DC/SLA Chapter Notes - December 1999

Chapter Notes December 1999

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Vol. 59, No. 3 December 1999 Contents President's Corner News Flash ! !

Real Knowledge Management for Real Knowledge Managers: Program Wrap-up DC/SLA Discussion List Coming in January...

Minutes of the October 19 DC/SLA Board Meeting Share Your Expertise, Become a Mentor!

Wanted: News Group Chair Members in the News!

Corrections...

Annual Holiday Reception President's Corner Washington DC Chapter, Special Libraries Association

By Nancy Minter, DC/SLA 1999-2000 President, nminter@ui.urban.org VOLUNTEERS NEEDED ... NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY I hope your attention went first to the accompanying announcement (News Flash ! !) and you've seen our big news! We are thrilled to be the site from which SLA will kick off its 100th anniversary year. Stay tuned to learn of the many, many volunteer opportunities that will come our way.

But, there is no need for you to wait -- volunteers are always needed to assist with the many functions and activities of our large, active Chapter.

I know, everyone always seems to be appealing for volunteers. So, why should you bother? Sure, you always hear such things as, "it's for the good of the profession," or "it builds character."

Probably true, but you already know that. What might you really expect to get out of committing yourself to being a volunteer?

First, volunteering as a committee or event chair enables you to enhance your resume and showcase your leadership skills. Volunteering helps you develop or refine a new skill, such as writing or editing, strategic planning, budgeting, or fund raising -- all things we need to succeed in our positions. Often at work, relevant leadership and skill development opportunities don't seem to arise at an opportune time.

Second, volunteering offers an excellent way to build a network. Sure, we all meet colleagues at various meetings or programs, but actually working with someone offers a way to get to know a person's talents and abilities that is definitely lacking in a social chat at a reception. In every exchange, we each have an opportunity to learn from another person -- whether we intend to or not.

Third, volunteering is fun. Sometimes we get caught up in a new activity or a new relationship that we would never have ventured into alone. Volunteering is contagious -- bet you can't volunteer just once!

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Have I piqued your interest? Well, let me identify some of wonderful opportunities that currently exist for volunteers. Your help is needed on the Professional Development Committee, the Hospitality Committee, the Nominations Committee, Student Affiliations, and the Strategic Planning Committee. In addition, we need a coordinator for Career Day and volunteers to work on the Technology Day we are co-sponsoring with the Maryland Chapter. Pick up your mouse or your phone and let me hear from you!

-- Nancy Minter Return to contents

News Flash ! !

DC SELECTED TO HOST 2009 SLA CONFERENCE The SLA Board of Directors, meeting in its annual Fall Board Meeting, has unanimously selected Washington, DC as the site of the 2009 Annual Conference. The dates will be June 13-18, 2009.

Mark your DayTimer now, and no excuses about being retired by then -- it just means you'll have more time to help with the local arrangements!

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Real Knowledge Management for Real Knowledge Managers: Program Wrap-up

By Jennifer Little, Librarian, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Our November program, Real Knowledge Management: Best Practices for Starting and Running a Knowledge Management Program, was a huge success. The more than 80 people who attended this session heard three practitioners of knowledge management (KM) discuss how they transformed their jobs from traditional librarians into knowledge managers and how KM is implemented in their organizations. The speakers generated widespread enthusiasm for introducing concrete applications of KM in the workplace.

KM Resources Lynne Davis-Gabriel, Knowledge Manager at McGuire, Wood Battle & Boothe LLP, a Richmondbased law firm, opened the session with her favorite definition of Knowledge Management: "A conscious strategy of getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time and helping people share and put information into action in ways that strive to improve organization performance."

-O'Dell and Grayson, If Only We Knew What We Know If you are just beginning to familiarize yourself with KM, she suggests these tools to get started: z z z z z

Working Knowledge by Davenport and Prusak, HBS Press, 1998 If Only We Knew What We Know by O'Dell and Grayson, Free Press, 1998 Buckman Laboratories - http://www.knowledge-nurture.com KMWorld - http://www.kmworld.com - sign up for the free KM Magazine @brint.com - http://www.brint.com/km

The SLA Headquarters' Information Resource Center has KM books and tapes that can be borrowed through interlibrary-loan and has an extensive resource list located at

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http://www.sla.org/membership/irc/knowledg.html.

Key Components for Knowledge Management Success All of the speakers emphasized the need for top-level support in order to change the previous corporate culture, to ensure assimilation of KM into all aspects of the organization's work, and to supply the necessary funds to carry out the KM programs.

z

z Sometimes it's a question of understanding the corporate culture and using in-house terminology. Jean Tatalias of the MITRE Corporation noted that her organization prefers the term "knowledge sharing," because it's more "comfortable" for MITRE staff.

Team building is an important component of success. Nancy Holland, KPMG, reported that there are 170 people assigned to the organization's worldwide KM team.

z

All speakers remarked on the importance of networking with all departments of their organizations, and the countless hours of meetings required to perform a needs assessment.

z

Hats off to David Shumaker and DC/SLA for organizing this first-rate program with such insightful speakers. Thanks also go to the speakers, for sharing their expertise with us. And a special thanks to Nancy Holland, who came all the way from Boston's KPMG office to make her presentation.

Return to contents DC/SLA Discussion List Subscribe to the Chapter Discussion List!

A great way to keep up with Chapter news and events is to join the DC/SLA Chapter Discussion List! This list was created to provide SLA DC Chapter members a means of quick & easy communication. To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail to: lists@lists.sla.org with the following in the body of the message: subscribe sla-cdc Firstname Lastname You will receive an automatic confirmation message once subscribed.

For additional information, click here http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/list.html, or contact Greta Ober, 202-623-6413, e-mail: greta@worldbank.org Return to contents

Coming in January...

Professional Development Workshop: All Systems Are Not Created Equal The DC/SLA Professional Development Committee will sponsor a program designed to assist librarians who are currently considering the purchase of an integrated online library system (IOLS).

The half-day program, "All Systems Are Not Created Equal," is planned for January 2000 and will be conducted by Mary K. Dzurinko, co-editor of the Web newsletter "Integrated Library System Reports." The session will include a discussion of IOLS software and information on how to develop a list of local library IOLS requirements to use when evaluating automated systems. Watch the

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DC/SLA discussion list and your snail mail for complete details.

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Minutes of the 10/19 DC/SLA Board Meeting The DC/SLA Board met at the Urban Institute at 6:00 p.m. on October 19, 1999.

The President of the Chapter was contacted by Jim Mears, the conference planner at SLA, about having the 2009 annual conference in Washington DC. If the SLA/DC Board showed enough interest, this item would be presented to the SLA Board at its fall meeting. The SLA/DC Board presented broad based support for the opportunity to have the annual conference in Washington DC. There will be a discussion list for members to ask questions to the candidates. To subscribe send an email to list@lists.sla.org with a message . The candidates are the following: President: Stephen Abram, Hope Tillman Treasurer: Richard Geiger, Agnes Mattis Chapter Cabinet Chair-Elect: Daille Pettit, Ethel Salonen Division Cabinet Chair-Elect: Corinne A. Campbell, Susan M. Klopper Directors: Lucy Lettis, Gail Stahl, David Stern, Rebecca Vargha October 28 at 3:00 p.m., November 23 at 2:00 p.m., and December 10 at 11:00 a.m. are live chat sessions with the candidates. First time users need to register at http://www.sla.org/chat.

Daille Pettit sent letters to all the Chapters for Global 2000 donations. We have 28 librarians from developing countries applying for the Global 2000 conference grants.

Mary Dzurinko is working on the Professional Development Seminar for early next year on how to select a library system. This presentation will feature some librarians who have recently implemented a new system, how to choose a system, and a comparison of the systems.

For a complete copy of the minutes, please e-mail Laura Foy, Recording Secretary, at labuy@msn.com Return to contents

Share Your Expertise, Become a Mentor! a message from the Mentoring Committee The changes and challenges of the information environment call for ongoing assessment of skills, career goals, and direction by today's information professional. SLA's Competencies for Special Librarians of the 21st Century tells us that extensive knowledge, skills, and attitudes are needed for information professionals to thrive in their careers. Mentoring is a tool for evaluating one's current competencies, identifying competency gaps, and developing strategies to acquire new and required competencies. The DC Chapter is seeking members who are interested in sharing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (competencies) necessary to succeed in our profession. The Mentoring Committee is led by Barbara Folensbee and Rhea Austin.

Mentors assist mentees in assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and help determine which

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competencies need to be developed. Their mission is to be active listeners and provide helpful feedback. Mentees just need to have a desire to grow, and be open to feedback and advice.

If you would like to be a mentor or a mentee, or if you would like to participate in some other way, please contact Barbara Folensbee at folensbb@pepperlaw.com.

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Wanted: News Group Chair DC/SLA needs a new chair for the local News Group. In the past, the local group has been quite active. Activities have included touring the ABC Library, attending a taping of "Meet the Press" at NBC and meeting at the Freedom Forum after conferences to discuss trends in the profession. If you are interested and are currently a member of the News Division, please contact Rob Robinson at National Public Radio to discuss ways to reactivate this important group. Rob can be reached at 202/414-2355 or at rrobinson@npr.org.

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Members in the News!

Do you have news to share? Use this column to tell the Chapter about your career change, your new job, promotion or retirement; the award you recently received; the presentation you delivered at a conference; or the article you just published. Send us your news! E-mail the editors at cneditors@yahoo.com.

Sylvia Piggott, Deputy Division Chief and Deputy Chief Librarian at the Joint World Bank-IMF Library, and president of SLA, 1996-97, delivered the keynote address at a seminar sponsored by the Upstate New York Chapter last month, entitled, "Marketing Ourselves as 21st Century Information Professionals." She also led a workshop session on marketing library services.

Sue O'Neill Johnson, Information Officer, Information and Knowledge Sharing Services, Information Solutions Group, at the World Bank, has been elected Chair of the SIG International Information Issues for ASIS. The program for the year will be to build a web knowledge center for international librarians and information scientists, focusing on basic information, such as international search engines, free advice from practioners, and papers to help them get started on digital projects. Also, they will be working in conjunction with the IFLA Government information group (GIOPS) to gather and analyze data about the status and impacts of government depository and small field libraries in developing countries.

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Corrections...

The listings for DC/SLA officers David Shumaker and Monica Romiti, printed in the July/August issue of Chapter Notes, were incorrect. Here is the correct information: Vice President/President-Elect David Shumaker Corporate Information Management Dept.

MITRE Corporation, 1820 Dolley Madison Blvd.

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McLean, VA 22102 Phone: 703-883-6947 Fax: 703-883-1250 Email: dshumake@mitre.org Membership Committee Monica Romiti NCBI/NIH, Bldg. 38A, 8th Fl. 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20896 Phone: 301-435-5960 Email: romiti@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Return to contents

Annual Holiday Reception You Are Cordially Invited to the Annual Holiday Reception!

The Washington, DC Chapter wants YOU to join your peers in celebrating the last holiday season of the millenium! Our setting will be the beautiful Arts Club of Washington. So gather with us for exceptional food, scintillating conversation, and a few special surprises! This event is sponsored in part by Lexis-Nexis.

DATE & TIME: Tuesday, December 7, 1999 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

PLACE: Arts Club of Washington, 2017 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC (near the Farragut North and Farragut West Metro stations) PRICE: $28.00 Members $14.00 Students and Retirees $42.00 Non-Members REGISTRATION FORM: Name:____________________________Phone:________________ Organization:__________________________________________ Email Address:_________________________________________ __ This is my first DC/SLA event __ Student __ SLA Member __ DCLA Member __ LLSDC Member __ ASIS Member RSVP by Thursday, December 2nd to: Mandy Baldridge, TeleSec/CORESTAFF, 11160 Veirs Mill Road, Suite 414, Wheaton, MD 20902; Fax 301-949-8729; email: mbaldridge@telesec.com Return to contents

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