News from May, 2009

My name's Sheryl Kron Rhodes (although I go by Sherry), & I'm a new member of SLA/KMD. I'm a student in the MLS program at the University at Buffalo (part of the State University of New York system) & just finished my first semester. My previous degrees are a BS in geography/French from Penn State (including a semester in Strasbourg, France) & an MA in organizational communication from Ohio University. I've worked as an editor for the last 15 years, 11 of those as a freelance editor w/my own business (Kronan the Grammarian...I like bad puns). As soon as I heard about knowledge management, I was quite intrigued as it seems to have a lot in common w/organizational communication. I'm looking forward to meeting members of SLA, either virtually or face-to-face, as I progress through school!

SLA members and colleagues can register now for The KM/ECM Connection, the next course in the Click U Certificate Program in KM/Knowledge Services.  In this course, participants learn to link KM with ECM and knowledge asset management (described in a recent SMR International White Paper). In doing so, they position themselves for leadership in the knowledge culture, whether enterprise-wide or in one (or more) knowledge-focused business units.

The KM/ECM Connection begins May 18. The course includes three online lectures, a live discussion (online) with a leading expert in enterprise content management on Thursday, May 28, and a final (online) wrap-up discussion on Thursday, June 4. No travel is required to participate in this course.

To learn more, listen to Dale Stanley and Guy St. Clair talk about The KM/ECM Connection here.

NOTE: Membership in SLA is not required for taking this course, so speak to others you know who are interested in ECM/knowledge asset management in the KM environment. Your colleagues are welcome to join us (And compare the registration fee with costs for other KM learning programs---SLA's Click U Certificate Program in KM/Knowledge Services is a great bargain!).

Nerida Hart and I accepted an opportunity to have two students from Catholic University's library program research global communication options for SLA's KM division. They distributed a survey to KM members to collect ideas on communication methods used by KM members within their organization as well as the communication tools we have incorporated for the division. Please click here to access their research, survey results, and recommendations.

As KM migrates from the wonks to the workers, the Special Libraries Association (SLA) leads the way among professional associations shouldering the implementation strategies. Click here to read Karen Reczek's full article (PDF) originally published in Inside Knowledge Magazine, December 2009. URL: http://www.kmmagazine.com/.

Happy to announce that Knowledge Management Divisionmembers can now read the latest SMR International e-Profile, which takes a look at the good work being done by fellow division member and SLA leader Susan Fifer Canby and her colleagues at National Geographic. 

Take a look: "Building and Sustaining the Knowledge Culture: Susan Fifer Canby Puts Theory into Practice at the National Geographic Society" is available at www.smr-knowledge.com or it can be accessed directly by clicking here.

Greetings from your Co-Director of Communication.  Tomorrow, I get to speak to teams of bioscience entrepreneurs who are attending a workshop for inventors looking for venture capital.  I will be "evangelizing" for librarians and KM as I guide them through the market research process.  </end self promotion >  One of the things these teams will have to do is determine a target market for their particular medical device or healthcare technology.  Does anyone have suggestions about unique sources or ways to do that? I will tell them about the Official Directory of the American Board of Medical Specialties and http://www.abms.org

Either comment to this post or to me directly at christine.carmichael@gmail.com

Thanks much.  --ctc

The unconference model lends itself to a dynamic yet casual format for sharing ideas and learning from each other. No one leads; all have an opportunity to share.

UNCONFERENCE SESSION #3 on Monday, June, 15, 2009, from 3:30 PM-5:00 PM

• Focus: Conversants ~ While libraries house information in a wide variety of formats, librarians are charged with ensuring that their users are connected with the information that they require. But librarians do more than just connect people to information; they help people build knowledge. 
• Session facilitators: Karen Huffman and Jill Hurst-Wahl.

UNCONFERENCE SESSION #6 on Tuesday, June, 16, 2009, from 1:30 PM-3:00 PM

• Focus: Survivors' Stories ~ SLA members who have been downsized, laid off, or in a transitional period and have found new employment, a new direction, or completely reinvented themselves, share their success stories with others who are still struggling with the re-employment issue. Come share your story, listen to what factors contributed to success and growth, and watch what patterns emerge as models for success.
• Session facilitators: Karen Huffman and Mary Talley.

UNCONFERENCE SESSION #7 on Wednesday, June 17, 2009, from 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

• Focus: Change ~ The theme is based on Marie Kaddell's 2009 Best Practice perspective entitled "Change: Managing It, Surviving It, and Thriving on It."
• Session Facilitators: Karen Huffman and Marie Kaddell.

To view more information but each of the above sessions as well as information on other unconference sessions, please visit our Unconference wiki.