When I read David Gurteen’s post on IM and KM (Information Management and Knowledge Management) it reminded me of a specific KM project I was involved with. In his post, David raises the issue of “what is IM and what is KM?” Where does the first stop and the other begin? This question has been discussed many times in the past. I think it is critical that we all agree with David when he says “Does it really matter? I don't think so.” Okay, with that out of the way, let’s have some fun with this question.

Marketing anything is about building relationships. For libraries, making a personal connection is extremely important, because it leads both to advocacy and increased usage of services and products.

Knowledge portals are easy to describe, but tricky to get right. To my mind a knowledge portal should accomplish two key things: first, enable users to find the information they seek quickly and efficiently (more on “find” later) and second, facilitate the ongoing capture of information and knowledge so that the portal helps users with that “finding.”

The SharePoint juggernaut continues in corporate enterprise environments. But 15 years after the product was first launched, clear evidence of SharePoint’s strengths and weaknesses as a knowledge management platform is emerging from objective industry observers.

Organizations of all kinds spend a significant amount of money on electronic content and research tools – but often have no way of knowing if that’s money well spent. Proactive management of your portfolio with an ERM (electronic resource management) application is critical, whether you are a law firm, a nonprofit or a corporate multinational.

Midsized law firms face unique challenges when it comes to knowledge management. Just as large multinational firms must, they need to provide a solid knowledge management foundation, to protect and leverage the firm’s knowledge assets, and utilize the best technology for the firm’s KM requirements - but unlike their larger brethren, midsized firms are often resource constrained. What does KM success look like for these firms, and how do they get there?

Special librarians achieve sustainability by understanding that end user requirements and forces at work (e.g. new technologies, globalization and a mobile workforce) all demand change.

As highlighted in Lucidea’s lighthearted short video introducing The Stormy Librarian, there are many information and knowledge management challenges common to special librarians the world over, no matter what sector, organization size or geography. Strategies to solve these are important for the sustainability of the profession - and help is on the way.

Solo librarians may not have the same options as their counterparts in larger organizations when it comes to following all three sticky marketing tenets but they are often uniquely positioned to optimize one of them: make a personal connection.

People who choose careers as archivists have an abiding commitment to identifying, collecting, preserving and making accessible information and records of enduring value. Paper, film and electronic records deemed to be of interest for an extended period should be shared with the world, not simply collected.

Ye Olde Reference Interview. It offers an excellent opportunity to practice “Sticky Marketing,” allowing you to meet your users where they are (in this case, in the context of a research project) and to make a personal connection that results in the library being more integrated with employees’ daily workflow.

Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) is an engineering firm that designs, investigates, and rehabilitates constructed works in the United States, Canada, and in more than thirty additional countries, with ~500 employees in six offices. SGH has a multi-location library of more than 25,000 items, and making that content available enterprise-wide presented a huge accessibility challenge.

There’s quite a list of information and knowledge management challenges common to special librarians the world over, no matter what sector, organization size or geography. Strategies to solve these are important for the sustainability of the profession, and help is on the way. You might recognize many (and possibly all!) of the unique challenges faces by today’s special librarians as they strive to increase visibility, value and relevance to their organizations. These include:

Recently, Lucidea’s LawPort legal portal software was highlighted in a special edition of CIO STORY, focused on the legal industry’s Top 20 software vendors. CIO STORY tracks IT trends and offers “insights and deep analytics based on success stories of technology companies that have scaled up by adapting path-breaking business strategies and solutions.” Read about Lucidea CEO and founder Ron Aspe’s mission to offer the best, most comprehensive unified information and knowledge management applications worldwide in this special edition of CIO STORY, which spotlights Ron’s belief that “there is no such thing as too much information – it just needs to be relevant, organized and accessible,” whether in a law firm or any other knowledge-intensive organization. LawPort, Lucidea’s industry leading, premier legal portal software and SharePoint accelerator, was purpose built to answer the law firm KM challenge. LawPort:

Attaching the library to regular training sessions - particularly onboarding for new hires - opens up a great marketing channel for the library, while offering important benefits to new employees.

It’s critical for the library to have a great working relationship with the IT department, and that doesn’t necessarily happen overnight.  Even though it sounds counterintuitive, establishing your credibility with IT leadership is the key to achieving IT independence and managing your own systems.

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.

Special librarians achieve sustainability by understanding that end user requirements and forces at work (e.g. new technologies, globalization and a mobile workforce) all demand change.