Information Outlook, May 2006

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Information Outlook, 2006 Information Outlook, 2000s

5-2006

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SLA MEMBER PROFILE 12 Columns and ‘I Am and Always Will Be a Librarian’ Departments By Forrest Glenn Spencer 5 COVER STORY : CAREER Executive Outlook A Challenging and Provocative Year 17 By Pam Rollo 10 Steps to a Successful Job Match By Kathryn Kennedy 6 News CASE STUDY 6 23 Web Sites Worth a Click By Carolyn J. Sosnowski Embedded in Systems Engineering How One Organization Makes It Work By Michael F. Moore 10 Business Management Relationship and Network Building JOURNALS By Debbie Schachter 26 32 The ‘Big Three League’ in the Media Copyright Corner By Tony Stankus Reprography Collectives By Lesley Ellen Harris 33 Coming Events/Ad Index 34 Information Tech What Can MySpace Teach Us in Special Libraries By Stephen Abram 36 Information Management Everyone Is a (Bad) Librarian By John R. Latham

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 3 The Monthly Magazine of the Special Libraries Association Vol. 10, No. 5 May 2006

Publisher, Editor in Chief: John T. Adams III ([email protected]) Editor: Loretta Y. Britten ([email protected]) Columnists: Stephen Abram Lesley Ellen Harris Janice R. Lachance John R. Latham Pam Rollo Debbie Schachter Carolyn J. Sosnowski Layout & Design: Nathan Yungkans

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4 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 A Challenging and Provocative Year

Behind the scenes, we investigated new current Board of Directors for being so opportunities to expand programming committed to champion big issues. I within Europe and to establish programs would like to thank our association for senior or executive members. We for- executives who continue to experiment mally collaborated with ongoing confer- in their roles in an effort to provide even ences this year by returning to the more value. Our committees worked European Business Information Conference very diligently behind the scenes. Lastly, and initiating support with E-Content. We I can’t thank all the members who vol- think that this provided us insight into the unteered to be task force leaders and interests of our current members and the members enough, as they really made a interests of potential members. In both momentous contribution, one that we cases, SLA was welcomed and our recogni- will probably be acting on for the next tion was real. few years. The association also participated in Specifically, I would also like to big issues this year, particularly the thank Ethel Salonen and Rebecca global Internet governance decision that Vargha who have been great colleagues was reached in December 2005 through and tremendous work mates. The tri- the United Nations program,WYSIS. Our umvirate has been effective, supportive, This year has been challenging and influence continues to grow globally and fun. provocative for me. When I began the through IFLA. Being president of the association is presidency, I was wise enough to know So while there is much to follow up, really a celebration of the members. I that I was really only going to get to there are also emerging issues that con- met many members this year, which I investigate most of the issues I felt were tinue to demand our attention. will say is the most pleasurable and self- important. Through the taskforces, SLA Outsourcing didn’t fade, and many ish thing I have done. Our members are will be lucky enough to have begun members of the profession did not real, talented, committed, funny, and thinking about our professional values immediately join some new paradigm of gracious. They are unselfish in their and the value we bring to the industry. the information industry. The associa- hospitality and untiring in their efforts. We also demonstrated how much we tion must encourage the graduate edu- Now there is just one more major event value our colleagues through our efforts cation programs to embrace curriculum to confront. I am very much looking for- (both staff and members) with the that makes us even more competitive. ward to our annual conference in Natural Disaster Task Force. Current copyright laws still challenge Baltimore. The program is ground shift- We are identifying new members the clear distribution of published ing and insists on innovation. I would and have thought seriously about part- resources regardless of the author’s like to specifically thank Karen Reczek ners and collaborating. We will have intentions. Positively, there are several and her conference planning committee suggestions on how to shape our future new tools for our members to use in the and most certainly our colleagues who and recommendations for new pro- introduction of collaborative workspace, acted as program planners. grams for members. We will also have blogs, wikis and social computing mod- I look forward to congratulating our taken a good look at different models els (oh my!). award winners and catching up with all for chapters, to be executed according This year we made a beginning on my colleagues whom I only manage to to the needs of the members wherever the agenda we proposed. This was see at conference. Conference will be they will be. another year in which to look outward. multi-media this year, so look for an We will also have, for the first time in To improve the way the association is opportunity to experience it live regard- many years, currently conducted viewed and interpreted, and to continue less of where you are. research into our practice. to seize a role for it on traditional infor- I would like to thank all of you for This year we experimented with dif- mation platforms, and to look to gain the extraordinary experience of this year ferent communication programs, entrée to platforms untried. There is still and for the honor of being a leader with- planned and robust, spontaneous and quite a bit to do. in SLA. targeted. While I didn’t anticipate the I would like to thank all my col- thoughts of every member’s opinion, I leagues who worked so passionately responded as quickly as I was able. and intensely. I would like to thank the

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 5 sla

SLA Scholarship Winners

By Carolyn J. Sosnowski, MLIS Five outstanding students have been selected to receive SLA scholarships. The winners, chosen by the SLA Scholarship Committee, will be hon- ored at the association’s 2006 Annual Conference in Baltimore, June 11-14. LISTA The Institute for Scientific Information Scholarship is granted for begin- www.libraryresearch.com ning graduate study leading to a Ph.D. from a recognized program in library Just what we’ve been waiting for—a free biblio- science, information science, or related fields of study. This year, Judith graphic database of LIS resources. LISTA, or Library, Gelernter of Rutgers University, is the winner. Information Science and Technology Abstracts, pro- The SLA Scholarship is awarded for graduate study in librarianship lead- vides access to more than 600 periodicals, books, and ing to a master’s degree at a recognized school of library or information sci- other monographs. (EBSCO’s LISTA with Full Text is ence. Applicants must have earned or be preparing to receive a bachelor’s a new subscription-based product that contains more degree with an interest in special librarianship. This year’s winners are than 100 full-text sources.) The search tool permits Jennifer Robin Fick, University of Maryland; Brettany N. Johnson, multi-field searching, so it’s easy to find just what University of Alberta; and Ari Kleiman, San Jose State University. you are looking for. Want to find articles with “blog” The SLA Affirmative Action Scholarship is granted to a member of a in the title published in the past year? No prob- racial minority group—defined by the U.S. government as American Indian lem…there are more than fifty records with those or Alaska native, Asian, black or African American, native Hawaiian or parameters. Need to know more about metadata, other Pacific islander, Hispanic or Latino—for graduate study in librarian- open access, wireless technology? LISTA is a good ship leading to a master’s degree at a recognized school of library or infor- first step. Sometimes we forget that we need to read mation science. This year’s recipient is Candace Anne Wing-Yee Mack, for professional development and not just find arti- University of California-Los Angeles. cles for our clients. LISTA is our friend…and a Web SLA CEO Janice R. Lachance offered congratulations to the winners, say- Site Worth a Click. ing, “SLA Scholarships are an excellent way to promote the amazing potential in the library and information profession. We believe these students and The European Library many others deserve to be recognized as the innovators and leaders for www.theeuropeanlibrary.org tomorrow’s global community of information professionals.” The European Library is a portal to digital More detailed biographical information is online at www.sla.org/scholarships. resources from the national libraries of Europe. It provides multiple ways to access the collections unique needs of these groups, the (some items are free, some fee-based), which cover Interested in Diversity? Inclusion Caucus is a spotlight in newspapers to literature to sheet music. Search the Check Out Inclusion Caucus which diversity work being done entire library or individual resource groups by coun- throughout the membership is fea- try, or browse detailed subject categories. If you The Inclusion Caucus, formed tured. aren’t sure where to start, even collection descrip- during the 2005 SLA Annual Caucus members can read a blog tions can be searched to target the best resources for Conference in Toronto, is a new that provides top-level surveys of your research needs. Not all of the national libraries partner collaborating with SLA the latest information relevant to are “full participants”; the content is still a work in units to provide a clearinghouse for inclusion; add content to an online progress, and the search functionality will also be the activities and practices that best discussion space and document improved. The Library can be viewed in several lan- promote inclusion. library in the SLA community of guages, making it a truly international tool. Founded on the belief that diver- practice; attend the business meet- sity is a key competitive advantage, ing and social gathering at SLA's the caucus encourages conversation annual conference; pair up for infor- Webopedia and action toward building a global mal mentoring on working with www.webopedia.com professional community across the and succeeding in a diverse world. With changes happening so fast these days, it can spectrum of ethnicity, geography, For more information on the be very difficult to keep up with technology termi- political views, religion, sexual ori- Inclusion Caucus, see http://sla- nology. The folks at Internet.com have brought us entation, gender, ability, and age. divisions.typepad.com/sla_ this dictionary of words and phrases to keep us on With the many SLA units inclusion_caucus. continues on Page 8 already working to represent the Attribution A sidebar in the November 2004 Information Outlook, “The Millennial Generation” (Vol. 8, No. 11, pp 18-19) should have been attrib- uted to the Beloit College Mindset List. Distributed every August, the list provides a look at the life experiences of entering freshmen. The list on which the article is based was released in 1998 for the class of 2002. It is online at www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/2002.html. For the list for the class of 2009, see www.beloit.edu/%7Epubaff/mindset/.

6 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 SLA has tapped the “stars” of the profession for their excellence and accomplishments. Outstanding individuals have been recognized for the SLA 2006 Awards and Honors.

Jackie Desoer, MLS Judith J. Field, MLS, MBA, FSLA Barbara Beverley, MA, MLS Jan Chindlund, MLS Sue Henczel SLA HALL OF FAME JOHN COTTON DANA AWARD ROSE L. VORMELKER AWARD FELLOW OF SLA FELLOW OF SLA

Marjorie Hlava Neil Infield, MLS Juanita Richardson, MLIS, MBA Lisl Zach, Ph.D. Pam Osborne, MLS FELLOW OF SLA FELLOW OF SLA FELLOW OF SLA SLA PRESIDENT'S AWARD SLA PROFESSIONAL AWARD

Raymond Kurzweil, Ph.D. Ilene Strongin-Garry, MLS R. James King, MLS Ann Sweeney, MLS Karen Takle Quinn, MLS, Ph.D. HONORARY MEMBER OF SLA FACTIVA LEADERSHIP AWARD LEXISNEXIS INNOVATIONS IN SLA MEMBER ACHIEVEMENT SLA MEMBER ACHIEVEMENT TECHNOLOGY AWARD AWARD AWARD

Angela Gooden, MLS Mangala Krishnamurthy, MLIS Widharto Widharto, MLS Rebecca Augustyniak, MLS; Amy Finley, MLS; Dawn Aguero, MLIS; Blair SLA DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP SLA DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP SLA DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP Monroe, MLIS; and Brian Arsenault, MLIS DEVELOPMENT AWARD DEVELOPMENT AWARD DEVELOPMENT AWARD THE H.W. WILSON AWARD

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 7 Technology Use on the demic libraries; 42.9 percent of medium-sized archives; and Rise—Study 42.5% of state library administra- the cutting edge. Editors pull together terms from tive agencies. experts, publications, and standards organizations, Technology and digitization Digitization activities have also among other sources, and verify and reference what have made significant gains at increased among all groups, with they’ve found. Words can be searched or browsed by museums and libraries, according archives, state library administra- category. The “Did You Know?” section is a tech topic to new research published by the tive agencies, and museums lead- guide, with entries like “Tech Terms That Are Strange Institute of Museum and Library ing the way. Ninety-four percent of But True” (a smurf is not just a little blue creature), Services. archives reported some digitization and the Quick Reference area explains how e-mail “Status of Technology and activity over the previous 12 works, lists computer certifications, provides text Digitization” is a follow-up study months, as did 77 percent of state message abbreviations. MTFBWU with that netscuse. to the first research conducted on library administrative agencies, the subject in 2001. The initial 74.4 percent of museums (up from Food Reference IMLS study established baseline 32 percent in 2001), 60 percent of data about the kinds of technolo- academic libraries, 55 percent of www.foodreference.com gies libraries and museums large public libraries (compared to You’ve missed the deadline for the latest Pillsbury employed and the emerging digiti- 25 percent in 2001), and approxi- Bake-Off (the winner was announced in March), but zation activities that were begin- mately 18.5 percent of small and there are plenty more recipe contests where that ning to make collections widely medium public libraries (double came from! Peanuts, rice, tomatoes, and garlic can all available. the percentage from 2001). win you money. Find contest and food festival infor- The second study delves deeper More than three-quarters of mation, cooking-related book reviews, food trivia and focuses on how organizations state library administrative agen- (did you know that May is National Salsa Month?), use technology and undertake dig- cies and archives, the majority of culinary-themed posters for sale, and, yes, recipes. itization projects. museums and large academic The site isn’t the most complex, but you’re bound to The 2004 survey was conduct- libraries, and one-third of large find something interesting and hunger-provok- ed among five groups: museums, public libraries that digitized ing…or flavor-inspiring. public libraries, academic libraries, materials make their digital archives, and state library adminis- images freely available to the beSpacific trative agencies. Highlights: public. www.bespacific.com • The percentage of small muse- However, 64 percent of archives Sabrina Pacifici, a Washington, D.C.-based librar- ums with Web sites grew from the and 51 percent of state library ian, was recently named to Library Journal’s list of first survey’s 40 percent to 78 per- administrative agencies said they Movers and Shakers for 2006. She has been writing cent. have 25,000 or more items still to this blog for several years, and it remains a reputable • Nearly 85 percent of small be digitized. and timely source of law and technology news and museums now use e-mail, up from More than 19 percent of aca- information. Hot-button topics you’ll find: copyright, only 53.1 percent in 2001. demic libraries have 25,000 or e-government, censorship, wireless services, and ID • Some 70 percent of small public more items left to digitize. And theft. You can also sign up for email updates—a great libraries have an online catalogue more 90 percent of museums way to keep current on the latest issues that may of library or other collections. report still having items to be digi- affect you and your information center. Fortunately • Broadband Internet connec- tized, with 16.5 percent having for us, Pacifici, who also created the “webzine” tions are easing out dial- more than 25,000 items and 15 LLRX.com, is an expert in her field and knows how up/modem connections, even percent having fewer than 500. to communicate to us what we need to know. among smaller institutions: large Lack of sufficient funding and museums (84.9 percent), small staff time limit the ability of insti- Recently Updated ones (39 percent); large public tutions in all groups to implement ASAE's Gateway to Associations, featured in libraries (90.4 percent), small pub- technologies. Almost two-thirds of February's column, has a new address. You can now lic libraries (67.3 percent); aca- museums, 31 percent of archives, find the directory at www.asaecenter.org/ demic libraries (90.8 percent); half of large academic libraries, Directories/AssociationSearch.cfm. archives (78.6 percent); and state and the majority of small public library administrative agencies: libraries say their technology is Carolyn J. Sosnowski, MLIS, is an information spe- (100 percent). less than adequately funded. More cialist at SLA. • WiFi wireless networks are also than two-thirds of institutions widely implemented, including among all the groups reported that 23.6 percent of large museums; they do not have enough skilled 47.1 percent of large public staff to accomplish their technolo- libraries; 76.5 percent of large aca- gy objectives.

8 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 New SMR Publications Online The SMR Knowledge Services edge.com/articles/DigitizationSymposiu Monthly e-Notes, comments and com- m2-0.pdf. Continuing its practice of offering mentary about items of interest for The publications are offered as a serv- online publications for the knowledge knowledge workers, can be seen at ice to people working in knowledge serv- services community, SMR International www.smr-knowledge.com/eNotes.htm. ices, and there is no charge for access. (www.smr-knowledge.com) has pub- Topics include thoughts about defin- SMR International is a New York- lished new documents. ing strategic (performance-centered) based consultancy practice specializing The two-part e-Profile of Kristin learning, one of the three fundamental in the application of general manage- McDonough has been completed, with a elements of knowledge services, Olaf ment principles in the knowledge servic- description of McDonough’s skill in Janssen’s comments about The European es workplace. For more information, con- bringing an entrepreneurial focus to the Library, and a link to SMR International’s tact Guy St. Clair at guystclair@smr- management of knowledge services. The Special Report on the March 10-11 sym- knowledge.com. e-Profile can be accessed at www.smr- posium on mass digitization. Information knowledge.com/eProfile.htm. on the symposium is at www.smrknowl-

DOAJ Titles — Pass 2,000 ated by the Lund University Libraries. The Directory of Open Access Journals has increased its col- The database records are freely available for reuse in library lection to more than 2,000 open-access journals, the Lund, catalogues and other services and can be harvested by using Sweden-based organization reports. (See www.doaj.org.) the OAI-PMH (http://www.openarchives.org/). The directory aims to comprehensively cover all open access DOAJ reports that visitors from more than 150 countries scholarly journals that use an appropriate quality control sys- use the service monthly and that hundreds of libraries world- tem and to include all languages and subject areas. It is oper- wide have included its titles in their catalogues.

New Microsoft arly societies such as the • Citation support in two Researchers will be able to Institute of Electrical and major bibliographic formats, add that information to their Research Tool in Beta Electronics Engineers, the which enables researchers to Live.com page. That service Association for Computing quickly compile citations. will be available later, The beta version of Machinery, and publishers • Author “live links” that Microsoft said... Microsoft’s Windows Live Elsevier and John Wiley & will automatically connect to Other organizations work- Academic Search service has Sons Inc. the search results of articles ing with Microsoft on the been released in seven coun- Windows Live Academic associated with a particular Windows Live Academic tries. Search can be found at author by clicking on the Search tool include Taylor & The new search service is http://academic.live.com. It hyperlink of the author’s Francis Group, the American designed to help researchers, will provide English-language name. Institute of Physics, the students, and university fac- results in select global mar- • A detail slider, which American Physical Society, ulty conduct research across a kets. allows consumers to control the Institute of Physics, Ex spectrum of academic jour- The Windows Live the amount of information Libris Group, TDNet, nals. It is a cooperative effort Academic Search beta is they see in the search results. Blackwell Publishing, between Windows Live designed to enable consumers • Direct links to publishers’ Elsevier, Nature Publishing Search, industry association to search through thousands published version, which Group, the British Library, CrossRef and more than 10 of academic journals. Key allows researchers to seam- and OCLC Online Computer publishers. user features include these: lessly access the full text of Library Center. The initial beta release tar- • A preview pane, which the article if they are on the The beta service is avail- gets the subjects of computer allows researchers to see the network of an institution that able with English versions in science, electrical engineer- abstract of a result quickly by subscribes to the full text. the United States, United ing, and physics. Microsoft is hovering their mouse over the • Support for macros, which Kingdom, Germany, Italy, working with multiple organ- result. allows researchers to more Spain, Japan, and Australia. izations to bring new subjects • The ability to group and finely tune their search Additional markets and con- online. sort results by author, jour- results, and RSS so users can tent will be added throughout Windows Live Academic nal, conference, and date be alerted when new infor- the beta period. Search will offer peer- rather than just viewing a flat mation on a topic or author reviewed content from schol- list of search results. becomes available.

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 9 business management

Relationship and Network Building

By Debbie Schachter building requires certain skills These five steps are equally events. Communities of learn- and abilities. Mark West’s true for personal and profes- ing, both online and offline, Developing relationships recent column “Business sional relationships. And peo- are examples of true valuable and creating networks are Relationships” (British Journal ple with whom you want to networks, where your reach probably the most important of Administrative Manage- build a relationship must be across physical and virtual activities you will undertake ment, February 2006, 51, p. interested in participating space to discuss, share and in your professional life. You 17) lists what he says are the equally. Don’t have specific support others—very different may not realize how much five steps to building relation- expectations for any relation- from the old-boys networking time you spend doing both of ships quickly: ship. Building one is about systems of the past. these things, but it is part of 1. “Belief: Your beliefs drive two-way support, not solely Those who don’t have a lot every day of work in the your behavior.” This means what you can get. The impor- of professional experience library world. you need to match your belief tant thing to remember is the have to be aware of the long- We build relationships with in a positive outcome to each give-and-take nature of rela- term nature of network build- customers, internal colleagues, interaction. If others perceive a tionships and networks. ing. It doesn’t happen external colleagues, vendors, negative outlook, it may under- Building upon all your indi- overnight, but takes concerted potential employers, potential mine relationship building. vidual relationships over time effort to communicate, share, hires, and others. We develop 2. “Congruence: Don’t let is what creates your personal and be involved. Professional personal relationships and net- your body language give out network—the one that sup- associations, such as SLA, pro- works to help us to make deci- the wrong message.” Make ports, assists, and draws upon vide an opportunity for devel- sions and to find and give sure your language, voice, your skills in others’ times of oping networks within the mentorship. We build profes- body language, are appropriate need. Your network is at the special library environment. sional relationships and net- and open towards the person heart of your professional and These are great opportunities works to help us do our work you are meeting. personal development and if to seek advice, expertise, and better, to assist other col- 3. “Empathy: Empathy is properly developed, long term assistance from colleagues leagues, and for personal about shared understanding.” support over the length of across industries and across development. Your ability to see from other your career. the world. peoples’ perspectives will help For some librarians the One applied example of a Networks Start build relationships. term “networking” will send professional network is of peo- with Relationships 4. “Emotional investment: shudders down their backs. It’s ple assisting each other in their Take actions that acknowledge associated with forced conver- day-to-day work. For example, Creating relationships and colleagues’ effort.” Just as you sation, hand-written nametags, when I was newly graduated, I thus personal networks is life- respond to positive and nega- and greasy finger food. Does it worked in an engineering long work. As most people can tive feedback, make sure to mean passing around business firm’s library. Due to the attest, building a personal rela- provide appropriate emotional cards and making small talk nature of the firm, library staff tionship is difficult and investment in the relationship with people who may not be members were called upon to requires commitment over the and support others in the suc- interested in what we have to obtain reports, standards, long term. Your business and cess of their endeavors. say? Is it entirely self-serving? monographs, and other docu- professional relationships may 5. “Accountability: Broken It shouldn’t be. Creating ments on a wide range of spe- develop slowly. Over time, promises undermine trust.” Be true networks is not about the cialized topics. One of the most they help develop your reputa- accountable and expect others stereotypical practice of attend- important methods of obtain- tion and lead to the develop- to be, as well. ing organized networking ing this information was ment of your personal network. These skills, developing and sustaining relationships, Debbie Schachter has a master's degree in library science and a master's will have a significant and pos- degree in business administration. She is the associate executive director of itive impact on your success in the Jewish Family Service Agency in Vancouver, British Columbia, where your career. she is responsible for financial management, human resources, database As in personal relation- and IT systems, and grant application management. Schachter has more ships, business relationship than 15 years’ experience in management and supervision, technology planning and support, in a variety of nonprofit and for-profit settings. She can be reached at [email protected].

10 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 business management

through the informal network Some see building a large support group—a group in diverse minds available for of engineering, forestry, and network as a key support in which diversity of experience, advice, information, and energy librarians in my city. turbulent business environ- real-world perspective, strate- assistance is invaluable. We would simply call up ments. When there is a great gic input, influence and refer- Think about who is in another library and ask them need to be adaptable and rals come together. These your personal network and if they had an item and if we flexible, when seeking or advisers become your think try to be proactive in devel- could borrow it—even if the responding to change, the tank.” This becomes your oping new relationships. As firms were somewhat com- existence of your own sup- access to the consultants and with most information pro- petitive in the marketplace. port network may make or experts through shared and fessionals, I am happy to be We had the expectation and break your long-term suc- combined experiences. called on for support by any- the knowledge that the other cess. All professionals need I can think of a number of one in my network, and I librarians would contact us to create their own support professional women and seek their expertise in work when they needed a particu- groups to help you withstand men whom I can call part of and life, regularly. Think lar item. Librarians have been times of turbulence. my personal network. Not all about how you can help your using these types of networks As Dianne Jacobs wrote in are librarians, and many network of contacts and to solve problems, respond to the Ivey Business Journal work in industries or profes- encourage their ability to call customer requests, and to (69:6, p. 2), “Why not lay the sions that are wholly unlike upon you for support. share information throughout groundwork for adaptability my experiences or abilities. our history. by creating a self-directed However, having those

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 11 SLA Member Profile

By Forrest Glenn Spencer heart. It’s just a matter of seeking worked as a legal researcher and librar- those opportunities.” ian and now works for a company that “Expand your horizons as much as That’s the gospel according to develops tools for the legal profession. you can and ignore all of the stereo- John DiGilio, an SLA member who DiGilio is a librarian relations types because just when you think not only gives this advice to informa- manager for Thomson West, a sub- things are set in stone—things tion professionals but lives it himself. sidiary of Thomson Corporation, one change. And unless you keep your Whether it was during his university of the largest publishers of law books ear to the ground, you miss out on years or in his professional life, and online legal information. great opportunities. And there are DiGilio has kept his horizons wide. Thomson West products include law amazing opportunities in librarian- DiGilio—the son from a large Italian encyclopedias, textbooks, and study ship. We call ourselves many differ- family who left his small town for the aids; state and federal law books; ent names and play many different city—studied to be a lawyer and court opinions; how-to legal guides; roles, but we’re all still librarians at became a law librarian instead. He and law indexes—all available in

12 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 SLA Member Profile

print or electronically. The company and librarianship as a profession. At also operates the Westlaw online Pepperdine, DiGilio had three men- legal research service, which contains tors who guided him into special more than 19,000 databases. DiGilio librarianship: Carole Levitt, Mona is based in Los Angeles. His territory Stahl, and Katie Kerr. covers Southern California and por- “That’s something I should’ve seen tions of the Southwestern states. coming, because when I was a poli- “What I do, basically, is every sci major: it was all about studying month I try to visit as many of our the law and doing research on the clients as I can. Usually I go in, sit law,” DiGilio says. “By the time I got down with them, and make sure they to law school I was into the nuts and are getting what they need and what bolts behind the scenes of how things they want—that’s their relationship work. When I graduated from law with us,” DiGilio says. “I also do school in 1996, I knew that I loved quite a bit of training. So if a new research and technology; but I was Westlaw product comes out, I’m the finding it hard to do that in a legal one to take it into their offices, show practice. One of my mentors from law them how it works and what the ben- school suggested that, while I was efits are. Then, I get their feedback trying to figure things out, I take an on how things might be done differ- opportunity in a law firm library ently or better. I take that feedback to where they could use someone with the Westlaw product developers.” my skills.” He’s been with Thomson West for The job was a part-time position at more than a year. Prior to this post, Proskauer Rose in Los Angeles. “I SLA Member Profile for which a headhunter tapped him, was shelving books and assisting DiGilio worked in Pittsburgh for seven with legal research, mostly online John J. DiGilio years at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP legal research,” DiGilio recalls. “It as research librarian and instructor. was really an assisting position, more Joined SLA: 1998 Raised in the Poconos of clerical than anything else. Pennsylvania, DiGilio is in the third Eventually, I started doing more actu- Job: Librarian Relations Manager generation of a Sicilian family from a al legal research than traditional ref- small town where siblings either erence. [That was] because I had a Employer: Thomson West reside next door or are minutes away law background and the firm was Experience: Nine years before by car. He left that home in the early comfortable to let me get my feet wet obtaining MLIS, eight years since 1990s to attend Lebanon Valley by doing the actual research with the College in Annville, Pennsylvania, attorneys and other researchers.” Education: B.A., Lebanon Valley studying political science. While at Proskauer learned he was College; J.D., Pepperdine “I started as a chemical engineer- only a few classes away from being ing major; and, as much as I loved an “official” librarian, so he returned University School of Law; MLIS, the science, it wasn’t very conducive to the East Coast, secured a job at University of Pittsburgh School of for a people person,” DiGilio recalls. Kirkpatrick & Lockhart, and enrolled Information Sciences “As a scientist you’re working on at the University of Pittsburgh School your own. It’s a lonely profession. I of Information Science. There, he First job: First job ever: butcher's took a poli-sci class as an elective concentrated on law and business apprentice; first job with MLIS, ref- and realized this was an excellent research and earned his MLIS. His erence librarian, Kirkpatrick & course for an extrovert—to get out thesis was “Electronic Mail: From Lockhart LLP, Pittsburgh there and be in the center of every- Computer to Courtroom.” thing. And that segued me into law “I was always a special librarian, Biggest Challenge: “Staying on librarianship. I had no idea librarians but I hadn’t heard the term until I top of all the changes in law could be so publicly active until I was working on my MLIS,” he says. librarianship. Especially now that was actually exposed to it.” It was then that he was introduced to I am out of the firm and research Upon earning his bachelor’s, he SLA. “We had a student group at the setting. I remind myself often traveled to the West Coast and attend- school that was part of SLA. They ed Pepperdine University School of were the first ones to introduce me to that I am and always will be a Law, where he earned a J.D. in inter- the concept of being a special librari- librarian, even though I may wear national law. Yet, creeping into his an. Once I got involved—and met a slightly different hat at times!” studies was the notion of research more people who did all kinds of dif-

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 13 SLA Member Profile

ferent things outside of the traditional because their people were always there “As law librarians are spending less stereotype of a librarian—there was to talk to us. I was big into fostering the and less time doing reference, their no turning back. I’ve been part of library community.” activities need to be taken up in other SLA ever since.” The partnerships DiGilio sought ways. I’ve been a big advocate that The Pittsburgh Chapter of SLA was included Thomson West, Global the natural role for the law librarian an ideal place for an extravert like Securities, and LexisNexis. “They were is to be a legal research trainer within DiGilio. “They were an amazing big supporters of ours,” he adds. “We the firm. I think with so much avail- group of committed librarians,” partnered with just about anybody who able online and in print these days, DiGilio says. provided information to librarians. If the forte of the law librarian is to fil- “The [chapter] had very practical they were interested in sponsoring an ter and find out which stuff is good, programs. One month there might be event, I would sit down with them, talk which is cost effective—and be able to a speaker on medical library issues. about the rules and what they were will- show the end-users (the attorneys) Next there’s someone on law library ing to do. We tried to give anybody a how these things work, and how to issues. They even had things that spot. Of course, we were always grateful make the most of their research.” appealed across the board. One of the to them.” DiGilio believes the future of law programs I recall was a taking-care- In 2003, DiGilio became president of librarianship in our interconnected of-the-librarian kind of program the Pittsburgh Chapter. One of his inter- world will continue to rely on technol- where they had someone come in to ests was networking both outside the ogy and talent of the special librarian. talk about stress in the workplace, chapter and within. “You’re going to see more global- how to handle it, and what you can “Every year we would talk about out- ization and more mobile technology,” do for yourself. reach,” DiGilio says, “and part of our he said. “You’re the law librarian for a “They were very proactive in find- goal was bringing the students in. Part of firm in Los Angeles, for example, and ing out what the members wanted and our outreach was to librarians that didn’t mostly responsible for the needs in what the specialties were among their understand what SLA was. Again, by your office. In that office you’re e- members. Every month there was keeping the programming as diverse as mailing things to the attorneys, you’re always something new. They were we could, it would bring people in the downloading data from Westlaw, good to us as students—strong in the door that might otherwise not come. sending attachments. We’re getting mentoring department even though They would come to our meetings and the information to them in formats there wasn’t a formal mentoring pro- find out: ‘Hey, I’m a special librarian, that they can take on the run, because gram. A student could go to anybody too, and this is an organization with lawyers are increasingly more mobile. there and sit down and talk with whom I should be networking.’ I think librarians are finding that the them, very friendly, very welcoming “The other half of that is what I call nine-to-five thing has come and but very active—real go-getters.” ‘in-reach,’ which was getting really to gone…We’re responding to requests The activity at the Pittsburgh Chapter know our members, whether it was nights and on weekends. Our clientele spurred DiGilio to become more involved through surveys or one-on-ones, to find is becoming so scattered and diverse with the organization, doing things like out what they want.” Through his “in- that soon it will not so much be that moderating panels at the annual confer- reach” program DiGilio sought make you’re limited to a particular place— ence or partnering with vendors on their chapter members feel they were a valued you have to know what lies beyond programs. “I was someone willing to part of SLA. your location or city and be able to come in and spearhead that, but I was Now, after a year in Los Angeles, respond to people who may be on the very strict that the programming we DiGilio has joined the Southern other side of the globe.” offered was substantive, like a speaker California Chapter and is looking for- For DiGilio, it’s always about the on a particular area of librarianship. ward to getting re-involved. He con- people and how he can serve others “It was a matter of keeping the costs tinues to be involved in SLA divi- wherever they may be. That’s his low to the members, which brought sions: Legal, Competitive Intelligence, enjoyment; for more people in the door. And it also got and Business and Finance. the rest of us, the vendors more involved with us as He also speaks to groups on a sub- it’s our reward. individuals rather than institutions ject he is fond of, training the trainer.

Forrest Glenn Spencer is a Virginia-based independent development researcher and freelance writer. He specializes in developing potential donor prospects for non-profit organizations, such as America’s Promise—The Alliance for Youth, the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, and the American Red Cross. He was a 14-year broadcast news associate and has written for numerous print and Internet publications for the last several years. He can be reached at [email protected].

14 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 Would you choose a different path?

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16 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 Career

By Kathryn Kennedy how to make the most of your job searching process—from exploring potential positions all the way to making sure Fresh out of school with my MLIS in May 2005, I was you receive sufficient training once you are hired. I hope feeling on edge about not having a job lined up for myself. this process helps you as much as it has helped me. Getting a job was at the forefront of my “list of things to do,” as is the case for most graduates. Step 1: Decide on an Information Center Fast forward to spring of 2006, and I am seven months When you start looking for a job, make sure you know employed at the University of Florida’s Marston Science what type of information center you want to work in: Library as the Engineering Outreach Librarian, and I feel public, school media center, academic, or special. If you the experience gained while going through the hiring are not sure, I suggest you job shadow or at least speak to process—searching for vacancies, tweaking my résumé, for- someone in each of the areas in which you are interested. mulating a cover letter, interviewing, getting hired and To arrange for job shadowing, contact the information being trained—has been extremely rewarding. centers in your area to see if they would allow you to do The remainder of this article will present 10 steps on this. Here are some questions to ask the person you talk

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 17 Career

to and/or job shadow: • What do you like best about your job? SLA Career Resources • What do you like least about your job? • Career Center—http://sla.jobcontrolcenter.com. Job seek- • What does your typical workweek look like? ers can post résumés and review openings; employers can Remember: Everyone’s different, so try each information post announcements. This page links to virtual career advi- center to find out which one you like best. sors and mentors, articles and other information for job hunters, the SLA Salary Survey, and more. In addition, Step 2: Search for Vacancies some SLA chapters, divisions, and caucuses have separate Once you know which kind of information center you job-search resources available. would like to work in, you need to start looking for positions. If you know where you would like to live, meaning a • Career Connection at SLA 2006—www.sla.org/content/ specific city, state, or country, then you should visit the jobs/connection/index.cfm. The SLA Annual Conference information center’s human resources department. offers opportunities for job seekers and employers to meet face to face. The conference Career Connection also hosts a • For academic librarian positions, go straight to the insti- résumé and job-posting service, plus one-on-one coaching tutions’ human resources’ site. and career seminars. Scheduling information for the SLA • For school media specialist positions, contact the local 2006 in Baltimore is at www.sla.org/content/Events/confer- school board’s human resources office. ence/ac2006/index.cfm. Select “Personal Planner” to regis- • For public librarian positions, contact the public library ter for the free calendar search, and then search for Career human resources’ office, which is sometimes combined Connection (without quotation marks). with the city or county human resources departments. To find out how this works in the area in which you want to live, call the public library directly and ask how you can These are just a few examples of sites that list library apply for a job at the library. If the library has a Web site, and information science job vacancies. In addition to check for an employment section. If you’re lucky, they will career-specific Web sites, you may also want to check the have a link to job vacancies and an online or downloadable broader listings on job boards, such as Monster.com. PDF version of their employment application. Once you start looking for jobs, you want to make sure • For corporate and other special libraries, you can either you get as much information as you can about the position contact these places directly or get a local paper and search you are applying for. One way to do this is by getting a job through the help-wanted ads. Some corporate/special description, which brings us to Step 3. libraries work with employment agencies or recruiters. In this case, you could contact employment agencies to see if Step 3: Review Job Descriptions they are advertising for corporate or special librarian Sometimes a job vacancy looks like this: “Looking for a vacancies. charismatic librarian to work with children. If interested, If you have no ties to any one place, there are many please call Jane Smith at 340-555-4934.” great online resources to help in your job search. Here are In this case, you have no idea who Jane Smith is or a few of the major ones: where she works. You need to call the number provided to • SLA Career Center—http://sla.jobcontrolcenter.com. find out the business’ name, and ask Jane Smith to send Jobs worldwide in academic and special libraries and other you a full position description. If a full position description information/resource centers. Some of SLA’s chapters, divi- cannot be provided, ask Jane Smith to talk a little about sions, and caucuses may have separate job search resources the information center and about the job vacancy. available. If possible, schedule a tour of the information center, • SLA Career Connection—www.sla.org/content/jobs/con- especially if you have never been to there. If you can’t nection/index.cfm. The SLA Annual Conference offers oppor- visit, see if the information center has a Web site. If so, tunities for job seekers and employers to meet face to face. visit to see if there are any photos or descriptions of the The Career Connection also hosts a résumé and job-posting center. It’s always better to know more about a position service, plus one-on-one coaching and career seminars. than to apply blindly. • ALA Employment Opportunities—www.ala.org. Jobs If you are fortunate enough to have a full job descrip- countrywide in academic, school media, public, special, tion, read it thoroughly. Make sure it is the right match for and other information/resource centers. Some of ALA’s you. If a large part of the job description would not suit chapters, divisions, and groups may have separate job you, don’t apply. Why apply for a job that you have doubts search resources available. about? • LISJOBS–U.S.—www.lisjobs.com. Jobs countrywide in If the job is a great match, decide what you should do academic, school media, public, special, and other informa- to apply. This information usually appears in the job tion/resource centers. vacancy announcement. Sometimes a company/institu- • LISJOBS–Non-U.S.—www.lisjobs.com/nonus.htm. Jobs tion/school board/city or county job application is worldwide in academic, schools, public, special, and other required. You should also include a résumé and cover letter information/resource centers. with your job application. Let’s talk about those.

18 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 Career

Step 4: Tailor Your Résumé Figure 1 Once you have pinpointed the job you like, it’s time to look at your résumé and modify it for each job. I am not telling you to fabricate your résumé. Just highlight the Tailoring Your Résumé parts of the job description that ring true from your past jobs. You also should use the job description to guide your Here is an example of a position description: Is proficient cover letter. See Figure 1 for an example. in web design software to update and create new web pages. Now it’s time for your cover letter. Expect incumbent to provide quality customer service to patrons. Step 5: Mold your cover letter Your résumé should highlight these skills. So past job The cover letter is important because it’s your introduc- details on your résumé should look similar to this: tion to potential employers. You really need to shine through your words. This is your way of telling the 2000-2002 Library Assistant, Icanread Library Reading, FL employer why you are the best candidate for the job. Worked at the administration office of the local library; secretarial Employers want to see enthusiasm for the position. duties; used Dreamweaver to update library web page; learned HTML and CSS. They want to see you write about yourself in a positive light without bragging. You should also mention unique 1996-2000 Waitress, Gumbo Palace Restaurant Peoplesville, NY past experiences, which will make you stand out from Took orders and served food to customers; trained and supervised new other applicants. waiters/waitresses; learned quality customer service skills. One common mistake applicants make with cover letters is to boilerplate them. They make all of their cover letters As you can see, the duties that were required in the job the same, not taking the time to personalize each letter for vacancy announcement are highlighted in your résumé. This individual employers. is how you tailor your résumé to your dream job. This process of making each letter unique might seem tedious; but this is another way to stand out. Employers can point out boilerplate offenders very easily, so it’s better In addition, the cover letter should be no more than a to have tailored letters for each employer. page and a half long. Any longer and employers will proba- To start your cover letter, find information about the infor- bly lose concentration. After you finish, make sure to mation center to which you are applying, such as their revise and have at least one other person critique the cover mission or vision statement. Here is an example: letter and résumé. Then, you’re ready to submit your application and wait for an interview call back. “The Popner Library at the University of Peoplesville has a five-year goal to focus more on user-friendly, customer Step 6: Interview Musts service-oriented programs and services for faculty, students, Once you receive a call for an interview, it’s time to get and staff.” working. First, you want to be sure to read up on the information center prior to your interview. Make sure you know To mold your cover letter to fit this bit of information the information center’s missions and goals. Who are their about your potential employer, add an excerpt from it into customers, and how will you be able to help them? your letter and give a reason why you fit their goals or If you have a contact within the information center, mission. Here is an example: send him or her an e-mail to let them know of your interest in the vacancy. At the same time, be cautious of what “Dear Ms. Smith: you write, because the message could easily be forwarded I am writing to express my interest in the University to the hiring committee. Librarian vacancy. Also, practice answering typical interview questions Please accept this cover letter and résumé as my appli- with family or friends. It will help you think on your toes. cation for this position. I carefully reviewed the mission of Here are some common interview questions: the University Libraries, which focuses on providing ‘user- friendly, customer-service oriented’ services to the patrons • What are your strengths? Weaknesses? of the University of Peoplesville’s Popner Library. Customer • What makes you unique compared to other applicants service is a quality I pride myself in. In my last job, I was for this job? known to be very attentive, patient, and thorough with • What would you say has been your greatest accomplish- every patron I helped.” ment? • Do you enjoy working more with others or by yourself? This kind of personalization should be done for every employer. If there is no contact person for the position, There many examples of interview questions online. then you can address it “To Whom It May Concern:” or Here are two of the Web sites you may wish to visit: “Dear Search Committee Members.”

vol. 10, no. 2 | February 2006 | information outlook | 19 Career

• www.lisjobs.com/advice.htm And finally yet importantly, relax and be yourself. • www.libsci.sc.edu/career/invufaqs.htm Step 7: Say ‘Thank You’ In addition to preparing for interview questions, you The day after your interview, you should send a quick should consider your wardrobe and decide what would be “thank you” note or e-mail—or make a call—to the person best for your interview. I have seen the choice of wardrobe who has coordinated your interview. Be sure to include a cost a person a job offer. special anecdote from your interview to personalize the For an interview, it’s important to be conservative. message. This is also a good time to ask any questions you Conservative does not mean boring; it means you should have thought of since the interview. After that, it’s time to not wear anything that is over the top. You should have wait. some form of suit. For women, it should be either a knee-length or longer Step 8: The Hardest Part skirt or a nice pair of dress trousers. If you wear a skirt, You really want an answer, but it’s better to wait than to make sure to wear hose. be impatient. Make sure not to harass the potential employer. For men, a traditional suit, tie, and jacket combination The best way to curb your anxiety is to think positively will do. The color of the suit should be a dark gray or and continue looking for positions. This is sure to keep you black. busy while you wait to hear back. Shoes for both men and women should be dress and Another way to pass the time is to think about what close-toed. The shoes should be comfortable, just in case you would like for a salary. If the salary offered is not to you are required to walk up and down stairs or around a your liking, you would be prepared with a response. campus. On the day of your interview, make sure you have extra copies of your résumé, and offer these to the interviewers. Step 9: The Offer Arrive on time, and shake hands with everyone you meet. You have been offered the job, and now it’s time to ask Try to remember the names of the people in the interview- more questions. Salary is usually mentioned with the job ing or hiring committee. You do not have to mention their offer. If you are not happy with it, ask if it’s negotiable. If names when you are answering questions. But if you want you have any activities planned that would affect your to refer to a question that they asked, it makes a great starting date, this is the time to let your employer know. impression when they know you have remembered their If possible, take 24 hours to think the offer through, and names. think of other questions you want to ask. For example, if Make sure to ask questions about the position. This will you have to move for the job, ask if moving costs are cov- show your sincere interest in it. Due to the intense atmos- ered. Find out all the job perks. phere of the interview, you might freeze up by the end and If you decide to accept the position, ask what day you forget your questions. can start and what you will need to do for paperwork. In case of this, write a list of twenty or so questions Also, ask if there is anything that you can do to get ready before the interview and bring it with you. This will ease for your first day. some of the tension of having to remember everything. Having the questions written down shows that you have Step 10: Training 101 enthusiasm and initiative. Here are some sample questions When you start your new job, you should get some you could ask: form of training. When I started my current job, I had a week-to-week training calendar that enabled me to meet • What is a typical work day like for you? people and learn the beginning essentials. • If you could change one thing about this library, what If you feel you are not getting enough training, make would it be? your own training calendar. Meet with people in your • Do you see this position changing in the future? If so, information center, including your supervisor, and find out how? If not, why? what you need to learn and whom you need to meet with. So, go to it! Get out there, and find your dream job. For more question ideas, see: www.career.vt.edu/ Follow these simple steps to help you get there, and good JOBSEARC/interview/AskQues.htm. luck with your future! Before your interview is over, ask when you should expect to hear back about the hiring decision.

Kathryn Kennedy has a master’s degree in library science. While pursuing her master’s, she worked full time at the University of Florida’s Division of Human Resources. She is currently the engineering outreach librarian at the University of Florida’s Marston Science Library. She can be reached at [email protected].

20 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 The Community of Chemical Biologists

2006 / Volume 1 / 12 Issues A unique forum for a new breed of scientist Print Edition ISSN: 1554-8929 With the 2006 launch of ACS Chemical Biology, the American Chemical Society ushers in a new Web Edition ISSN: 1554-8937 era in an exciting area of research. ACS Chemical Biology provides an international forum for the rapid communication of research at the frontiers of chemistry and biology. By fostering an Ordering Information environment that stimulates substantive communication between chemists and biologists, the ACS has created a catalyst for new research opportunities and discoveries that greatly enhances 1-888-338-0012 (USA & Canada) our knowledge of living systems. 614-447-3674 (outside the USA) E-mail: [email protected] A new approach to deciphering nature’s complexities The launch of ACS Chemical Biology provides a much-needed forum to showcase the best research in the dynamic and growing ﬁeld of chemical biology, as well as a place to stimulate Institutional Subscriptions new ideas and encourage new avenues of investigation. The journal focuses on understanding $1,950 – North America and controlling phenomena at the molecular level. Results are published in which molecular $2,034 – Outside North America reasoning has been used to probe questions through computational approaches, in vitro investigations, cell biology methods, or organismal studies. For complete details on subscription Backed by the American Chemical Society, this new journal will be the place and electronic licensing options, please for scientists to both publish and learn the latest in chemical biology. visit the Librarian Resource Center: http://pubs.acs.org/4librarians www.acschemicalbiology.org 22 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 Case Study

By Michael F. Moore

There is growing interest today in dedicating—or embedding—information professionals to a specific team. I’m a librarian embedded in a team, and I’d like to tell you what it’s like. First, I need to give you some background about where I work.

The Company While most of us are aware of information technology as a large part of daily life in our profession, when I started at the MITRE Corporation, systems engineering was unknown to me. It isn’t an easy subject to explain in the space of a paragraph. Systems engineering focuses on functional abstrac- tion (describing and partitioning behavior independently of form), codification of relationships (how things fit together as a solution and what actions are needed so the solution can be realized), and (new to the discipline) the deliberate and accelerated mimicry of the processes that drive natural evolution. Some of the issues currently being discussed include the management of large-scale businesses and enterprises and the development of systems made up of multiple, interrelated systems. So, while engineers solve problems with the appropriate mix of form, fit and function, systems engineers address how the solutions to individual engineering problems fit together. Keynote speakers at the SLA Toronto conference spoke about systems engineering subjects, such as transparency, the importance of the human mind, and finding innovation in change. This is “big picture” thinking, and MITRE works with its customers to

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 23 Case Study

find solutions to “big picture” problems. occurrence, and overhearing (and being MITRE works in partnership with the For more information... brought into) discussions about upcoming Department of Defense, Federal Aviation projects became part of my day. Over time, Administration, Internal Revenue Service, The seminar “Moving to Client- I gained opportunities to expand my role. and other U.S. government agencies to Embedded Services” is scheduled for serve the public interest. We address Tuesday, June 13, at the SLA conference. The Service Portfolio The speaker, David Shumaker of the issues of critical national importance that My role has developed over time from require a unique combination of systems MITRE Corporation, will discuss how the managing a collection of documents and engineering and information technology, company successfully implemented links to providing multiple services. Over developing innovative solutions to some embedded librarians as part of its full- the past two and a half years, I have taken of the government’s most complex tech- spectrum information service. on the following responsibilities: nological challenges. Presented by the Corporate • Stewarding content—tagging and link- As you would expect, the discipline of Information Centers Section of SLA’s ing. The SEPO Library contains informa- systems engineering is an important skill Business and Finance Division and the tion on systems engineering policies, proj- for many groups within MITRE. Solo Librarians Division, the session will ects, modeling and simulation efforts, and However, one group stands out as a cor- be sponsored by InfoCurrent and theory. To provide access to the collection, porate champion for the discipline: the Hemscott. Cynthia Lesky of Threshold items are tagged using a faceted taxonomy Systems Engineering Process Office Information Inc. will be the moderator. of customers, MITRE centers, item types, (SEPO). Organized in 1994, the SEPO and subjects. This provides a rich combi- team includes system engineers, design- nation of search capabilities. The SEPO er/developers, and writer/editors. They library is separate from other collections at advance systems engineering within MITRE through information, MITRE. However, it is searchable through the company-wide education, and collaboration. One of SEPO’s important services is intranet Google search portal, so people can find items without the SEPO Library, a digital collection of information related to needing to go to the SEPO Web site. systems engineering, so MITRE staff can find information not • Providing news alerts. When people began pointing me to only from their MITRE colleagues but also from the rest of the documents and Web sites for the SEPO library, they also some- systems engineering community. times sent articles that were too small or too time specific for the When I joined MITRE in 2002, I was assigned to SEPO to library, but were good news for systems engineers to know. To help manage this digital collection. My position was the result of deal with these articles, SEPO created a Systems Engineering an agreement between SEPO and the Information Services News Update, which I produce. I assemble news items by scan- Department, which also manages corporate library services. ning useful Web sites, using a Web tracking program called Instead of hiring a systems engineer to manage the collection, WatchThatPage (www.watchthatpage.com) and monitoring RSS SEPO would try an information analyst, to be supplied by feeds using the Bloglines aggregator (www.bloglines.com). The Information Services. This way, SEPO could gain the skills of articles I find with these tools, plus paid content, provide a valu- someone with a library and information science background, able stream of systems engineering news for anyone at MITRE. while Information Services would provide supervision, training, • Capturing knowledge. MITRE encourages collaboration, and and other support. one popular method is to bring together experts for a technical exchange meeting, or TEM. In the past, attendees and planners Co-Location complained that no one provided a summary of the ideas after Being co-located with my customer organization was a critical the TEM, so great ideas were lost. To address this problem, factor in my success. When I started as the new SEPO informa- Information Services has taken on the job of providing summary tion analyst, my office was two buildings away from the SEPO proceedings of the meetings, which are shared on the intranet for offices, and I knew only two contact people on the team. My the benefit of attendees and as a knowledge resource for the assignments were to update and augment the online library and future. Information analysts like me leverage the knowledge they to respond to occasional research requests. I didn’t know much build up in working with project teams and communities so our about SEPO or about systems engineering, and I was trying to summaries capture the important points of technical discussion. learn through the research I did. Then, at the start of a new fiscal At the same time, we gain more in-depth knowledge of the sub- year, I relocated to an office on the same hall with the SEPO jects and get to connect with more experts. The only downside to Team, and things changed quickly. this effort is that it has been so success- Once I was co-located with SEPO, I met the rest of the 15-per- ful we have trouble keeping up with the son team. I was invited to their meetings. I saw how my work demand for our service. related to their ongoing activities. I began to participate in con- • Researching. While answering ques- versations about how the library is organized and managed. tions is a small part of my job, the grow- People dropping in with a quick question became a common ing visibility of SEPO means more peo-

Michael F. Moore is a senior information analyst at the MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that operates federally funded research and development centers for the U.S. Government. He works at their offices in Bedford, Massachusetts. Readers may contact him at [email protected].

24 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 Case Study

ple are asking questions. And many are funneled to me. Often, disciplines and different ways of thinking makes the SEPO team the best answer I can provide for a question is to connect the a good proving ground for ideas. Having a varied team means questioner with other people at MITRE who are asking the same you get different viewpoints, which can bring even more ideas to question, so they can collaborate. I also work on separate the table. As a librarian working with engineers, designers, and research projects, such as accumulating the various definitions of other professionals, I’m part of that mix. the new terminology springing up around complex system engi- Also, people from various departments are aware of solutions neering. from their departments that others might not know about. Often All my services are enhanced by the contributions of other a time-consuming task (such as checking broken links or gather- team members. For instance, when it was time to create the ing metrics) will have an implemented solution elsewhere in the Systems Engineering News Update, the SEPO designers and company, and I only need to connect to the right person to find developers took my raw content and created a good-looking it. My job is to make these connections, and the SEPO team newsletter, and the SEPO writers provided a promotional cam- helps keep me aware of solutions. paign to get the word out to the company. My job is made easier My work with SEPO helps me build knowledge of the subject when I can work with software developers who know SEPO’s matter, and knowledge of the processes I use, both of which I goals and can provide improvements to the SEPO library that can take back to my colleagues. When other information analysts support those goals. at MITRE field questions on systems engineering subjects, they can certainly answer these questions themselves. But it is often Who pays? quicker for them to ask me, and take advantage of my familiarity In this matrixed environment, funding needs to be tracked with the subject. In return, when I am stumped by a question closely. My time is divided among SEPO, other clients, and specific to one of MITRE’s centers, I can ask my coworkers for the Information Services department. Time spent stewarding help and use their specialized knowledge to move forward with SEPO’s digital library and issuing Systems Engineering News my research. Updates is charged to a SEPO project number. Time spent per- forming a research request is often charged to the project or Conclusion group making the request. Time spent in department meet- Being dedicated to systems engineering means I can provide ings, training, and other activities is charged to the depart- more extensive subject knowledge, both to the systems engineers ment. While it seemed like a complicated system when I start- I work for, and to the information analysts I work with. Working ed, it is well established throughout the company. Asking for with people with various capabilities means I can contribute to a project number has become a standard part of any reference (and take advantage of) the team’s synergy. Working with other interview for larger projects. dedicated information analysts means I can take advantage of their subject knowledge. It also means I can be a bridge point for Success Factors people in both teams, finding out about solutions and opportuni- Having embedded librarians like me brings benefits to the ties and passing them on. For those of us who are dedicated to a customer and to the library organization. Combining different project or team, it is a successful model to work with.

vol. 10, no. 3 | March 2006 | information outlook | 25 Journals

By Tony Stankus forefront of what matters in medicine, a practice urged When the medical seg- on young doctors for more ment of nightly news con- than a century (JAMA, cerns members of your 1883; the Lancet, 1823, and family, don’t you find your- the NEJM, 1828, respective- self trying to get enough of ly) of their medical men- it down for a decent refer- tors. That advice has led ence? When you hear that today to a combined world- the story is based on one of wide annual circulation for the Big Three League— the Big Three of over a JAMA (Journal of the quarter of a million. American Medical Association), the Lancet, or The League Formula for the New England Journal of Success Medicine—you write faster The reputation and relia- and in ink, not in pencil. bility of the League is Stockbrokers and invest- based on its ability to ment bankers follow “The recruit: League” journals as well. A • The most experienced report within any one of and prolific clinical authors them about a new drug or who publish in other medical device that has prominent journals, partic- proven successful (or not) ularly those of their fellow will likely cause share League members. prices or venture capital • Authors who often have flow of the involved com- the otherwise rare distinc- panies (and their competition of having been asked Tony Stankus is science librarian tors) to move decisively in to write review articles by at the Holy Cross College Science response by the next day’s journal editors. In their Library and adjunct professor for opening. role as invited experts, special libraries at the University of these review authors high- Rhode Island Graduate School of The Big Three League light the published research Library and Information Studies. Neither you nor today’s papers they feel are most The author wishes to acknowl- important for busy practi- edge data and insights provided at money managers are alone in paying special attention tioners to grasp. Review the beginning of this study by Kate articles are the most cited Cheromcha, a student at the to the League. Doctors around the world are doing feature of virtually every University of Rhode Island Graduate medical journal that pub- School of Library and Information the same. They rely on the League to bring them to the lishes them. Studies. • Authors from anywhere

26 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 Journals in the world with a medical Holtzbrinck, dba as Nature ting only the last one of lent manuscripts out there discovery that really mat- Publishing Group) of the your several bright kids from people who had done ters. However, given the world’s most famous basic into Harvard. This can hap- their best to work up a prestige of these journals, it science journal, Nature pen even though you love Cell-worthy manuscript, but is not surprising that (1869) decided to try each child equally, and all ended up with a Cell Press schools like Harvard or branching out into a family of them wrote what you rejection. What were these Johns Hopkins and of Nature-branded subspe- thought were masterpiece people going to do with research centers like the cialty journals. They had a applications. With each those papers in which they National Institutes of bit of history going against successive rejection of your were so heavily invested? Health nonetheless seem to this strategy; it had failed older kids, you start com- Would they really be happy dominate American author- once before in the early plaining more and more to send them subsequently ship, with similarly elite 1970s. But there were two about how impossibly to journals whose impact foreign institutions like more recent indicators that demanding Harvard must factors had been trampled Oxford University or the branding just might work. be to pass them over. All on by Cell Press titles for Nobel Prize headquarters, First, their 1992 trial bal- that stops with that accept- years on end? Or would Sweden’s Karolinska loon into branded specialty ance letter. From then on, they, instead, prefer having Institute, representing their journals, Nature Genetics, you find yourself bragging the choice of another jour- respective countries. had done very well. This about the one kid who met nal that could was not too surprising, that incredibly high stan- claim to be just Past Candidates to join the given that Nature had pub- dard, and how proud you as prestigious Big Three League lished the famed Watson- are of him or her. Of as a Cell fami- There are other truly Crick paper on the struc- course, this still ly title? distinguished journals of ture of DNA, effectively leaves the intrigu- Second, sufficient seniority if not establishing molecular ing problem of they realized it household familiarity, that genetics as a field. Second, what to do and would nonethe- could conceivably have Nature learned a lot from say about less be the kiss of made it the Big Four the astonishing success in those other death for Nature League—most notably the the branding of the compet- kids, a prob- Medicine to be per- Annals of Internal Medicine ing Cell Press family of lem that has ceived as merely the (1927), the BMJ (the erst- journals (originally from relevance for dumping ground for Cell while British Medical MIT Press but bought by the rest of Press rejects. That would Journal, 1857), the Journal Elsevier). this story. just position Nature of Clinical Investigation Similarly, despite the Medicine in the junior place (1924) and the Journal of Part 2: Recruit the Elite many rejections of papers among more senior also- Experimental Medicine Early and Let Them Be judged by their authors to rans. In order for Nature (1896). But these journals Elitist be exceptionally qualified, Medicine to leverage fully have not attained that criti- Cell Press recruited the mere possibility of its projected Nature-class cal mass yet, and their many of their early editors acceptance of just one cachet, it had to be seen as chance to do so has proba- and authors from the great- paper into Cell journals has acting much the same way bly passed. Year after year, est concentration of bio- gotten researchers world- as Cell Press: demanding, Thomson Science’s Journal medical geniuses in any wide firmly into the habit decisive, and quick to pub- Citation Reports indicates city, Cambridge, of saving their best manu- lish the very best. In effect, that the impact factor for Massachusetts, the home of scripts for Cell Press titles. the people at Nature Press the League titles is routine- both Harvard and MIT. Successful authors then see saw that the best way to ly about double any other They counted on them to their work appear in record take on the Mercedes that journal in its field, includ- be prescient about which time because so few manu- is Cell was not to create a ing these four. fields of biomedical inquiry scripts survive winnowing car like my Saturn (a won- It’s intriguing to specu- would be the most fertile. to form much of a backlog. derful, affordable car, with late: Just what would it Cell Press editors were This effectively gives Cell a transparently clear and take to expand the league? allowed to reject in a heart- Press titles the ability to fair sales experience, but in beat any papers that they bestow “accelerated celebri- a target market field A Four-Part Strategy for deemed “insufficiently ty” in the basic sciences; already filled with Tercels Making the Big Three exciting,” without even the same as publishing in and Focuses) but to market sending them out for the the League does in clinical a Lexus. the Big Four customary lengthy peer investigation. Part 1: If You Have a review. Nature Medicine saw Part 3: Know When to Take Great, Well-Established How could they get two opportunities in this a Smart Risk Brand Name, Use It! away with this? Getting a development. First, there Nature also made a rea- In the early 1990s, the paper into Cell is like get- just had to be many excel- sonable bet: Its best compe- British publishers (von

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 27 How to Write for Information Outlook SLA’s monthly magazine is written primarily by and for information professionals. INFORMATION OUTLOOK interprets the news and covers trends and issues that affect information professionals in a global environment. If you know of an interesting improvement in a special library or information center… If you’ve solved a difficult problem—or prevented one… If you or a colleague have done something extraordinary… If you want to give something back to the profession by sharing your experiences with others… We want to hear from you. We welcome proposals for articles of interest to information professionals.

Topics The editorial calendar is a guide for the editorial direction of the magazine. Each issue covers many more topics than those included in the calendar.“Cover article” topics for one issue will be suitable as features in another. When you propose an article, make sure you can relate the topic to the specific needs of our readers. INFORMATION OUTLOOK readers represent companies of all sizes. They work in large libraries with large staffs and as solo librarians in small companies. Their experience ranges May Career development Mar. 3, 2006 from senior professionals to beginners just out of school. Editorial2006 CalendarPossible topics: Professional development, INFORMATION OUTLOOK readers want to read articles about new tech- Each issue of INFORMATIONgaining expertise OUTLOOK inincludes content articlesareas,résumé on many more topics than niques, new ideas, new trends. They’re interested in articles about search the ones listed here.Thewriting, interviewcalendar istactics. only a general guide for editorial direction.“Cover article”topics for one issue will be suitable as features in engines, knowledge management, international issues, copyright law, tech- June Digital information sources Apr. 7, 2006 nology, innovation, the Internet. They’re interested in articles on adminis- another. 2006 Possible topics: Selection process, RFP writing, tration, organization, marketing, and operations. Please e-mail articlemaximizing queries usage.and proposals to [email protected]. If you are INFORMATION OUTLOOK readers like case studies. They’re interested in writing for a particular issue,your query should be early enough to allow for growing their organizations and in planning their careers. They want to writing theJuly article. Managing May 5,2006 know what works, and what doesn’t work. They want success stories. They 2006 Possible topics: Planning, budgeting, want to know how to confront problems and how to avoid them. Issue Coversupervising Article a staff, purchasing. Deadline Articles should include something new, something different, some- August Knowledge management June 9,2006 thing important. When the reader is finished, he or she should feel smarter 2006 Possible topics:KM systems, indexing than before. information, low-budget KM.

A note to vendors and service providers September Internal Marketing July 7,2006 In many cases you may have the best and most current information on 2006 Possible topics:Using intranets and e-mail, a topic. We invite you to share that expertise with our readers, to advance training internal clients, special events, tips for increasing usage, showing return on the body of knowledge of the profession. But—we’ll insist that your arti- investment. cles do not promote your business or claim that your product or service is the only solution to a given problem. Expanded writers guidelines are at October Web searching Aug. 11,2006 www.sla.org/content/Shop/Information/writingforio/index.cfm. 2006 Possible topics:Meta directories, using online search engines, the best sites for various content areas. To submit a proposal… If you have an idea for an article, please send a proposal to November Copyright Sept. 8,2006 [email protected] outlining the article and your qualifications for writing it. 2006 Possible topics: Global considerations, A paragraph or two and a few bullet points will suffice. We usually respond permissions, new laws and regulations in a couple of weeks or less. December Managing Oct. 6,2006 2006 Possible topics: Planning, budgeting, supervising a staff, purchasing. Journals

tition, Cell, would not like- schools had termed pre- ed that procedure for all more experience of getting ly field a directly compara- clinical science like this, three members of the Big into League titles earlier. ble title, a Cell Clinical and had devoted around 5 Three League. In the end, But this seemed offset by Investigation so to speak, percent of their content to averaging individual Big the high percentage of or at least not right away. it. Nature Medicine’s explic- Three League team per- review writers among Why? Elsevier would not it strategy was to change formances made a lot of Nature Medicine, and most likely let its Cell Press divi- the percentage to 50 per- sense, because the stats distinctively, by its marked sion juggernaut topple its cent traditional clinical showed that they are much strength in authors with own franchise clinical investigation and 50 per- more alike than not. papers in journals impor- investigation title, The cent molecular content Indeed, the best predictor tant to translational medi- Lancet. Elsevier was very without compromising the of a 1995 author appearing cine. interested in sustaining quality or diversity of in any particular member This performance would Lancet’s own excellent either class of papers. of the Big League Three seem to be almost a draw, branding, for special rea- Nature’s timing could was not the number of but the tiebreaker was that sons that would become scarcely be better. The mid- prior appearances in that Nature Medicine also went apparent only later. The 1990s to the early 2000s particular journal. It was on to earn the same lofty Cell line would expand, but would see acceleration in prior appearance in any impact factors as the Big not in a way that competed the speed at which basic one of the Big Three. In Three, including the char- for authors or subscribers science yielded medical other words, being seen as acteristic approximate dou- of Lancet. progress. A new catch belonging in the League is bling of the impact factors phrase that almost entirely at least as important as posted by the other distin- Part 4: To Join Them, You displaced the lackluster belonging to a particular guished journals of clinical Have to Beat Them, But “molecular medicine”— club within it. investigation mentioned Not Exactly at Their Own “translational medicine”— earlier. Game came into common usage But Nature Medicine’s Here are the results: Even with its great in the research community. way of achieving this pro- • Average number of prior brand name, Nature also Medical schools literally bationary membership did papers: League authors, 24; saw that taking the league began reorganizing their have a peculiar side effect. Nature Medicine authors, head-on by doing exactly traditional pre-clinical Its strong dependence on 19. what they did in the same departments of biochem- translational medicine, • Percentage of prior way, was not just bold, it istry, cell biology, genetics, with that heavy emphasis papers that were reviews: was stupid. If it did not do physiology, and pharmacol- on molecular biology and Nature Medicine, 25 per- something else in addition ogy into multidisciplinary related disciplines, made cent; the League, 10 per- or something different, divisions of translational more of Nature Medicine’s cent. Nature Medicine could still medicine. Translational content harder to explain • Percentage of authors end up being regarded as a medicine authors got better easily to the media or the with prior papers in the contender for the title of funding and were produc- public. elite clinical investigation world’s fourth best place to ing a bumper crop of excit- Moreover, Nature “League” journals: League publish traditional clinical ing new manuscripts from Medicine had a monthly authors, 51 percent; Nature research. As we have seen, which either the Cell or rather than weekly publica- Medicine, 36 percent. that is already a crowded Nature families could now tion schedule, so any • Percentage of authors cubicle. So even before the have their pick. breakthrough stories had to with papers in the basic first issue appeared, Nature wait. And when they did science “translational” elite Medicine advertised itself as appear, there were three Nature Medicine (Cell, Nature, Science, or being especially receptive weeks of League articles Makes a Bid PNAS): Nature Medicine, 42 to what it called “molecular already in print or on the How did the Nature percent; the League, 15 per- medicine.” What is this talk circuit, and a three out Medicine team compare to cent. field? It’s about finding dis- of five weekdays’ chance members of the Big Three coveries in areas like Verdict: Nature that at least one of those League in its kick-off year? human DNA and proteins Medicine Becomes a League journals was also I did a five-year analysis of that lead more quickly to lifting its embargos for the publishing record of the New, Probationary improved or custom-tai- early media announce- first 100 “corresponding League Member but lored drugs and new thera- ments on the same day as authors” (the go-to person pies. Still Doesn’t Make the Nature Medicine. However, in these typically multiple Now the Big Three News Nature Medicine had plenty authored manuscripts), League had always recog- To recap: League jour- of reason to be happy. It who appeared in Nature nized the importance of nals clearly had authors had plenty of breakthrough Medicine in 1995. I repeat- what traditional medical with more papers and with articles on the researcher’s

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 29 Journals

all-star required reading League members. This some understandable brand • Percentage of authors list, and it broke into hun- would seem preposterous, confusion for PLoS with prior papers in the dreds of library collections but PLoS Medicine already Medicine given that another elite clinical investigation within one year, at a time has influenced the situa- acronymic publisher, BMC “League” journals: the when thousands of journals tion. Each of the older (BioMed Central from the League, 50 percent; PLoS were being thrown out in members of the League has UK) has dived headlong in Medicine, 38 percent; “cancellectomy” operations. subsequently agreed to pro- to the open-access field Nature Medicine, 12 per- vide open access to their launching more than 30 cent. Will the Open Access articles after six to 12 titles in all manner of clini- • Percentage of authors Strategy of PLoS months, partly in response cal and basic research in with papers in the basic to the moves of PLoS the last few years. science “translational” elite Medicine Make it the Medicine and its allies. Nonetheless, Nobel (Cell, Nature, Science, or Big Five? PLoS Medicine is cur- Prizewinners like Harold PNAS): Nature Medicine, 66 It has been 10 years rently backed by founda- Varmus and other members percent; PLoS Medicine, 40 since Nature Medicine came tion funds but intends to of the National Academy of percent The League, 18 per- on the scene. It’s time to sustain itself by having the Sciences backed PLoS cent. check to see if it is still authors pay to have their Medicine with their papers, only a probationary League accepted manuscripts pub- in a show of support. What can all this tell us member. In the interim, the lished. It has very quick about PLoS Medicine? First, parent Nature continued turnaround times for its Stability or Change 10 it suggests that the journal unabated to branch out refereeing and acceptance Years Later has done very well in with many new titles in the process, but allows for author recruitment in a How is PLoS Medicine basic sciences, and a appeals of rejections. very short time. It com- doing? Any confirmation of matching parallel series of Papers may appear the pares favorably in average success by impact factors Nature Reviews for most of minute they are accepted— number of papers and per- will be about two years in them. The new Lancet after any paperwork and centage of papers that are the making. Has either the Infectious Diseases, Lancet financial considerations are reviews. Is this perform- old League or Nature Neurology, and Lancet taken care of, but with ance enough to earn it a Medicine changed with Oncology are taking over allowances for exigent cir- place an expanded Big respect to each other or to the number-one positions cumstances. Five? Is this enough to the much-heralded appear- (or close to it) in their PLoS Medicine has a either knock out one of the ance of PLoS Medicine? respective clinical niches in forerunner, PLoS Biology, a League or Nature Medicine? Will PLoS Medicine be clos- a Cell-like manner, displac- 2003 general biology and This depends on three fac- er in characteristics to the ing journals that were ecology start up, which got tors: what the other jour- League or to Nature almost a century old. excellent reviews. (Full dis- nals have done lately, and Medicine? To answer to Likewise, Cancer Cell and closure: The author of this what PLoS Medicine has some of these questions, I Cell Metabolism are making paper wrote the first done to position itself along studied the first 50 corre- room for themselves at the review, and it was very the traditional clinical sponding authors in PLoS top of their awards medal positive.) But despite research vs. translational Medicine (the number platforms. League members attracting a good deal of research continuum, and available at the start of this JAMA and the New England prestigious authorship, what has it done enhance project) using the same Journal of Medicine contin- notice of its early articles its brand recognition. procedures as in the 1995 ue magisterially. It’s a good in venues such as the New It is apparent that the sample, with a matching time to ask what the York Times, and a high League has energized in number of corresponding chances are for a fifth “preliminary impact factor” light of the ongoing compe- authors from each of the member of the League. And the biology edition did not tition with Nature Medicine League members and from assuming it could happen, replace, demote, or threaten and in the face of the Nature Medicine. could it be soon? in any obvious manner any upstart PLoS Medicine. Here are the results: The Public Library of comparable journals. More They have improved on • Average number of prior Science Medicine (PLoS importantly for our purpos- their own 1995 benchmarks papers: Nature Medicine, Medicine), founded in late es, it did not appear to in overall number of arti- 38; The League, 30; PLoS 2004, thinks that open have had enough time to cles and percentage of Medicine, 27. access to medical research build sufficient brand papers that are reviews. • Percentage of prior is not only a cause worth recognition that it could They have even bumped up papers that are reviews: the fighting for, but also a great clearly confer much cachet the percentage of authors League, 16 percent; PLoS new strategy to not only upon PLoS Medicine. At the who had prior papers in Medicine, 14 percent; make it into the League, time of its launch, more- the elite basic science jour- Nature Medicine, 7 percent. but also to displace some over, there was already nals so important to trans-

30 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 Journals

lational medicine. While Medicine in translational the League titles have long accomplishing all of this, medicine, although it may done with the highly pre- they scarcely budged from well position itself as an dictable day-of-the-week their solid claim to being outlet more favorable to it lifting of embargoes for the absolute leaders in tra- than a League title. PLoS JAMA, The Lancet, and the ditional clinical investiga- Medicine has shown some NEJM. The problem may tion. In a sense, the League indication that this would still be that no one readily just got better at what they be one of its strategies by knows which PLoS is being had been doing well all adding on two new special- talked about, because PLoS along, and simply added ty family titles closely may not have allowed more translational medicine related to translational enough time for its PLoS by way of response to the medicine in 2005: PLoS Medicine brand to become current wave of funding Genetics and PloS firmly imprinted on the and fashion. Computational Biology. minds of reporters, never Nature Medicine, by con- (Note: Computational biolo- mind that of the lay public. trast, has changed the most gy is the use of mathemati- The Lancet gave itself over dramatically. Its authors are cal formula and computer a hundred years of reputa- clearly productive in terms algorithms to detect pat- tion building before it suc- of their own original terns in DNA and make cessfully spun off new research, doubling their predictions about genetic titles, and even Cell had 14 output, although the per- outcomes in humans and years before its first off- centage of papers that are model experimental organ- shoot, Neuron appeared. At reviews has dropped. Most isms). best, it can be argued that importantly, the topical mix Conversely, some would PLoS is trying to keep pace for Nature Medicine shows think that with Nature with the prolific and presti- that it has clearly decided Medicine’s increasing slant gious Nature series without on a strategy of becoming towards translational work, quite coming off as another the preeminent venue for and lessening of clinical prolific but not as presti- translational medicine, research content, there gious BMC. even if this comes at a sig- would be an opening worth Will PLoS Medicine or nificant loss of authors exploiting for PLoS its clones nonetheless suc- with recent experience in Medicine to favor tradition- ceed in making it a five-or- traditional clinical investi- al investigation manu- more-journal League? Will gatory League titles in the scripts. That would also even the medical reporters flagship journal. seem a viable strategy, but become exhausted by the Where are those authors even so, it has the con- seeming constant expan- now going? Starting in comitant danger of placing sion of (and perhaps dimin- 2004, some went to Nature PLoS Medicine in the infa- ishing returns from the use Clinical Practice mous “fourth best place for of) branded titles? It is too Cardiovascular Medicine, clinical investigation” slot. soon to tell for sure, but Nature Clinical Practice Nonetheless, to that end, in two things are certain. The Gastroenterology & 2005 PLoS also launched original members or ver- Hepatology, Nature Clinical PLoS Pathogens, essentially sions of the League titles Practice Oncology, and an infectious diseases jour- will always be there, but Nature Clinical Practice nal, and will have launched it’s going to be even more Urology. In 2005, others PLoS Clinical Trials by the challenging for special went to Nature Clinical time this article appears. librarians and their clients Practice Endocrinology & All this brings us back to listen to, and to correctly Metabolism, Nature Clinical to the issues of making transcribe the references Practice Nephrology, and news and a brand name. for, the medical segment of Nature Clinical Practice PLoS Medicine has taken the nightly news for some Rheumatology. some media-savvy meas- time to come. How does this affect the ures by making weekly “in future prospects of PLoS advance” press announce- Medicine? It is unlikely that ments for some of its PLoS Medicine is going to monthly journals, for the overtake decisively the very sake of creating excitement determined Nature or attention. That’s what

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 31 Reprography Collectives

By Lesley Ellen Harris similar approach was taken in Canada in licenses for sheet music, illustrations, the late 1980s and now all educational etc., found within these print materials. The term “reprography” refers to pho- institutions at all levels pay a fee for a Many of these IFRRO members have tocopying equipment—which may seem blanket license for reprography taking reciprocal licenses with one another. less relevant in the digital era—that now place by staff, instructors and students in This means, for example, that if you exists in businesses and homes around their institutions. Under the “blanket want to photocopy an article by a British the world. This equipment is regularly license” scheme, institutions pay a set author in Canada, your license with the used for reproducing copyright-protected fee for a set period and are permitted to Canadian reprography collective would works covered by legislative wording to copy specified portions of works in the likely cover copying of that British arti- include literary, dramatic, musical, and repertoires of the reprography collective. cle in Canada. This arrangement of artistic material. In Germany, a dual system of statuto- reciprocal licenses reflects the ever- These words have unique meanings ry payments coupled with blanket decreasing size of the world in terms of in copyright parlance. “Literary” means licensing is in its copyright legislation. the flow of intellectual property. Some of any sort of text from an inter-office menu The statutory payments are made by the these reprography collectives are provid- to an award-winning fiction book. manufacturers and importers of photo- ing individual licenses for certain elec- “Dramatic” refers to a script for a play or copying equipment, with the payment tronic uses of materials—for example, in a movie screenplay. “Musical” means amount relating to the speed of opera- higher education course packets—while sheet music. “Artistic material” refers to tion of the equipment. When reprogra- continuing to investigate and determine your children’s finger painting as well as phy equipment is used in educational how best they can accommodate digital to works by well-known artists. All of establishments, public libraries, or other licenses in the future. these works may be easily and inexpen- institutions where the equipment is In the ideal world, a single copyright sively copied on photocopying machines available to the public on the payment of collective would exist for clearing rights around the world, without the copyright a fee, copyright royalties are collected in all electronic works or for all elec- owner’s knowledge. and distributed by reprography collec- tronic uses. However, it is not likely that Although national laws around the tives under blanket licenses. we will see such a collective in the near world allow some reprography to take The U.S. reprography collective, the future. place within the confines of the law, Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), most- Collectives exist either for various much of the large-scale photocopying ly provides licenses to corporate types of works or for specific types of that occurs is subject to “solutions” licensees, since much reprography in rights in copyright. For instance, collec- established by authors and copyright educational institutions is covered by tives exist for reprography, for the public holders. fair use. However, the CCC may provide performance of music, and for the works The Scandinavian countries took the a license for educational reprography of visual artists. One collective that deals lead in the 1970s, introducing a volun- beyond fair use, and individual or trans- with the clearance of all copyright works tary blanket licensing scheme (initially actional licenses for certain electronic in an electronic format would mean that only for national works), to cover photo- uses of materials. all copyright holders would have to unite copying in educational institutions. to make this a reality—not an easy task! These “reprography collectives” repre- Internationally In the meantime, we should support sent authors and publishers of print There are now 48 reprography collec- those existing collectives that are delving works. tives in the International Federation of into some rights clearances for electron- In the 1980s, some of these countries Reproduction Rights Organizations ic uses of works, and we should encour- amended their national copyright laws to (IFRRO). (See: www.ifrro.org.) These age more electronic rights clearances to allow for such blanket licensing, with a collectives generally provide individual occur through the existing scheme of provision for arbitration to deal with dis- or transactional and blanket licenses for copyright collectives. putes between the reprography collec- the reprography of print text (like books tives and the educational institutions. A and periodicals). Some may provide

Lesley Ellen Harris is a copyright lawyer/consultant who works on legal, business, and strategic issues in the publishing, content, entertainment, Internet, and information industries. She is the editor of the print newsletter, The Copyright and New Media Law Newsletter, in its 10th year of publication in 2006. If you would like a sample copy of this newsletter, email: [email protected]. She is a professor at SLA’s Click University where she teaches a number of online courses on copyright, licensing, and managing copyright and digital content for SLA members. See: http://www.sla.org/clickulive

32 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 American Chemical Society 16, 21 2006 CLA Conference www.acs.org May 2006 Canadian Library Association Association for Computing Machiner 22 Annual AIIM ON DEMAND 14-17 June 2006 Libraries and Competition: www.acm.org Conference & Expo Ottawa, ON, Canada Intelligence for Management and AIIM: The ECM Association Dialog Back Cover http://www.cla.ca/conference/ Strategy - Part II www.dialog.com 15-18 May 2006 cla2006/event_proposals.htm 29 August 2006 Philadelphia, PA, USA Elsevier Inside Back Cover http://www.sla.org/clickulive www.elsevier.com http://www.aiim.org/ LISA V article-events.asp?ID=3277 Library and Information Services Hypertext 2006 Gale 1 in Astronomy V ACM www.gale.com June 18-21 23-25 August 2006 IEEE Inside Front Cover Always Fresh - Fast Content for Cambridge, MA, USA Odense, Denmark www.ieee.com www.cfa.harvard.edu/library/lisa Your Web Site and Users http://www.ht06.org/ LexisNexis 15 17 May 2006 www.lexisnexis.com http://www.sla.org/clickulive AH 2006 September 2006 Wall Street Journal 2 Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive www.wsj.com 37th Annual Conference Web-Based Systems Digital Resources in the of the CPLQ 21-23 June 2006 Humanities and Arts Corporation of Professional Dublin, Ireland 3-6 September 2006 Librarians of Québec http://www.ah2006.org/ Totnes, Devon, UK 17-19 May 2006 http://www.ahds.ac.uk/drha2006/ Laval, Québec, Canada ALA Annual Conference index.php?cf=5 http://www.cbpq.qc.ca/congres/ American Library Association congres2006/Call_for_papers_2006. 22-28 June 2006 I-KNOW: 6th International html New Orleans, LA, USA Conference on Knowledge http://www.ala.org/annual Management MLA '06 6-8 September 2006 Medical Library Association Graz, Austria 19-24 May 2006 July 2006 http://i-know.know-center. Phoenix, AZ, USA Ninth International ISKO tugraz.at/ http://www.mlanet.org/am/ Conference International Society for Knowledge 10th European Conference of ICEIS 2006 Organization Medical and Health Libraries 8th International Conference on 4-7 July 2006 European Association of Health Enterprise Information Systems Vienna, Austria Information and Libraries (EAHIL) May 23-27 http://isko.univie.ac.at/cms2/ 11-16 September 2006 Paphos, Greece Cluj-Napoca, Romania www.iceis.org 99th AALL Annual Meeting & http://www.eahilconfcluj.ro/ Conference American Association of Law Taxonomy KM -- Where to Go Libraries Project Management for Solo Once the KM Program Is Already 8-12 July 2006 Librarians – Part I in Place St. Louis, MO, USA 13 September 2006 24 May 2006 www.sla.org/clickulive http://www.sla.org/clickulive Information Seeking in Context Conference 2006 Bringing Text Alive: The Future of LIDA 2006 19-21 July 2006 Scholarship, Pedagogy, and Libraries in the Digital Age Sydney, Australia Electronic Publication 29 May-4 June 2006 Text Creation Partnership Dubrovnik and Mljet, Croatia August 2006 14-17 September 2006 http://www.ffos.hr/lida/ Ann Arbor, MI, USA Third International Conference on http://www.lib.umich.edu/tcp/ Knowledge Management (ICKM) conference June 2006 University of Greenwich et al. 1-2 August 2006 CAIS/ACSI 2006 Annual ALIA 2006 Biennial Conference Greenwich, UK Conference Australian Library and Canadian Association for Information Association 29th Annual International ACM Information Science 19-22 September 2006 SIGIR Conference 1-3 June 2006 Perth, Australia 6-11 August 2006 Toronto, ON, Canada http://conferences.alia.org.au/ Seattle, WA, USA http://www.cais-acsi.ca/ alia2006/ 2006call.htm

Libraries and Competition: SLA 2006 Annual Conference Project Management for Solo Intelligence for Management and 11 - 14 June 2006 Librarians – Part II Strategy - Part I Baltimore, MD, USA 27 September 2006 15 August 2006 http://www.sla.org/baltimore2006 www.sla.org/clickulive http://www.sla.org/clickulive JCDL 2006 Joint Conference on Digital Libraries 72nd Annual World Library and 11-15 June 2006 Information Congress Chapel Hill, NC, USA International Federation of Library http://www.jcdl2006.org/ Associations and Institutions (IFLA) 20-24 August 2006

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 33 What Can MySpace Teach Us in Special Libraries

By Stephen Abram, MLS the month is Web sites like MySpace, the entries, favorites, discussions, events, Facebook, Second Life, Teen Second Life, videos, music, and classified ads. It takes First, a musical interlude… and Pandora. “Those are kids’ sites!” you individual features and functions that Look what they've done to my song, Ma scream. What do they have to do with spe- resemble applications del.icio.us, Flickr, Look what they've done to my song cial libraries and special collections and YouTube, Blogger, gMail, and puts them Well it's the only thing I could do half right intranets? A lot, I think. Either way, it just into a useful space that just makes “sense.” And it's turning out all wrong, Ma isn’t wise to dismiss these social phenome- And it has gone mobile. One wag estimates Look what they've done to my song na without looking at them a little to see that MySpace could account for 40 percent what the source of their success is. I, for of Web traffic by the end of the year. Look what they've done to my brain, Ma one, learned from our mistakes in dismiss- MySpace appears to be the site of choice Look what they've done to my brain ing trendsetters like AltaVista, Napster, for teens and Millennials. The Facebook Well they picked it like a chicken bone Google, Web 2.0, and more, and not learn- seems to be successfully capturing the And I think I'm half insane, Ma ing from their innovations. biggest part of the college and university Look what they've done to my song demographic. In the sidebar to this column I wish I could find a good book to live in A Little About Just MySpace. you can see even more advanced spaces for Wish I could find a good book MySpace is busier than Google. It is this demographic that seek to combine Well, if I could find a real good book reported that it gets about two to three gaming metaphors with social and e-com- I'd never have to come out and look at times the traffic of Google daily. It’s bigger merce activities. Check out Second Life and What they've done to my song than blogging, and more blog postings are Teen Second Life. If the gaming style com- done inside MySpace than all other blogs plexity feels overwhelming, just play with Look what they've done to my song, Ma combined. And it’s growing like Star Trek’s the single applications that use social net- Look what they've done to my song tribbles. works to create collaboration spaces like Well they tied it up in a plastic bag There are more than 150,000 new Pandora for music or Flickr for pictures or And turned it upside down MySpace accounts being created daily. At del.icio.us for bookmarks. Look what they've done to my song current growth rates it has the potential to “Why am I looking at this kid stuff?” Melanie Safka, define social space (and not just virtual you ask. What can it possibly teach me “Look What They've Done to My Song” social space) for the majority of people. about providing excellent service to my MySpace and The Facebook combined are users who are serious lawyers, doctors, This excerpt from a song from my youth reported to cover more than 85 percent of accountants, mandarins, or consultants? certainly expresses how things feel today. all students in high school through college. Good question. And like all good questions, Everything keeps turning upside down. They are connecting to each other—and it generates more questions. Just when you think you understand the not just casual connections but sustainable, In the special library context we relate current change dynamic and the Web and global connections for life. They are net- to our clients on many levels. We provide the Internet, it goes all kerflooey again! works of social networks, not just inter-net- personal service—sometimes in person, or I got nice and comfortable with Web worked information. via phone, e-mail, IM, etc. We provide sites and with learning mobile applications, Specifically, MySpace is an organized products like databases, Web pages, Web blogging, and downloading streaming space to personalize your interests and sites, intranet tools, and more. And we offer media—and it all mutates yet again! WILL activities on the Web. It includes the ability special services like research support, train- IT EVER END? Well… we all know that to browse, search, invite friends to con- ing, and information coaching. But funda- answer to that question. Nope. We might nect—share film reviews, mail, blog mentally, we and end, pass over, go kaput—but change won’t. Change is the con- Stephen Abram, MLS, was elected in March to serve as SLA’s next president- stant. This is as true today as elect. His term as SLA president will begin in January 2008. He is vice presi- when Heraclitus made that com- dent, innovation, for SirsiDynix. He is an SLA Fellow and the past president ment about life in Greece 2500 of the Ontario Library Association and the immediate past president of the years ago. Canadian Library Association. In June 2003 he was awarded SLA’s John So what are the latest prog- Cotton Dana Award. This column contains his personal perspectives and nostications of the future? Where does not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of SirsiDynix. He is the Oracle of Delphi looking to would love to hear from you at [email protected]. find the future? The hot topic of

34 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 our resources and services usually exist 5. These sites are exploring the issues of to create a new Internet elite where the inside a larger organization—a social privacy and personal space in new ways. well-connected rule? What will this mean organization that supports society and the What can we learn about their efforts to in terms of society and work? It’s just a larger social context, be it through govern- create “safe” spaces? Is there something question. ment, charities, associations, social service here that can help us to create communities There’s a ton to learn from these high- agencies, educational institutions, profes- in our spaces that are safe, confidential, pri- profile sites. I am not suggesting that we sional firms, or business. vate, and still have permeable boundaries? adopt their style, practices, and templates; In this context we can ask ourselves the 6. If we plan to be relevant to all genera- but I think there’s a lot to learn here just by following questions about Web 2.0, and tions, what is our opinion of MySpace keeping an open mind. Indeed we should- about social networking services like now—and what it can evolve into? Is there n’t have to wait until the MySpace genera- MySpace and The Facebook: a generation gap developing in Web-based tion enters the workplace in droves to 1. What are they doing right with respect environments? Are we worried about the understand and meet their expectations to institutionalizing social networks? How balkanization of the Web community? Do for virtual workplace space, networking, do they get social networks and links to MySpace-style services have the potential and content sharing. self-create and make themselves visible? How do they so successfully straddle the informal/formal social dynamic? We have From the moment you enter the World you’ll dis- to admit that the social and workplace net- Social Sites cover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, Here are some of the more popular social net- entertainment, experiences, and opportunity. Once works in our host organizations can be work sites. Most of the descriptions were taken you’ve explored a bit, perhaps you’ll find a perfect quite opaque and difficult to access and from the sites’ “About” pages. parcel of land to build your house or business. navigate. What are these sites doing that is You’ll also be surrounded by the Creations of encouraging networks to form and to be MySpace your fellow residents. Because residents retain the explicit? http://www.myspace.com rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell, “MySpace is an online community that lets you and trade with other residents. 2. We are constantly trying to market and The Marketplace currently supports millions of advertise and encourage use of our Web meet your friends' friends. Create a private community on MySpace and you can share photos, jour- U.S. dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce sites and intranet tools. Here are sites that nals, and interests with your growing network of is handled with the in-world currency, the Linden have exponential growth, which has mutual friends! See who knows who, or how you are dollar, which can be converted to U.S. dollars at occurred amazingly quickly, with not connected. Find out if you really are six people several thriving online currency exchanges.” much more than word-of-mouth as their away from Kevin Bacon. MySpace is for everyone: Teen Second Life • Friends who want to talk online communication strategies. What makes http://teen.secondlife.com • Single people who want to meet other singles “Teen Second Life is an international gathering these sites so successful that people want to • Matchmakers who want to connect their friends place for teens 13-17 to make friends and to play, participate and share? We have discussed with other friends learn and create. In Second Life, teens can create knowledge sharing and how to encourage • Families who want to keep in touch—map your and customize a digital self called an “avatar,” fly family tree more knowledge sharing and codification through an ever-changing 3D landscape, chat and • Business people and co-workers interested in in our organizations ad nauseum. What are socialize with other teens from all over the world, networking these sites doing right that people share and build anything from skyscrapers to virtual vehi- • Classmates and study partners cles. It’s more than a video game and much more willingly without financial rewards? • Anyone looking for long-lost friends!” 3. What makes these sites ‘sticky’? What than an Internet chat program—it’s a boundless The Facebook world of surprise and adventure that encourages is the role of things like video and music in teens to work together and use their imaginations.” social networking and trust relationships? http://www.facebook.com What role do these play in creating engag- Facebook is an online directory that connects Pandora people through social networks at schools. ing environments? Why do people share so http://www.pandora.com much in these spaces through blogging, Pandora is a music discovery service designed Second Life to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love. events, and even their own personal con- http://secondlife.com It’s powered by the Music Genome Project tent creations? “Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built (www.pandora.com/mgp.shtml), the most compre- 4. How do we get workplace groups to and owned by its residents. Since opening to the hensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just connect in virtual environments? How do public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we build work teams and communities of is inhabited by nearly 100,000 people from around we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe. practice easily and seamlessly like they get the globe. created in MySpace? What’s the magic?

vol. 10, no. 5 | May 2006 | information outlook | 35 informationmanagement Everyone Is a (Bad) Librarian

By John R. Latham take risks and be influencers. If you have regular movement or SLA is also investigating the feasibility turnover of staff, combined with less than Apologies to Samuel Sass for copying and wisdom of developing a certification adequate orientation, it is all the more the title from his 1956 article in Special program whereby a member could take important to advertise your services. If you Libraries, but no apologies for looking into courses and seminars on Click U to com- ask users for evaluations, don’t forget to the archives yet again to formulate my col- plete all necessary objectives to be certified add a question about their knowledge of umn’s theme. as having attained a particular professional other services or products you provide. Sass’ article referred to a regular mis- competency. The Competencies for We are not going to dispel the notion conception that anyone can be a librarian Information Professionals of the 21st that everything is available on the Internet, because it’s all about books, and we all use Century has given us internationally recog- and, therefore, we have to make sure that books. Fast forward 50 years and you get nized standards of competence, and the we continually explain what we can pro- “anyone can be an information specialist certification program will give us the tool to vide of value. The last thing we should be because it’s all on the Internet, and we all maintain these standards. doing is giving the impression that we are use the Internet.” I am not sure that, in this day and age, the only ones who can find valuable infor- Familiar? It is not unusual for applicants it is SLA’s role to “establish special librari- mation. We should be helping those users for positions in our libraries or information anship as a profession.” It is our role to who are capable, and willing, to do their centers to consider that their love of search- provide the tools for our members to own “quick and dirty” searches more effi- ing on the Internet and ability to set up advance their careers and gain recogni- ciently. By highlighting some of the weak- their own blog and Web site clearly quali- tion and remuneration commensurate nesses in their results, it will become evi- fies them for the job. Although it is not gen- with their professionalism. With the edu- dent to them when to use your services for erally believed that a love of dogs qualifies cation opportunities provided through more detailed or important research. one to be a veterinarian, when it’s about Click U, and with the networking and With the advances in technology and finding information and being an informa- leadership opportunities, SLA provides search capabilities available to the public, it tion professional, it’s different! the water trough, but if the horses won’t is all the more important that we keep up Sass continued: “In the year 1956, near- drink there is not much we can do about to date with these changes and find where ly a half a century after the formation of it. our competencies can best be put to use. [the] Special Libraries Association, it is still As I have said in my column before, Hence, the importance of the Click U offer- necessary to answer at length the question, the best person to convince senior man- ings being tied in with the Competencies, ‘Why have a professional librarian instead agement of your importance within the and with certification of competencies of a clerk?’ ”1 It is discouraging that the organization is you. I am always amazed acquired. same question is being asked on the thresh- when I look at the Competencies how Although humility is not one of my old of SLA’s centenary, but I don’t think many competencies we have. Many of virtues, honesty is, and I have to admit that that there is any doubt that we are winning these are taken for granted within our there are competencies that I lack or in the battle of the value of an information organizations, and our colleagues and which I am weak. We should all take the professional. senior managers do not know the full opportunities offered to brush up on them, The 1955/56 SLA president, Chester M. extent of our abilities and value. especially since so much learning can now Lewis, asked the question: “Has our failure The problem with the technology that be done at one’s desk, at small cost, taking to establish special librarianship as a pro- we use now is that services provided can up so little time. The 2006 SLA member- fession been due to the failure of ourselves be so impersonal that we do not receive ship study and other SLA surveys are great to formulate, fight for, and maintain stan- the appropriate recognition. I am always opportunities for you to tell us what you dards?”2 Sass was strongly of the opinion delighted when members commend SLA’s need and what we don’t do well. Don’t that the answer was “Yes,” but 50 years Information Center on products or servic- miss the chance to tell us. later I do not agree. SLA’s mission is to pro- es we provide, but it is generally prefaced mote and strengthen its members through with “I did not know you provided this 1 Sass, Samuel. “Everyone is a (Bad) learning, advocacy, and networking initia- great resource.” If this happens to you, it Librarian.” Special Libraries, November tives. SLA has committed itself to develop- means there are 1956, p. 407. ing a method of clearly linking the courses probably many other 2 Lewis, Chester M. Report of the President: that are offered through Click U to SLA’s users/clients who The Potential of SLA. Special Libraries, Competencies for Information Professionals also are unaware of July-August 1956, p. 243. of the 21st Century, with the ultimate goal your valuable re- of enabling members to demonstrate source. So don’t sit achievement of each core competency. This on your laurels—get achievement will help enable individuals to out and promote. The Information Center is John R. Latham is the director of the SLA Information Center. sponsored by Factiva, a Dow Jones and Reuters He can be reached at [email protected]. company.

36 | information outlook |May 2006 | vol. 10, no. 5 Get what you need when you need it ScienceDirect for corporations

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