Answer Maven

When  I read: Reed Smith Adds New e-Discovery and Records Practice Group to be Led by David R. Cohen  my first thought was now that’s a progressive move.  In reality what Reed Smith has done is continue their  trend of applying business principles to the practice of law.

The statement regarding the change gives a hint:

“With the increased prominence of e-discovery issues in litigation, we determined that the addition of an e-discovery practice group would both complement our existing litigation practice and provide additional value to our clients,” said Colleen Davies, Chair of Reed Smith’s global Litigation Department. “

Making an entire practice group around eDiscovery is a great idea.  However, I find that even firms who want to do a great job of eDiscovery still concentrate on the production, review and processing portions of eDiscovery.  The key component of information management is often an overlooked part of the relationships between firms and their clients.  Perhaps its because the service provider doesn’t have the internal expertise of a dedicated information professional to serve in that capacity.

What a great opportunity exists for the forward thinking eDiscovery service provider, seek, find and form a strategic partnership with a qualified expert in information management and data mapping. Now that would be a tremendous value to clients.

Constance Ard
May 5, 2011

This was an interesting read for librarians and information professionals familiar with abstract services.  It just goes to show that  the theories and principles of good information are still relevant.

When you can take a topic and provide summaries and publish them in a blog form.   Looking at Backnotch, the summaries are precise and key elements from the original source are included. It is interesting to note that:

The Backnotch service is similar to a traditional abstracting service.

The beginnings of vertical files.

It seems that those who wish to provide information about a topic can truly make the vertical blog the new vertical file in our online world.  It will be interesting to see if Backnotch continues the service.  So often information professionals can find a great resource and then suddenly the producer backs off and a gap returns.

For now, the Backnotch blog seems to be the perfect abstracter for all things crooked in Angola.  Interesting reading.

Constance Ard
April 29, 2011

This event has been postponed and will be rescheduled for later this spring.  Watch this space for details.

Much of the time when people think about content management the first thing that comes to mind is some form of technology. This is normally thought of as a “box” that you can just plug into a network and all of a sudden your content is organized and everything is easy find.  Unfortunately, as far I know there is no magical box on the market today like that or that will be successful without following  some basic user protocols.

Technology is only one component of content management. Another very important component is process.  By solving process problems, many organizations may find that there is no need for a technology solution. Jeffrey Veen says that buying software to fix a process problem is “like buying Microsoft Word hoping that it will make you a better writer.” (Veen, Jeffrey. (2004). Making Your Content Management System Work for You: An Interview with Jeffrey Veen. http://www.uie.com/articles/veen_interview/).

So, before you run out and buy that new content management software or document management system you may want to first review your organization’s processes related to the content life-cycle. You may be surprised at what you find.

Miller Montague

As Constance pointed out taxonomies are part of a larger content management or knowledge management policy and therefore the goals for implementing a taxonomy should be in line with a company’s existing informational goals. However, there are some specific goals that an organization can strive to meet when putting a taxonomy in place. These are:

• Increased efficiency – This can be seen as a decrease in time employees send searching for information, as stated before professionals can send anywhere form 25-50% of their time looking for information.
• Re-Purposing – Items are easier to find and therefore will not have to be recreated
• Competitiveness – Being able to find and retrieve accurate information will create better customer service and reduce cost
• Risk Reduction – This can range from being able to find and retrieve information in case of litigation during the e-discovery process to reduction in loss of business opportunity due to not being able to find need information in a timely manner.

There are no hard and fast rules for businesses developing a taxonomy. So, it is important to first identify the stakeholder, develop a communication plan, gather data and then decide on a format.  It is also important to keep the goals of the taxonomy in line with any existing knowledge management policies goals.

By Miller Montague

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

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.

1. What you want to succeed at.
2. How to start the work to get you where you want to be.
3. Who can help you.
4. What you can’t do yourself.
5. What you don’t want to do yourself.
6. 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.