During the 2007 Leadership Summit in Reno, I thought of the name "Global Alliance of Librarians and Information Professionals" (GALIP). I focused on the word "alliance" over "association" because I feel our greatest strength lies in the ability to bring people from diverse backgrounds together to serve the common goal of uniting users with the information they need. I also strongly feel that our members are served well by the independence of local chapters. All this speaks less of a top-heavy "organization" or "society" and more of what is evoked by the word "alliance" - a confederation of volunteers...strength in the local building up to the national...and beyond to the global - but always via the intimacy of the local chapter. I would like to see a name or acronym which evokes these qualities - whatever its final form.
The same initials - "GALIP" - were also used in an earlier post. This may sound a bit clunky to some, but consider the branding possibilities if we use an "Old West" theme (said with tongue firmly in cheek): "Jaime Doe, information whisperer since 1991", "Jayne Doe, data wrangler since 2002", "John Doe, bringing law and order to the wild wild web since 1988", etc. Describing librarians and other information professionals working together to bring information to end-users and "tame the chaos of the Wild Wild Web" could make for the kind of simple, effective storytelling that is the hallmark of good branding.
Comments (1)
Jul 17, 2009
Connie Clem says:
I appreciate this image of information wranglers. That's the same word...I appreciate this image of information wranglers. That's the same word I end up with when I try to find the perfect verb for information work.
: Grabbing what is dynamic (also large, fast, ornery, raw, and valuable - wealth on the hoof; maybe even lost, stolen, or strayed) using bare hands and many other tools.
Sometimes we get covered with it. And it's exhilarating work - with great moments of victory.