February 26, 2009
Have you ever wished you could call your very own librarian/researcher and say “Find X?” Wouldn’t that be a great service to have when you were short on time or the question was just beyond reach for you?
Now you can, you can call me, the Answer Maven. With my expertise and experience you will get the answers you need faster and cheaper. Best of all, you can rest assured that the Answers are right. I have 13 years of experience with business and legal research. I will deliver the information you need, the way you need it. I will give you the short answer that allows you to move on to the next project quickly and you will have the background data to use when you are ready for it.
If you have a client that demands an in-depth research project don’t take time away from your other clients, call your librarian. The Answer Maven will give you and your client exactly what is needed. I provide an Overview/Executive Summary with every project and I have the ability to package information into presentation ready formats. So don’t worry about finding X yourself. Let the Answer Maven find XY&Z.
Constance Ard February 26, 2009
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Posted by answermaven
February 26, 2009
Back in the old days, I thought the most power research tool was the telephone. In this new social media age, I wonder just what is the most powerful tool?
Don’t get me wrong, I still think the telephone or goodness, forbid a face-to-face conversation are very effective tools. I”m just beginning to see the power and application of Twitter and other social media tools as powerful too.
Telephone calls take preparation and time. A Twitter post takes mere seconds to author and sometimes the answers are immediate or soon. There’s no voicemail and waiting for a call back. There’s no: That’s not my department you need to speak to…” In Twitter there’s a “Here ya go!” and it’s done.
However, as an information professional, I still need to trust my sources and be able to verify the information I receive through Twitter and/or other social media tools. Research requires attention to details. The applications of my research results have gone to court, to power presentations by CEO’s and to businesses that are shifting focus in their product lines. If I’m wrong, those folks are wrong and I can’t afford to be careless.
So my toolbox of Research Power Tools grows. The telephone and 10 minute face-to face meetings are supplemented by Twitter. All facts are verified or originate from reliable, trustworthy sources. The value of experience and the use of new tools make me that much more powerful. Client who use me have a truly powerful tool in their own Information & Research Tool Box.
Constance Ard February 26, 2009
Leave a Comment » | Research Tip | Tagged: Research methods | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
February 24, 2009
With any undertaking focus and execution are the keys to success. Knowing what to do is as important as the actual doing.
Project can become sidetracked by tangent undertakings. For instance, in a content management project it would be easy to get off task by focusing too much energy on granularity of contributors.
A successful content management project will consider age, subject expertise, and format as broad spectrum policy decisions. Knowing that John Y. Smith has a tendency to save post-it thoughts in the DMS should be placed in the exception file and dealt with later.
Maintaining your focus on the end goal and executing the policy and plans you have developed will lead to success. So if you are undertaking any type of project remember focus and execution will feed you with energy and success will duplicate itself.
Constance Ard February 24, 2009
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Posted by answermaven
February 22, 2009
Recently there have been a lot of staff lay-offs in the world of law firms. I know several people personally who have been downsized or restructured out of long-time positions that probably felt pretty secure, even during these trying economic times.
When I was approached last week by a friend and colleague to serve on a panel at the upcoming SEALL Conference, I had to think long and hard about whether or not I was really the best person for the job, in my own opinion.
I’ve been out of the law firm world for nearly a year now. Working as an independent consultant with a strong legal background is my gig. However, after discussing this opportunity with friends and trusted advisors I felt that I could offer some useful advise on the topic at hand. As I learn more details about the other panelists and their message, I hope to add to the wisdom being offered with some out-of-the box observations.
One thing that always amazes me about ecomic crunches is that people are willing to sacrifice some of the golden rule incentives in order to have the assurance of a job. This post really hits home the idea that managers have a responsibility to be sensitive to the economic issues and the challenges surfacing in this new era of work. Making work less miserable despite the challenge of doing more with less is the manager’s responsibility.
Managing well goes a long way in retention of talented workers. This very well may be one of the observations and/or discussion points in my SEALL panel presentation. The above referenced post certainly gave me strong food for thought.
I must say that work teams are affected in both directions bottom-up and top-down. Working through that phenomenon is a challenge indeed.
Constance Ard February 22, 2009
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Posted by answermaven
February 18, 2009
The previous post I authored was POST 100. That’s a pretty big milestone for Answer Maven.
I really hadn’t noticed until I sat down to write this post and the whole planned theme went out the window. I’ve been working on a few project proposals over the last several weeks and realize that Milestones are a critical factor in project management.
Identifying key milestones early keeps projects on schedule. The success of the project is defined by the successful completion of milestone events. The challenge in preparing for a project is recognizing which tasks will end with a completed MILESTONE.
Choosing a project leader is no easy task. Stakeholders must find someone capable of laying out tasks, setting reasonable schedules to accomplish those tasks and identify the key events all while working and delegating work according to plan. The result being a finalized project wit the milestones checked off; success itself.
I continue to revise and edit my business plan as the business continues to grow and evolve. One of the things I need to add into my own plan are Key Events and Milestones. All projects benefit from such endeavors even if the project only has one grunt doing the planning and the execution.
If you have a project of any type I highly recommend taking a few moments to think about the milestones that will allow you to measure your work so that you do not get derailed from your track to success.
Constance Ard Wednesday February 18, 2009
Leave a Comment » | Business | Tagged: Milestones, Project Management, Strategic Planning | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
February 16, 2009
Thanks to Stephen Arnold’s post for alerting me to this ERP Checklist. People who know me well, that I am a pretty practical person. Many of the items in this checklist seem to be common sense considerations for any type of business project.
A few checkpoints are very specific to an Enterprise Resource Project, i.e. module purchase decision.
The practical part me of encourages any project manager who is trying to resolve organizational challenges by using technology, to pay attention to a few key practical steps that translate across projects.
- Focus on the problem you are solving and evaluate potential solutions against their ability to solve the problem.
- Get Organizational Leader Buy-In – without this buy in any solution drowns before the boat is launched.
- Choose your point person carefully. This person is critical to the success of the project and must be able to communicate up and down business lines as well as organizing and managing a complex project in minute detail.
If you can concentrate on those three solutions as you move forward with an ERP solution you will be well on your way to success. Common sense must play an important part in complex business decisions otherwise the complexity overwhelms the larger process.
Constance Ard February 16, 2009
1 Comment | Business | Tagged: Business Intelligence, Strategic Planning | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
February 12, 2009
Today’s ventures prompted me to think about vocabulary.
Until today “racking” and “rack-in” only had one connotation in my mind: Pool and I don’t mean water. Today I learned that racking and rack-in are terms used to describe a next to final step in a business process.
This added to my already deep thoughts about vocabulary. Librarians rule when it comes to organizing information. They put control into an uncontrolled environment and made it easy to retrieve data. I’m not very good at the history of libraries stuff so those avid readers who know deserves the credit for this first mean fete, leave a comment.
What is important to remember is that controlled vocabulary remains the power tool for organizing massive amounts of information. If a 3×5 card could provide enough cross-references and synonyms to locate a single item in a library then trusting those standards should work in the electronic world.
Ah, but in the electronic world it becomes so easy to add a term or rely upon tags or add an alternate spelling. Easy but confusing. It is not a bad thing to use a taxonomy in the structure of an information rich site. Industries have unique terms that must come into play but the more normalized your vocabulary the easier it will be for your users to find just the right thing.
So to rack-in this post, if you are creating a wiki or organizing an intranet or thinking about providing a wealth of information, consider using a structured taxonomy to increase that usability.
Constance Ard February 12, 2009 9:45 p.m.
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Posted by answermaven
February 12, 2009
Now that’s a headline to get your attention, right? I have been planning on reacting to this post by Stephen Arnold for several days now and this morning seems an opportune time to do so.
The gist of Mr. Arnold’s post is that the Recommind report about IT and Legal departments in an Enterprise don’t work well together when it comes to effective e-discovery practices.
IT and ____ (name the department) have a history of not working well together and it takes concerted efforts by IT and the ____ department to recognize and repair that situation. There has been a lot of press in the past about Libraries and IT learning to collaborate and it may be time to push the collaboration factor into other departments.
The security and litigation preparation of your organization depends upon proper retention and effective rendering of necessary documents. Understanding why those things need to happen may help IT departments choose wisely when purchasing software that helps solve the problem. Legal eagles should not buy in a vacuum either. They need to understand that software requires hardware, especially when it comes to e-discovery.
Today’s E-Discovery Best Practice:
- Cross-Educate IT and Legal about E-Discovery Functions and Requirements
Constance Ard February 12, 2009
Leave a Comment » | Information Management, Legal Issues | Tagged: Best Practices, E-Discovery, IT | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
February 10, 2009
Read this post for a fuller explanation of the enhancements made to Business.gov.
Since I was not a previous user I can’t contrast the “improvements.” I will say however, that letting the consumer Answer a question seems a good step in narrowing the field for their search.
I appreciate the simplicity of the sites organization by focusing on legal requirements: register a business name or corporation, obtain a license. These are important steps for small business owners and making it easy to locate the requirements by entering a zip code and choosing a business type could not be simpler. Unfortunately, when I tested the search this morning I received an error message.
The practical advise offered on Business.gov is also refreshing. All in all the site seems like it will be easy to use and offer comprehensive information for small business owners once those technical glitches are worked out.
Constance Ard February 10, 2009
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Posted by answermaven
February 9, 2009
This hard to read post by Greg Bell caused a bit of food for thought. In some of my past projects I’ve compared and contrasted the offerings of e-discovery vendors and discovered that one step in the EDRM truly is the cost step, the processing step.
E-Discovery vendors say that they are working to improve the processing portion of the e-discovery continuum but the reality is that is where the money is to be made. While, I believe that improvements will continue, I also believe that complexity will grow. As Mr. Bell points out, global issues will continue to impact cases, even when there does not appear to be a global issue at hand.
So cost for processing will improve but there will remain the continual growth of ESI because that is how information is created and as business continues to operate globally, language and cultural nuances will add to the review and analysis work for e-discovery processing.
ESI and e-discovery are now a part of doing business even for small companies. Preparing information management policies and standards of procedure is your best bet on avoiding out-of-control costs related to these new business realities.
Are you thinking about the global impact of your product distribution, workforce make-up and the ultimate reach of those daily practices that may end up in the courtroom? Do you have information handling procedures in place to protect your product, your people, your bottom-line?
Thinking in terms of policy could provide valuable safeguards and lessen the cost of the process step for any future e-discovery that may occur.
This goes beyond those records retention policies that may have been put in place 20 years ago. If you have not reviewed and renewed your information and record management policies in a while, it might be time to put that on the high priority list.
I’ll follow this post up in the near future with a few ideas about things to consider as you update those policies. Until then, happy Monday.
Constance Ard February 9, 2009
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Posted by answermaven
