Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal August 2003 Volume 1 (4)

Conference report

Putting knowledge to work

Christine Reid is inspired by a conference which dared to ask, "What are our duties as librarians when the client is civilisation?".

Special Libraries Association Conference, 7 to 12 June, New York.

'Putting Knowledge to Work' was the overarching theme of this year's conference. This event is huge and, being held in New York, attracted almost 7000 attendees, 300 exhibitors and more sessions to choose from than there were hours in a day.

The overall conference theme focused on the critical role of information professionals in exploring and employing knowledge for strategic decision making.

Day One was 'State of the Art' day. Pulitzer Prize winning author David McCullough described his love of libraries and illustrated how, while researching, he learnt quickly never to hide what he did not know from a librarian. In his keynote address he referred to the public library as a real expression of democracy, but is concerned that society as a whole today appears more intent on building walls between things rather than collaborating. His upbeat conclusion reminded his audience that there are still more public libraries than there are McDonald's.

Day One went on to examine the current issues and trends that impact how we manage and deliver information. The issues being raised in the sessions I attended included design techniques for research portals; digital reference; and intelligent linking. A message repeated at several sessions was to give a great deal of thought to your user groups - by trying to serve everyone, you end up serving nobody particularly well.

'Future Directions' was the theme for Day Two. Futurist Stewart Brand's keynote was designed to stimulate and stretch the imagination on what the future could bring for our profession. Brand is well known as author of The Whole Earth Catalog and co-founder of The Well computer teleconferencing system and The Long Now Foundation. He has developed his insights by taking a long view on things - by this he means thinking in terms of centuries or millennia. Such thinking allows you to view current events very differently. He described the past as knowable but unchangeable and as a consequence, it is often ignored, forgotten and perpetually reinterpreted.

The future, on the other hand, is unknowable and changeable. It can also be guessable and somewhat predictable. We cannot control the future but everything we do affects it. Society as a whole should therefore think seriously about the consequences of actions. He posed the question

- "what are our duties as librarians when the client is civilisation? - memory, constraint, integration, continuity?" In this context, he reminded us of several things:

• "digital information is forever. It doesn't deterioriate and requires little in the way of material media." Andy Grove, head of Intel Corporation;
• "digital information will last forever - or five years, whichever comes first." Jeff Rothenberg, a researcher with RAND Corporation;
• "the average life span of an object on the Web is 44 days." Brewster Kahle

Brand views the internet as having the potential to be the greatest library in the history of mankind - a repository of memory, thought, culture and scholarship. However in this fast moving age, new generations of software and platforms make old data unreadable and create too many broken links. With the costs of digital preservation continuing to increase, he fears we could be facing a catastrophic extinction of data and a digital dark age. He challenged us to ensure that this does not happen.

To help me shape my own future, I attended a session on strategies for making myself indispensable to my organization. As information professionals, in addition to having to cope with growing economic pressures, we are finding ourselves increasingly at the mercy of a 'Google generation'. The advice from the speakers was to continually strive to market our services, offer advice on search techniques and demonstrate the breadth and quality of our resources.

'Globalization' was the theme for the final day with former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright focusing on the issues and trends that have a global impact on our profession. She reflected on her days in the White House in terms of '26 suits and a skirt'. While writing her biography, she was taken aback to realise just how much she had remembered that was wrong. Irrespective of war or peace, information is a mighty weapon and information professionals have an important role to play in making others aware of the wide range of information sources. Technology may accelerate the pace at which we move but not determine the direction. Echoing many voices in our profession, establishing partnerships and building networks she sees as being the way of the future. In keeping with other speakers, she stressed the importance of information and freedom in a democratic society, but warned of countries that operate outside of "the global information loop".

This year many of the conference sessions encompassed a digital theme. The strong message coming through repeatedly was that context is king, not content. Systems should be designed as if users mattered, employing language that they can relate to. The premise put forward by Ray Tennant of eScholarship is that only librarians like to search, everyone else likes to find.

In a world of reality TV, celebrity endorsements and googling, we need to engage with our users, understand better about different learning styles and realise that what works for us as librarians may not work for those with whom we interact. We have to understand information seeking behaviour better to create more appropriate learning environments. Why? - because the information highway has failed badly and we are now swimming in an information ocean.

Information will soon be seen as a seamless commodity just like heat, water and light. To have a useful role in this future, libraries should be developed as exploration spaces and not collection spaces. Are we really ready to help a new generation of users for whom it is normal to access information on their mobile phones?

Another thought-provoking session considered professional competencies. Librarians were described as being a little too cautious when it comes to taking risks. This requires unconventional, out-of-the box thinking as the future belongs more to the unorthodox. However the trick is not to predict the future, but to imagine a future and plan accordingly. We should be prepared to be flexible and to leave behind things we are comfortable with if they are no longer required. At the same time, we need to develop strong communication skills and continually demonstrate the added value we bring.

In the race to the future there are drivers, passengers and road kill. Drivers, the industry leaders, make the rules of the game and lead in innovation. Passengers will get to the future, but their fate will not be in their hands. Road kill get run over by all the rest. We need to be clear about where we want to be on this path.

I left this conference inspired and brimming with ideas. My thanks are due to the SLA's Business & Finance Division whose award of a professional development grant allowed me to participate in it.

Christine Reid is Manager, Business Information Service, University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business.

Information Scotland Vol. 1 (4) August 2003

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