February 4, 2010
SNS is hot. Last fall I had the opportunity to educate folks on the use of Social media in investigation and marketing. This winter, I’ve been busy with some traditional information projects but SNS keeps creeping back into play.
The Seed 2020 events for February and March will focus on a variety of SNS aspects. I’m a part of a new venture with the Beyond Search team and our SNS-Strategic Social Networking endeavors. What I find amazing is that the opportunities with SNS are seemingly infinite. Strategy is necessary. People often go in to the land of Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In (3 of the top SNS sites) without a plan for what they want to happen in this new landscape. Sure some success occurs just because you are there but if you successfully implement a strategy the success will multiply.
Superbowl Battle Experience v. Opportunity
o my Superbowl battle for the present is the contest between some of the traditional services I’m currently engaged in related to research and information content procedures and the ripe strength of the upcoming SNS contender. Eventually the SNS stuff will triumph but I have to get through that 4th quarter first.
Is your business ready to set the playbook in motion for SNS? Businesses that ignore this new competitive landscape will lose. The game will be about strategy and frequency and filling the hole. Rarely is social networking though of as enduring but as the search results creep into Google and other search engines from Facebook and Twitter endurance and social media will remain intertwined.
Constance Ard February 3, 2010
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January 26, 2010
As an IIP (Independent Information Professional) one of the first things you hear from your mentor is: “Don’t forget to market.” Marketing is the easiest thing, besides bookkeeping to let slide when you work alone.
This blog is one of my marketing methods and boy has it slid lately. I’ve been thinking about lots of things but once the work is done, the brain is too tired to make sense of my muddled thoughts about information access, content management and next-generation corporate libraries.
My first book.
So today I’m going to set work aside for a few moments and market. Since October of 2008 I have published a book (Next Generation Corporate Libraries and Information Services), started a new contract position and landed a big project as well as taken on some steady research work for a handful of clients.
This is all good news for those of you who may have a need for a person capable of taking a special collection library and make strategic decisions about access to information either analog or digital. It’s also good news for those who want to know how to position yourselves into a stronger role within your organization in today’s knowledge economy. And let’s not forget those of you who just need to know how to organize your content, improve your processes and establish some protocols so that the critical data is easily found and the irrelevant or outdated stuff is swept away.
During the process of working on the projects I have undertaken I’ve increased my knowledge and the clients that come after will benefit from my ever continuing education. A few central themes in the content management and product delivery process, no matter the industry remain constant.
- Management is always a problem.
- Communication is always an issue.
- Fast and careful execution is a key to success.
So if you have an information or content problem, need to understand what is causing delays in executing your much needed business process and product improvements, or just need a bit of research done you can bet that the Answer Maven will work first and market later to help you.
by Constance Ard 1/26/2010
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January 6, 2010
I was shocked this morning to read about the alleged cutting of half of Westlaw’s Library Relations Staff in the Geek Law Blog. During a conversation last night a friend and I discussed the fact that often businesses don’t plan well for “What if?” That’s human nature but as a business it is a necessity.
Too Comfortable
Comfort is a great thing but getting too comfortable when you are running a business leads to lots of problems. A few of those problems include lack of attention to what allowed you to grow in the first place: marketing, relationship building and attention to base operations.
As Westlaw is rumored to cut half of the Library Relations positions, they seem to be forgetting the relationship part of business. With more competition from Open Sources or affordable alternatives to legal research sources, frustration with increasing prices or poor performance or whatever else might be endangering the retention of business with a client, Thomson Reuters is self-inflicting further pain. The Library Relations teams for both Westlaw and LexisNexis were fundamental to happy customer service when I was in the firm and I’m pretty sure it still is for my fellow law-library colleagues.
If any business begins to damage the key relationships with their customers, retention is endangered. Bottom-lines often need to be viewed in the long-term not the quarterly or annual cycle. Of course this is only the opinion of a very small business owner with very small client base where each client relationship is critical to my own success. My clients are very important to me and I will meet their needs to the best of my ability every time. Big or small businesses who adhere to that philosophy will profit.
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December 29, 2009
The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship has introduced a bill to increase SBA loan limits, decrease fees and provide more government guarantees according to a December 28, Findlaw Free Enterprise post.
The House has introduced similar legislation. And according to this Findlaw Free Enterprise post, the Jobs for Main Street Act also includes some provisions related to the SBA.
The bill even gets into the local economic stimulation efforts by allowing for an SBA website directory of local lenders.
Constance Ard December 29, 2009.
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December 21, 2009
Over the weekend I spent considerable effort searching. I used both commercial (LexisNexis) and Open Source (Google) search products. Why? I like free first if it’s good and I like to check against my free resources in a highly sophisticated and precise search environment to make sure I got it all.
What I discovered during the weekend is that Google is becoming more and more like a conglomerate commercial database. Now I know that I’m not the first to make this comparison. What I do know is that many long-time researchers may, like me, be slow in seeing the parallel universes.
As Google Books expands and moves forward, it will just add another “collection” to the Google Source options. With News, Video, Images, Google Scholar, Patents, Google Local and more you have similar collections to news, corporate, and legal sources.
Is the precision and depth available that you have through Factiva, LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters? No. Is Google a viable source to be considered when conducting in-depth research? Absolutely. Will you need to employ your information resource validation skills, most certainly.
Google will continue to develop their collections of information. Their partnerships will add content in ways that commercial providers probably will not be able to keep up with. Advocates who want to protect open content have an ally with Google. Traditional information aggregators have a new competitor that must be taken into consideration. Researchers have an entirely new level of possible sources.
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December 16, 2009
Now that I’ve caught your attention the secret to success is recognition. Yep that’s it. You’re probably saying – “Yeah Right!” Really – stop and think.
Recognition is really the key. Below are a few things that we should recognize in order to succeed.
- What you want to succeed at.
- How to start the work to get you where you want to be.
- Who can help you.
- What you can’t do yourself.
- What you don’t want to do yourself.
- Recognize publicly and personally the people who help you do what you do.
Today I had a meeting with two very talented young women who have skills and knowledge that I do not have. I want to do something that will require those very same skills and knowledge. I recognize that working with these folks will allow the project to succeed.
So, I’ve asked for their help. They have graciously agreed to do the work and they will most definitely be given the recognition they earn while accomplishing the implementation of an idea that I dreamed up.
Short and simple: I recognize that there are people who are much more talented than I who are willing to help accomplish the plans I have made.
Another example of recognition that I have recently encountered is the gathering of a pool of talented people to work on a multi-faceted project. The project leader gathered a team of professionals together who each had unique skills, backgrounds and knowledge bases that met the challenges presented with this project. The project is a success because of the ability to recognize the individual contributions that meet complex problems.
Understanding the strengths of the people you work with and maximizing those strengths to solve a problem, implement a service or make changes that strengthen your business is the secret to success.
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December 13, 2009
In Florida a recent Ethics opinion limits social networking site communication and interaction with judges and attorneys.
It seems that the law is starting to catch up with the possibilities of social media. This latest development offers up some debate about whether or not it went to far.
In the age of enhancing and maintaining and even renewing friendships online do the ethical obligations of officers of the law preclude their ability to use social networking in a manner similar to the general population?
Perhaps, perhaps not but certainly the interactions will be subject to intense scrutiny if even the hint of favoritism or inappropriateness existed. So while courtrooms work to ban jurors from electronic communication an ethics opinion relating to the interaction of judges and attorneys doesn’t seem out of line. The rules and regulations will not be perfect in these early days but action does seem appropriate.
Constance Ard December 13, 2009
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December 6, 2009
On Friday I concluded my 2009 Kentucky Law Update presentations with Stuart Adams on Social Media in the Law. I spent the 3 days prior to the presentation updating the work done for the first presentation delivered in early September. As I told each of the audiences in 9 cities, social media changes constantly and rapidly.
Since I began this “project” new developments have emerged. Some key items include:
- GA case where Federal Judge ruled that Rule 53 prohibited tweeting in the courtroom.
- Several mistrials have occurred due to juror activities in the social media landscape. (See some coverage here.)
- Microsoft Bing, Yahoo! and Google have announced plans to make social media content searchable. Google is developing their search application in the Google Labs currently. (See a discussion here on the Google and Bing drawdown.)
In Friday’s presentation I told the audience that the opportunities abound but that they must be strategic and employ best practices when using Social Media. This begged the question of what are the best practices.
That depends upon your purpose in participating in the social media landscape.
- Is it purely investigative?
- Are you marketing services?
- Are you advising clients about how they should govern or participate in this new media?
Once you have determined what you want to accomplish it is then time to set your strategy.
For me the best practice overall it to formulate your strategic social media plan. All else will follow.
Constance Ard December 6, 2009
1 Comment | Business, Information Management | Tagged: Best Practices, law firms, Social Media | Permalink
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December 1, 2009
I am currently working on setting my goals and objectives for my term as Chair of the SLA Legal Division. I’m very lucky to be following the footsteps of our current chair, Martha Foote who takes organization and procedures to new heights and makes my work ahead much easier.
One of the key things that I want to accomplish is the more frequent and broader communication with our members and potential members. This requires a lot of strategy because Social Media will play an important role. Our current methods are the foundation of our communication and I want to use social networking to build upon that foundation.
I will apply the skills and talents of many of our members along the way to help make this a successful building project. I have learned many things as I advise my clients about using Social Media to promote their core product and I will apply that same advice to my work with the Legal Division.
The Division was founded in 1993 and our website, looks like it might have been created at that inception. Priority number 1 is to execute a plan to update our website. The goal is to make it so that the people responsible for content such as officer and committee reports could upload the data themselves. Of course control is a necessity for this work too. All of the necessary parameters are floating through my head as I weigh pros and cons against dreams and necessities.
Now, you may wonder why I’m telling you about my work for the Legal Division. The truth is, that I know that I will need to practice what I preach in my work as Chair. I will need to employ strategy about what tools we should use. We will need to be clear and concise about what we will allow and what is not allowed. I will need to relate goals, objectives and actions to our Executive Board along with a balanced view of what will work and what I recommend so that they can consider carefully the options being offered. In short, I must be strategic across the board in this work.
Social Media work can not be done in a vacuum. It takes the knowledge and skills of many. I am confident that the many people I will be working with will ensure that this goal of improved and more frequent communications will be a success.
Note: For more reading about Strategic Use of Social Media check here.
1 Comment | Information Management, Professional Development | Tagged: SLA, Social Media, Strategic Planning | Permalink
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November 30, 2009
I have been so busy with projects and family that my blog reading and posting has fallen to a slow pace in recent weeks. Over the holidays I pecked out a few things that I really want to spend some time pondering and even perhaps comment in-depth on soon. Until then I thought I would share a few links with you so that you can turn your wheels of thought on how these evolutions will impact law firms.
Google is attacking case-law.
My quick thought on this development is that the movement for open access to information just took a huge leap forward. My second thought is that Reed Elsevier and Thomson Reuters have just added a strong competitor to their mix that will diminish their lower tier customers and cut into their revenue streams. Stephen Arnold has taken a close look at this development and I plan on spending some more time thinking about this in terms of Fastcase and Loislaw too.
Social media in law firms is growing faster than we know. It is causing a shift in how business is, and should be done. It’s causing law firms and businesses to look for people who can manage social networks for the business adeptly.
Take a look at a few things that blipped on my radar recently:
A job posting on Craig’s List
A discussion about ideal skills for social Media
Generation Y – How do law firms market?
The new age of social media for lawyers
My co-presenter on Social Media over the past few weeks Stuart Adams began a Linked-In group dedicated to Social Media Search and Forensics. His newest blog SociaLies offers a forward thinking look at Social Media from an entrepreneurial and legal viewpoint on electronic communications and more.
Social media is a force to be reckoned with in all businesses and law firms can not and should not ignore the reality. There are opportunities and responsibilities that will benefit the bottom-line if handled appropriately.
Google’s move into case-law and social media have geared up the access to information and the way information is shared and managed and law firms need to catch up fast to stay in the race. Customer expectations are and will continue to shift as the open access movement gains traction.
Constance Ard November 30, 2009
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