OK, I'm just throwing this name out there as the type of name that we should be suggesting. There may certainly be better ways to phrase it. I do want to point out a few important things about a new name.
1. The name needs to mean something to people outside of our profession. This is why I have a problem with "Information Professional." Not only does it not really mean anything to the average Joe, but it also calls to mind a million different sorts of things from their Information Technology department at work to the Information desk at the mall. In fact, the Information Center at my company is actually the "Maintenance Information Center," the place you call to get housekeeping to come by and take out your garbage or to get the maintenance guy to fix a leak in the ceiling. I just think Info Pro is too broad.
2. Keep in mind what words have different meanings outside of our profession. I keep seeing people complaining about the use of "Knowledge" because, to us, it ties too closely to Knowledge Management (KM) which is not necessarily what most of us are doing. But realize that nobody outside of Libraries, and maybe a few IT professionals knows what KM is. Knowledge, on the other hand, has a long and established meaning and is associated with learning and applied information. This is also what makes it test well with our focus groups.
3. The name really ought to be internally meaningful, if at all possible. Library and Librarian has meant something fairly specific for hundreds or even thousands of years. If we want to use information in the title or even knowledge, we need to explain ourselves a little more. What about information? What do we do with it? Part of the problem with the Special Libraries Association is that nobody knows what that means. Let's not make the same mistake again when we pick our next name. I've spent the beginning of my career answering the question what is a Special Librarian over and over again, I'd rather not have the same questions with a different acronym for the rest of my career.
Comments (1)
Jul 23
Gloria Zamora says:
Alex, I especially like your second comment about the fact that knowledge "has a...Alex,
I especially like your second comment about the fact that knowledge "has a long and established meaning..." As we are testing names we want to be sure that those outside of our profession resonate with the name and the meanings of the words we will use. I agree with you that we have to have a name that we do not have to explain, and one that allows a broad range of professionals involved in various information careers to see a place for themselves. Thanks for thinking more broadly in regard to our name.