Librarian of Fortune

Adding value @ AALL 2011

I just left the annual conference of the American Association of Law Libraries. I was invited to speak at the Private Law Libraries' one-day summit about adding insight to research. I tweeted like crazy except when I was speaking -- lots of thought-provoking speakers. Interestingly, every speaker brought up the need to be more efficient and cost-effective as well as the need for librarians to add more value to their services. (For great coverage of the summit, see Connie Crosby's blog. I will admit that I got into a virtual smackdown on Twitter with @mdmlibrarian, scheduled at the same time I was, begging Connie to live-tweet OUR talks. Yeah, she's that good. (Turns out she attended a third session! So much for bribery...)

A comment during my talk was "I wouldn't dare provide financial analysis." My response was that, yes, she could provide financial analysis... just make it transparent. Your clients expect you to provide more than just the raw data. Another librarian  told me that she's working on raising her staff's analysis skills and  said "I have to avoid using the A word." I have experienced the same reluctance to providing analysis in some of the private workshops I've done recently.

I spoke for 50 minutes and had enough questions to speak for twice that long. You can see the slide deck at Batesinfo.com/extras

Show people WHY before you tell 'em HOW

Last week, I heard a great presentation at Computers in Libraries by Tasha Bergson-Michelson, a Search  Education Curriculum Fellow at Google. One of the first things she asked the audience was whether anyone remembered the specific search techniques they had learned the day before. Very few hands were raised.

That got me thinking about the disconnect between presentations that are intended to transmit skills and those that are intended to provide insight. The latter, if done well, are always memorable; one of the reasons I love Twitter is that I can tweet insights from a presentation so that I find them later. A presentation that teaches skills – search techniques, for example – can often devolve into a recitation of features. “Google does this. Google does this other thing. Bing does this thing...”

The challenge for speakers is to make the information in practical presentations sticky. Tasha and I both use stories to engage audiences. When Tasha is teaching children search skills, for example, she challenges them to find information on D.B. Cooper, or the curse of King Tut’s tomb using Google. Give them something fun to search and they’ll learn how.

Summary: show people why and then they’ll pay attention to how

Building your impact

I just realized that, while people often live-tweet my presentations, I don't often provide them with my Twitter handle (@mebs) so that they can include my handle in their tweets. I'm now going to include that in my slide decks...

When you are speaking to an audience, either f2f or virtual, remember to make yourself easily Tweetible. Remind people of the event's hashtag (make one up if the organizers haven't already) and your handle. Anything else you might want to include?

WWMEBD, or, where's the info profession heading?

In April, I was invited by the SLA student members of the GSLIS program at Simmons College to host a conversation about where our profession is heading and how to position ourselves most effectively. I had a fabulous time, and met some LIS students who are going to be great assets to their employers.

You can listen to my presentation and the Q&A here. And yes, there were actually signs on the hallways pointing the way to WWMEBD. Obviously, it's time to start ordering wristbands...

See you at SLA!

I'll be giving several presentations at the 2010 SLA Annual Conference next week. I hope to see you there!

Brand You and Web 2.0
Monday, June 14, 2-3:30pm
Convention Center, La Louisiane Ballroom

Negotiating Up: Achieving Your Goals with Internal Clients Tuesday, June 15, 8:00-9:30am
Convention Center, La Louisiane Ballroom

Inherent Knowledge Sharing
Tuesday, June 15, noon-1:30pm
Convention Center, Room R07 (second floor)

How to become a great speaker in one easy step

Standing up on stage in front of a roomful of strangers isn't naturally comfortable for most people. It sure wasn't for me. But I gained an insight a while ago that I think captures how to take your fear and turn it into great speaking. Sounds woo woo, but it sure worked for me. Here goes...

Everyone has adrenaline coursing through their veins before they get up in front of a crowd. It's been hard-wired into us as homo sapiens. You’ve got a range of choices on how you react to that adrenaline..

You can name it Fear, and tell yourself that you’re so frightened that you can hardly talk, or that you’re just a fraud, or that you’re a terrible speaker.

You can name it Creativity, and remind yourself that this energy serves to speed up the thinking processes in our brains. That means that your creative mind is working at warp speed, while you’re talking with mere mortals in human time. You’ll discover new insights as you speak. You’ll welcome questions as a way to explore the idea further. You’ll be a much stronger speaker..

You get to choose what you name the adrenaline – Fear or Creativity..

Likewise, at the end of a presentation, you’re tired and wired at the same time. Your brain is programmed to run through what just happened. Had you been chased by a tiger, your brain would have reviewed what went on, in order to avoid being chased by a tiger again..

How you react to your brain’s programmed behavior is your choice. You can use it to criticize yourself, tell yourself you’re a terrible speaker, and berate yourself for ever having considered speaking publicly..

Or you can use that energy and review your presentation from a creative and kind point of view. “Hmmm, I completely forgot to make that point. How can I change that slide to remind myself next time? Or, hey, it wasn’t that critical to the presentation; maybe I’ll change it to this other point.”.

You get to choose how you look back on the experience and what you learn from it..

And yes, I'm both a speaker and a coach on this kind of stuff...

Going to a conference soon?

As we approach the conference season, it's a good time to read social media consultant Chris Brogan's handy guide of the 27 Things To Do Before a Conference. He emphasizes the collaborative-web aspects, such as review someone's Tweetstream before you meet up with them, strategically tweet about your attending the conference and -- most importantly -- remember to give your family a bit of extra love before leaving for the event. (I hear a huzzah! in the background from my long-suffering partner...)

And, while he mentions using Flickr to see photos of whoever you are meeting at the conference, another use of Flickr in terms of conference prep is just making sure you know what the dress code is (am I wearing Crocs or heels?).

I'm going to print this out as I get ready to attend and speak at Computers in Libraries, Web Search University, and the annual conferences of the Association of Independent Information Professionals and the Special Libraries Association.

Plus ça change...

In 2003, I was asked to give a short talk at the Information Online 2003 conference in Sydney on the role of information professionals in the online environment. I predicted the day when we saw the distinction between librarY and librarIAN, when info pros permeated the workplace, when we were seen as an essential component of every information management function within organizations and institutions.

I re-discovered it when migrating to a new laptop and realized that almost all of what I said then applies just as much today. It's here, on my Extras page. What do you think? Besides the Microsoft Watch, which is now a smartphone, I think it's still applicable today.

An Info Pro Manifesto

I recently gave a talk at the San Diego chapter of SLA, for their Fall Seminar. Great day - every speaker focused on adding value. I put the slide deck for my keynote, "Wanted: Information Revolutionaries - an info pro manifesto", at BatesInfo.com/manifesto.

See you at SLA 2009 Conference

Join me at the SLA Conference, June 13-17

Publish or Perish: the who, what, when, where, why and how of e-newsletter publishing - Ticketed Event #300
Saturday, Jun 13, 2009
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 209A

Information centers and libraries face the never-ending need to communicate their value within the organization. One of the most effective ways of establishing a strong reputation with their various constituencies is to publish e-newsletters. This lively half-day workshop gives participants all the skills they need to produce internal electronic newsletters — how to use them as powerful marketing tools, templates for creating attractive and professional e-newsletters, and best practices from the info pro perspective.
This workshop assumes that you aren’t already a newsletter expert, a writer or a marketing whiz. We will cover topics such as:
-What's the Point? Building brand awareness, promoting internal information resources.
-What Will It Look Like?
-What Will Be In the E-Newsletter?
-What Other Issues Should I Consider?
-How Do I Promote My E-Newsletter?

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Building Your CI Skills, Part 1: Using the Opaque and "New" Web for Competitive Intelligence Research - Ticketed Event #415
Sunday, Jun 14, 2009
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 207B

Strategies and Tools for CI Research on the Web: This lively course will provide fresh approaches, strategies and methodologies to conducting in-depth competitive intelligence research on the web. This session provides tools for searching the invisible and deep web, areas that are not accessible through search engines. It also examines how to "look sideways" to glean new information from sources that do not, on their face, appear to be resources for CI research, including blogs, podcasts, social networking sites, and other Web 2.0 content.

Through discussion and exercises, attendees will creatively perform and apply in-depth competitive intelligence research using these sources, and analyze and synthesize this information into accurate answers and actionable information. This session can be taken as a stand-alone course, or it can be taken in conjunction with Building Your CI Skills, part 2.

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Building Your CI Skills, Part 2: What Do I Do After I Log Off? - Ticketed Event #530
Sunday, Jun 14, 2009
1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 207B

Adding Value As A CI Practitioner: the ability to truly create added value and to make that value evident to our clients is something that is learned; it is not intuitive nor is it necessarily a part of many information professionals’ skill set. This workshop will equip SLA members to strengthen their role within their organization, enhance the position and perceived value of the information center as a source of competitive knowledge, and develop their CI skills in order to better meet their organization’s information needs. This session may be taken as a standalone course, or may be taken in conjunction with Building Your CI Skills, part 1.

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Painless (No, really!) Negotiating -
Monday, Jun 15, 2009
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Location: Convention Center 147B

Many more things are negotiable than we may think; in fact, much of life involves negotiation, and the effects of not negotiating can be cumulative. This presentation helps you identify who is "the boss of you," develop your ability to reframe challenging situations, and build tools to enhance your negotiation skills and approach every situation as negotiable.

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Lies, Damned Lies, and Annual Reports: Reading and Interpreting Company Financials -
Tuesday, Jun 16, 2009
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Location: Convention Center 143C

More than just statistics, companies' annual reports and financial statements can be a wealth of information for the business researcher and the CI analyst. Mary Ellen Bates will provide you with the tools to understand financial reports and provide your clients with analysis in addition to just the facts.

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SPOTLIGHT SESSION -- Creating Groupies: How to Add Value, Make Yourself Irreplaceable & Beat the Pants Off Google -
Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Location: Convention Center 145A

It's no longer enough to efficiently and cost-effectively find the most reliable information available; we also have to ensure that our organization understands the skills we bring to the table. This Spotlight Session looks at practical ways that we can add value to our research products, develop the services that our clients can't find elsewhere and can't imagine living without, and demonstrate that relying on Google (or any other search engine) for making critical decisions is folly.