Editorial - Knowledge transfer in action – ‘the generosity of information professionals’

BIR’s 2014 best paper prize

The winner of BIR’s award for the best article published in 2014 is Bonnie Ranvild Frisendahl of Novo Nordisk’s Global Information and Analysis team.

Her article on global information training (2014, 31(4): 237–242) is an extremely well-constructed distillation of the development and delivery of live and interactive training in a virtual classroom. Although the competition was extremely tight, this article came out on top due its generosity in sharing the training story from the early stages of training design, the learning and training techniques considered, course construction, tips to ensure engagement during training and ideas about evaluation as the basis for continuous course improvement. It illustrates a response to a truly global, high volume and digital challenge but is a solution that could be used on a smaller scale too with its many practical and actionable ideas. It demonstrates how information professionals can make a real impact on, and a difference to, their organizations. Frisendahl receives £100 in cash and £100 worth of SAGE books, and her article will be actively promoted. To ensure that these lessons learned reach a wide audience, Sage has made the article available free until the end of April 2015 at http://bir.sagepub.com/content/31/4/237.full.pdf+html and http://ow.ly/KbYtO.

The runner-up for the 2014 best paper prize was Arthur Weiss for Searching in a Global Environment: Finding Information From and on Foreign Countries, Regions and Markets. This can also be read free of charge on the BIR website until the end of April 2015 at http://bir.sagepub.com/content/31/4/243.full.pdf+html.

This article is a tour de force in its richness. Understanding search engines and search services is the bread and butter of many information management (IM) professionals. Weiss identifies a number of potential pitfalls and problems associated with using search to collate and analyse data sourced from different countries, regions and markets. The article provides useful tips and a wealth of information source/service references for global researchers and analysts. It’s a good example of knowledge transfer in action. Both Frisendahl and Weiss exemplify a key value of information professionals – the wish to share experience with others in order to learn from them and the generosity to do so.

This is the third year in which the prize has been awarded. The selection process involved the editorial board and the editors considering each article published in the four issues of the year through the lens of breakthrough thinking and potential impact on practice. Seven articles were shortlisted, and these were considered again with professional relevance and the quality of writing/readability added to the initial selection criteria.

The winning articles in 2013 and 2012 are still very relevant and appear in the top download lists for BIR in 2014: Martin White, Intranet Focus Ltd, Digital Workplaces: Vision and Reality published in December 2012 (BIR 2012, 9(4): 201–214) and Chris Rivinus of Tullow Oil, IT Project Prioritization: A Practical Application of Knowledge Management Principles, published in December 2013 (BIR 2013, 30(4): 196–203).

International expansion of the Editorial Board

Tracy Z Maleeff has just joined the Editorial Board and strengthens our US membership joining Scott Brown on the board as well as adding legal information expertise and the benefit of a wide network of contacts. Tracy is the Library Resources Manager at Duane Morris LLP in Philadelphia. She earned her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh and has undergraduate degrees from Temple University (magna cum laude) and the Pennsylvania State University. Tracy currently serves as the Chair of the Special Libraries Association’s Online Content Advisory Council as well as Chair of the 2015 Annual Conference Advisory Council. She received the 2014 Dow Jones/Special Libraries Association (SLA) Innovate Award for consistent innovation, leadership and creativity both in the information profession and in SLA, the first time the award was made.

The Business Information Survey 2015

These survey results are essential reading for those working in corporate information services and information service provision in other sectors. Collectively they provide an unsurpassed source to mine for comparison and ideas, with sufficient context to understand where those ideas might work for your team. Vendors should also take careful note of the insights provided by senior information managers, which include some strong messages about partnering with clients and developing a more realistic assessment on content value. The Survey’s title, Moving the Corporate Needle, is a neat representation of the key success factor reflected in all interviews – the need to deliver and be seen to deliver value. Value must be evident to the ‘C’ suite, and the survey results provide convincing arguments for reporting as high-up in your organization as possible. Reporting lines do not, in the main, fall within the power of the information function to dictate, but building effective relationships across senior management is the essential alternative and most managers emphasize the need to do so as a priority. (One warning from our experience: don’t fall into the trap of hitching yourself to a rising star – these folks are highly likely to move organizations and may also fall from influence.) So effective business relationships are a top finding again, and the challenges of dealing with organizational change bring extra pressure but with it some opportunities. With the constant need to increase value comes how to prove it. No breakthroughs here – anecdotes, of course, and the proving of content value through close analysis of use – and even the presentation in the form of ROI (return on investment) dashboards.

Strategic planning is more evident in this year’s discussions. Clarification of forward direction and reasons for change provides an excellent mechanism for debating the future development of the information service with business colleagues and for budget negotiations. Budget pressures are still tangible. Although some services are seeing small increases in staffing and resource levels, the trends in vendor pricing mean that the processes of procurement require ever more substantial effort with some information specialists devoted to this work and good relationships with procurement functions essential. For the first time in the survey, the use of free sources is noticeable, especially for news where free Web-based resources can now compete on speed and cost. E-books are also beginning to be mentioned as part of the content portfolio.

Outsourcing is now a mature operation, which can ensure optimum use of different levels of staff expertise often focused on enabling in-house teams to undertake high-value work and to look for further opportunities to do so, for example, competitor intelligence. The performance management of outsourced work and its suppliers requires ongoing attention and significant expertise. The survey also provides insights into relationships with information technology (IT) and the analytics functions within IT and elsewhere in organizations. Although a number of survey respondents see opportunity in big data and recognize that staff will need additional skills to take these up, IT still sees big data as a computing function. So the debate on whether the skills of information professionals can contribute to this area is definitely one which will continue. One surprise in the results is heightened reinforcement of the reference interview and the need to foster deeper questioning and a flexible mind set in dealing with intelligence needs. Intelligence requires looking at the need from all possible angles.

Are these UK-focused concerns only? Some survey respondents speak for global information services and international cooperation, but a brief scan of recent US reports indicates that understanding your business, being proactive in creating business solutions, leveraging stretched resources, the mistaken belief that everything useful is Internet accessible and measuring value are significant preoccupations. That Responsibilities for risk-related research are on the increase.

Highlighting opportunities for information skills

A constant theme for BIR recently is the opportunity that big data offers to information professionals, not just in the corporate world but in government, academia and the third sector. The Initiatives column in this issue highlights a recently published book by Amy Affelt, The Accidental Data Scientist, 2014, Information Today Inc. Affelt’s subtitle? Big data applications and opportunities for librarians and information professionals. With an introduction by the renowned Thomas H Davenport, he and the author lay down the challenge to information specialists, ‘Rebrand, and take up the new big data opportunities: Recognise that your knowledge and skills are of use but need expansion; get into big data or you’ll miss a very big boat’. The book gives you many clues on how to go about it. The SLA is also waving the big data flag. The 2014 May/June issue of Information Outlook – the SLA’s flagship magazine –features several articles devoted to big data, its meaning and impact; a SWOT analysis of information professional skills; a case material from SAS on the support information professionals are providing for this leading organization in the analytics field; and an initiative to educate our sector in data science.

The value of information/library professionals is also being identified as an essential IT skill. Mary Shacklett, in 2015, at http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-surprising-skills-that-will-give-it-job-seekers-the-edge/?tag=nl.e106&s_cid=e106&ttag=e106&ftag=TREf7159e0 (consulted, 10^th March, 2015), discusses the fierce fight for talent, as companies tackle new disciplines like big data. She considers that this is forcing companies to re-evaluate the skills needed by IT job candidates. Top of her list of 10 emerging skills and qualities companies are looking for? Librarian expertise! Shacklett defines this as:

‘the ability to aggregate data and look at it in unique ways to get to the bottom of the information is becoming extremely important. This is where a background in library science can be a plus. The right kind of librarian can become an excellent big data analyst and researcher’.

Important values include a can-do attitude and calmness under pressure! Whilst Elasticsearch, apparently the second most popular enterprise search engine and an open-source product, was unknown to us, a recent news post by Martin White reinforces the role of information scientists as senior skilled users in any implementation development. Information scientists as specialists in search and retrieval can determine which of Elasticsearch’s many, many functions to implement, given the nature of the content and the type of query that will be used. There is an acute shortage of these skills in organizations (see http://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/enterprise-searchs-future-relies-on-information-science-skills-028375.php?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRohvavOZKXonjHpfsX67%2BUqUKO0lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4ISMpkI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFTbDDMblp27gPXR).

Information professionals may well be poised on the threshold of a new renaissance. A recent piece by Gartner mentioned in Initiatives considering new tools for smart data management and use quotes:

Smart data discovery has the potential to expand access to sophisticated interactive analysis and insights to business consumers and non-traditional BI users – the approximately 70 per cent of users in organizations that currently do not use BI tools or have statistical backgrounds.

This can realistically apply to and stimulate competition for the role of business information professional skills.

Information governance

The whole area of IM is a fertile application ground for information professional skills with effective information governance and increasingly important opportunity. Oliver Rolfe of KPMG International is well qualified to write on governance matters and is currently engaged in ensuring that the implementation of ESS (Enterprise Social Software) is not capsized by failure to build in effective governance controls. The ESS offers tremendous potential for innovation and for productivity by enabling people (employees, partners and customers) to connect and collaborate in real time. Encouraging this flow of ideas and information should be a competitive force for any organization. But the very power of an ESS carries inherent risks: inadvertent information loss, regulatory compliance and secure user access. Rolfe argues that information governance must be considered from the germination of an ESS programme and that this requires bringing the necessary expertise together from the start. Risk managers, business leaders and the ESS implantation team make for an effective partnership. This blend of skills used well will avoid unpleasant surprises later on and this article explains how to go about it.

The search for value

We have often reinforced the criticality of service innovation and the alignment of services with the aims of the organization. As the academic sector has become more competitive in its strategies to increase viability, this has meant focusing on attractiveness to the student population. The academic library is playing a pivotal role in enhancing the institutional brand, and this is visible in many university library strategic plans. Typical goals include enhancing support for student learning, personalizing the student experience, improving the study environments, contributing to the development of researchers of the future and developing new services that will ensure an excellent student experience. In business and industry, the concept of value co-creation is well established as an approach that includes active involvement between a supplier and the customer to create a value-rich experience and improved products. The article by Anwarul Islam considers how value co-creation can play a role in the academic library environment and reports on research that has yielded a value co-creation framework that should be applicable to service innovation. The critical success factors in its use will be the willingness of the Library to be transparent in its dialogue with student users and the identification of the segments of the student population to work with. The article provides ideas to use in other information service settings.

Adding value to systems development

Many business information professionals have been involved with the specification of information systems and learned at least some of their skills on the job. The article by Majid Nabavi and Hamid Jamali attracted us because it shares earlier research on the factors that need to be borne in mind if information systems are to yield the maximum value to their end users as well as deriving an enhanced model to consider. The principles of adding value to information systems are little different to those required in the development of information services and products. Two models are particularly important, the first developed by Taylor may seem obvious, but was a true breakthrough, that is, the only purpose of an information system is to add value to the data or information it processes. Information systems either help users to perform better (or not), but ‘better performance’ is defined according to the user’s need and their working environment and Taylor proposed a model presenting essential criteria for conferring value. Other models followed updating user’s needs and also considering the processes required to add value – the value chain approach. Building on these foundations, Nabavi and Jamili have evolved their model to link users’ needs and goals, the data and the services required to meet their needs and the processes required to make data useable. The importance of information and library professional skills in understanding user needs is paramount.

And BIR in 2015?

Our aims remain constant:

to stimulate innovation in business information services and products by sharing good practice;

Our hunt for new authors redoubles and the BIR Survey, Initiatives and Perspectives in this issue highlight many worthwhile topics. At the top of the list are the digital workplace, the impact of mobile computing on information delivery, the role of enterprise social platforms in service provision, open access and its impact, content supplier/buyer relationships, big data, information extraction and visualization, text mining for intelligence and the skills required for today’s information environment. We welcome articles to consider, and look forward to a successful year with great content and even more readers.