Over the past two months I have been presenting at the Kentucky Bar Association’s Kentucky Law Update on the topic of social media and how to use it for marketing and investigation in legal practice. Followed by my presentation comes the Ethics course related to ethical use of Social Networking Sites.
During those sessions I’ve learned a lot about how tempting social networking sites are for unethical use and am relieved to hear bright presenters talk about good ways to participate in social networking sites appropriately.
I’m impressed by Kentucky’s “Common Sense” approach to ethics. “If it feels wrong, it probably is.” However, not everyone can operate under those broad types of guidelines and thus the official rules are evolving and ethics sanctions related to social media are becoming more prevalent. The dangers are many. Mistrials are occurring and even judges are crossing lines they shouldn’t.
This article on LLRX.com provides a good collection of the consequences of Pretexting for investigative purposes and the impact in the social media landscape. Law firms are beginning to establish Social Media Policies and so are corporations. This Law Librarian post provides a great overview of recent survey results from the Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics. The conclusion I draw from a quick review is that corporate employees and legal staff will soon see that expectations related to their off-the-clock online activities will be subject to corporate policies. As companies try to protect themselves from the consequences of intentional or unintentional inappropriate activities their policies will address personal time activities related to the corporation. The overall message, be careful what you post online, it can be found and consequences exist.
Librarians are agents of change and leaders in technology. A few years ago librarians began applying social media into their information service offerings. The history of how this initiative began can be found in the background related to the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County’s 23 Things project.
This is a simple program that can be done on a self-paced basis by anyone. I offer you this resource for those who have not already begun diving into the Web 2.0 environment. You can learn this on your own.
Of course, I understand time is a major concern for you and 23 things may be more than you need but that is why this is something you can do on your own with the applications that are of most interest to you.
Social media is here to stay. The learning curve between the library profession and the legal profession is significant. Of course, there are attorneys, especially younger ones who understand 2.0 tools well, they may lack an understanding of the importance of drawing lines between professional and personal online content but they can use many of the tools.
It is important for attorneys who want to apply web 2.0 tools in their practice to establish policies and guidelines for that usage. This protects against blurred lines and allows strategic leverage of very prominent tools.
So, if you have the time and inclination, check out 23 Things. If not, keep checking here, for more information about the top of the 23 things that attorneys can learn too.
Just a quick note that in yet another city with another room full of attorneys, none had heard of Martindale-Hubbell Connected.
It begs the question of the why every major art age has a movement to redesign the chair. In social media should we redesign Facebook and Linked-In. Is it art or is it hope for added benefits to other products?
Just a few thoughts to ponder as new social media tools evolve.
On November 4, 2009 at the Muhammad Ali Center a new direction in networking will get underway. The Seed 2020 is an event being organized to give word to women and minority owned-businesses who don’t travel in the GLI circle of networks.
This is an event organized by myself and my colleague Keisha Mabry and is the inspiration of Stephen Arnold. Business networking in Louisville always seems to have the same faces in the crowd and rarely do attendees hear what a business really needs or how they are a unique offering from everyone else.
Our intention is to use a framework that keeps the event moving smoothly and on schedule but allowing our speakers to really ask for direct support in whatever format they need. For instance a new business that hasn’t even begun yet needs partners and investors to get started, this is an opportunity to make your pitch. A consultant that has been in the business for a while has some wisdom to pass along about staying profitable during hard times, use this venue to pass it along.
Small businesses have so much to offer and networking to highlight those offerings for specific purposes is a beneficial action. There will be time to hear the speakers and really talk with each other during this event. Now is the time to be visible and we want to widen the visibility beyond the GLI crowd in the Louisville area.
For details about the event and to register to speak or attend please go to TheSeed2020[dot]com.
I’ve been busy reading and writing lately, though not in this space. The latest topic of my efforts is Competitive Intelligence, specifically in the law firm environment.
Color me surprised to see no relevant top hits when I searched Google Blogs for LexisNexis atVantage. A search for Thomson Reuters Monitor Suite resulted in the first hit on the first page as relevant. And a search for the newly released Bloomberg Law had a mixture of relevant results.
A specific search on the law Firm Competitive Intelligence Blog for each of these products resulted in a consistent zero. Now I’m not sure, perhaps the philosophy behind this particular blog is that they don’t comment on the commercial offerings that are available to help automate the CI process. If that’s the case, good for them. If not, then a serious gap is present.
I neither use these tools nor care that the gap exists, I was just surprised by the gap itself.
I’m wondering if there are any corporate or law libraries using Cloud Computing Services.
This could be your catalog but I’m more interested in more unique and traditionally in-house hosted services. If the poll provided here doesn’t give you enough room to respond in the Other field, feel free to email me directly at answermaven@gmail.com
I’m having an interesting dilemna is an attempt to get the word out about The Seed 2020. One of my fellow organizers has taken on the task of managing our Twitter presence. Last night, while adding some stuff to our Facebook page, I realized that not a lot had been Tweeted about the event on our Twitter account. In fact maybe even nothing.
This prompted a series of emails that made me wonder if I was missing something major due to over tiredness. And it prompted the debate of how do you get legitimate followers for this special type of communication. Do you not tweet until you have legitimate followers? Or “if you Tweet” will they come? How can you attract followers without tweeting?
I feel like if you tweet the right stuff, the followers will come so I guess my lesson learned is tweet well and the twittering will come. If you are interested in the details about The Seed 2020 check out the links above and join in the conversation. Please note there are real people managing these accounts so spammers beware, we will block you. Our desire is to attract great speakers and supporters for this unique meet-up in the Louisville KY area. The website provides details and if you have questions our contact info is provided on the website as well.
Last week I attended the Kentucky Library Association Annual Conference and was pleased that Stephen Arnold of Arnold IT was the Special Sections Featured Speaker. Mr. Arnold illuminated a roomful of Kentucky knowledge workers about Google and its role as the Digital Gutenberg.
Since that presentation last Friday, I’ve had some time to think and digest a comment that was made during the Q&A period. “I’m terrified, Google is like the Church of the Middle Ages controlling access.” Why is fear the reaction you get when it’s too late? At this point in the Google evolution, you need to figure out how it can be advantageous to you. Google is a powerful tool that must be added to our information arsenal and wielded with confidence.
Sure there are things I don’t like about the ease with which people can find information about me but I participate in the digital world too much to feel as though I have been done badly. The reality is that I must use this publishing mechanism or my voice will never be heard beyond a small circle of friends and family. And as much as those key supporters love me and want me to succeed they can not be my sole clients and I can’t expect them to feed my work.
That’s why the impact of Google on publishing content is so important to me. I can build my voice and become someone who is known as an expert in content and information management. Without this shift in the ability to share knowledge my expertise would be known only by a very small group and could they test it? I mean honestly, if you call me and ask for my knowledge on a subject, you should do so because you’ve done enough reading about me and of my writings to make the choice wisely. Otherwise, there’s someone else you can call on.
I suppose what I’m trying to get across is that Google has caused a mighty shift in the knowledge culture and it’s too late to be scared. Now is the time to understand what the power is and find the capabilities that allow you to thrive while using this new Digital Gutenberg.
Last week I attended the Kentucky Library Association Annual Conference. The Opening Keynote presentation by Rick Anderson on “Slaying the Sacred Cows of Librarianship” resounded with many of the listeners. Overall, my thought was that Mr. Anderson was a bit short-sighted in a few of his slaughters.
One of the key points made was in relation to preservation as a library service that must die. Preservation in the traditional sense of protecting the tomes is definitely a non-essential service. Unfortunately, Mr. Anderson spoke in terms of preserving the “physical” library based upon his academic background.
Electronic content has a degree of preservation/archiving that must be considered in terms of global business and litigation risk management. The Web Archive is an important tool in litigation, especially in Trademark Infringement cases. Corporate and law librarians will insist upon the increasing importance of capturing web content at specific points of time. The puzzle of 2.0 content preservation is an evolving and undefined area of concern in the scope of global business.
Another cow that Mr. Anderson attempted to slaughter was Collection Development and Management. Again, I felt that his points, while valid, were missing the greater context of the necessity of managing electronic content. While Anderson sought to address the issues in how the duties would evolve I disagree that information collection development and management is a sacrificial part of services. The need to strategically manage a collection and guide the purchase and license of content in new formats exists and requires even more diligence by information professionals. Yes, “just-in-time” rather than “just-in-case” collection development philosophies must persevere. Unfortunately, the information collections that allow that just-in-time delivery still relies upon licensing content collections and the ability to seek out specific items within the collection. Providing access to the wealth of material available on specific topics still requires understanding who produces the material, where it is available and how to get the best deal to provide access.
The one cow that Anderson sacrifices that I don’t entirely disagree with is Bibliographic Description. I have always considered myself a guerrilla cataloger who provides enough description for an item to be found and if someone/anyone including Amazon has done it first then I would prefer to use them rather myself. Form doesn’t seem to matter that much in today’s seeking of known items. As a user of catalogs I want to find a specific item. However, I do rely upon cross-references and more. Unfortunately for Mr. Anderson’s slaughterhouse, the ability to build taxonomies and use meta data are skills being sought for new information managers in the electronic realm.
All in all Mr. Anderson provided enough food for thought that the audience as a whole was excited to think about new ways to operate. What Mr. Anderson failed to do was look outside his country of academia and into the global interaction of business and information to understand that transformation rather than slaughter was required to preserve the strength of information professionals.
Posted by answermaven 
This prompted a series of emails that made me wonder if I was missing something major due to over tiredness. And it prompted the debate of how do you get legitimate followers for this special type of communication. Do you not tweet until you have legitimate followers? Or “if you Tweet” will they come? How can you attract followers without tweeting?
One of the key points made was in relation to preservation as a library service that must die. Preservation in the traditional sense of protecting the tomes is definitely a non-essential service. Unfortunately, Mr. Anderson spoke in terms of preserving the “physical” library based upon his academic background.
