Tag Archives: librarians

2011 a year of many possibilities!

This past year has been one of many changes and transitions, all with the framework of a horrible economy and other world challenges. Even so, being an information professional enables us to be a part of moving things forward, whatever can be defined as ‘things’. I finally bought an iPhone 4 after several years of using an iPod Touch with its WiFi capabilities. Yes, I know many of you already have an iPad and I likely will too after the next generation becomes available sometime in 2011. It is important for us to know and use these tools so we can understand when, and when NOT, to use them for information services enhancement. More on that as the year progresses!

Meantime, I look forward to the ALA Midwinter conference in San Diego to explore the exhibit hall and meet many colleagues there to commiserate on where we are and where we are going. Then a few short weeks later will be the SLA Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. where I formally become chair-elect of the Museum, Arts and Humanities Division. Now working as chief librarian at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, I firmly believe there is so much information housed and being developed by researchers in such institutions and we need to creatively find ways to take advantage of that knowledge and get it more ‘active’ in the educational process and the community learning environment. Let’s see what we can do!!

Me in temporary digs at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Librarians and eco-conscious culture and practice

Librarians manage a lot of information, much of it still in paper or other ‘analog’ formats (microfilm, videotape, etc.). There are many ways we can help minimize the impact of information services on the environment. It can be just what we do personnally, in our departments, in conjunction with others in our organization and also how we help to promote a culture of eco-friendly practices. I recently was an invited speaker to address this subject at the Southern California Association of Law Librarians (SCALL) Institute in Ventura, CA.

Going ‘digital’ is a good way to reduce and minimize the use of paper and the environmental impact paper has through its production, distribution, storage and disposal. At the same time, we have to understand that digital content and its access also has an environmental impact. For instance, in the article “Revealed: the environmental impact of Google Searches” in the London Times Online January 11, 2009 ” “a one-hit Google search taking less than a second … produces about 0.2g of CO2″ according to Google. The article has an interesting overview of the environmental impact on searching and there are a number of others available. This is all a work in progress, but it is good that we examine the issue holistically and each do our part, however small or large, to counter-act the impact our presence and practices have on the environment.

Vendor negotiations and partnerships SirsiDynix Institute webcast

One of the key relationships in the information business is that between buyers and vendors of information products and services. The relationship often starts out simply as a buyer-seller connection, but because of the complexities of purchasing or licensing content in print or electronic form, the connection typically grows stronger. Negotiating licensing contracts becomes a key component and knowing how to conduct a good negotiation is important for any information professional responsible for obtaining content. Sometimes a more cohesive relationship between buyer and services provider is needed and that is where a partnership comes into play.

On Tuesday, February 9th, I gave a webcast on these points as part of the SirsiDynix Institute series. The webcast was recorded and you can see it by clicking on the image of my first slide of the presentation below.

Negotiating and partnering with vendors a key skill

You will have to register with the Brighttalk webcasting service to view it if you aren’t already registered, but registration is free and it is likely you will want to play other webcasts in the series as they are a great way to broaden knowledge about information services-related topics. Please make comments about the webcast as I’d be very interested to hear thoughts about it.