Think Clearly: The Lucidea Blog

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Librarians and Technology #2—Evaluating New Software, Databases or Technology

Posted by Miriam Kahn, MLS, PhD on 12/4/2018

Evaluating new technology is often a daunting task. Break it down into its component parts to determine if it fulfills your needs. Always keep in mind how the new technology supports your mission, improves the services you provide, and enhances access to your collections and curated information.

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Topics: Integrated Library Systems, Special Libraries, ILS, Technology

20 Questions Your KM Application or ILS Should Help Answer

Posted by Lucidea on 11/29/2018

If you are planning to buy an ILS or KM system, or want to migrate/upgrade, you need to think about your organizations’ needs both strategically and tactically in order to select the right platform. Here are 20 questions to ask yourself that will help.

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Topics: Integrated Library Systems, KM, Knowledge Management Software

Why Electronic Resource Management is Important in Special Libraries

Posted by Lucidea on 11/20/2018

It used to be considered inappropriate for library staff to monitor the usage patterns of their end users, but for today’s special libraries, tracking and acting upon the insights gained is essential for delivering the best in content, tools and services.

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Topics: Electronic Resource Management, Integrated Library Systems, Special Libraries

The Right ILS for You—Do You Build or Buy?

Posted by Ron Aspe, CEO on 6/12/2018

When planning an integrated library system (ILS) implementation, you should remember that software applications are not like houses: it costs a lot more to build an application from scratch than to buy a new one. But why is that?

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Topics: Integrated Library Systems, ILS, Special Librarians, Open source

Why an Integrated Library System (ILS) is Key to Your Independence

Posted by Lucidea on 5/15/2018

People who need people may indeed be the luckiest people in the world, but if you depend on others in order to do your job successfully, you’re going to need a strategy that embraces both daily partnership and situational independence.

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Topics: Integrated Library Systems, ILS, Special Librarians

SydneyEnterprise is the Law Firm Library Efficiency Engine

Posted by Lucidea on 4/17/2018

Duane Morris LLP is a Philadelphia-based law firm with more than 800 attorneys in 28 offices, practicing in the U.S., U.K. and Asia. The firm serves a broad array of clients worldwide and provides innovative solutions to legal and business challenges.

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Topics: Integrated Library Systems, Special Libraries, ILS

Marketing Your Library: The Benefits For Special Libraries

Posted by Lucidea on 2/13/2018

Library marketing has become a hot topic, with public libraries working hard to increase footfall and enroll new members. With regard to special libraries, some companies believe that since the library is in place, staff will automatically flock to it. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case despite the fact that their users are a captive audience.

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Topics: Integrated Library Systems, Special Libraries, Marketing, ILS, Library Automation Software

Part One: Client Engagement in Special Libraries—What is it?

Posted by Stephen Abram on 11/14/2017

This series of blog posts on client engagement is inspired by a reader comment. Thanks!

“I appreciate Stephen Abram's tips. Could you talk more of 'engagement'? How can special librarians 'engage' employees? THANK YOU!”

This reader comment has inspired me to think more deeply about how special librarians and information professionals need to behave differently on the customer engagement front. Yes, special librarians are different!

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Topics: Library Management, Solo Librarianship, Management, Integrated Library Systems, Special Libraries, User Engagement

Is Artificial Intelligence All That and a Bag of Chips?

Posted by Ron Aspe, CEO on 11/9/2017

There will, no doubt, be certain jobs and industries that will be dramatically impacted by artificial intelligence (AI). However, that can be said about virtually any technological innovation introduced in the past 30 years. A more interesting question might be, “How does the hype surrounding AI affect my career today?”

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems, Museum Collections Management Software, Artificial Intelligence, Archives

How to Break the Gravitational Pull of Legacy Software Applications

Posted by Ron Aspe, CEO on 11/2/2017

We have all been there, and I’ve been there a lot. In the not too distant past, I was required to use an IBM mainframe to do my “word processing” when PC based solutions had far better functionality. Later, I was required to use email software that wasn’t compatible with the internet. The list goes on, and the problem still exists. There is hope: please read on for some ideas on how to break away from legacy software.

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Topics: Library Management, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Systems, Integrated Library Systems

Earning the Right to Give Advice

Posted by Stephen Abram on 10/3/2017

As information professionals we are often asked to give our advice and our professional opinion on a number of issues and projects. Sometimes it is difficult to offer guidance confidently, yet it is our obligation to do so. In this post I’ll offer my thoughts on why and how to begin.

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Topics: Library Management, Solo Librarianship, Management, Integrated Library Systems

Part 3: 33 Tips to Increase Innovation Capacity in your Library

Posted by Stephen Abram on 9/26/2017

Well, we’re finally at part three of this series. Here are my final ten tips and a bonus one. (Check out part one and part two here, in case you missed them.)

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Topics: Library Management, Solo Librarianship, Management, Integrated Library Systems

Part 2: 33 Tips to Increase Innovation Capacity in your Library

Posted by Stephen Abram on 9/19/2017

I wrote my first 12 tips for innovation and product development success at your library based on my own experiences (and as a sort of ode to my 39th anniversary of my MLS graduation). This is a three part series and the next 11 tips are right here. Watch for the final batch in my next post.

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Topics: Library Management, Solo Librarianship, Management, Integrated Library Systems

Part 1: 33 Tips to Increase Innovation Capacity in your Library

Posted by Stephen Abram on 9/12/2017

There’s nothing like the 39th anniversary of your library school graduation to cause you to reflect. I have many memories of a young, newly minted, newly married and very green librarian heading out into the big world. Ironically, my first task in those pre-Amazon days was to order a book—and I didn’t know how and was a solo librarian. Learning started fast in professional practice. What have I learned in the last 39 years, and is any of it useful?

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Topics: Library Management, Solo Librarianship, Management, Integrated Library Systems

3 Tenets of Customer Service

Posted by Sarah Nichols on 9/7/2017

“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” The origin of this quote is unclear, but it is often cited in the education sector during discussions about how best to motivate students and improve teaching skills. The concept is equally relevant to customer service, and therefore applies to librarians and other information professionals.

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Topics: Library Management, Solo Librarianship, Management, Integrated Library Systems

Watching the Future: Tracking Library Trends

Posted by Stephen Abram on 9/5/2017

Librarians are more relevant than ever. We have no good reason to be on the defense and every reason to take the offensive. Conversation in our field is fraught with too much navel gazing and not enough looking at external evidence that many things are going well. We share too many stories about the bad stuff and too rarely share the successes. Yet we are an adaptive profession. Positive change is our tradition; let’s talk about that!

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Topics: Library Management, Solo Librarianship, Management, Integrated Library Systems

Curation: Buzzword or What?

Posted by Stephen Abram on 8/29/2017

One of the most popular buzzwords in library-land at the moment is ‘curation’. It’s used to describe anything from old-fashioned collection development to human filtering activities on social media like Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and blogs. The word ‘curator’ gets used too liberally to describe the stuff people do on the web and, in my humble option, dilutes and pollutes the professional things that librarians do.

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Topics: Library Management, Information Management, Management, Integrated Library Systems

Workplace Information Literacy: It’s Different

Posted by Stephen Abram on 8/17/2017

There are plenty of articles and studies on information literacy in our professional literature. However, these almost always address the issue of information literacy in public, K-12 and academic libraries, and focus on end users. But what about workplace literacy?

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Topics: Library Management, Solo Librarianship, Management, Integrated Library Systems, Special Libraries