Run with the C-Dogs: Libraries are Businesses

March 25, 2009

This Information Week article by Mary Hayes Weier gets to the heart of library business.

Budget cuts and increased usage at the NYPL make the newly implemented BI (Business Intelligence) system a timely innovation.  Applying the principles of business with accurate metrics will assist in having the ultimate cuts be well-informed business decisions rather than relying on gut instincts.

Ms. Weier does a great job of discussing how the system tracks time of visits and circulations numbers.  Go to her article for the details.  It may help you think about your own tough decisions in a new light.

Considering that budgets everywhere are being cut, I find it inspiring that NYPL is employing solid BI principles to run the library.  This is truly, a business model.

I am a huge proponent in applying business practices to libraries.  (I’m even presenting a workshop on Business Plans for Libraries next week.)  Seeing business methods applied  at one of the largest public libraries in the U.S. is incredibly encouraging.

If you are facing budget cuts and the ultimate necessity of   staff and/or service cuts, employing careful metrics is a great starting point.  My own local public library began the new calendar year with no Sunday hours.  It’s inconvenient for me but better than cutting the evening hours that I use more often.

I appreciate the confidence that business analytics can bring to tough service decisions in today’s library.  Probably not every library can or needs to deploy a BI system such as that used by NYPL.  However, if you are a library, you are collecting statistics.  Are you collecting the right ones?  Now might be a good time to reexamine which metrics you are and should collect.  And the best tip of all:  measure services to justify and quantify based upon your  supporting organization’s mission.

Using those metrics will allow you to run with the big dogs, aka the CFO, CEO and CIO

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Usage Up, Budgets Down

March 21, 2009

The news is filled with a secret that long-time library users have known… “you can get really great stuff without paying for it.”

That great stuff includes music, videos and/or DVDs, books, computer access, and not just Internet but high quality, commercial databases that offer a wealth of electronic information.  Stephen Arnold provides a really insightful commentary on this issue.

The reality is that libraries, at least public and state-funded academic libraries here in Kentucky have been facing the budget crunch Mr. Arnold mentions, for about a year now.  Last year the Kentucky Virtual Library faced some serious choices of what to keep and what to sacrifice in order to provide the most comprehensive and affordable support to the electronic information wealth of the state.

The commercial providers of these resources were aware of the budget crunch and remain so. They realize that negotiations must be flexible and that it is better to retain current customers at a reduced subscription level, than to have no customer.  I fear that this trend will continue for the next several years unless some thought is given to investing in the intellectual capital that libraries provide.

Since budget shortfalls are the norm of the day in Kentucky and other states why not think about information services and access to electronic services as part of the economic stimulus map?  Now, I don’t know all the projects that are being funded, but if funding for library services is part of the stimulus it’s certainly not making the news.

What is making the news is the increased usage of libraries.  And while no shovel is required, helping to maintain the funding for important electronic resources such as those provided by KYVL would certainly seem to be an appropriate use of funds.  Average Joe’s who are attempting to beef up their computer skills, search for jobs or just provide reading and leisure materials to their families on a ever tighter home budget are already walking into the library more often.  They are using services they probably didn’t  even know were available at this time last year and once you are a library user, you rarely stop.

The demand for these resources will continue to increase and in the law of supply and demand, libraries are,  or soon will be, unable to meet the demand due to the budget crunch.  The suppliers must be considered.

Commercial vendors such as those mentioned in the above referenced Beyond Search post are an important part of the intellectual capital of society.  Google very well may be the wave of the future in this sector of content supply.  But for the here and now, let’s think about ways to sustain and increase the funding of our public information institutions.  Without educational resources and information access how can human intellectual capital grow?  And without human intellectual capital how can anything improve?

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Video in Legal Search

March 17, 2009

In legal news, Westlaw is seeking video recordings of trials and hearings.

This will have a huge impact on the future of legal research.  Judges and attorneys will be able to use the video for different purposes.

I’m especially interested in the impact this will have on expert witness vetting.  The news release succinctly discusses the advantages for attorneys.

For lawyers, the advantages include the opportunity to observe the presentations of expert witnesses they’re considering using in their own trials; watch counsel examine and cross-examine witnesses on issues of interest; and learn what happened in the courtroom even when they don’t have a transcript.

The power of Westlaw technology paired with the ability to view video will take the vetting process to a whole new level.  Caution:  expert witness dossier files on Westlaw and Lexis are attractive but expensive, I imagine this will be a primary source that will be attractive to attorneys until the cost is revealed.  In the economic crunch a video of the key expert will be saved for the really big cases, in my opinion.

However, as time goes by and the inital investment of adding the video into the databases is completed, the demand will increase and the basic principles of supply and demand will rule.

Video will play a major role in the future of search.   Is the future of  legal research video?  Probably not completely, but it will be a major part of future innovations.  If you are forward thinking about how to leverage the power of content to better serve your clients and your business, you must take into account video.

Constance Ard March 17, 2009

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Saying Yes

March 16, 2009

Seth Godin often talks about saying YES!

While librarians say yes often, businesses sometimes say no, too fast and too vehemently to achieve customer satisfaction.  Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve made several trips to the bank.  In each visit, until today, I had asked my bank to do things that were in no way banking related.  In every instance, they said yes.

I walked away extremely satisfied and with one more thing on my TO DO list done because of those yeses.

I want to provide my clients with a yes for each request.  “Yes I can find that for you.  Yes, I can meet your deadline.  Yes I will give you an executive summary.  Yes, I’ll provide relevant links and documents to the full-text resources.  Yes the market and industry information will be included.  Yes you will have your answer.”

Last week I did a project for a new client and had the completed research delivered within several hours of the initial call.  The client reported that they were very satisfied and I think a big portion of that satisfaction came from my ability to say YES to the rather tight deadline.

That doesn’t mean that there won’t be times when compromises are required.  There exists the possibility that as a project begins, more time is needed or additional resources are required.  When I can’t say YES,  I say “I can do XY and Z but you may have to wait a bit longer for AB and C.”  Being up front about the ability to meet expectations just proves my understanding of the challenges involved in completing a complex project.

Clients understand those challenges and appreciate the up-front negotiation because they trust my Yes.  I trusted my bank’s yes and went about my other business knowing that those extracurricular services were just one more way to keep me a happy customer.

The real point of this post:  If you are providing a service of any sort, finding a way to say Yes to those out-of-the-box requests will serve you well.  Like my Granny always said:  “You attract more flies with honey than vinegar.”  So open up your honey jar and find ways to say yes.  The benefit will be loyal customers who provide referrals.

Constance Ard March 16, 2009

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Information Technology a Social Justice Issue?

March 12, 2009

Normally, I don’t like to mix my volunteer activities with this business.  However, on occasion I am reminded that life always mixes even when we least expect it.

Sunday March 8 was International Women’s Day.  I attended an event at the University of Kentucky WT Young Library:  Women’s Health is a Social Justice Issue.  As you would expect health as a social justice issue was part and parcel of the conversation.  What I did not expect was the speaker, Loretta J. Ross, founder and National Coordinator of SisterSong , to bring Information Technology into the conversation.

As Ms. Ross discussed the major issues she considered to be social justice issues she threw Information Technology into the mix.  I did a double take and during the Q&A session asked for an elaboration.  What exactly about IT is a social justice issue?  She began by reminding me of things I knew:  access and ability to use IT hardware and software are important.   The conversation did not stop there.  She elaborated on the privacy issues that were emerging, especially as it related to medical information.  The conversation on this issue concluded with an even deeper look at IT access based upon the health of the electrical grid.

I ended up leaving this event with a new perspective on IT.  Beyond the technical details and the concerns that I have had about access, my concerns and interest now include the sustainability of the power grid, the need for greater broadband access and a continuing dedication to the advancement and security of electronic medical information.

Knowing that conversations about IT are making their way to the advocacy environment reiterates our need to think broadly about security issues as well as access to not just information but to the sources of locating that information, whether it be historical newspapers or electronic publications that never see print.

Constance Ard March 12, 2009

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2.0 Collaboration Success

March 5, 2009

It is rare that I step on a bandwagon and toot a horn for anything trendy especially tech trendy.  Usually, like now, I’m quite a bit behind the curve and reserve my judgments until I have thoroughly tested and/or benefited from the trend.

Today, I toot for 2.o tools like Wiki’s.  During my tenure as the co-chair of the Kentucky Library Associations‘ Strategic Planning Committee we used a wiki to do a lot of our work.  That was 2007.,

Here and now, I just had a wiki established for my SLA Legal Division planning committee.  (Just one more great member benefit of SLA.)  With the recent failures of Gmail and my own desire not to clutter in-boxes, a Wiki was the perfect solution for our collaboration needs.

While I’m just beginning this process, we will be sharing working documents and hopefully a calendar through one interface that will allow us to work at our own pace and still keep everyone informed.

This collaborative application of 2.0 technology makes me very happy and much more productive.  Who knows, if I keep this up, I might even explore Second Life sometime?

Do you use 2.0 tools for collaborative work in your own organization/enterprise or for your volunteer/professional activities?  Do you like it/is it beneficial?  Am I showing my background as a former law librarian/late adapter with this true confession?

Constance Ard March 5, 2009

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State of Search

March 3, 2009

Yesterday I did a lot of reading and then I followed with a lot of research and writing.  I’m preparing for my Pre-Conference Workshop at the KLA Joint Spring Conference.  I’m excited to be talking about one of my passions, the need for libraries to be more business-like, starting with a business plan.

So as I was finalizing my outline and beginning the notes for this presentation, I realized I wasn’t finding everything I wanted.  I never expected I would so quickly get used to real-time search, but I have.  Listservs always give you 30 or more Out-of-Office replies and you have to wait for something useful to be sent back to you.  (Especially if you are working in the eastern time zone in the evening.)

But Twitter is immediate and Linked-In provides a different kind of reaction to a real-time/inquiry.  I’ve yet to benefit from a Linked-in search but this topic might be worth the expenditure of effort to explore the possibilities.

Now, my question to Twitter wasn’t answered and this morning’s Twitter Search reveals that I was just hoping for a lead.  However, my question is out there and perhaps by the end of the day I’ll have been successful in getting some responses.

What surprised me about this use of Twitter and Linked-In is that it is a new search method for me.  6 months ago it would not have occurred to me to seek real-time search results through a social media venue.   Now, it’s one of my first desires when I search certain topics.

The reality is that I would still limit my use of any social media results to things I could verify or that came from people I knew and trusted.  The librarian in me just can’t ignore the need to verify sources.

Real-time search will grow in importance.  For some interesting commentary on the business of real-time search check out this post and this one.  Stephen Arnold usually has his finger on the pulse of big search events.  Watch his blog for more on this issue.

Are you using real-time search?  How?  And BTW, if you are a reader from a “special” library, corporate, firm, medical, non-profit, government etc. and have a business plan for your library contact me, I’d love to talk with you.

Constance Ard March 3, 2009

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Government 2.0

March 2, 2009

Thanks to Resource Shelf for alerting me to this compilation.  I don’t usually repost source alerts like this unless I do a review of the sources.  However, since this is a compilation from from USA.gov I feel confident that the sources are reliable.

So if you have a need to know how the federal government is approaching the world of 2.o check this out.

Constance Ard March 2, 2009

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Slaying the Giant – Governemnt Information Access

March 2, 2009

Carl Malamud has led a long hard fight against the processes of government information production.  Until reading this post I had not realized the benefits I received from Mr. Malamud’s crusade.

His passion is the ready access to government produced information.  The latest endeavor was access to case law.  Now his fight is more strategic.  He is lobbying to get assigned as the public printer of the United States.  In this role he would direct the US Government Printing Office.  According to Mr. Ambrogi’s post, Mr. Malamud already has powerful backers.  What is more impressive to me is his clear strategy that addresses who publishes case law, how GPO data is presented on the Internet across agencies and provide greater transparency for the GPO itself.

Having succeeded with the SEC database publication of data which resulted in EDGAR, I think Mr. Malamud’s track record makes him an attractive candidate.  If he succeeds in getting the job, tracking his success will no doubt be easy to do.  For now, check out public.resource.org to find out just what goes on behind the scenes in getting access to publicly available information.  As it stands there is access but usability is questionable for some areas.  If Malamud directs the efforts of the GPO, I feel confident that access and usability will improve.  Perhaps not across the board but then again the government is giant it will take persistence to dress it down once the slaughter is complete.

Constance Ard March 2, 2009

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