Earlier this year, we presented a “KM Conversation” with well-known enterprise social network expert and consultant Euan Semple. During our session “The New Knowledge Ecosystem: Content and Connection,” Lucidea’s COO Phil Green discussed with Euan the imperative for librarians and other knowledge professionals to participate in enterprise social networks.

All our software is developed on a platform we call LucideaCore, with the key advantage that enhancements made for one Lucidea product can be easily leveraged with others, keeping costs down and speeding deployment. We recently launched a project to make our software more accessible to people with disabilities. By virtue of our platform-based approach to developing KM solutions, related new capabilities will soon be incorporated into all LucideaCore products.

In a June 2016 article titled The Evolution of Social Technologies, McKinsey & Company reported that the use of social technologies has evolved to include their use as tools for developing Organizational Strategy. Knowledge management (KM) professionals and librarians need to recognize this represents an opportunity for them to contribute to organizational success at the highest level.

Most of us don’t buy software very often. In fact, unless you are a senior Information Technology Manager, you may do so only a couple of times in your career. The most common software selection problems are easily avoided with a little advance planning.

Special librarians are continually asked to do more, even in the face of diminishing resources. Many special librarians are all too aware of this, and hearing about effective ways to thrive nonetheless is one of the reasons that information professionals attend the SLA annual conference.

In a recent article sent to me via Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, author Susan Farrell explores the use of open-ended vs. closed-ended questions in user surveys. The focus of the piece is website development, but the concept is relevant to information professionals with regard to both reference interviewing and successful implementation of knowledge management programs.

Solo librarians need powerful time management tools, since they are running their libraries without paraprofessional staff to assist. I’ve learned that many solo librarians (as well as other professionals) use their smartphones to manage and organize their time.

The concept of accountability often has negative emotions attached to it. Ever wonder why that is? Maybe it’s the “hot potato” syndrome. Too many of us have been held accountable for events we have no hope of controlling.

Business content providers such as Lexis, Westlaw, Factiva and ProQuest are about to face a new wave of competitors due to the increasing digitization of information resources. Just as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu disrupted the personal entertainment sector by enabling viewers to avoid purchasing “bundles” that include content they don’t want, competitors in the business content space will soon apply similar disruptive pressures on traditional business content providers.

One of the biggest challenges when implementing a knowledge management strategy or platform is getting leadership buy-in and visible advocacy. If you have that, it goes a long way to solving a second significant challenge: user engagement and adoption. A sticky marketing approach can help.

Many organizations spend a small fortune building their intranets. They’re often based on very detailed specifications and take a long time to implement – so successful rollouts and decent user adoption are causes for celebration. And then, the years roll by …until a once-innovative intranet really starts to show its age. You might be faced with this challenge – but do you know what to do about it?

Recently, one of our clients told us, “I feel Lucidea’s purpose is similar to ours.” But what, really, is our shared purpose? It’s to help people “Think Clearly.”

We’ve been thinking a lot lately about the term “end user,” which is how most special librarians and knowledge management professionals refer to those who benefit from their services, content and products. We believe there are fundamental differences between “end users,” “customers” and “clients”—which if recognized, accommodated and leveraged, can significantly impact the library’s role and perception within an organization.

KM encompasses such a broad range of meanings that everyone has a different definition. It’s rather like an elephant - one person holding onto the trunk says knowledge management is about enhanced document retrieval software; another holding the tail claims it’s a searchable repository for technical support calls. And there’s a lot to cover in between!

Did the taxi industry not see Uber coming? Did GPS manufacturers not perceive the threat from smart phones?

Having read Lucidea’s white paper (“Building the Resilient Library”) based on the panel discussion they sponsored at a recent Special Libraries Association conference, I noticed the emphasis on proactivity as a key characteristic of successful librarians, especially when change occurs in their organizations.

Wow! It’s what we want to hear when users start using any new piece of software. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen often. That’s all about to change because of two important trends: Experience Design or XD – the practice of focusing on the quality of the user experience, and XD Enabled Software - which empowers non-technical people to create the “wow factor” end users crave. McKinsey’s recent podcast, The Power of Design Thinking, has important observations for anyone implementing new systems.

In The Stormy Librarian, there are various information and knowledge management challenges. Many are common to special librarians, despite the sector, organization size or geography they support. Planning to overcome these challenges is an important part of the role. Luckily, help is on the way.