Here is a note I took from ROI 2.0 at 2009 SLA Conference

"It is 2.3 times more expensive to use other services instead of libraries"

What's "special" about special librarians? What's "special" about the Special Libraries Association? In 2009, does "special" convey what it did in 1909, when SLA was founded? Does our association name convey the idea of forward-thinking, technologically savvy information professionals?

Once again, it's time to consider changing the name of our association. Members will be asked to vote on the name later this year.

This has always been an emotionally charged issue. Many SLA members, especially long-time members, are very attached to a name they associate with a professional organization which has served them well. Some members equate abandoning the word "libraries" or "librarians" with abandoning the traditions and serve aspects of the profession. Still others feel that, while the current name is less than ideal, no better options have been presented. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," also was a common refrain.

Well, it is broke. And sentiment and emotional attachment don't carry weight with decision makers who affect our budgets and access to resources. SLA's leaders have developed the SLA Alignment Project "to generate a sharper focus on the perceived value of the Association and the profession" as part of the association's Centennial celebration. A clear message from the research done to date is that our name does not resonate with executives and fails to convey the value we bring as information professionals.

"SLA has embarked on a thorough examination to bring clarity and unity to the core identity and values of the Association and the profession... This alignment project will not only help refine our current positioning in the marketplace, but provide a framework for discussing the inherent value in the profession and the Association in a clear, compelling and cohesive voice."

SLA CEO Janice LaChance has posted "Why SLA Must Consider a Name Change" on SLA's Executive Connections blog. Please consider the points raised, and use the blog or our division wiki as a forum for registering your opinions. I'd love to see us having a spirited debate on this subject and the larger issue of how to convey our value.

Dominican University GSLIS Celebrates 80th Anniversary.

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science will celebrate the new Doctor of Philosophy in Library Science degree program and launch the Dean's Endowment to fund new initiatives at the GSLIS 80th Anniversary Reception Friday, July 10 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Arts Club of Chicago, 201 East Ontario Street. Formal remarks will begin at 5:30 p.m. For more information, please contact the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at (708) 524-6845 or gslis@dom.edu.

I'll buy a drink to any Transpo (Bob - thanks for the term!) that shows up.

Roberto

On July 9, the Transportation Librarians Roundtable was a debrief from the SLA 2009 Annual Conference and first Joint TKN annual meeting. After summary reports from the Transportation Division, NTL and regional TKN chairs, attendees discussed three questions about the conference. Here's where 30 or so people got started -- anything else to add?

What were the two most important things we learned at SLA?

1. GTRIC---round of introductions in which we were asked our career path leading us to transportation. (Bob Cullen)
2. The importance of social networking tools available to us in transportation - the fact that they are interesting and available to some, but not all, of us
3. uniqueness of what each of the transportation library and information science groups do for our community (John Cherney)
4. how receptive our non-librarian colleagues were to us at the Transportation Librarians Division hosted at TRB. We need to take opportunities to strengthen relationships to those outside our community (Rita Evans)
   

What were the best sessions we attended at SLA?

1. Computing in the Cloud (Sheila Hatchell) - UKY Libraries IT department presenter spoke about how IT departments need to catch up with the trend to use social networking and web 2.0 tools; computing in the cloud is the next step for IT and technology
2. GTRIC (Marie Manthe) - it is for US!
   

What were our top take-aways from SLA?

1. optimistic and positive attitude of attendees and interest in collaboration in light of the economic climate (Rita Evans)
2. renewed feeling of a strong and viable network (Roberto Sarmiento)
3. Economic pressures in the next 2 years will force collaboration...  The other option, extinction? (Ken Winter)
4. SLA changed my attitude towards what collaboration can include (AJ Million) 

Notes from the SLA session Effective Communication Strategies: How to understand and be understood

Pamela Bruner's Effective Communication Strategies session from SLA's 2009 Annual Conference is highly recommended. She describes each of four common Communication Styles:

*Action Person/Driver/Acheiver - task and results oriented, decisive, take charge
*Idea Person/Expresser/Visionary - Innovative, Creative, Passionate, people oriented, see big picture
*People Person/Relator/Likeables - Warm, Helpful, Supportive, feeling
*Process Person/Analytical/Reflective - Detail-oriented, methodical, lots of data, precise

Bruner then outlines specific, proven techniques for communicating with people who manifest a particular type of style. Read a complete summary of the session for suggested language and approaches to make sure your message is heard.

Recent Updates from SLA

Proposed Taxonomy Division Circulating Petition
A proposed Taxonomy Division is circulating a petition to identify members for the proposed division, which will focus on ways to organize and structure information so that content is accessible and useful. It would offer a practical context for exploring issues and sharing experiences related to planning, creating, maintaining and using taxonomies, thesauri, authority files, and other controlled vocabularies and information structures.

Contact Margie Hlava, mhlava@accessinn.com or Janice Keeler, jkeelersla@sbcglobal.net for more information or to volunteer to help get this division started. You must be a current SLA member to sign the petition.

Name Change Discussion Moves to Alignment Blog
While some Transportation Division members have commented on our wiki about the the subject of changing the association's name to better reflect the value information professionals add to their organizations, you all are encouraged to join the association's lively discussion on the subject. This wiki includes specific suggestions for new names and you can add your voice to the conversation.

RSS Feeds Now Powered by Yahoo! Pipes
The mega-feed of SLA RSS feeds is now powered by Yahoo! Pipes and you can subscribe directly. Grazr no longer supports RSS feeds compiled from multiple feeds; the Grazr widget listing feeds separated out by individual blogs will not be updated.

Nicole Engard gave a refresher on Yahoo! Pipes and other mashups at SLA 2009 (scroll down to June 17.)

LMD Launches Reading Club
The Leadership & Management Division (LMD) has just launced the Reading Club as a global initiative to celebrate SLA's Centennial. The Reading Club promotes knowledge-sharing and the exchange of creative ideas, insights and trends. We support continuous learning to develop leadership skills and to help achieve professional success. We're looking for new ideas and new resources and we're looking to have some fun. Initial titles include:
*Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet by Ian McNeely and Lisa Wolverton
*Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie
*Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
*"The Hidden Traps in Decision Making," Harvard Business Review classic reprint by Hammond, Raiffa & Keeney.

Everyone is welcome to comment on postings. To contribute postings about your own reading or about the blog's featured titles, contact blog owner, Alex Grigg, agrigg@lexmark.com.

Seeking Encyclopedia of the Earth Contributors

David Blockstein of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) spoke on "Transportation in a Carbon-Constrained Future" at the Future of Transportation session during the recent SLA 2009 Annual Conference. Part of his presentation was on the Encyclopedia of the Earth:

"The Encyclopedia is a crosscutting component of the Earth Portal, a comprehensive resource for timely, objective, science-based information about the environment. It is a means for the global scientific community to come together to produce the first free, expert-driven, massively scaleable information resource on the environment, and to engage civil society in a public dialogue on the role of environmental issues in human affairs. It contains no commercial advertising and reaches a large global audience."

Mr. Blockstein also talked about the need to add more content to the Transportation section, and he encouraged audience members to consider becoming contributors. I recently received an email from NCSE containing a formal invitation which I would like to pass on to Transportation Division members. Sarah Chappel wrote:

I am following up on a recent presentation by David Blockstein. The Encyclopedia of Earth is poised to expand our transportation resources, and we would greatly appreciate your involvement with this effort. By becoming an EoE contributor, you can add and edit vital information to a growing peer-reviewed online encyclopedia. If you're interested in contributing, please send me a CV or resume, and indicate the topic areas you are most interested in.

If you're interested in being a contributor, here is Ms. Chappel's contact information:

Sarah Chappel
Editorial Assistant: Encyclopedia of the Earth
Program Coordinator: Center for Science Solutions
National Council for Science and the Environment
1101 17th Street NW, Suite 250
Washington,DC20036
phone: 202-207-0007
fax: 202-628-4311

email: schappel@ncseonline.org

From Carol Paszamant, Librarian, NJ Dept. of Transportation:

I had thought we'd discussed library organization/classification schemes in the past, but couldn't find anything on it in my rather voluminous email folder of my favorite TRANLIB messages. The NJDOT Research Bureau manager forwarded to me the results of the AASHTO RAC library survey below. I had answered the questions, and from the attached graphs, can see that the NJDOT Research Library fell comfortably in the majority for each of the 3 questions. We almost all use LC classification, but I'm wondering if this didn't oversimplify the situation. For instance, I would be willing to bet that many libraries use a combination of different systems to organize their collections.

Library Classification Schemes
Report Numbers Locally Assigned
Awareness of RITA Designated Libraries

We're still in the midst of getting our collection cataloged by the NJ State Library, and they've been dutifully assigning LC call numbers as I had requested in the beginning. I am finding, however, that LC does not necessarily treat parts of our collection very well; it predictably seems to work fine for monographs, and not so fine for many technical reports and other items for which no spine information exists, if the items are even thick enough to have a spine. In other words, it is not an easy collection to physically browse without having to pull all kinds of items off the shelf.

I'm wondering how many libraries use how many other systems besides LC (or Dewey, which is also subject driven); e.g., how many use SuDocs for the US government publications, and what if any separate systems are used for state documents. At one time, we had all the state materials separated by state, and then within that, by their own report numbers if they had a reliable report number scheme, and alphabetically by title if they didn't. There was something to be said for being able to just go to the shelf to find something without a catalog lookup for a call number.

I'm also wondering if anyone keeps AASHTO materials or other specific publishers/groups in little subcollections, and if people use mini-LC sections separate from the main one for these or some other systems. If this all has been covered before, let me know. If not, or it's worth revisiting, please reply either to me or to the list if you prefer. I can summarize if there's interest. Thanks.