Info Index

SUNCOAST INFORMATION SPECIALISTS
INFO NEWSLETTER
VOL. 12 -- NO. 6
NOVEMBER 1998

ELECTRONIC TOOLS WORKSHOP AND MEETING
December 7, 1998

Many of you have asked about continuing education programs, so now SIS is giving you an opportunity you can't beat.

In addition to the regular program and meeting, SIS is offering a 2 hour morning workshop on " Electronic Tools and Technologies for Information Professionals." Rich Georges will demonstrate how to use various hardware, software and other products in an integrated electronic office to perform research, prepare materials, conduct training, and communicate. See the attached flyer for more details. This workshop is being paid for out of the SIS treasury and therefore is FREE to all members and their guests.

The regular SIS luncheon meeting and program will follow the workshop. Joyce Burkhart will present a program about the new technologies involved in the new St. Petersburg Junior College electronic library at the Seminole Campus. Lunch will be provided for $5.00 per person. Members and guests are welcome.

Please RSVP early to Trudie Root if you can attend either or both the workshop and meeting. She will need a count of people attending no later than Thursday, December 3. You can send your payment for the lunch in advance, or make your reservation and then pay at the time of the meeting. See the attached flyer for RSVP details

MINUTES, September 17, 1998
By Mary Marna Brady, Secretary

SIS's regular October meeting was moved forward in order to co-sponsor a September 17th joint meeting with the USF Student Chapter of the Special Libraries Association. As co-sponsors with SSLA and TECO's Energy Technology Resource Center, we heard SLA President Suzi Hayes's presentation on "Information Management in the Twenty-first Century" and toured the ETRC building.

On tours led by information specialists Pat Boody and Ray Eydmann, we saw that the ETRC demonstrates for businesses the newest in energy-saving technology in areas such as food service, lighting, medical waste disposal and more. The Center also conducts training seminars for top-level management, craftsmen, and clerical workers. Many seminars are geared toward certification preparation.

Tours were followed by an attractive buffet featuring hot and cold hors d'oeuvres catered by Marriott.

***

PROGRAM

Dr. Anna Perrault of USF's School of Library and Information Science presided at the joint meeting and introduced speaker Suzi Hayes, SLA President and President of Oak Arbor Publishing, Delray Beach, Florida.

Ms. Hayes, who has an extensive background with SLA, has worked with corporate and university libraries, and is currently an adjunct professor at USF SLIS. She will be representing SLA at a library education summit in the spring of 1999.

Ms. Hayes pointed out that, as information systems mature, more emphasis will be placed on information instead of technology. Business will have clear needs for "knowledge workers." These persons may have titles such as "Knowledge Manager" or "Chief Knowledge Officer."

Job descriptions:

• Knowledge Manager--a change leader, project leader, technology leader, interprets customer expectations, prepares budgets, resolves problems

• Chief Knowledge Officer--creates infrastructure, implements technology, sets strategic plan, measures results, manages people, makes knowledge pay, partners with both customers and vendors

Universities such as California's San Jose State now offer quarterly graduate courses in "Knowledge Management" in their library schools.

Ideally, librarians should be in the forefront of those whose preparation qualifies them as knowledge professionals, ready to be tapped for such positions. However, we have barriers to overcome in the perceptions people may have of the "librarian personality:" passive, preserving, lacking in business skills, without global perspectives.

To counteract these perceptions, Ms. Hayes emphasizes that we should 1) resolutely practice presentation and people skills, 2) learn to deal with human and technological networks, 3) study sales techniques, 4) purposely acquire flexibility and the ability to change and move rapidly, 5) know how to leverage intellectual capital.

We should be certain to have good relations with other knowledge workers such as accountants, technical writers, records managers, journalists, and technicians--specifically networking, tv, telephone, and graphics technicians. All we knowledge workers extract, structure, refine, and maintain information.

After formal schooling, novice/seasoned librarians can gain the needed knowledge-worker skills through internships, work experience, and participation in professional associations.

Before promoting yourself for knowledge management, see that you have completed a small, successful project using existing technology. Anchor the project to your corporate culture, and know your own competencies.

The SLA web page (http://www.sla.org) has Suzi Hayes' e-mail address for submitting questions.

BUSINESS MEETING

President Joyce Burkhart, pointing out that traditionally, the October meeting is the time for "the changing of the guard," thanked the officers who have served with her this year, and made presentations to those present: Vice-President/President Elect Trudie Root and Treasurer Betsy King.

LISTSERV

SIS wants to make the most effective use of our listserv for communication. We can collaborate with the Student Chapter of SLA by indicating on the listserv which of our libraries are interested in having student volunteers. Also, let Betsy King know if you only want to receive the SIS newsletter electronically. Be sure your e-mail adress is current.

MEETING CHANGES

Since there will be a conflict in June, '99, between the scheduled SIS and SLA meetings, Betsy King moved, and the motion was seconded and passed to change our June meeting to May 21. Also, we may need to change the day for the February meeting at Stetson University' College of Law library.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Betsy King reported that we now have $865 in our treasury. This year's expenses included $100 for the directory and $82 in other expenses.

Please note that it is time to pay membership dues for this year.

SIS WORKSHOPS

Let Trudie Root know if you would be interested in SIS sponsoring a workshop dealing with Powerpoint, web page design, etc. sometime this year.

"DIALOG" LETTER

A suggestion was made that SIS should send a group letter to Dialog complaining about the $75 minimum monthly charge. Trudie Root will draft a letter and post it on our listserv for comments.

SIS MEMBERSHIP AND ELECTRONIC LISTSERV UPDATES
By Betsy King, Treasurer

Currently SIS has 98 active members. Of these, 60 (61%) have paid dues for 1999 but 38 (39%) have let their membership expire and have not yet renewed (1998 membership ended at the end of September). 90 of our members have email addresses registered with me. The Membership Directory, which will be printed after the first of the year, will be based solely on paid membership.

Our electronic email list, hosted on the TBLC server, has 77 subscribers as of mid-November. Of these , 67 are SIS members. Of our active SIS members, 90 (92%) have email addresses on file with the membership information. Doing the math, this shows that we have 29 members who have not subscribed to our list.

If you have access to email, I urge you all to subscribe. The list may be the only means of getting last minute information to you about programs or meetings. In addition, it provides an easy way for you to maintain professional contact with the local library community.

To subscribe to the list:

Send your message to

LISTPROC@SNOOPY.TBLC.LIB.FL.US

Leave the subject line blank (this line will be ignored)
In the first line of the text you write:

SUBSCRIBE SIS-L Firstname Lastname

So far 17 SIS members have told me that they prefer to read their issues of the SIS Info electronically and have asked that they not be sent the printed newsletter . Since postage rates will be increased in January, this is an appreciated effort at cost savings for our organization (actually a savings for the St. Petersburg Times New Library, which is generously paying for our mailings). The newsletter will continue to be [snail]mailed to all members who do not request otherwise, will be published on our website, and will be posted on the SIS-L list.

SIS OFFICERS, 1998-1999

Suncoast Information Specialists
c/o Tampa Bay Library Consortium
1202 Tech Boulevard, Suite 202
Tampa, FL 33619
Phone: (813) 622-8252
Email: sis@snoopy.tblc.lib.fl.us
URL: http://snoopy.tblc.lib.fl.us/sis/
Listserv: SIS-L@snoopy.tblc.lib.fl.us