During this year’s Hot Topics Panel discussion, “Don’t Just Be Integrated: Be Integral”, moderator Stephen Abram and our panelists focused on how special librarians can go beyond integration with organizational imperatives—and become integral to organizational success.

You know that the path to success includes doing more with the tools you have and the skills you’ve built. For many libraries and librarians, “doing more” means becoming “embedded”—and evolving beyond delivering subject matter expertise to becoming a truly critical organizational resource.

During this year’s Hot Topics session, moderator Stephen Abram and our panelists discussed fundamental questions, such as:

• What are the characteristics of an embedded librarian?
• What are the benefits and value of being embedded—to the organization, to the library, to the individual?
• How can you communicate the value of being embedded to leaders and stakeholders?
• How do you emulate an embedment strategy when you have fewer resources?
• What are the pitfalls of an embedment strategy, and how can you address them?

Following our annual tradition, we wrote a whitepaper (available for download) that presents the compelling information shared during the event, combined with additional valuable insights gained from panelist interviews conducted in preparation for the discussion.

The participants on our panel “Don’t Just Be Integrated: Be Integral” were:

• Karen Botkin—Law Librarian, Verizon
• Samantha Bouwers—Librarian, Information Resource Center, ACT
• Jean O’Grady—Sr. Director of Research & Knowledge Services, DLA Piper US, LLP

Moderator Stephen Abram, CEO, Lighthouse Consulting, facilitated the discussion—adding perspectives drawn from his own distinguished career as a special librarian and consultant to the information sector.

We invite you to download a copy of the white paper from Lucidea’s Hot Topics Session, “Don’t Just Be Integrated: Be Integral”. Do you have any tips for librarians seeking to become aligned and embedded? Please share them in the comments below; we’d love to hear them.