Library Technology Planning

Run Your Business Like a Library* (via Library Technology Planning)

libtechplans — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 09:55:04 +0000

Customers who bought Run Your Business Like a Library also bought: Who Moved my Cheese, One Minute Manager, In Search of Excellence, First Things First, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Fish, and Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff Run Your Business Like a Library [Paperback] Wallace McLendon, MSLS (Author) **** (5 out of 5 stars) List Price: $27.95 Price: $22.45 & eligible for free shipping for orders over $15.00 You Sav … Read More

via Library Technology Planning

Run Your Business Like a Library*

libtechplans — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:24:26 +0000

Customers who bought Run Your Business Like a Library also bought: Who Moved my Cheese, One Minute Manager, In Search of Excellence, First Things First, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Fish, and Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Run Your Business Like a Library [Paperback]

Wallace McLendon, MSLS (Author)

**** (5 out of 5 stars)

List Price: $27.95

Price: $22.45 & eligible for free shipping for orders over $15.00

You Save: $ 5.50

(5 customer reviews)

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

**** (4 out of 5 stars)

By Selbaf Sposea (Maplestar, Connecticut)

I call them 90 page wonders. Quick solutions to management and business challenges fill the shelves at my local Barnes and Noble and they are like Chinese food – tasty and delicious while devouring but lacking lasting satisfaction. Why do you think there’s a new one on the NY Times best seller list every quarter. We can’t get enough of them because, I like you, must admit that I’m thinking the next one is going to provide the secret to business success. I just can’t resist them. Okay, I admit, I picked up this little baby at B&N with complete skepticism. I haven’t been in a library since my freshman year in college so I was super skeptical that libraries could solve the business problems facing America. But the author hooked me on the first page – “Even after gathering all the information available on a problem, we are still going to make bad decisions, but strategic information gathering lowers risks.” A low-risk decision — now that makes sense to me. I read everything I can get my hands on before buying a car and I’ve done pretty well. We don’t do that at work – by “that” I mean systematic, strategic information gathering — the author uses the phrase “evidence based.” His second chapter entitled, “Information Equals Power – a Cliché for a Reason,” caught me off guard because that idea may be overused in libraries but I never thought of “the more you know, the stronger you are.” In my business, strength is market share and bottom line. Maybe he’s talking about what allows a business to gain market share and increase the bottom line. The third chapter, “So You’ve Gathered the Information – Now What,” says you need to think about how you determine what’s good and bad information and, after doing that, you need to figure out how you are going to organize the information you’ve gathered so that you can find it when you need it. This chapter felt the most “librarianish” but I think you can just skim the third chapter for the big points – mismanagement of information makes it inaccessible, for example, is pretty thought provoking. The fourth chapter, “Deliver Your Product Where and When it is Needed,” made me rethink the information we provide about our products as well as our distribution network – it’s more “you come to us” rather than “we come to you.” Another good point. When he talked about integrated library systems and instant access in the fifth chapter it pushed me closer to understanding the importance of what I hear about enterprise solutions and e-commerce products like Amazon WebStore – not Amazon.com – but the service Amazon provides to let businesses piggyback on all their e-commerce infrastructure like integrating webstore with “brick” store inventory or “if you like this Skil chainsaw you’ll like this Skil power drill” software. The sixth chapter on collaboration and partnerships really hit a nerve because in business we tend to be super competitive and secretive. I’m wondering given the global economy if there are better ways for those of us in the same and complementary businesses and industries to work together for mutual benefit – creating standards and policies, for example. If we don’t, I’m figuring governments are going to regulate us if we don’t regulate ourselves. I got a kick out of the author’s examples of using “enhanced technologies” to bring folks together “virtually.” Beats our phone conferences hands down and would help us with our travel expenses. And I think the seventh chapter on “usability” speaks directly to my business about making sure our web site and even our printed catalogs are easier to use – the author uses “navigate” a lot. Plus, I had never thought about holding some classes at our business about how to find out more information on our products before and after purchase as described in the eighth chapter. The only reason I didn’t give Run five stars is that the author admits in chapter eight that libraries struggle with measuring what they do – “metrics” is the term he uses. We businesses are ahead of libraries in this area given our bottom line focus and I’ve heard about many businesses that really watch and measure the use of their web sites and webstores. With all the MBA’s we produce, I know there’s lots of analysis by the big companies to get a leg up on the competition. But you have to give credit to the author’s honesty. In some ways, you come away from the book feeling for the library folks as they try to move from counting how many people come into the library and how many books they check out to something more meaningful. He did state that libraries are trying to move to “outcome based” measurements – are libraries making a difference in how people learn and act. And perhaps more wisely, he says, libraries are rethinking who they are and what they do before they start counting doing, perhaps, the wrong things. I think we businesses are further along but, again, measuring how people get and use information is a tough one. I bet some businesses have conquered that as well and libraries could take a “chapter”, so to speak, out of our book. The author’s last chapter on marketing and branding library services is unimpressive, but I’m not sure if it’s the author’s fault or something having to do with, as the author calls it, our “information culture.” He put the concept in context when he described an experience as a hospital librarian. In his example, he talks about doing extensive research for a physician on a child’s rare illness and his excitement about finding a new study using a new treatment. He enthusiastically shares all this information with the physician. The author describes standing in the hospital cafeteria line the next day and overhearing the same physician tell the child’s mother that he’d like to try a new treatment. That’s it. Well, when someone uses my product, it is clear that my customer is successful because of it. Plus my product has green and yellow stripes down it with our company name and logo painted in bright, iridescent colors. It’s easy for a neighbor to say, “Hey, where did you get that – I want one.” These librarians have a challenge here, so I’ll forgive the author for struggling with the last chapter. Also, you have to admire these librarians because they don’t really care if they get the credit. (Hey, guys at the office – do you hear that!) They just want the “library” to get some recognition through support. After reading Run, I visited our local library – it’s been years. First, I couldn’t believe how automated everything was. But most of all, I’m going to have to put my thinking cap on to beat their eagerness and willingness to help. Being a smart-aleck, I just made up something that I was interested in and they jumped on it like I was their most important customer and they just kept showing me more information. I couldn’t get them to stop. Our customer service is not like that. I left the library and finished Run Your Business Like a Library feeling the same way – McLendon and these librarians do make some good points that would benefit businesses. I gave Run four stars and went out and bought some copies for our managers. Who knows – it may indeed be the age of the nerd and the geek.

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*The above is a parody of Amazon.com but the “review” includes non-satirical thoughts on areas where other organizations could learn from our library experience. Thanks to a couple of readers who thought this was a real book — perhaps it should be.

A Call for Library Future Summits: shocking ourselves together

libtechplans — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:09:14 +0000

Okay. It’s time to act boldly…together.

All librarians in all types of libraries are grasping at the future. There have been calls to stop worrying about the future of libraries and, instead, begin building the future library. That’s an excellent perspective. That’s inspiring. But do we build our future as individual librarians, stand alone libraries, or separate library associations? Do we follow our own preaching and promotions aimed at our patrons about the benefits of interdisciplinary partnerships and collaboration? Can we promote the library as the center of our user community when we have no library community – no focused community free of contributed papers and poster sessions that concentrate just on the future library… together? I do not see a library summit on the horizon where leaders from every type of library – from law to public school, from hospital to corporate, from academia to governmental – come together to build a vision of the library of the future. If our response to such a summit is that we are too different, our patrons are too specialized, that our libraries and our library associations have little in common, then we should re-consider asking our patrons to come together despite their long-held beliefs that they are “special” and that communities already have enough physical and virtual gathering places.

Our associations, our conferences, our liaisons among associations, etc., are wonderful, but our intermural structure contributes to slow and disjointed communications and has not created a library community. We as a profession and our libraries as institutions are losing ground quickly and we need an inclusive, unification model that makes us smarter and more nimble to act as change accelerates.

We need a series of “lean and mean” national and perhaps global Library Future Summits focused and concentrated on the future of the library as civilization’s cornerstone. If we agree that this summit is “what” we need to do, we can figure out “how” we select representatives from all fields in librarianship, including CNI type folks, who are visionaries and thinkers. The “summit” has got to be such a demanding, intense, and focused intellectual boot camp that no one would elect to participate in this group just for the prestige and recognition — and there’s got to be room for those who think outside the box. Again if can agree on “what” to do, we can resolve “how” to do this… but summit members have to reach beyond having officers of association B meet with officers of association A and C. Once the summit members builds the outline, a form of crowdsourcing can sustain the evolving infrastructure and implementations.

Our current association structures act incrementally and provide the continuous sustenance that feeds our professional souls to keep us going through periodic stimulation and education. What we need now, however, is a “shock” to our thinking.

What stirred the above? The reading of http://www.ithaka.org/ithaka-s-r/research/faculty-surveys-2000-2009/Faculty%20Study%202009.pdf . It is one of many documents that begs for action.

It is time to act boldly together.

Vendors are our friends (e.g., GenoLogics)

libtechplans — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:07:30 +0000

There are numerous dynamics that guide us in our professional career development. I benefited from requests from two of my administrators who asked me to deal with areas they found distracting. One director did not like to deal with vendors so she asked me to handle all vendor calls and visits. Perhaps my lack of hesitation came from observing my country doctor father. His only continuing education was pharmacy detail men who made the long trek to his rural office.

And another director disliked technology so he asked me in the early years to deal with all the technology issues having to do with the library. Another nod to my father whose second career choice was auto mechanics… another need to know how things work.

All of us in the medical library field are struggling with what we can do to help our researchers with data management. I’ve had 4 faculty members over the past 2 years ask if the library could help them manage their department’s data. As one faculty chair said, “Our research data is everywhere and we don’t know what we have.” Simple statement. Natural human frustration. Complex solution.

This is not a commercial endorsement, but I would encourage you to review the GenoLogics site at http://www.genologics.com . I certainly came away with a better understanding of translational research and biomedical informatics.

We need each other.

Emerging Technology Relevancy Scale ™ – not all innovation fits

libtechplans — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:42:53 +0000

Show me a good visual model that has been thrashed about by an energized group of intelligent people and I’ll show you a savings in the form of 6+ meetings and a 20 page report, thick with verbiage, that had to be drafted, reviewed, revised and posted that still includes ambiguities. It is difficult to walk away from a visual representation that defines the problem(s), establishes the variables, maps the impact of variables on the problem as well as the other variables, and reveals what’s missing. Moreover, when the group reconvenes, the model can be slapped up on the wall and the group communally sees where they left off and where they need to go. In contrast, when a group reconvenes faced with a 20 page report that few have read or have read and forgotten, the first 15 minutes of the meeting are folks scrambling to get up to speed while the convener has already left most everyone behind.

The attached model is deliberately simple because it represents a starting point. The model assumes that an organization has goals –see the first column. Emerging technologies come at us as if on a conveyor belt and we can plug them in the first row of the table. Some technologies come out of the chute highly relevant to a goal (color red) while others are birthed a bit icy cold because we are not sure what the impact of the technology is going to have on our services and programs. It is also assumed that we should allow an emerging technology to change degrees of relevancy from icy cold to burning hot and, perhaps, back to icy cold . As I reflected on the model, the popular term of several years ago – “disruptive technology” – seemed to need representation, so I added “P” for push and “F” for friction that could also be inserted along with the relevancy color in the cells. “P” allows us to speculate that the technology replaces an existing one and “F” provides a means of noting if we think the new technology will re-shape an existing technology already in use.

Not all emerging technologies are going to be relevant to organizations while some will be – as our company’s slogan states – technology is transformative ™. If your organization is going to compete and lead, models are needed to determine the role a new technology is going to play in your company’s future.

(Click on link below)

Emerging Technology Relevance Scale

Wanted – Googler

libtechplans — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:29:10 +0000

A recurring theme of this blog is prying loose the pervasive view that technology is a tool — as in “technology is how” we accomplish tasks. My previous blog discussed the origins of this relegation and its persistence to this day. For those corporations and non-profits who hold on to this view, they will be swimming upstream. Historically, technology’s emphasis was on the “how”. If my great grandmother sat down at the Thanksgiving dinner table and said beamingly, “I just talked to Uncle Frank,” those gathered around the table would have exclaimed, “How did you do that? We are in North Carolina and Uncle Frank is in Los Angeles.” My grandmother would have smugly smiled and said, “I went next door and borrowed the Smth’s phone! That’s how I did it.” And my great grandmother would have then been peppered with questions concerning Frank as well as the clarity of the lines. The telephone was “how” we talked to someone in Los Angeles when in Chapel Hill. As the telephone became ubiquitous, the “phone” became “what” we did. “How was your day, Honey?” “Oh I spent the whole day on the phone.” Spending the whole day on the phone became “what” we did. And now when at a cocktail party, someone may respond to our question, “So Jeff, what do you do?”, and Jeff responds, “I’m a communications consultant specializing in mobile phones.” The phone as a technology has been “transformative” in that it was once just a tool for talking to someone, then for some it became “what” filled the work day. In the last year, I have seen three ads for “virtual reference librarians”. At a library conference, this person would introduce themselves by saying, “I am a virtual reference librarian at the university.” The phone, chat, e-mail, e-resources, the mobility of our users have all combined to create a virtual world and virtual librarians to provide information where ever and whenever it is needed.

“So honey, what did you do all day?”

“Well, it seemed like all I did was Google. I think we just need to hire a Googler who can really use all of Google’s capabilities. They could also keep us updated every time Google came up with a new service or beta. I can’t keep up with all their services and how they are integrated. And you know Google’s capacity and services are just going to keep growing.”

“But honey, there is more information out there than even Google can deliver.”

“Well, I’m going to bring this whole information gathering issue up at the managers’ meeting tomorrow. We have to do something. We just gotta do something.”

Alignment is Dead – Long Live Transformative Technology

libtechplans — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:23:52 +0000

Over the last several decades, information technology has been viewed as a tool. In looking at the origins of IT, it is easy to understand this perspective. Technology rose out of accounting. Calculations came first. IT was expensive. Financially intense corporations were the first to be able to afford IT. IT’s DNA is still bound to its financial roots and is monitored by those who watch the dollars. As corporations bought into the wisdom of strategic planning, it became common practice to hand over the completed plan to IT with the directive to arrive at an IT plan that supported the strategic plan. In reviewing the IT planning literature, it remains the case that IT resources must be closely aligned with the strategic plan. CIO Magazine annually announces an industry alignment award for the organization whose IT initiatives most closely align with their company goals. This remains an excellent example of what appears to be a an intuitively correct entry in a business model that is devastatingly wrongheaded in today’s competitive marketplace. One can imagine an IT division waiting for the strategic plan in anticipation of what it is going to take to support the plan — allocations of programmers, network managers, hardware, software, more bandwidth, extra security, etc. What I have observed is an increasingly frustrated group of IT professionals who ask, “Why are they doing it this way when we could jump to a much better customer product by using ______ (enter a new hardware or software).” IT professionals shouldn’t be relegated to fleshing out the activity and the resource modules of the strategic planning template. Today’s IT professional can change the organization’s vision, mission, and goals. If you don’t believe me, just ask them. And if you ask them, and they like the old “reactive” process, I can confidently confirm that there are new/wiser IT professionals who would love to be at the strategic planning table.

Technology Planning

libtechplans — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:45:13 +0000

For- and not-for profit organizations might want to look at library transformations to understand how an information dependent organization is surviving and thriving as their business model — maintaining print book and journal containers — disappears. Important research is not making it to either print or electronic containers. Time magazine in a recent article < http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1717306,00.html > notes that many important antidepressant studies “were never published” and yet this unpublished research provides life altering infomation. Libraries, especially health sciences libraries, are simultaneously challenged to manage published and unpublished information where the playing field changes daily due to the information marketplace as well as NIH, for example, urging the transfer of information from the research bench to the patient’s bedside. This blog is thus created to share library lessons that may be relevant to all organizations that are increasingly dependent on information and information technologies.