Information Center Connections

Catalog-a-blog...a survey to log

Do you catalog?  SLA's Committee on Cataloging wants to know!

An ad hoc group of committee members was formed at SLA 2009, and we worked to create a survey to determine the cataloging experience and activities of SLA members.  It's a short survey (promise!), and your feedback will help the committee serve members and plan conference activities.

Will you take a moment or two to complete the survey?  Even if you don't catalog, we'd like to know what you think!

Follow this link to the survey.  Thanks in advance for your participation.  If you have any questions, please contact Dorothy McGarry, who enthusiastically headed the survey development group, which also included Kimberley Edwards, Martha McPhail, and me.

Everything you always wanted to know about copyright*

*...but were afraid to ask.

I think that most of us feel our knowledge of copyright (laws, issues, your-idea-here) falls short.  Copyright law is complex, and we work in areas of overlapping content and service types (academic, public, for-profit, non-profit).  It's hard to know where to begin, and how to get the right answer.

Have you considered the Copyright Management certificate program, which is offered online through SLA's Click University?

Courses are available à la carte and as a full certificate.  CCM100 is the introductory course, and covers the basics...compliance, principles, myths, and gray areas.  The curriculum progresses from there to include courses on U.S. and Canadian copyright law, digital copyright issues, copyright and the library, international copyright law, copyright management, and copyright education.

All the courses are taught by Lesley Ellen Harris, a copyright consultant and educator, and a columnist for SLA's Information Outlook.

To find out more, visit the certificate's Click University site.

Special note:  The upcoming offering of CCM100 starts on October 26th.  For this course, there's one online seminar, an online discussion, and a discussion list for class participation.  Visit the course page for more information and a link to register.

Hope to see you there!

Moving and shaking

Are you a mover or a shaker?  Know someone who might be?  Well, Library Journal wants to hear from you!

The magazine is now collecting nominations for its annual Movers & Shakers issue (the issue will be released March 15th), which recognizes emerging leaders in our industry.  Deadline for submissions is November 9th, so start shakin' it!

Social media and you

I've been catching up on my professional reading, and I picked up the July 2009 FUMSI Report on social media in the enterprise.  The issue includes the results of a survey on how social media is used in organizations, integration of social media with business processes, and the culture surrounding social media in the workplace.

Respondents indicated that internal blogs were the most popular "official" social application (external blogs were rated second most popular).  However, LinkedIn proved the most-used tool when both "official" and "unofficial" uses are included.  Least popular overall?  MySpace and Second Life...not a surprise. 

What is distressing are the results related to social media integration.  Overall satisfaction with how social media is at work in the organization was rated an average of 1.91 out of 4.00.  That's pretty low.  Seems that, in general, some staff "get" it (2.24 out of 4.00), but the marks for senior management are lower (2.07 out of 4.00).  And 53% of respondents indicated that the atmosphere surrounding social media is "very restrictive" or "somewhat restrictive."  And respondents are frustrated.

Here at SLA we use blogs regularly to communicate with members (and non-members) and have also incorporated Twitter (me, too), Facebook, and LinkedIn (here and here) in our arsenal of devices.

How are social media (blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) taking off in your organization?  Do you feel free to use these tools?  Are you encouraged to use them?  Most importantly, have strategies been developed to maximize their power? 

How's your resumé shaping up?

You've researched.  You've coordinated.  You've blogged.  You've even cataloged.  What's left to put on that resumé?

Have you thought about doing more than just attending SLA 2010, 13-16 June?  SLA is now accepting proposals for contributed papers, which will be presented at one of several sessions during the annual conference.  It's a perfect opportunity to share your knowledge and experience with your colleagues from around the globe.

The proposal deadline is 18 December, and selected presenters will be notified by 29 January.  Final papers are due 7 May.  That's plenty of time, right? 

If you're interested in submitting an abstract, or even if you're still not sure, take a look at the SLA Web site or this SLA Blog post, which outlines the requirements, submission details, and deadlines.

Worth a click

Prospects for Specialized Libraries: Comments from Colleagues is a report from our friends at SMR International.  What it comes down to is:  what challenges will we be facing, and how do we deal with them?  Read about roles, the collaboration imperative, value (yes), change (and change and change), access issues, and staffing.

More of us are doing Web content and design work.  Need some info on typography?  Look no further than this Speckyboy post.

FUMSI, a FreePint service, offers free articles and a fee-based magazine and research.  Have you taken a look?  Topics of recent free articles include image findability, information risk management, and intranet 2.0.  And, in case you weren't aware, FUMSI = Find Use Manage & Share Information.

Confused about international dialing?  Be confused no longer.

Global trends in special libraries

Although the aim of the report Emerging Trends in New Zealand Special Libraries is to explore the evolution of special libraries in that country, the thoroughness of the research also gives a global snapshot of the special libraries sector.

There are several familiar names in the literature review section (Stephen Abram, Bill Fisher, Guy St. Clair, Priscilla Shontz, Jim Matarazzo, Toby Pearlstein, José-Marie Griffiths, among others), and you'll see the trend towards online services and expanded roles for information professionals.

Library closures, a persistent trend, are explored in depth.  According to the report, in New Zealand, while the number of libraries within commercial entities decreased, the number in non-commercial organizations increased.  Interesting tidbit:  most special librarians in New Zealand work for a governmental organization.

The "Ideas for Further Research" might give us all some direction regarding what to write about and study:  employers' perception of skills, reporting structures, corporate library consortia, recession strategies, what happens after libraries close?

Very interesting.  Take a look.

Special price for the 2008 Salary Survey

Did you know that...

...new for the 2008 SLA Salary Survey was a chapter just for CI and Research responsibilities?

...almost 25% of your U.S.-based SLA colleagues that responded to the survey identified themselves as administrators or managers?

...the median salary for U.S. federal government employees who responded to the survey was $79,000?

...with the purchase of the print/PDF salary survey you receive access to the online calculator, with which you can combine more than one data set?

...now through September 15th, the 2008 SLA Salary Survey is available at the special price of $34.95 for members?

Take this opportunity to find out what you're worth!

Value and costs, value and costs

And, in this installment of "how information professionals provide value," here's a new eBook from Dow Jones that offers concrete suggestions for creating valuable time- and money-saving services for your clients.

Pay Now or Pay Later: Exposing the Hidden Cost of "Free" Information, which I found through a tweet from contributor Mary Ellen Bates (@mebs), is a roadmap for information center planning. In addition to some helpful statistics, there are tips for reputation management, data presentation, and management of projects and information.

What a great way to start the post-summer strategizing.

Worth a click

People still use instant messaging, right? Check out Meebo, which is IM central for all your accounts.

Seesmic is a web-based alternative to TweetDeck (desktop and iPhone versions also available) that allows you to view both Twitter feeds and Facebook updates in one place...kind of a like a command center.

Resources on writing from Purdue University.  OWL, the Online Writing Lab.

Portals and KM, an intelligent blog from Bill Ives, covers several topics of interest to members...knowledge management, 2.0 (enterprise and Web), and blogs.