get through for with their organizations and develop collateral for the loans) on their proper- everyone in business. Hence, my feel- services. Much older and (I hope) wiser, ties. A financial bubble had happened. It was built on cheap loans and easier Today’s credit crunch is vitally significant to us all, and its resolution credit regulation based on real estate, critical to our future. This article is a primer for information profession- which had artificially escalated in price als, explaining clearly what this most damaging of all crises in our work- during the years preceding the crisis. ing and personal lives is all about and why we, of all professionals in To anyone who knew anything about our companies and organizations, should understand all the details and consumer lending, the secondary mort- implications. We should be able to research any aspect of the issues, gage borrowers would obviously have players and developments and play our parts in helping to understand problems keeping up with two loans if the implications in our workplaces and family life. conditions changed and interest rates

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 23 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

this time I knew much more about the the European Central Bank, have been lion of funds to be pumped into the sys- development of a whole range of new actively providing money for the whole- tem [signed into law on 4 October 2008]. financial instruments and their weak- sale money markets in the past year by Quite rightly, taxpayers are shocked at nesses, now embedded in the financial pumping funds from their countries' the amounts of money required to keep system, that didn’t even exist in the early treasuries into the system. the wholesale money market going and 1970s that makes this crisis so poten- Unfortunately, this solution simply are unhappy about this type of rescue. tially catastrophic and, in the words of hasn’t been enough, and so in the first The problem is that it is not just the most experienced financiers, “systemic” week of September 2008 we began to so-called “fat cats” of investment bank- across all areas of the financial services see the complete failure of wholesale ing that are being rescued; it is every sector all over the world. banking, manifested in U.S. investment aspect of business life that needs to Credit crunches are not like other banks simply running out of money. be supported. A measure of this is the financial crashes—for example, those Having no retail depositors (the defini- dire warnings about the problems of the that occur from time to time in stock tion of investment banks), there was U.S. commercial paper market drying markets or on a commodity exchange. now not enough money in the central up. The problems in this market are not Credit permeates every area of the banking system to keep them going. the headline news. Commercial paper financial system and the real world of One after another, they needed to be lines of credit are short term loans that everyday business. It is impossible to rescued. Bear Stearns (in March 2008) are the way that U.S. business keeps operate without a bank account and and Merrill Lynch found new owners; going on a practical day to day basis and lines of credit, no matter what the size Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley companies pay their invoices and wages. of the organization. When credit dries need to be completely restructured and Among the articles in the financial press up and trust in banking is withdrawn, re-financed as commercial banks. I can are some detailing the shrinkage of this no one can work normally, and that is imagine the surprise of many inves- market to the lowest levels known in the why it is so important for government tors to see the headline in The Wall last seven years, and that is not good to step in and stabilize credit crunch Street Journal that these two investment news for the real economy. situations early and decisively. For over “banks” were to become real banks.4 a year now, lending between banks has Lehman Bothers was allowed to fail virtually completely dried up and so when no commercial bank buyer could What’s Different about the “wholesale” bank-to-bank market be found. this Crisis? for cash that underpins all commercial Other U.S. wholesale financial insti- Firstly, this credit crunch is truly global. It banking, known as the “money mar- tutions like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac is not like other bank failures and prob- kets” have frozen. In these situations, and Indy Mac, which depend on the lems in recent history like the savings banks can only use funds and deposits money markets for short term funding, and loans institutions rescue in the U.S. available from the central bank in their also failed and needed to be rescued in the late 1980s, or the credit bubble country or taken from their individual by funds pumped into them by the in Japan in the early 1990s following retail or commercial depositors and U.S. taxpayer. another huge problem with real estate investors. So, central banks, mainly In the U.S., the financial institutions lending. We are not just viewing, in isola- the Federal Reserve of the U.S., the are now waiting for yet another and much tion, at a news item showing a closed Bank of England, Bank of Japan and more public rescue plan of US$ 700 bil- bank branch being besieged by deposi-

24 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

Credit permeates every area of the ﬁ nancial system and the real world of everyday business. It is impossible to operate without a bank account and lines of credit, no matt er what the size of the organization. tors as in Argentina in 2001. ing illiquid (untradeable loans, with no happened last summer and brought the Already we have seen overly ambi- ready market) into saleable securities, latest LBO boom to a complete halt. tious real estate lending creating issues usually bonds by investment banks One other little twist to securitization of defaulting mortgages in the UK, Spain for a fee. The borrowers of the loans was that these bonds, when created, and Ireland as well as the U.S. In make interest and principal payments were transferred to a “special purpose Europe, banks have been rescued in to the bank, which has packaged their vehicle” (SPV) and so could legitimate- the UK, Iceland, Belgium, Germany and loans and passed them on to those who ly, in accounting terms, be transferred France. Confidence and trust in banking have invested in the new bond, usually off the balance sheet of the bank that is now being questioned. institutional investors. The new bonds created them. So why is this happening globally? The created are given ratings by the credit After securitization took off, another second difference is that the very straight- ratings agencies (Moody’s, Standard & bit of financial sorcery occurred with forward methods of lending, particularly Poor’s and Fitch) and a new class of the new types of bonds: subordination. for loans that are backed by assets (also securities is created. Why not split up the new bonds into dif- known as conforming or collateralized ferent layers, known as tranches, each loans) have been changed out of all rec- with a different level of risk and reward? ognition in the last 25 years. A reference Growth of Securitization Once this started to happen, it became book on the fixed income markets5 that I well remember a certain feeling of extremely difficult to track who invested was heavily used in the 1980s describes incredulity when it was announced in in all these individual levels of the bond. financial instruments like certificates of the investment bank (whose special- The best tranches were known as the deposit, bankers acceptances and com- ity was fixed income securities in the senior debt and the lower levels “junior” mercial paper. They are still around, international capital market) where I was and so subordinate. These are now but have been joined now by a new set working in London that there would be known as the “toxic” loans and are the of much riskier and very controversial the creation of a new “packaging depart- reason that banks will not deal with each securities and techniques. ment.” It was hard to imagine what this other in the wholesale money market. This financial engineering has largely meant. It certainly had nothing to do with No one knows who holds these toxic been conceived and executed by the the stationery department and sticky tranches (remember, they are off bal- investment banks, which have changed tape and wrapping paper. The first loans ance sheet, so cannot be seen in any the structure of this type of “fixed income” to be securitized were commercial real publicly filed data) and so banks will not lending completely. Fixed income activi- estate loans and auto loans. The first deal with other banks for fear that these ties in both the long-term bond market bank to begin to do this was the invest- will be discovered in the bank they may and the short-term money market were ment bank Salomon Smith Barney. be trading with, with the possibility that seen as rather staid and boring, com- From these inauspicious beginnings, this “counterparty” will go bankrupt. pared to the excitement of working on securitization has grown into a massive Not content with just these activities, the equities (shares) side of the busi- movement in investment banking, with the web of financial invention in fixed ness. How could you possibly make the most home loans, auto loans and credit income became even more complicated sort of returns on a fixed income secu- card payments (receivables) securitized around 10 years ago with the creation of rity that could be made in a rising stock in some way. In the commercial world, a whole new set of financial instruments market on equities? All you had were the apart from the huge levels of commercial based on securitization. These are col- small slices of capital appreciation on a mortgages that were being written, there lectively known as asset backed securi- bond or a loan, making up the yield on were many large leveraged buyouts ties (ABSs). A range of very mysteriously the investment with a fixed rate of return (LBOs) that were being arranged during titled “collateralized instruments” came from a pre-set interest rate. 2006-7, taking many companies private into being, all categorized as ABSs. The The answer was securitization. This from stock exchanges using high levels financial world was given the collaterized financial technique, developed in the of debt to pay off shareholders. These debt, bond and loan obligations, all with early-to-mid 1980s, can probably be corporate loans for acquisition were also different assets backing the security. I cited as the root of this crisis. It is securitized and also became very prob- have just written a two-part article, enti- defined as the process of repackag- lematic as soon as the credit crunch tled “Understanding and Researching the

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 25 FOCUS: GLOBAL ISSUES

Credit Crunch” for Business Information finally rescued by the U.S. government year on the crisis is definitely The Trillion Alert, published in the September and a few weeks ago comes into the picture. Dollar Meltdown by Charles Morris.6 Mr. October 2008 editions, which defines AIG must certainly be ruing the day they Morris was writing and researching this each of these instruments and gives became the major player in insuring book even before the first news broke notes on how to research them, some these deals through third party guar- on the crisis, in the expectation of key sources and the other areas of the antees to reimburse the SPVs for any when, not if, the credit crunch would crisis that can be covered in a research losses, as well as having massive global happen. I can’t recommend this book plan for your organization. credit-default swap positions. more highly. It is easy to read, short and to the point, well researched and completely clear about the financial The Toxic Role of Derivatives What Now? folly that has led us to this point. The last difference about this credit No one knows how the credit crunch If I were to recommend one Web site, crunch is the derivatives market. As will develop. Have we reached the it would be the International Financial has been proved with several other climax of the bad news? When will the Crises7 homepage for an incredibly recent failures of financial institutions, banking system begin to recover and detailed portal site with references to the collapse of UK investment bank the money markets return to normal? It every possible aspect of past credit Barings and the hedge fund Long Term doesn’t look like any good news will be crises and failures, which is maintained Capital Management in the 1990s the coming soon. The truth is that this crisis by the International Economic Network. extensive use of derivatives can really is going to hit the real economy and There are lists in chronological order to obscure a failure and make it extremely our jobs and savings at some point in a references and abstracts of published difficult to understand the extent of the really big way, despite all the machina- papers, with live links to full papers. SLA losses incurred. tions of government and central banks The derivatives that were written to trying to keep up some sort of normality FOOTNOTES cover the ABS instruments are known by pumping money into the systems as credit derivatives. These were cre- and guaranteeing bank deposits for 1 A really interesting and seminal refer- ated to provide credit risk protection individuals. The most obvious conse- ence to the Lifeboat Crisis: The Secondary in using any of the transactions I have quence is that mortgage loans have Banking Crisis 1973-75, Margaret Reid. described in the paragraph above. It declined dramatically in most Western Summary at www.hindsight-books.com/ is perhaps these financial instruments economies and so the value of real secondary_banking_crisis.php of all the rogue paper that caused this estate has plummeted, with all the 2 “State of the World,” by Sylvia James, credit crunch that have the biggest role dependent sectors of industry in severe Business Information Alert, Vol. 20 No. 1 in the downfall, and it is again proving cutbacks. The fact that many countries January 2008 very difficult to calculate what any one are now technically in economic reces- institution’s exposure to these might be. sion merely awaits formal publication of 3“The Credit Crunch & the Information World,” The credit derivatives market is US$ grim sets of statistics. Understanding Sylvia James, SLA Europe News, 2008 Issue 62 trillion and is now 50 times the size what has happened and keeping up 2. Available at http://www.sla-europe.org/ of the subprime mortgage derivatives to date with the twists and turns of the newsletter/back-issues/2008-2_screen.pdf market. That figure is so mind bog- credit crunch are vital to us all. 4“Goldman, Morgan Scrap Wall Street Model, gling because it is larger than the entire So, in conclusion, as an information Become Banks in Bid to Ride Out Crisis,” global economy. How can derivative professional, if I were asked—as I was The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 22, 2008. products grow to be so much greater a week ago by a teenage neighbor—to Page 1 than the assets they are based on? recommend just one or two sources This is how AIG, the massive insur- that she could read and use to under- 5Handbook of Securities of the United States ance company, known as a monoline stand the credit crunch, which would I Government and Federal Agencies and insurer, was brought to its knees and choose? The best book I have read this Related Money Market Instruments, 33rd Edition, First Boston Corporation, 1988

6“The Trillion Dollar Meltdown, Easy Money, High Rollers and the Great Credit Crunch” SYLVIA JAMES has had her own business as a management by Charles Morris, Public Affairs, New York, consultant since 1988. Prior to that, she worked for 20 years in 2008. various positions in research and business information for financial service and multinational companies. Today, she writes, teaches and 7International Financial Crises, Web site consults on a range of international projects. She currently serves as http://www.internationaleconomics.net/cri- Treasurer of SLA sis.html.

26 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 RECRUIT AND WIN!

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For complete details and information about the 2008 Recruit-a-Member campaign, visit www.sla.org/recruit. SLA MEMBER PROFILE The World Is His Library

FOR GLOBE-TROTTING JESS LAU, EVERY DESTINATION REPRESENTS A NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO EXPAND AND GROW AS A MAN AND AS A SPECIAL LIBRARIAN

BY FORREST GLENN SPENCER

ess Lau is a professional trav- connections with colleagues like himself eler. At least twice a month, Lau who seek to establish and build a better hits the road to attend meetings system of information availability and or conferences at the national system delivery. and international level related When Lau led the UV library system, to libraries and information. he was given the mission to have the Wednesday, he could be Spain; the best facilities and user education pro- following fortnight, in Colombia. Over gram in Northwestern Mexico. As he the last year, he has been to more describes it, “I facilitated the accredita- than a dozen countries, promoting and tion process of academic programs and expanding the profession’s services in the university in general by national and Mexico and in other countries. international accreditation organizations But traveling is only one aspect of and advised and provided training to Lau’s job. This SLA member serves university academic departments on as the director of the regional univer- conducting their management process- sity library at Universidad Veracruzana es to obtain external accreditation, as Autonoma in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. well as teaching a research methods It’s a title he has held since 2002. course every semester.” He began working there as dean of His tasks today as director of the information services and accreditation regional university library include coor- in 2000. The 64-year-old Universidad dinating the statewide UV Virtual Library. Veracruzana (UV) has become a lead- “I select, acquire and implement the ing higher education institution in largest library software infrastructure for Mexico, maintaining five campuses. In virtual information services in Mexico, his travels, Lau works to build network offering the first virtual reference service

28 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 SLA MEMBER PROFILE

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 29 SLA MEMBER PROFILE

His work stresses the role that information plays in socio- economic development and information literacy. In order to fulﬁ ll that mission, Lau has traveled to more than 50 countries. and federated search in Mexico and in SLA and Other Associations conferences. In recent years, he gave Latin America to the university system’s Lau is a big proponent of SLA. In 1991, a presentation on Mexican Business 60,000 students.” A fourth of those stu- Mexico and the U.S. organized the first Information Systems. dents are at Lau’s particular campus, library conference forum. At the time, Unfortunately, there is no SLA chap- where he oversees a staff 50. Lau worked as a special librarian at the ter in Mexico. “I am a member of the Lau is a self-driven professional, stick- Instituto Tecnologico in Durango. It was Rio Grande Chapter,” he notes. “When ing to a strict schedule. He maintains a there he heard about SLA. After receiv- I joined SLA, someone, somehow said I stable family home life, while traveling ing literature about the organization, he had to be a member of this chapter. I frequently every month on behalf of his joined and has remained a member. participated in the meetings there. And career and the industry. And if there is “The person who really introduced me once, the chapter came to my library. It time left in the day, Lau is found writing. to SLA was Charlene Baldwin,” recalls was a wonderful experience.” To date, he has written more than 150 Lau. “At the time she was a mem- Lau is a member of several asso- articles, edited 11 books and co-authored ber of the Board of Directors. Today, ciations. He currently serves as a four monographs—all centered on the she’s dean of the Leatherby Libraries member of the governing board of information and the library industry. Like at Chapman University.” When he can the International Federation of Library many others in the profession, he didn’t attend, Lau enjoys the SLA annual con- Associations and Institutions (IFLA) set out to be an information specialist or ferences because of the networking. and is president-elect of the Mexican special librarian. Lau pursued a degree “The annual conference is the most Library Association. in law initially, but that career choice important program in SLA. Whenever Lau also has a close relationship with found him without the challenges he I go to an annual conference there’s UNESCO (United Nations Educational, sought in life. He sought another disci- always something I take away from the Scientific and Cultural Organization). pline and found that library science met meetings. It’s a great place for business The organization has funded four of his with his sense of fulfillment. and opportunities. Some of the best research projects. One is the drafting His work stresses the role that infor- library friends I have are from SLA.” of the International Information Literacy mation plays in socio-economic devel- Lau has also spoken at SLA annual Guidelines for Lifelong Learning, a free opment and information literacy. Lau has traveled to more than 50 countries as a part of his professional involvement, either directly with institutions Name: Jesús Lau or through information associations. In Joined SLA: 1992 each organization, he is an active par- ticipant, bringing ideas and goals to Current Status: Director, USBI VER Library, Universidad Veracruzana improve the profession’s services. Last Job: Director General for Academic Affairs, this included library services “We face the same challenges, on economic terms, as other information Last Employer: Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez specialists around the world,” says Lau Experience: 31 years - 1977 to the present about his position at UV. “It’s never enough. One of the things universities Education: BA in Law, Universidad Autónoma de Sinalora; MLS, University of seek is to increase the budget. That Denver; Ph.D. in information studies, University of Sheffield (UK) includes spending on technology, which First Job: Farm worker when he was high school student is expanding and getting more complex and expensive to maintain. Our budget First LIS Job: Library Student Assistant, Social Work Library, Universidad is our main challenge. The second chal- Autónoma de Sinaloa lenge is to identify what we can do with Your Biggest Challenge Today: To become an IFLA President-Elect Candidate. I the Internet. It’s big competition in peo- have worked at IFLA for 20 years in different capacities, and there has not been a ple’s mind. Our customers—students, Spanish-speaking president yet in 90 years teachers and management—think the Internet can replace libraries.”

30 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 SLA MEMBER PROFILE

monograph that has been translat- A Global Vision This past year, Lau was in the U.S. ed into several languages, including As mentioned, Lau is an extensive trav- to attend library association meetings; Russian, Korean, Spanish, French, eler. He often blogs about his trips on twice in Lima, Peru, to conduct, first a Portuguese and German. The sec- his Web site. A recent trip was to Paris, workshop on information literacy, and, ond is the International Information France. It was a meeting of experts second, to facilitate a workshop on Literacy Resources Directory. “This convened by UNESCO. The goal was to library leadership for academic librari- project aims to be a reference tool for formulate and define a curriculum for ans; The Hague, Netherlands, to attend identifying information literacy tools training in media and information skills the Governing Board meeting of IFLA; and outcomes that could be relevant for teachers. and Santiago, Chile, to participate at to the international community, so that the best practices can be used as model for organizations, institutions or individuals working on an IL projects/ programs,” Lau describes. “The reper- tory consists of a Web database, where anyone can register their IL products, or download records without need of registration. The third project was the compilation of the International Information Literacy State-of-the-Art Report that gives an account of information skills development around the globe. And the fourth was an UNESCO-IFLA funded project that created an International Information Literacy Logo. “The logo facilitates communication between those who carry out information literacy projects and their communities, and society in general,” Lau says. “It will be promoted as an international symbol of information literacy around the world. Jess Lau (above and below) facilitating an information literacy workshop in Gaborone, Botswana, I am in the process of developing a in 2007. Not surprisingly, Lau has a close relationship with UNESCO, which has funded four of his marketing IL toolkit, which will be research projects. ready by the end of 2008.” Lau is the president-elect of the Mexican Library Association (AMBAC), slated to serve for the years 2009- 2011. The association is based in Mexico City and is the oldest and largest body of its kind in Mexico. “I will be the first president who lives outside Mexico City in the nearly 60 years of existence of AMBAC,” he says. “As vice-president, I am in charge of publications and the annual conference programs, where I am introducing changes to make it more efficient and relevant to members. Here, I am using my international leadership experience with other associations, like SLA, to make the AMBAC conference more attractive to our members, partners and vendors.”

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 31 SLA MEMBER PROFILE

the College of the Americas annual meeting to report the work that he does for them as an academic coor- dinator of the Latin American online library training program for academic librarians, which has had more than 800 participants in the last four years. And, before this year ends, again to the Netherlands, plus Slovakia, Venezuela and Brazil. Lau normally takes an active role in the meetings that he attends. “I like, first, to network with people and, second, to listen to papers. Whenever possible, I like to visit a museum. My favor- ites are galleries, because I collect oil paintings, at least one for every country that I visit. Most of them can be seen on my Web site. If time permits I also Jess Lau facilitating an information literacy workshop in Bogota, Columbia, in 2007. go to nearby places, cities of historical interest or archeological sites.” Lau plans to run for president-elect and cost-effective to its members; and come from a rural background and had of IFLA. He believes he can contribute strengthen the international advocacy never been to Mexico City,” he recalls. to make this association more inter- of IFLA that is performed by the cur- “Mexico City in those days was like New national and promote more efficiency rent and previous presidents. York or Paris. So I decided to attend and speedier communication. “I have this course. Before I chose this course, long experience in working at this libraries to me were not important. It association, first as volunteer to do From Law to Library Science was just a means to living. I went to this interpreting for a few years, then as Lau is from Sinaloa, Mexico, born in course and it was very intensive. Six standing committee member, and in the rural town of Los Mochis, which is hours every day with homework. Until different executive member roles: trea- about 15 miles from the Pacific Coast in that time I didn’t think of library science surer, secretary and chair. I truly enjoy Northwestern Mexico. It was the law that as a field, but it is because it requires the international work of IFLA. It helps drew his initial interest and goal. “When thinking, and I enjoyed it.” me to understand better the world of I was kid, even before I went to school, I At the end of the six months, Lau libraries and their needs across bor- wanted to be a lawyer,” Lau says. “It was was hooked on library sciences. He ders and continents.” a silly thing. It was a time to be a lawyer. returned to the university for his prac- His goals, if he becomes elected, When I went to Universidad Autnoma tical internship in order to be a law- are to make IFLA a more interna- de Sinaloa, I had to work. I got a job yer. But he soon came to dislike it tional organization through expansion at one of the libraries as an assistant.” and found the legal aspects of the in more countries; help IFLA to com- The year before he concluded his stud- profession unappealing. He changed municate better with its officers and ies there was a library training program his mind and decided to become a members with clearer and more pro- for university staff. Lau decided to take librarian. “At the time there was a active channels of communication; this course. It was a six-month inten- special librarianship program financed make their services more relevant sive training course in Mexico City. “I by the National Council of Science and Technology that was promoting information specialists to help universities and research centers to develop information services,” Lau says. “The year FORREST GLENN SPENCER is President of SpencerConnects they started that program, there was a LLC, an information service and public relations company based master’s degree program in the U.S. in the Washington, D.C., area. He can be reached at fgspencer@ in Syracuse, Cleveland and Denver. I gmail.com. wanted to get my master’s degree and never in my life would I have thought of going to the U.S. for it.” The most immediate hurdles were

32 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 SLA MEMBER PROFILE

Lau plans to run for president-elect of IFLA. He believes he can contribute to make this association more international and promote more eﬃ ciency and speedier communication. money and the English language. As for Upon graduation, he returned to a Ph.D. in library and information sci- the latter, Lau enrolled in an intensive Mexico and began work in the library ence in Mexico, and certainly the first language program in San Francisco. at the Instituto Tecnologico in Durango, to get this degree from England.” He had heard about a school there that where he eventually rose to the posi- Jess Lau is a man who sees a was free for immigrants who wanted tion of library director. His task was to horizon and goes toward it, whether to learn English. “I went there for six create library services from the ground it’s geographically or intellectually con- months,” he says. “I learned enough up and offer a regional library training nected to the information industry. to take the entrance exams.” Through program for academic library staff and Mexico may be his home, but the world a short-term loan he was able to raise public library personnel from Northern is his library. SLA the funds that allowed him to secure Mexico. But he never stopped pursu- a visa. Lau's desire to enter Denver ing his studies in his new profession. University was possible as long as Lau wanted a doctorate. Ten years he succeeded in understanding the later, in 1988, he graduated from the rudimentary basics of English. They University of Sheffield, England, with a accepted him with the condition that Ph.D. in Information Services. he take two more language courses. “Library Science is the best decision Naturally, he agreed. Two years later I have made in my life,” Lau gushes. in 1977, he graduated from Denver “I was the first professional librarian in University with an MLS. Sinaloa and the second person to earn

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 2009 SLA AWARDS & HONORS

Wanted: Info Pros that Inspire! Nominate a beginning, mid-career and seasoned SLA member who exempliﬁes traits such as leadership, innovation, mentoring, diversity and special achievement. Help SLA recognize the people who inspire you most. Nomination submission deadline is 9 January 2009.

Visit www.sla.org/awards for additional information and a list of the available awards.

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 33 ONLINE RESOURCES

34 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 ONLINE RESOURCES Mining Government Resources for Your Information Needs

GOVERNMENT RESOURCES ARE A VIRTUAL GOLD MINE OF INFORMATION IF YOU KNOW HOW TO GO BEYOND THE STATISTICAL ABSTRACT AND THE OCCUPATIONAL OUTLOOK HANDBOOK. BEST OF ALL, THE INFORMATION IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND DOESN’T (USUALLY) REQUIRE A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST TO OBTAIN

BY LISA A. ZWICKEY

he economy seems to be es/glance.htm) section, an overview of Special features on the BEA site on everyone’s mind these the U.S. economy drawn from featured include the interactive tables site (www. days, and your organization’s BEA economic accounts. For the most bea.gov/interactive.htm), where you executives are probably no part, each section (such as GDP, inter- can play around to your heart’s content exception.T Keeping them up to date national transactions, and international setting up tables showing trends in on the changing economic landscape trade in goods and services) gives you such areas as corporate profit after tax can be daunting, especially since there highlights, detailed press releases, and by industry, wage and salary disburse- are so many governmental organiza- previous press releases. And I appreci- ments by industry, and government tions that issue economic information, ate the press releases, which pretty current expenditures by function. When such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics; much decipher all the economic-speak you first access the latter table, it goes the Department of the Treasury; for you, eliminating the need to interpret back only to 2003. But a quick change the Census Bureau; the Bureau of the tables and numbers. in variables, checking a few boxes here Economic Analysis; the Economics There’s also regional information on and there, gets you back to 1959. Can and Statistics Administration; etc. But all the relevant economic categories. you believe that in 1959 the United it’s the Bureau of Economic Analysis BEARFACTS (www.bea.gov/regional/ States spent US$ 42.1 billion on nation- (BEA) that I find most helpful for those bearfacts/) consists of computer-general defense while in 2004 (the latest year daily executive updates. ated narratives for states, counties, met- available) we spent US$ 482.9 billion? The BEA (www.bea.gov/) home page ropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and The Bureau of Labor Statistics (www. has everything economic you could wish BEA Economic Areas. The narratives bls.gov) is also a great site for eco- for—personal income and outlays, gross describe an area’s personal income nomic information on the labor force, domestic product by state and metro- using current estimates, growth rates, although it can be confusing to navi- politan area, trade in goods and services, and a breakdown of the sources of gate, even after a recent revamp. That and annual industry accounts, to name a personal income. From BEARFACTS said, there’s a nice little sidebar to the few. I especially like the “U.S. Economy you can access metropolitan and local right on the home page that gives you at a Glance” (www.bea.gov/newsreleas- information on earnings and income. all the economic basics in brief: the

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 35 ONLINE RESOURCES

The Web site of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) contains a wide range of economic information, including personal income and outlays, gross domestic product by state and metropolitan area, trade in goods and services, and annual industry accounts. The site also features press releases, which help decipher the economic jargon and eliminate the need to interpret the tables and numbers.

Consumer Price Index, the unemploy- each state and a link to historical data. to population shifts from 2000 to 2007 ment rate, payroll employment, aver- No time to spend looking for eco- for cities and towns, counties, states, age hourly earnings, the producer price nomic information? Not a problem. You and nationally. You can find reports index, the employment cost index, can sign up to have it come to you by for annual estimates of the population productivity, and the U.S. import price e-mail through the U.S. Department of for incorporated places over 100,000 index. Each category includes a press the Treasury (www.ustreas.gov/econom- people, or for all incorporated places. release and historic data. (The latter is ic-plan/). I receive monthly and quar- The Austin-Round Rock, Texas, area, garnished with a little dinosaur icon— terly e-mails, which include statistics on for example, has experienced significant who says the government doesn’t have unemployment, housing, inflation, auto growth in the last year—4.3 percent. a sense of humor?) and light truck sales, retail sales and Given that demographic, it may be one The “Subject Areas” section goes into food services, industrial products, inven- of the areas you’re interested in; you more detail on various economic func- tories, and leading indicators. certainly wouldn’t want your sales people tions. “Inflation and prices,” for example, in an area of stagnant growth! contains monthly data for the consumer By using the Census Bureau’s price indexes, the producer price index- Demographic Information American FactFinder (http://factfinder. es, the import/export prices indexes, and Perhaps your company is considering census.gov/) to access the American the consumer expenditure survey. The starting up a field sales department. Community Survey (ACS) you can unemployment statistics subject area Your marketing department provides customize your own tables to get the contains information on national, state, you with information on your customer additional information you need on the local and international unemployment; base, but you’ll need to know all about Austin-Round Rock area. For the 2006 each of the initial sites for these topics the micropolitan and metropolitan areas ACS, click on “Detailed tables” and begin has, like the main home page, the handy in the United States—demographics selecting your parameters. In this case, sidebar presenting the most recent sta- such as educational levels, population it would be “Metropolitan statistical area” tistics and links for historical data. Click statistics such as age, sex and race, in the “geographic type” drop-down box, on “Unemployment” in the subject areas and migration to and from. and “Austin-Round Rock” in the “geo- on the home page, for example, and Demographics are easy enough to graphic areas” box. Click “Add,” and then on “State and local unemployment find, but drilling down through the then just go on to the next page, where rates.” You will get a very nice compila- more obvious statistics can get you you can search for such select tables as tion of available local news releases, to even more helpful information. A sex by age, median age by sex, race, sex tables and publications, and, down the great resource is the Census Population of workers by travel time to work, travel right side of the page, a sidebar featuring Estimates site (www.census.gov/popest/ time to work, household type, disability the most current unemployment rate for estimates.php), which gives you access status, income, and even the number

36 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 ONLINE RESOURCES

of bedrooms. A word of advice: It can ther, we find that Winnebago County information and professional, scientific be very frustrating scrolling through the has 388 ambulatory health-care service and technical services industries. extremely lengthy list of select tables. establishments, while the metropolitan You can also drill down from the Therefore, I suggest that you make use statistical area of Oshkosh-Neenah with- Economic Census site to obtain “Industry of the “Explain table numbers” feature, in Winnebago County has 258 such Snapshots On-the-Fly” (www.census. which tells you what each letter and establishments. Oshkosh itself has 125. gov/econ/census07/snapshots/), which number in the string means. On that page, if you click on the link are wonderfully succinct profiles. And for “Oshkosh-Neenah, WI Metropolitan they take you further than just the major Statistical Area,” you get a complete list industry category. Keep drilling down Industry Information of the number of establishments, pay- in arts, entertainment and recreation, The Census Bureau is also a trea- roll and number of employees in each for example, and you’ll find profiles for sure trove of industry information. Its industrial group for that area. dance companies, racetracks, zoos and Economic Census (www.census.gov/ The drill-down tables on the right side botanical gardens, marinas, and bowl- econ/census02/) looks at the American of the Economic Census home page ing centers, among others. A link on business environment every five years, are a wonderful and handy resource. each page instructs you to click on the from the national to the local level. Need to know a particular state’s top “Industry Statistics Sampler” if you need Economic Census forms were sent out industry? Click on “Top Ranked States more in-depth stats for an industry. in 2007 and results from that survey by Industry.” California has been tout- will be available in 2009 and 2010. The ing itself lately as the number one dairy most current Economic Census results state, but a quick search shows that Safety Information are for 2002. dairy production doesn’t even show up A company’s commitment to safety The Geographical Area Series (www. as one of their top industries, while can tell you a lot about its culture. census.gov/econ/census02/guide/geo- for Wisconsin it’s still number one! Of If a company employs commercial summ.htm) of the Economic Census course, the statistics are from 2002, drivers, you can find revealing safety provides state reports that include data which is one of the main bugaboos with information by consulting the Volpe for metropolitan areas, counties, and the economic census information. Center’s Web site (www.volpe.dot.gov/ cities in all the major industrial areas. Comparative industrial statistics for index.html). The center is part of the Looking at the report on health care the nation at large from 1997 and 2002 U.S. Department of Transportation’s for my home state of Wisconsin, for are also available by using the drill-down Research and Innovative Technology example, shows that the state has 7,629 tables on the Economic Census home Administration (RITA). Volpe’s SafeStat ambulatory health-care service estab- page. This allows you to see trends site (www.ai.volpe.dot.gov/SafeStat/ lishments that bring in US$ 24,053,322 in specific industries. It’s interesting to SafeStatMain.asp) tells you what viola- in receipts, and have an annual pay- note, for example, that educational ser- tions company drivers have been pulled roll of US$ 10,656,199 and 336,466 vices was the largest growing industry over for (speeding, falsifying logbooks, employees. Narrowing it down even fur- from 1997 to 2002, followed by the etc.), and what safety violations (bad

A company’s commitment to safety can tell you a lot about its culture. If a company employs commercial drivers, you can find revealing safety information by consulting the Volpe Center's Web site. The center is part of Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 37 ONLINE RESOURCES

go to www.ai.volpe.dot.gov/SafeStat/ Removal_SafeStat_Explain.asp. Looking the same kind of information, but for workplace accidents and safety violations? Your best government source is the U.S. Department of Labor’s OSHA enforcement inspections site (www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establish- ment.html). Not only can you search by a specific company name, but you can also click on a link to search by SIC or NAICs if you want to find out which industries have the highest number of accidents or violations. Enter a company name and a year range and you will get a list of inspections that the company has undergone, along with the type of inspection (sometimes scheduled, sometimes resulting from a complaint) and any violations found. Violations are not always found during each inspection, of course, but when they are found, the details can be viewed by clicking on the activity num- The Web site of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (part of the U.S. Department of Labor) is also a great ber. There’s information on the amount resource for economic information on the labor force, although it can be confusing to navigate, even of the fine that was levied, and, if you after a recent revamp. It includes the Consumer Price Index, the unemployment rate, payroll employ- click on each violation in the table “vio- ment, average hourly earnings, the producer price index, the employment cost index, productivity, and lation items,” you may get even more the U.S. import price index. details on the violation, such as whether it resulted in an injury or death. brakes, no mirrors, etc.) have led to tab page is for moving violations, and In conclusion, government Web sites their vehicles being ordered off the clicking on the “View detail data” tells can be black holes—or gold mines, if road. Failure to educate drivers in safety you why they were pulled over (yes, a you know where to dig. The major draw- issues or maintain a safe fleet could common violation is speeding!). back, in my opinion, is that much of the mean the company values profit over its A note of caution: Some of the infor- information is rather old, as it is often employees and the driving public. mation has been removed from the based on surveys conducted only every Keep in mind that not all carriers site by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety five or ten years. Yet the richness and are for-hire trucking companies. Many Administration “because these scores depth of what’s available goes a long manufacturers and retailers, for exam- rely on State-provided crash reports, way in offsetting this drawback. SLA ple, have their own fleets and must which are sometimes not of the high- comply with trucking safety regulations est data quality based on timeliness, as well. To find information on a specific completeness and accuracy.” To learn company, use the search tools in the more about the removal of the informa- “Single Carrier Search” box. Across the tion and FMCSA plans to bring it back, top of the carrier’s SafeStat page are the following tabs: overview, accident, driver, vehicle, safety and history. Clicking on the “Driver” tab will bring up infor- LISA ZWICKEY is the Senior Research Analyst for J.J. Keller & mation on driver violations. The center Associates, Neenah, WI, a content provider of information for the column in the resulting page is “Driver trucking, occupational health and safety, human resources and food Inspection Results” and a drop-down safety markets. She obtained her MLS degree in 1991 from the box below gives you details on each University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Library and Information violation, such as driving a commercial Studies and her bachelor’s degree in journalism from UW-Madison. motor vehicle while disqualified, or fail- She has been a member of SLA since 1995. ing to retain the previous seven days’ logs. The right column on the “Driver”

38 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 SLA 2009 INFORMATION TO INSPIRATION: KNOWLEDGE & VISION SHAPING THE FUTURE.

CALL FOR PAPERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE!

SLA is now accepting proposals for papers to be presented at the 2009 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO, 14 – 17 June 2009 in Washington, DC, with the theme “Information to Inspiration: Knowledge & Vision Shaping the Future.” Accepted papers will also be published on the SLA Web site.

Every SLA member is eligible and encouraged to apply. The proposals will be evaluated by a panel of SLA members in a blind review and the strongest will be selected for development into full papers with a completion date of 1 May 2009.

Proposals are due by: 12 December 2008. Visit www.sla.org/washingtondc2009 for complete details. WORKFLOW TRACKING Solving the Information Workflow Tracking Dilemma

PUTTING IN PLACE AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR TRACKING VARIOUS SERVICE PROCESSES IN INFORMATION WORK CAN ASSIST TREMENDOUSLY IN EVALUATING THE TYPES OF CONTENT PURCHASED AND BEING ABLE TO ADEQUATELY REPORT ACTIVITIES TO MANAGEMENT WHEN MAKING FUNDING REQUESTS. BUT THE KEY QUESTION IS: HOW DO YOU DO IT?

BY ANN CULLEN, TOMALEE DOAN, TOBY PEARLSTEIN

n November 2007, the SLA be interesting to organize a program got everyone on board; and used those Boston Chapter offered a pro- comparing what they were doing with tools to track workflow, support knowl- gram1 in which presenters from the activities of a corporate library in edge sharing and training. An additional an academic and corporate the Boston area. The library at Bain & benefit they both discussed was how Ilibrary discussed how they used differ- Company, which had recently imple- they were better able with such systems ent software and systems to track their mented a new and innovative system to report on the value they added to research work, and, consequently, were for workflow tracking, was identified to their organizations. Tomalee will first able to easily and accurately report on provide the corporate perspective. recount what she did at Purdue, fol- the value-added they contributed to At the Boston Chapter program, lowed by Toby’s comments on her their organizations. Tomalee talked about how she worked activities at Bain. I, Ann Cullen, initiated the idea for with Numara Help Desk software to this program because in my previous develop tracking procedures for various job at the Credit Suisse First Boston library operations, including research Tomalee Doan’s Story: library they had an internally developed workflow. Toby Pearlstein, who retired Harnessing Help Desk research work tracking system. Once in December 2007 as director of glob- Software at Purdue I came to academia (I am currently at al information services (IS) at Bain In a 2006 Educause Review article, the Harvard Business School), I was & Company, presented on what Bain Jerry D. Campbell, chief information offi- surprised to see that such systems Global IS had done to track and dem- cer and dean of University Libraries at were not as commonly used in corpo- onstrate the contribution of their global the University of Southern California, Los rate libraries. So when I heard about research operations. Angeles, wrote, “Given the events of what Tomalee Doan, currently associ- Some of the key points Tomalee the past decade, academic librarians ate professor and head librarian of the and Toby touched upon that evening perhaps know better than anyone else Management and Economics Library at included: how they identified the work- that the institutions they manage—and Purdue University, had done to imple- flow problems and solutions thereof; their own roles—may face extinction over ment such a system, I thought it might how their organizations set things up;

40 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 WORKFLOW TRACKING

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the next decade.”2 This is a very recent IT Department, MEL had access and FootPrints accommodates multi-channel reminder that the burden rests upon license to use the tracking software at communication, allowing users to con- librarians to demonstrate their value no additional cost. Customization of the tact MEL through IM, e-mail, phone, to the academic institutions that we software was required for library use, and in person. All of these channels are are part of and, most importantly, as which required staff time to create an captured by date and time of day. The partners in meeting our shared custom- interface using appropriate fields mean- reports generated by FootPrints proved ers' expectations. Using an information ingful for library metrics. It was very to be very useful in determining the peak workflow tracking application was an important to determine which statistics times to staff the information service innovative way for the Purdue University to track that would best demonstrate desk with librarians. Libraries’ Management & Economics MEL’s value. The fields created were During the first year of using the Library (MEL) to demonstrate align- based on the Academic and College FootPrints tracking software, the staff- ment of work outcomes with the Purdue Research Libraries (ACRL) and College ing of librarians changed between the University Libraries overall strategic and University Business Libraries fall semester and the winter semes- plan—striving for excellence in discov- (CUBL)3 annual data surveys. ter because of the difference in the ery, learning, and engagement. Beyond reporting out for these nation- course offerings. This was determined In 2006, after taking the position as al association surveys, the need to make by tracking the patron type and number Head Librarian at MEL, my first priority sound organizational decisions, based of reference transactions by the time was to understand how the resources at on actual data rather than through they occurred, which was later in the MEL were being used, including human observation, was important for moving afternoon during the winter semester. resources. MEL was in the midst of forward with MEL’s transformation. In MEL was able to respond accordingly to a shifting paradigm, converting from particular, the need to rewrite the job provide the best possible service based a primarily print collection to a digital duties of faculty librarians and evaluate on actual data. Not only was FootPrints collection, which, in conjunction with a the staffing of public service points was useful in determining appropriate staff- major physical renovation, resulted in a necessary to allow the creation of new ing levels but it also became a valuable student-focused business information services. Today’s library users contact training tool for new staff when using the center. Organizational changes quickly the library for help in many different FootPrints knowledge database, which occurred, from the evaluation of all staff ways. Librarians are doing a signifi- searches the full text of each ticket. and faculty job responsibilities, to set- cant amount of reference work in their The FootPrints tracking software pro- ting organizational priorities, to increas- offices and through e-mail. Tracking vided information data that helped man- ing access to electronic resources and that activity reaps significant value for age MEL. It quickly became clear by delivering new library services. a library’s total output. MEL wanted to tracking other library unit processes by The implementation of workflow create a faculty research service, so creating new “projects” in FootPrints tracking software proved a vital asset tracking the activity of librarians away that MEL could increase internal library and assisted with all of this by accom- from the reference desk was helpful in efficiencies, resulting in better response plishing the following: determining how much support in hours time to user needs. A technical services • Helped to assess strategic initiatives. the library provided per faculty request. project was created to track acquisition of • Accelerated achievement of long- term organizational productivity improvements. • Leveraged knowledge transfer (internally and externally). • Reduced the learning curve while accelerating service responsiveness.

Prior to becoming a library director, I held the position of systems librarian. That experience introduced me to how academic information technology units tracked their phone, e-mail and in- person queries using helpdesk tracking software. The Purdue Libraries IT department was using Numara FootPrints software as a ticketing system for tracking customer issues. Since the software was already purchased for the Libraries

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 43 WORKFLOW TRACKING

Staﬀ must trust that management will use the tracking soft ware to beneﬁ t the overall user library experience, by demonstrating value and by increasing response time to service demands.

new materials and catalog maintenance tion. This was no less true for us in the reporting out performance measures issues. A Web development project was Global Information Services department were not sustainable for a variety of created to track vendor database issues at Bain & Company, a global manage- reasons (e.g., the inability to network so all staff had accurate up-to-date infor- ment consulting firm. We felt our goal the software globally, lack of timely data mation about our electronic resources to to align ourselves with Bain’s mission entry and reporting, no knowledge shar- better serve users. of “making companies more valuable” ing capability). By 2006, the challenge Incorporating workflow tracking soft- could be accomplished most effectively we faced was to find the tool(s) to help ware in MEL’s environment was a suc- by fostering collaborative relationships accomplish our goal, then implement a cess, but it may not be as successful between our research professionals sustainable process for demonstrating in all academic libraries. Gaining staff and their internal clients; having the our success to our team of more than buy-in to enter the data accurately and most effective information resources, 70 researchers across 35 offices as well in a timely manner for all staff to see is products and technology; empowering as to upper management. essential for success. In MEL’s setting, productive use of IS through train- We began by putting together a proj- all staff was assured that the data would ing; creating an extraordinary team of ect team whose task was to be the liai- not be used as a performance measure information professionals; and by pro- son between our research profession- but would be used to support decisions viding high-value research results and als, our IT Department and the vendor to enhance organizational effectiveness. services. Our dilemma was to put the (especially the vendor’s developers). Staff must trust that management will tools or processes in place that would This team drove the process of review- use the tracking software to benefit facilitate us collecting the data on what ing tools used by our competitors as the overall user library experience, by we were actually doing that would sup- well as other organizations while evalu- demonstrating value and by increasing port accomplishing this goal. ating the tool we ended up selecting: response time to service demands. Starting in 2000 with the inception eReference by Softlink. This included of a global approach to IS at our firm, reviewing and revising existing data we realized that there was a significant capture elements and processes and Toby Pearlstein’s Story: shortfall in our ability to globally monitor getting stakeholder buy in, defining Using Softlink’s and report on IS activities. From then our needs in “vendor speak,” hold- eReference at Bain & Co. to 2002, we were able to standardize ing the vendor’s hands throughout the some of our local and global report- development and testing phases and, One of the most critical tasks of IS ing, but we still had no comprehensive in the end, creating internal training managers in a corporate setting is to plan in place. Over the next few years, documentation. They were also respon- ensure that their department’s activi- we realized that our existing tool for sible for setting up a pilot program to ties are aligned with and contribute to workflow tracking and data gathering, test how our data would work with the the success of their parent organiza- Microsoft Access, and our process for considerable software customizations

44 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 WORKFLOW TRACKING

we required, gathering and responding • Enable better workflow management. prior to going live. We did live test- to researcher feedback, and arriving at • Be a platform for sharing insights. ing over four months and launched consensus in order to keep the project with four components to the new moving toward rollout. Who would have access and secu- Request Management System: Request It turned out to be quite fortuitous rity permission within the system were Tracking, Metrics & Workflow, Data that our project team of David Wallace important considerations in our environ- Sources Knowledge Base, and Charge- and Barbara Lewis resided in Bain’s ment, where client confidentiality must Backs (Cost Recovery). Sydney, Australia, office since the ven- be ensured. To achieve this, additional In any project like this, you want to dor’s developers were in Brisbane, customizations were made to enable close the loop to determine if the ben- Australia. In retrospect, having the blocking access to the details of a request efits you initially perceived were actu- team able to physically visit and talk for a specific time period while still track- ally realized. Ultimately, as we moved in person with the developers proved ing the progress of that request and through the pilot testing phase we found invaluable. Without this team’s passion including it as part of statistical reporting. that the benefits we identified matched and perseverance, we would not have Finally, even though “Cost Recovery” what we set out to accomplish by mov- succeeded. Our initial “wish list” was was considered as an optional field, we ing us to a new method of data capture straightforward. The new tool and pro- ultimately learned that the availability and reporting, and that this increased cesses had to: of this choice encouraged a number of our capacity for workflow management • Provide simpler, Web-based global offices who had not previously been as well as demonstrating globally our tracking of research requests. capturing this data to do so. contribution to the firm. • Be easy to maintain and customize. Over a period of about eight months, After about 17 months of active oper- • Reduce challenges to compliance. we worked with the vendor to set speci- ation, we began to realize a number of • Reduce complexity around data cap- fications for our desired customiza- additional benefits from using eRef and ture and reporting. tions, to move through the development the new reporting processes. It became • Reduce data entry time. process, and, finally, to get to a point possible for us to be more robust in our • Increase timeliness of reporting. where we could pilot the application knowledge sharing across offices. We

Click University 12 November 2008 Digital Content Management: Critical Deployment Issues In Process & Personnel, Part 2

Presenter: K. Matthew Dames, Partner Seso Group, LLC 3 December Green your Library, Part 1: Why It Is Important To Do It

Presenter: Anca Novacovici, Founder and President Eco-Coach, Inc www.sla.org/clickulive

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 45 WORKFLOW TRACKING

had more information and it was more time trumps any pilot testing. the focus of this article has been to easily accessible, organized by the • Make sure you and the vendor are just talk about the two systems chosen industry segments we served, to help us speaking the same language. Never by the presenters at last fall’s Boston with content selection and continuing assume that you define a word as they Chapter presentation. It’s appreciated education choices for our researchers, do, so be very specific about what you that there are other options out there, both as a group and individually. We mean and get their approval. and, if readers wish to share ideas on were able to prepare a more granular • Beware of underestimating any this subject, a blog has been set up statistical review for strategic capacity behavior/attitude changes that are just for such comments at http://info- planning. We increased the ability of our necessary to implement a new pro- workflow.wordpress.com. If we get sig- local IS managers to do ad hoc report- cess like this. Learning a new tool is nificant response, we will investigate ing to their office heads. And in terms relatively straightforward; changing publishing the results in an upcoming of opportunity analysis, it provided the your day-to-day work habits can be issue of Information Outlook. ability to monitor turnaround time and a real challenge to getting a new sys- support for client development. tem in place. FOOTNOTES

Some additional lessons we learned Conclusion 1 To see the slides from the presentations are worth mentioning: An ongoing challenge faced by infor- given at this event, go to the SLA Boston • Give yourself enough time to do the mation professionals today is how to Chapter Web site, http://units.sla.org/chap- project right. It is easy to get discour- best promote the tremendous value ter/cbos/meetings/fy07/mtgs_07.htm. aged as time goes by (it took us three and return on investment their services 2“Changing a Cultural Icon: The Academic years from the time we began think- can offer. Tomalee's and Toby’s efforts Library as a Virtual Destination,” article by J. ing about a change to actual rollout of in bringing these information workflow Campbell. Educause Review (1) 16-31, 2006. the new system and processes). tracking systems into their organizations • Don’t be surprised if after final rollout clearly had significant and beneficial 3CUBL is a section in SLA’s Business & you immediately see changes you impact in this regard. Finance Division. would like to make. Real-life use over However, it is worthwhile to note that

ANN CULLEN, a Curriculum Services Specialist, works directly with faculty in Harvard Business School’s MBA program to incorporate an understanding and use of business research resources into the course curriculum. She is an active member of SLA and currently serves on the Executive Board of the Business & Finance Division. Ann has a BA in Art History and Economics from New York University, and an MLS from Columbia University.

TOMALEE DOAN is an Associate Professor of Library Science at Purdue University. As Head Librarian of the Management and Economics Library, she is responsible for the leadership, management and all operational aspects of that library. Tomalee is an active member in SLA and currently the co-chair of Business & Finance Division Mentoring Program. Tomalee has a BA in Psychology from Indiana University and an MLS from Wayne State University.

TOBY PEARLSTEIN is retired Global Director of Information Services for Bain & Company, an international management consulting firm. An historian by training with a BA degree from the University of Massachusetts and a Masters in American History from the University of New Hampshire, she also holds Masters and Doctorate degrees from the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She is an SLA Fellow and a member of the SLA Hall of Fame.

46 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 SLA – CONNECTING YOU WITH YOUR FUTURE

Make the most of your SLA membership; enhance your career through unique and valuable member beneﬁ ts including:

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Click University’s™ “Course of the Month” offers you the opportunity to experience Click U on a trial basis. With a new course offered each month at no charge, you are sure to ﬁnd something to spark your interest.

Wikis, blogs, and discussion lists allow you to share information and advice with your colleagues. Explore and expand your networking opportunities. Get the latest information on everything from your chapter or division to the SLA Centennial Celebration and SLA 2009 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO.

For more information, and to view a full list of SLA member benefi ts, visit www.sla.org and click Membership/Member Benefi ts. New benefits, services, and discounts are added frequently.

Invest in SLA and invest in your future! INFO TECH

economy, no matter how difficult. I Preparing for Change In hope I don’t sound like too much of a Boy Scout or a Pollyanna, but there’s Technology and the Economy nothing wrong with hoping for the best with a positive attitude, while preparing for the worst. OpportunitiesDept. Deck will open up for those who are ready, especially for librarians and information professionals as A Dozen Good Ideas represented by the membership of SLA. So, here are a dozen ideas for using BY STEPHEN ABRAM technology to enhance your career and marketability:

If you’ve been living under a rock, ing the downturns of the 70s and 80s. Keep involved in SLA and you’re lucky in a way! I was only half I know from personal experience how 1 keep your membership in good connected to the news about the fun- hard this is. Then again, it’s an ill wind grace. Mainly, it looks good to many damental economic changes affect- that doesn’t bring some good. Here are employers on a résumé. Employers ing our lives as I travelled through two things to remember if you’re being want involved professionals. If you’re Europe, Australia and New Zealand affected by this downturn: unemployed, we have a special in late August and early September. First, losing your job as a result of an membership rate to tide you over. Consequently, I found myself thrown economic downturn, due to bankrupt- SLA is relevant for every stage of into it big time when I returned home cies, stock market breakdowns or other your career. through New York and Long Island— financial issues has nothing to do with ground zero of the financial meltdown. your value as a person or your value Use the services of SLA. You’ve Like you, I am awestruck by the sheer as a librarian. You are still a good and 2 already paid for them! There is dimensions of these changes. I was worthwhile person and a valuable pro- a ton of value using your member ID also humbled by the good hearts of the fessional. I know sometimes it doesn’t and password on the SLA Web site. folks I met there at meetings, and their feel that way, but it’s true. You have access to the SLA Career sincere caring for each other as friends Second, at times like these you will Center, the SLA Innovation Lab to and colleagues. As always, my SLA know others who are going through learn or orient yourself to new soft- colleagues continue to impress. these disruptions. They need your ware, the SLA 23 Things learning Unfortunately, last January I made support and friendship. Don’t neglect initiative to train yourself for a 2.0 note of this coming economic even- them. Send them a note. Let them world, the 1,000+ eBooks on leader- tuality in my opening remarks at my know if you can help and that you ship, management and KM to read presidential inauguration in Louisville care. SLA can provide a good struc- up on your soft skills. Also, don't as did our CEO, Janice Lachance. The ture for supporting our colleagues. forget the blogs and discussion lists potential for an economic downturn Friendships and professional relation- from other divisions and chapters. that would have a negative impact on ships trump economics every time. And, don’t neglect to look and take our members and SLA was written Whether you’re weathering the advantage of the great things you fairly large on the wall. I wish I had storm, fear more disruption or you’re paid for already! You’ll be much bet- been wrong, but many of us have been actively looking for a new position for ter prepared for any interview. through these economic cycles before. whatever reason, there are number They’re difficult and they’re upsetting. of things you can do to be prepared. Of course, it should go without I still recall personally losing jobs dur- There are always opportunities in any 3 saying that you should always

STEPHEN ABRAM, MLS, is the president of SLA and is vice president, innovation, for SirsiDynix. He is chief strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute. He is an SLA Fellow, the past president of the Ontario Library Association, and the past president of the Canadian Library Association. In June 2003, he was awarded SLA’s John Cotton Dana Award. He is the author of Out Front with Stephen Abram and Stephen’s Lighthouse blog. This column contains his personal perspectives and does not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of SirsiDynix. You may contact him at [email protected].

48 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 INFO TECH

have your CV or résumé up-to-date sites. You are an alumna or alumnus assistance of colleagues at SLA. The but sometimes we forget until that’s of various schools. Most care about SLA membership directory, referred urgent. Probably no one is com- the success of their grads. It’s worth to colloquially as the Who’s Who, is pletely safe in this environment, a call to check in and see what they your source of friendly fellow mem- so think back. What articles have know. bers who can help. you written lately? What speeches have you given? What projects have Read these books: Marcus It’s never too late to invest you led? What committees did you 7 Buckingham’s Now Discover 11 in your own professional participate in? What skills have you Your Strengths (take the free online development. Thousands of profes- added? Spend an evening getting test), and Go Put Your Strengths to sional development opportunities this into good shape so you have it Work: 6 Powerful Steps to Achieve are discoverable through SLA’s Click at hand. You can always customize it Outstanding Performance, and University. You even have the free later. Now make sure you have your What Color is Your Parachute. All Click U Course of the Month. And résumé stored someplace where it’s three have helped me through dif- the SLA Innovation Lab and 23 safe and not just on a PC or server ficult periods in my career to iden- Things are free too. What do you that may become inaccessible. It’s tify my strengths and communicate want your next position to involve? the same for samples of your work. them well. Check out the free eBrary Do you have sample screenshots e-books and the execuBooks weekly Lastly, nothing is better of intranets or Web pages you’ve business book summaries available as 12 than being interesting! Read designed? How about sample reports part of your SLA membership. There’s Edward de Bono’s great book, How of your work? Articles, blog post- real value here for you to build your to be Interesting. I did and found ings, reviews? Within the bounds of skills and patter. it extremely useful. I’m not great or your ethics and contract, make sure even comfortable at small talk and you have a good portfolio ready. You Now is the time to participate I found this book to have a whole may need proofs someday. Are these 8 even more in your SLA chapters’ bunch of great tips. We are an inter- stored somewhere safe at home or or divisions’ discussion lists. It gets national association of interesting have you e-mailed them to your per- your name out there. It promotes people. We have interesting perspec- sonal Web-based e-mail account? you as a good thinker and engaged tives and contributions to make, now professional. Don’t overdo it and, and into the future. Let’s bring our Start checking out the salary sur- obviously, make sure you’re helpful candles out from under the baskets 4 veys. What is the current market? and professional, but it’s certainly and shine our light everywhere. Ask friends and colleagues what the a great resource for support, knowl- market is like right now. Some geo- edge and advice. Volunteer for unit I believe these economic changes to graphic markets, or other sectors and positions or international commit- be parallel to those that took place in industries, are more buoyant than tees, and contribute. the 1930s. Opportunities will open up others. How is your mobility? Can for those who are ready as we create you move physically? Are your skills Register and start collecting the information and knowledge-based transportable if you described them 9 professional contacts and col- economy, especially for librarians and in another way? If you discover you’re leagues in the major social net- information professionals as represent- underpaid (and who isn’t!), maybe working sites such as LinkedIn, ed by the membership of SLA. you want to move anyway. Plaxo, Facebook, Naymz, Ning, etc. Good luck to all and be careful out You’ll find many of your fellow SLA there. Care about each other and con- Check out the online job sites. members in these networking sites tinue to support SLA. SLA 5 Places like Monster, Hot Jobs already. The spoils can go to those and Workopolis are great places to who are connected in an effective get advice, see job prospects and way. Build your network beyond the surf to gain insights. Set up alerts walls of your employer. on these for your search or research. (You may even have these already Be sure to attend your local set up as part of your competitive 10 chapter meetings. Now is the intelligence research, eh?) time to ensure that you are broaden- ing your network and circle of con- Check with your local library tacts. From personal experience, I 6 school or iSchool. Many have can attest that I rarely got hired for a career centers and advice or Web new position without the advice and

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 49 INFO RIGHTS

Property (WIPO) Copyright Treaty; Report Proposes Limitations the Agreement on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (the and Exceptions to Copyright TRIPs Agreement) of the World Trade Organization (WTO); and the European Union (EU) Copyright Directive. Librarians in countries that are parties TheDept. proposed Deck instrument is to have certain minimum goals to one or more of these instruments, that are relevant to information professionals, including such as the United States, Canada and eliminating barriers to trade in information service activities. EU countries, will be particularly inter- BY LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS ested in any new international instrument that might be proposed. The authors discuss these existing Two law professors, P. Bernt that lack access to books and other limitations and exceptions, as well as Hugenholtz of the University of educational materials. how they have been interpreted in dis- Amsterdam and Ruth L. Okediji of As for the environment in which pute resolution forums. They discuss the University of Minnesota, recently information professionals operate, the the introduction under the instruments issued their final report recommending authors suggest that limitations and of a general “three-step test” for the a new international legal instrument exceptions are of great importance in applicability of a limitation or exception. on limitations and exceptions to copy- light of at least two elements. First, In sum, the test sets out that permis- right. The report reflects the input of advances in information and commu- sible limitations and exceptions would copyright experts who participated in nication technologies have transformed be those that 1) are not overly broad, a workshop sponsored by the Open how information is produced, dis- 2) do not rob rights holders of a real or Study Institute. As the authors note, seminated and stored, and there is a potential source of income that is sub- limitations and exceptions amount to consequent challenge to the traditional stantive, and 3) do not result in dispro- mechanisms of access to copyright- scope and operation of copyright law. portional harm to the rights holders. protected materials, and are of practi- Second, the authors argue that global- cal importance to librarians and others ization is not without accompanying Rationale for a New who are interested and involved in the costs, and these costs will increase the International Instrument dissemination of knowledge. broad need for innovation and knowl- Since limitations and exceptions The authors highlight several rea- edge dissemination. A new multilateral are currently recognized in existing sons why limitations and exceptions instrument dedicated to limitations international copyright instruments, are an important component of the and exceptions can draw from vari- the rationale for a new international balance that copyright law should ous national practices to construct a instrument might not be immediately achieve. They mention traditional goals framework that reflects the competing apparent. The authors address this relevant to libraries and information interests of creators and owners/users point by suggesting that a new inter- providers, as well as new and emerg- of copyright-protected materials. national instrument on limitations and ing ones that derive from the changing exceptions offers nations an excellent information environment. Present Situation opportunity to harmonize and balance In the traditional context, the authors Limitations and exceptions to copyright the increased standards of copyright note that, if appropriately designed, do exist in current multilateral instru- protection established in the various limitations and exceptions to copyright ments, such as the Berne Convention existing instruments addressing copy- should help ease the needs of those for the Protection of Literary and right limitations and exceptions. people and organizations everywhere Artistic Works; the World Intellectual Further, harmonization of limitations

LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS is a copyright lawyer who consults on legal, business, and strategic issues in the publishing, content, entertainment, Internet and information industries. he is the editor of the print publication, The Copyright and New Media Law Newsletter. If you would like a sample copy of this newsletter, e-mail: contact@ copyrightlaws.com. Lesley is also a Professor at SLA’s Click University and teaches the Click University Certificate in Copyright Management.

50 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 INFO RIGHTS

and exceptions existing in copyright Proposed Elements of limitations and exceptions. The instru- laws of a signatory country would New Instrument ment would also outline the scope of reduce reliance on the courts of that The authors expect the proposed inter- the “three-step test” and guidance in country for interpreting multilateral national instrument to have certain interpreting it. accords. The foreseen result would be minimum goals that are relevant to The full text of the report can be greater predictability for those, such information professionals, including found at: http://www.ivir.nl/publica- as librarians, who may seek to take eliminating barriers to trade in informa- tions/hugenholtz/limitations_excep- advantage of limitations and exceptions tion service activities; facilitating access tions_copyright.pdf. Appendix A to the in practice. The authors also argue to information products; and providing report outlines the limitations recog- that implementing a new international international consistency in copyright nized by the Berne Convention, and instrument on limitations and excep- law’s approach to the balance neces- Appendix B lists the current manda- tions would help to eliminate inconsis- sary for knowledge dissemination. tory exceptions and limitations in the tency and uncertainty, and to achieve The authors propose some content existing international copyright instru- greater transparency and uniformity for a new international instrument. ments. SLA of protection standards. For example, A detailed review of their proposal according to the authors, the “three- is beyond the scope of this column, step test” mentioned above has been but, in general, they suggest it might applied with considerable inconsis- outline broad exclusions from copy- tency and uncertainty. The greater uni- right protection, such as facts, ideas, formity, certainty, and predictability the laws and government works; set out authors foresee would, in turn, would limits to economic rights that might facilitate transborder trade online and permit various nonpublic communica- in traditional media, both with potential tion activities; and also specifically impact to information professionals. enumerate mandatory and optional

Align in 2009: Leadership Tips and Techniques

Featuring Keynote Speaker: STEPHEN MCGARVEY Visit www.sla.org/2009LeadershipSummit 14 - 17 January 2009 for more information and to register. Hyatt Regency Savannah Savannah, GA USA

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 51 INFO BUSINESS

where I have recently begun working. Launching Your Info Pro Making good impressions and developing your reputation from the time you Career? Self-Promotion Is Key enter the MLIS, or whatever information program you attend, is a must for future success. Ultimately,Dept. Deck self-promotion works best if you are a good communicator and you have something of value to Overcoming Introversion communicate. Although a bit stereotypical, informa- BY DEBBIE SCHACHTER tion professionals do tend to be more introverted than many other types of professionals. As for my experiences I was recently invited to speak at a with, how we help or support, how as a new information professional, I School of Library and Information we challenge or bump up against found it difficult to strike up conversa- Studies about my personal experi- other people. Most of us also have tions with other information profes- ences working in special libraries and, people rooting for us on the sidelines, sionals when I first started making for- in particular, about my thoughts on whether they are personal or profes- ays into conferences and association how to effectively use self-promotion sional contacts. And many of the events. Working on my conversation to develop one’s career. I did write a relationships that we develop over our skills became the first order of busi- column, a couple of years ago, about careers form part of this extended cir- ness. These skills flow naturally when self-promotion for the information cle of support. How we promote our- feeling confident about yourself and professional and the importance of selves to our colleagues and develop having something interesting to share developing skills in this area. the professional image that we want with others. It’s important for us as The essential nature of self-promo- to project is part of what we must do information professionals to remem- tion has become evident to almost all as we seek to become established in ber how we all needed support when in the library world by now. And in a the profession. we started. Thus we need to make it world full of open access to personal On reflection, I realized that many easier for the new grads or informa- information on most people, the qual- people whom I had met during my tion professionals to start developing ity of the information becomes even MLS program and in every organiza- their networks with our help. more important. As we have heard tion since, have had significant impact More and more today, we can also from many news articles, the infor- on my career, and will undoubt- appreciate that the newly minted mation that we make public about edly continue to do so. In particular, I information professionals have ourselves on the Internet is searched wanted to emphasize to the students many of the cutting-edge informa- and viewed, and forms part of the the fact that many of their school col- tion technology skills that the more assessment of us as professionals as leagues are the first stop in networking established professional may not well as private individuals. The impact and developing skills in self-promotion. have been able to develop. This fact that negative impressions can have Throughout my career, former school should make it easy for established on your professional reputation, or on colleagues have occasionally been information professionals to be open your ability to build your professional responsible for hiring me for positions, to networking with new grads. We role, is significant. How we begin our acting as informal references within can realize a direct benefit person- networking and self-promotion in the the information center and, even after ally and professionally by seeking the early stages in our career is an impor- many years, are individuals in sig- knowledge and expertise of our new- tant concern for all new professionals. nificant roles at the new organization est information professionals. As part of my talk, I thought back to my career path to date. At first I thought only of the progression of DEBBIE SCHACHTER has master’s degrees in library science positions, and the formal way that I and business administration. She is the area manager-East for the went about fitting in, developing prac- Vancouver, British Columbia, Public Library, with the responsibil- tical skills and following a traditional ity for managing six branch libraries. She has more than 15 years’ job application process. I didn’t really experience in a variety of nonprofit and for-profit settings, and is see that self-promotion came into the the president-elect of SLA’s Western Canada Chapter. She can be picture until I realized that I was miss- reached at [email protected]. ing the obvious. Almost everything we do is about people—how we interact

52 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 INFO BUSINESS

During my talk, I suggested to stu- many that are lasting today. I also cutting edge and of significant value dents that they should start thinking gained experience and networked to professionals working in the field. about writing and publishing articles. with working professionals through Students should be encouraged to see The students felt that this would not taking on roles within my SLA chap- their own strengths for contributing to be possible, as they would not be ter early in my career and by attend- the profession, even as the very newest perceived as experts in any area. I ing events, conferences and continu- information professionals. pointed out that they have expertise ing education opportunities. Ultimately, self-promotion works in new technologies that is more The idea of writing came to me after best if you are a good communicator extensive than that of many librar- a number of years in the field, as I and you have something of value to ians who have been in the field for began to consider ideas that I thought communicate. Communicating well a number of years. Libraries and were of interest and worth investigating and understanding what people want information centers in all industries and communicating to others. These to hear is similar to the art of negoti- seem to understand this and are thoughts turned into a regular column ating—there has to be something in it happy to take advantage of the influx that I have been writing monthly ever for both parties. Start small by devel- of information arising out of projects since. Writing provides the opportunity oping your conversational skills first, and research by students. We need to to contribute to the profession and at and appreciate that your good actions help the new information profession- the same time is an opportunity for will eventually speak for themselves. als to understand that we are seeking self-directed continuing education. So get involved, and don’t be afraid to guidance from them in many ways, Developing an expertise through per- tell people what you’ve done. SLA just as we are seeking to help guide sonal interest also leads to opportuni- them through the expertise we have ties for speaking at conferences or developed over the years. workshops and, again, is an important method of self-promotion. One good place for your self-pro- Finding Ways to Promote Yourself motion is within your résumé. All of Self-promotion is about feeling con- the professional and continuing edu- fident in your skills and abilities, and cation activities are important to put being able to convey that information into your résumé, as this is one place to others. In particular, being able to where you generally feel comfortable convey how you are the right person promoting yourself. Employers look for for a particular position or project. your involvement in the profession as Developing your leadership skills is well as your actual work experience, a good way to work on your confi- so make sure to include all activities dence and develop effective working that show your interests and involve- relationships. It comes down to really ments in a good light. knowing yourself—understanding your SLA holds events including network- learning and communication styles ing and social events and continuing and seeking feedback from colleagues education opportunities, both in person and supervisors, fellow students and and virtually around the world, and instructors. Work on the areas where they are a good place to start network- you see your skills to be lacking. ing within the special libraries com- I started my self-promotion through munity. Within chapters and divisions, simple introductions and personal frequently there are traditional mentor- actions, such as getting known ing opportunities for new professionals. through library tours, practicum and There are also opportunities today for working in different libraries during reverse mentoring—a relatively new my time at library school. I tried to idea, where established information be open to challenges and ideas and professionals look to new information to being proactive at school and in professionals as mentors in new tech- the workplace. This helps to show nologies. Writing opportunities exist interest in an organization, in a posi- through online newsletters, Web sites, tion and in the profession itself. As a print publications and more. Students student, I was able to get to know a often feel that they have nothing to number of my classmates very well, contribute, but the reality is that stu- and I have built relationships with dent projects and expertise may be

INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 53 STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP

SLA E-VOTE NOTICE

SLA’s Board of Directors has approved a recommendation from the Bylaws Committee, and is referring to the SLA voting membership for e-vote, changes to the SLA Bylaws affecting the composition of the board and the terms of its members. To learn more about the proposed amendments and to prepare yourself for an informed vote, visit www.sla.org/bylaws.

The SLA e-vote system will be open 5 November – 24 November 2008 for the bylaws amendment vote.

Legal Notice - This action has been submitted to voting members of SLA for approval by written consent. In accordance with SLAs’ Certiﬁcate of Incorporation and Bylaws, any action which may be taken at a meeting of voting members may be taken without a meeting if the action is approved in writing by voting members holding a majority of the voting power of the members voting on such action, presuming the number of votes approving such action is equal to at least a quorum. If you elect to cast your vote online, you hereby agree that taking such action, voting either for or against the proposed amendment, shall constitute signing a written consent of members.

54 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 INFO MANAGEMENT

Before gave some excellent advice, suggest- Be Prepared the ing that “if your boss is working on restructuring plans and asks for ideas, Recession Bites offer some realistic solutions. Don’t fight change; energize your colleagues around it.” Also, by becoming a face to management rather than an overhead Dept.Wallowing Deck in self-pity and blaming others for the global gives you a much better chance of sur- financial tsunami will not impress management. What will vival when the ax falls. impress them is being positive and acting like a survivor. Focus on strategy and mission. To BY JOHN R. LATHAM quote from a post in SLA CEO Janice Lachance’s Executive Connections, “In times of economic uncertainty, ‘nice to Being prepared is not just the Boy changes and allow you to develop your have’ is not necessarily nice enough to Scouts’ solemn plea; it has a chill- services to meet these challenges. keep. Your library or information center ing reality in these economically dif- Wallowing in self-pity and blaming oth- must be viewed as mission critical.” ficult times. If your organizations or ers for the global financial tsunami will Getting back to basics is becoming institutions are feeling the pinch with not impress management. What will the new mantra. The short-term flights reduced net income, you may be see- impress them is being positive and act- of fancy brought short-term profit, ing budget cuts already, but if not the ing like a survivor. You will have to look but they encouraged management to effects are sure to show up in next at competitive intelligence in a different take their eyes off the proverbial ball. year’s budget. Wherever you are within light, looking for failures or weaknesses Take a look at your department’s mis- your budget cycle, it is time to brush in your competitors from which your sion and strategic plan and check if up on your financials and to think organization can benefit. It is ever priorities have changed and whether about survival. more important now to prove your some services should be reduced or In my September 2007 column, value to the organization by showing cut. Don’t forget that this may be a I explained how understanding the your relevance to the work at hand. good time to outsource repetitive or finances of your organization and In difficult times, communication is low values services so that you can your department is one of your key vital. Become more visual and listen concentrate on value-added work. It is responsibilities. Now is the time to find to what’s going on. It’s probably not just at times like these that manage- out whether you do or not. A couple a good idea to take up smoking, but ment should be investing in improving of important things to do now are to get to the water cooler to pick up the information collection and use, and not compare your actual results with your buzz and see how you can use it to cutting it out. budgeted figures for 2008 and reas- your advantage. Communicating does Nobody likes financial uneasiness sess your projection for your current not only mean speaking. Listening is and everyone fears the unknown, so budget year. If you want any help, go just as important. With a little bit of it is important to emphasize the core and chat with the accountant. He/ research, you might find evidence values of your work, services and prod- she will be most impressed that you to refute some half-truth, and that ucts. Take a good look at all of them are taking the finances seriously in will be a great relief to management. and offer to cut the less valuable ones. advance, and will be more than happy Remember, in spite of the oft-held It is often easier for senior manage- to help you. Depending on how your belief, senior management does not ment to cut out a whole department. finance department is organized, ask like restructuring and layoffs. It’s By offering cuts of your own, you show the accountant or perhaps the finance time to be managerially mature and your commitment to the organization director or comptroller if there are any to be supportive. In a recent Harvard as a whole and may therefore avoid a major changes being made within the Business Review article on how to pro- much sharper knife. SLA organization that might impact your tect your job in a recession, the author services and also ask them if there is anything you can do to help. Anticipating the changing needs of your customers, both external and JOHN R. LATHAM is the director of the SLA Information Center. internal, should be your top priority. He can be reached at [email protected]. Finding out from the finance folks The Information Center is sponsored by what plans they have to overcome the Dow Jones & Company, Inc. problems created by the new business environment will help you anticipate

55 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 INFORMATION OUTLOOK V12 N11 NOVEMBER 2008 55 COMING EVENTS / AD INDEX

OTHER EVENTS 14 - 17 JUNE 2009

NOVEMBER FEBRUARY SLA Annual Conference Washington, DC, USA 12-15 9-12 www.sla.org MCN 2008 Electronic Resources & Libraries Museum Computer Network UCLA For more information on these Washington, DC, USA Los Angeles, CA, USA SLA online seminars, and to regis- www.mcn.edu/conferences/index.asp www.electroniclibrarian.org/ocs/index.php/ ter, go to www.sla.org/clickulive. erl/2009Technology 09 26-28 International Conference of Asian Special Libraries MARCH MAY NOVEMBER 08 SLA Asian Chapter New Delhi, India 22-24 15-20 12 http://units.sla.org/chapter/cas/icoasl2008. ASIDIC Spring 2009 Meeting MLA 2009 Annual Meeting Digital Content Management: Critical html Association for Information Medical Library Association Deployment Issues in Process & and Dissemination Centers Honolulu, HI, USA Personnel, Part 2 Tampa, FL, USA www.mlanet.org/am/am2009/

DECEMBER 30-1 Apr. 25-30 DECEMBER 08 Computers in Libraries Libraries in the Digital Age (LIDA) 2-4 Information Today 2009 3 Online Information 2008 Arlington, VA, USA Inter-University Centre and Green Your Library, Part 1: Why It Is London, UK www.infotoday.com/cil2009/default.shtml University of Zadar Important to Do It www.online-information.co.uk/index.html Dubrovnik and Zadar, Croatia 30-1 Apr. www.ffos.hr/lida/ 17 2-5 Librarians' Information Literacy Green your Library, Part 2: Easy 11th Int’l Conference Annual Conference (LILAC) Steps You Can Take to Do It on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries CILIP CSG Bali, Indonesia Information Literacy Group www.icadl2008.org/ Cardiff, Wales, UK JANUARY 09 www.lilacconference.com/dw/index.html 9-10 29 Persistence of Memory: Ten Trends and Techniques for 2009 Sustaining Digital Collections Northeast Document APRIL Conservation Center Chicago, IL, USA 6-8 FEBRUARY 09 www.nedcc.org/education/conferences/ General Online Research 09 pom2008/pombroc.php German Society for 11 Online Research Part 1: Basics of Web Site 10-12 Vienna, Austria Management 52nd Military Libraries Workshop www.gor.de/gor09/index_en.php Military Librarians Division of SLA ADVERTISING INDEX 25 Monterey, CA, USA 8-11 Part 2: Basics of Web Site www.dtic.mil/mlw/2008/index.html PCA/ACA 10K Wizard...... 2 Management 2009 National Conference Popular Culture Association & American Chemical Society .. .. . C2 American Culture Association Chemical Abstracts Service LIS C3 JANUARY New Orleans, LA, USA Chemical Abstracts Service STN 15 MARCH 09 www.pcaaca.org/conference/national.php Copyright Clearance Center ...... 42 14-17 DTIC ...... 8 11 2009 SLA Leadership Summit 15-18 Part1: Advanced Web Searching Special Libraries Association Museums and the Web 2009 IEEE ...... 1 Strategies: Google and Friends Savanah, GA, USA Archives and Museums Informatics Online Information 2008 ...... 21 www.sla.org/2009/LeadershipSummit Indianapolis, IN, USA Thomson Dialog...... C4 25 www.archimuse.com/mw2009/ Part 2: Advanced Web Searching 23-28 Strategies: Beyond the Web ALA 2009 Midwinter Meeting 27-29 Databases American Library Association Business Information Systems 2009 Denver, CO, USA Poznan University of Economics SLA PRODUCTS AND SERVICES www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/upcom- Poznan, Poland ing/midwinter/home.cfm http://bis.kie.ae.poznan.pl/12th_bis/?i=63 Call for Nominations ...... 33 30-1 Feb. Call for Papers ...... 39 Technology Conference 2009 Click U Live ...... 45 International Conference Recruit and Win ...... 27 on Technology, Knowledge For information on these and and Society Salary Survey 2008 ...... 6 other Click University courses Huntsville, AL, USA SLA 2009 ...... 4 and seminars, including new http://t09.cgpublisher.com classes on copyright, SLA E-Vote Notice ...... 54 see www.clickuniversity.com. SLA Leadership Summit...... 51 SLA Member Benefits ...... 47

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