Peter Griffiths

Changing for the Better Is your Reputation at Stake

Reviews the changes that have taken place in the library and information world in recent years, with particular reference to their influence on library and information professionals as they consider their professional self development and careers in the current job market. As many new opportunities have arisen since the late 1990s, so the range of library and information work available has changed considerably and continues to do so. These changes challenge the traditional styles of career management that have been quite satisfactory for librarian and information professionals in the past. A major change in the library/information profession is the decline in the concept of a ‘job for life’ and changes in employment patterns that reflect this situation. It has now become widely accepted that there is no such thing as a completely secure job in the long term and, since library staff no longer feel they should stay in one job with one employer throughout a career, managers should expect this to happen and plan accordingly. External factors, such as the impact of terrorism in the wake of 9/11 and global changes in economics, will impact jobs in all countries. Other variables that impact employment patterns include: jobs that disappear; changing customer expectations; the effect of official policies; the new focus in subject work; new areas of professional work; the rise in importance of reputation management; changing hours of work regulations and ageing workers; and the expanding global village.

Librarians or Knowledge Managers? What’s in a Name, or is there a Real Difference?

While there has been a trend in recent years for libraries to change their names to be called information or knowledge centres, and librarians have begun to be called by other names, such as knowledge managers, there is a tendency for these new titles and functions to be very poorly defined and the qualities needed to do the job are frequently not known or understood by potential employers. Producers and users of information services must take a wide variety of issues into consideration, including: the cost of information; whether it is priced or free; accessibility, whether the information is in the right place at the right time; the skills necessary to access information and use it efficiently; quality and timeliness; and the most cost-effective ways to produce and use information and the most intuitive ways of presenting it. Concludes that many skills are common to both librarians and knowledge managers. Both select, collect and disseminate information, link it to the users and train those users to use information efficiently and effectively. Both operate in the context of the organization or community that they serve. What may ultimately prove more important than any difference between them is the quality of their skills and the alliances they forge with other players such as the managers of the business’s technology and the most important users of the information service (‘superusers’). Viewed in these terms, it may be concluded that there is no difference between the skills of a librarian and that of a knowledge manager.

Where next for information audit

Given the importance and potential value of Information Auditing (IA) to organizations it is essential that information professionals continue to develop and publicise the concept, share practice-based evidence on their experience, and report on the benefits and value of auditing. This article reminds us of important publications on IA and considers the two foremost approaches used — the library and information science approach and the financial audit approach. It suggests that both library and information science (LIS) professionals and financial audit professionals would benefit if work were now undertaken to combine their approaches into a single methodology. This view is influenced by the experience of other areas where information audits are now seen as useful tools — internal audit, records management, information security, competitor intelligence and knowledge management. The author is now undertaking further synthesis and practical work on the proposed convergence of methodologies; these will be reported on by this author and a co-author at a future point.

Information Audit: Towards common standards and methodology

This article further analyses a number of issues highlighted in a previous discussion of the current state of Information Audit (IA), and offers a graphical representation of the IA landscape. Library and Information Science (LIS) struggles to establish its ‘soft’ approach to IA as the leading methodology despite repeated endorsement by authors in other professional groups with some kind of interest in information management. They have found the LIS IA methodology using analysis of information needs and flows to be a useful analytical tool that allows them to evaluate information assets and to demonstrate compliance in asset management – whether those assets are financial, documentary or intangibles such as know-how. Since the implementation of Freedom of Information legislation, records management has espoused a strong focus on compliance and the avoidance of penalties for data protection breaches, but recent publications suggest that organizations of all kinds are adopting this finance- and accountancy-driven approach to information audit. This may be because it is seen as best able to manage the growing complexity of regulation and legislation (local, national and international) that affects information management. Forming strategic alliances with other players, the information profession must take the lead in establishing standard IA procedures and definitions drawing on its own praxis, which is widely accepted by other disciplines. There needs to be a single point of call for standardizing and accrediting IA skills, with the creation of a supporting body of knowledge whose evidence base goes beyond standard journal literature and monographs to include the now considerable corpus of unpublished theses as well as papers in languages other than English. As IA is adopted by a growing number of professional disciplines, LIS and KIM (Knowledge and Information Management) professionals – and also some finance professionals – can now find and seize opportunities beyond the boundaries of more traditional information work.

The internal information audit: conducting the audit and implementing the results

Follows on from an earlier article (Business Information Review, 17 (4) December 2000, 205-214) which emphasized the importance of information auditing in building the foundations of an entrepreneurial library and information service for the corporate organization. Continues in this vein by examining in more detail the mechanisms involved in the information audit, which allows the information provider or information manager to gain a clear understanding of information requirements and use in the whole of the organization. The main elements of the audit comprise: identifying the organization’s real information needs; identifying who needs the information; understanding why people in the organization go elsewhere for information; and finding out where the customers are in the organization. This will result in a set of documents and plans allowing the library and information service to provide the information when it is needed and in the necessary format. Sets out in detail the major factors to be included in information audits, including: defining information resources and services; determining what the organization’s real information needs are; applying the results of the audit; budgets/finance; and evaluation. Concludes that the final results of the analysis of the information audit and related marketing activities should provide a unique understanding of the organization and the behaviour of the information users and information seekers in the organization.

Being an intrapreneur and creating a successful information service within your organization

Suggests various ways in which library and information professionals can and should demonstrate to their organizations and to the public that their function is not merely useful but provides an essential service. These are likely to include a combination of marketing, corporate intelligence, management skills and innovative thought and to be based on the belief that library and information professionals are best equipped to make sense of the new areas of information and knowledge management that are currently proliferating. Argues that the key to success lies in a new style of management, defined as ‘intrapreneurial’ as applied to library and information service management. The fundamental nature and characteristics of intrapreneurs are discussed. These qualities include the ability to: allocate resources for service quality; delegate and organize; reduce individual and team stress; accept responsibility of leadership; motivate at all levels; select a good team; and develop a good team. The five requirements identified as being essential to allow the growth of intrapreneurship comprise: encouragement of risk-taking; financing, rewarding and recognizing innovation; improved means for dissemination of innovation in the public sector; provision of political leadership; and development of a new breed of public sector managers who are trained and motivated as intrapreneurs.

Introducing the concept of an electronic information service

In order to realize fully the potential benefits of electronic information services (EISs), information managers need to understand the overall context of developing a total EIS where maximum use is made of electronically held information. While number of library and information science (LIS) managers have become experts in building and stocking virtual libraries, there are many who are not directly involved in this work but can see considerable potential value if it could be adapted to their own situation. Recent research suggests that there is still very little real guidance specifically aimed at the LIS practitioner in business and other workplace environments about how to introduce and manage a complete EIS. Proposes that an initial series of questions should be asked about services with potential for delivery as part of an EIS. Such questions will enable the information managers to: enhance the services given to users; cut down on repetitive work; and maximize the stock available by holding information and documents in electronic forms. Depending on the main subject area in which the LIS is operating, typical elements of the choices involved include: computer software; stand alone and network databases; CD-ROMs; electronic journals; multimedia products; image collections; encyclopaedias; reference materials; daily news; access to financial information sources; and scientific, technical and medical information.

Develop your information staff

The need for companies to give information staff the same opportunities for continuing personal development (CPD) and training as other business staff is stressed, noting that they may need to take those opportunities in different ways from the majority of staff in the organization. Argues that the exact nature of the CPD will depend on the size of the enterprise and the number of information professionals employed but should always use a combination of methods, including: in-service training; conferences; formal study; advanced qualifications and skills; private study; taking part in the activities of a professional body; and attending professional meetings.