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Re-purposing the Information Specialist

Re-purposing the Information Specialist. SLA Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Technology Division April 8, 2008 Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park . Layne M. Johnson, Ph.D. There Are Lots of Opportunities – What Do Users Need?. Today’s Knowledge Users Drive Need

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Re-purposing the Information Specialist

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  1. Re-purposing the Information Specialist SLA Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Technology Division April 8, 2008 Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park Layne M. Johnson, Ph.D.

  2. There Are Lots of Opportunities – What Do Users Need? • Today’s Knowledge Users Drive Need • Information Professionals and Services • Understand Your Value • Where are the Opportunities? • Where the Trends are Leading Us

  3. Recognizing and Influencing the Trends • Disintermediated online searching – 1980’s • The availability of electronic databases - building end user resources – late 80’s and early 90’s • Electronic journals established great value – early to mid-90’s • The internet and intranets – early mid 90’s - present

  4. Recognizing and Influencing the Trends • Centralized management of information programs – mid-late 90’s – to present • Outsourcing and insourcing • Library closures - global archives • Business process outsourcing • The struggle to establish value in the future • All of these trends have required information professionals to adapt!

  5. Today’s Knowledge Users • Recognize when Google isn’t enough (sometimes!) • Yet, more than 75% feel the web is effective for generating search results • Are more confident that search results with sophisticated tools and content will have a more meaningful impact on their work • Publishers see more article downloads and submissions from outside the US than from the US (American Chemical Society, November 2007) “Free Web Search vs. Paid Search Tools” – an independent study of 415 Researchers and managers conducted by Martin Akel and Associates, August 2007

  6. When Today’s Knowledge Users Fail to Find the Information they Need… • 64% turn to experts and colleagues inside their organization • 17% turn to experts outside their organizations • Only 1% admit to consulting a research librarian • 20% feel they find all the information they need on their own “Free Web Search vs. Paid Search Tools” – an independent study of 415 Researchers and managers conducted by Martin Akel and Associates, August 2007

  7. Information Professionals and Services • New Business Models Continue to Develop as User Needs and Technologies Change

  8. Re-purposing the Information Professional • Align more and create roles with sponsoring and other functions within your organization • Strategic Planning, Business Intelligence, Competitive Intelligence • KM, Knowledge Discovery, taxonomies, ontologies, text mining, analysis, • Market Research • Regulatory Intelligence • Licensing & Acquisitions, External & Scientific Affairs • Communications, Medical Affairs, Publications Strategy • Quality Improvement – 6 Sigma, Lean • Procurement & Contracts • IT & Informatics

  9. Re-purposing the Information Professional • Align and create roles with vendors and other functions outside of your organization • Information, management, administration, leadership roles in the non-profit sector • Medical Communications, Publications Strategy, online sites like WebMD • Information Companies of all sorts – infinite possibilities, aggregators, database producers, internet start ups, publishers • Academics – library or information centers, teaching • Go back to school – Medical School, etc. • Hospitals and healthcare companies (payers) • Consulting firms, think tanks or build your own consulting business • Build your own business – follow your passion – buy a business -

  10. Re-purposing the Information Professional • Must meet changing user needs • Searchers shift to content management, access, deployment • Keeping up with technology is a top concern – (and IT and Informatics should no longer be thought of in a negative context!) • Either catch up, or be left behind

  11. Trends in Web Functionality • Weblogs (blogs) • Web networking • Wikis • Twittering • Personal web presence – YouTube, LinkedIn, domains • Podcasts • NetFlix • RSS feeds (and other forms of many-to-many publishing) • Social software web • application programming interfaces (APIs) • Online web services such as eBay, NYC subway route mapping, Google maps, cyberhomes, banking

  12. The Power of Networking

  13. Expertise Networking

  14. Network Visualization

  15. Translating Value in the Future • Focus ONLY on the true value-added products and services • Wikis, blogs, Web 2.0, networking, collaboration e.g. • Prepare to be outsourced, understand business process outsourcing and develop your strategies for implementing it • Step ahead of the pack and take courses – about anything! – stay very involved with professional organizations, volunteer • Prepare yourself – there are some really great skills that many do not have (ontologies, taxonomies, KM, CI, analysis) • NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK – know what it means and learn how to do it well – giving back • Be proactive and cooperative vs. reactive and defensive • Stay close to key decision makers (your management, your users)

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