Last Friday, October 9, 2009, the Chapter held its annual Fall Seminar. This year the topic was Conveying Your Value. Almost 70 attendees were able to learn from industry and association leaders, and network with colleagues from all over the southwest. For those who attended and want the speakers' slides to help remind them of points made in each talk, look in the upper right corner of the blog. PowerPoint presentations are listed by speaker and linked by title.
Here are a few photos from the event taken by Nancy Stimson, Director, SLA-SD
<-- Chapter President Cynthia Shamel was our MC for the day.
Mary Ellen Bates,
Bates Information Services, was our Keynote Speaker. She talked about paying attention to what our users want from us, the importance of using their language instead of our lingo, being conscious of the words we use to describe ourselves and our work, being adaptable; and diminishing the distance between the value-added product we provide and the executives who receive that strategic information. She called on us to be Information Professionals delivering strategic knowledge.
Dolly Goulart of Qualcomm spoke to us about the importance of having a positive impact on our end-users' work and a clear mission that is in alignment with the organization. Qualcomm's Research & Analysis group does not just collect & deliver information; they analyze and write reports for their clients.
Kira Cooper
of Elsevier spoke to us about research she did with Carol Tenopir on measuring the library's return on investment (ROI). A white paper was available to attendees. Phase II of the research was completed with a focus on academic institutions worldwide and the relationship between library services and grant income. Kira translated the research in terms of values to executives.
Deborah Hunt from the national SLA Board of Directors spoke to us about the SLA Alignment Project. This was an international, research-based examination of how we see ourselves versus how our clients see us in terms of roles and perception of value. Deb's presentation echoed a similar theme in Mary Ellen's and Dolly's: we must value ourselves and present ourselves as the professionals who provide strategic knowledge to our clients.
Linda Coates, San Diego Zoo,
presented an example of a value-added service that she provides to her clients. She writes original abstracts, in plain language, and ensures that titles reflect the content. The service has grown by word-of-mouth and has the endorsement of Doug Myers, the CEO.
The day ended with a celebration of 100 years of SLA!
Networking opportunities and vendor information were also some of the value offered at our Fall Seminar this year.
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