SI 740: Management of Special Libraries and Info Centers

Instructor: Maurita Peterson Holland (mholland@umich.edu)

301B West Hall, 764-2648

Office Hours: Wednesday, 11-12 and by appointment

Management of special libraries and information centers requires a knowledge of basic management practice, specific subject expertise and/or interest (knowing the "business of the business" of the organization) and an ability to plan, implement and deliver appropriate, cost-effective service which meets the particular needs of the organization. Increasingly such service relies on electronic capture, access and delivery of information. Many special librarians now find themselves 1) directing hybrid physical and virtual libraries, 2) absorbed in massive change, empowerment, and innovation movements, 3) taking on corporate-wide project management, and 4) thinking more broadly about the value of information and about corporate knowledge management. This is a course about those topics, taught through reading, through discussion, and through practitioner/guest lecturers. It is designed to provide students with a broad vision of the direction of special library information management and with a specific knowledge of special libraries' practical problems and their solution.

This course will host a number of guest experts broadly chosen from the field of special librarianship. Invited guests include: Art Ponder and Jennifer Rundels, Chrysler Corporation; Lois Remeikis, Booz, Allen; Maureen Moore, World Bank; Lou Rosenfeld, Argus Associates; Anne Zimmerman, Great Lakes Science Center; Donald King and Jose-Marie Griffiths, King Associates; Noreen Steele, United Technologies; Kay Erdman, UM School of Business. Each guest will be asked the following:

What are the most pressing information technology problems in your work environment and how do you think they will be resolved?

How should a special librarian be educated?

Additionally, each guest will be asked to address a question related to the readings and their expertise.

NOTE: all work in this course will be individual; there will be no group assignments.

Course Meeting

Sept. 4 Introduction to the Course; Creating the "Generic" Special Library/Information Service

Sept. 11 More on the Basics

Question: How do you handle the mix of 'tradition' with 'new'?

Guest: Anne Zimmerman, Great Lakes Science Center

Read:

The best of OPL II: Job Description, p. 4 and p. 155 Mission, p. 11 Downsizing, p. 105 Time Management, p. 159-187 Practical Matters (scan section), p. 201-280; Mcguire: Chapter 3

Sept. 18 Knowledge Management

"Out of the Box: Knowledge Management", video, SLA, Oct. 1996

Sept. 25 Knowledge Management and Change 

Question: Large corporations are creating complex information support systems. Is information service an art or a science??

Read: Seeing differently (Intro: Rethinking innovation in a changing world, p. ix-xxviii, When is virtual virtuous? organizing for innovation, p. 105-, Tough minded ways to get innovative, p. 179-, Managing innovation in the information age, p. 193-, Research that reinvents the corporation, p. 203-)

Oct. 2 and Oct. 9 Change

Guest (Oct. 2): Noreen Steele, United Technologies

Question: How do mid-career information professionals deal with the fast pace of change?

Read: Pritchett; Williams

Oct. 9: In-class reports

Oct. 16 Project Management

Guest: Lou Rosenfeld, Argus Associates

Question: What's so special about project management? Can't anyone do it?

Read: Lientz, Section I, p. 3-43

In-class reports

Oct. 23 Empowerment

Guests: Maureen Moore, World Bank with other staff from the Bank

Question: How does the information service unit oversee the information needs of an organization which is widely diverse and broadly distributed? Can the 'learning organization' provide its own service?

Read: Donnellon, Chapters 1,2,3,6,7,8; Scholtes, Chapters 1-2; Malone

Oct. 30 Knowledge Management

Guest: Lois Remeikis, Booz, Allen

Question: Is KM just another set of buzz words or does it represent the evolution of the library/information profession?

Read: Remeikis and Koska; Chakravarthy; Mcguire: Chapter 6

Nov. 6 Management Briefing

Guest: Kay Erdman, UM School of Business

Question: What does the information professional need to know in order to makes successful presentations to management?

Read: First Person (The hard work of being a soft manager, p. 3-15; How I learned to let my workers lead, p. 83-104; Tales from a nonconformist company, p. 169-188); additional TBD

Three in-class reports

Nov. 13 Innovation

Guests: Art Ponder and Jennifer Rundels, Chrysler Corporation

Question: Where to good ideas comes from? Under what conditions should stable organizations take risks? Should creative and innovative people be managers?

Mcguire: Chapters 1-2, 4; Leonard-Barton, Intro, Parts I and II, p. xi-212

Nov. 20 Valuing Information

Guest: Jose-Marie Griffiths, UM, and Donald L. King, King Associates

Question: What is the value of information in this age of serve-yourself/publish yourself Internet access? What are the best techniques for assessing value?

Read: Managing Information for the competitive edge: Assessing the value, p. 371-433

Nov. 27 No class/Thanksgiving

Dec. 4 and Dec. 11 Idea Books and Management Briefings

Final exam: there will be no final exam, however class will meet on Dec. 11.

ASSIGNMENTS

I. Follow-up with one of the cases in Expanding technologies, expanding careers (30%)

After reading Expanding technologies, expanding careers, twenty-one stories from information professionals who are in special careers, contact one of these people. (Sign up sheet in class on Sept. 25.) Based on the subject's availability and preference, conduct a telephone interview or extensive e-mail exchange based on themes from this class and on your own personal interest in the type of career your subject has built.

Prepare a 5 minute summary of the key points for presentation to class (sign up in class for time slot between Oct. 2 and Nov. 20--2 per class meeting) 

II. Class Participation: 10%

At each class meeting, turn in a readings "white paper", a brief key or critical point you expect to present in class. This should be about one page/300 words. Late papers not accepted; three missing papers constitutes loss of this 10% of grade.

III. Ideabook: 40%

Working professionals develop extensive collections of articles, Websites, personal contacts, publisher/vendor information and the like. In this part of the course assignment, you'll be simulating that activity by developing an ideabook. Contents will include:

at least one additional reading/week on course topics plus key or critical point from EACH of the assigned readings

a section on topic of interest such as: outsourcing, competitive intelligence, information audit, balancing old and new functions, moving to virtual collection and service or RFP for consultant or systems. This work will also become the topic of the management briefing which will be developed for presentation by the end of the term.

Each section should include at least 10 readings from a variety of sources, should identify where the activity on your chosen topic is being carried out, and how you'd proceed to explore the topic further through personal contact/contact with practicing professional. If appropriate, locate vendor product information and suggest meetings or conferences which may be applicable. In pursuing information, please use print, telephone, Internet, Web, Dialog and other information sources as appropriate. Document your search strategy.

Good ideas should be shared! These ideabooks will be due on the last day of class. Some class time, or an arranged time during the study/examine time, will be devoted to examing the books of others in the class.

IV. Management Briefing: Prepare as briefing for upper management (20%)

What: prepare a management briefing (a short, general oral, presentation to management which conveys information that management wants to know) based on your idea book; talks will be preceded by viewing of the idea books. Your oral presentation will be videotaped and returned to you immediately upon completion; please supply Hi-8 tape.

How: Based on your topic, define the organization in which you are giving the briefing (ÒResearch non-profit of 800 employees; I head the Information Services and Systems Division. IÕve been asked to address my boss, the V-P for Corporate Research Marketing and his advisory group on the topic of implementing desktop retrieval of scientific information.Ó)

Where: 405 West Hall

When: Dec. 4 and Dec. 11, 1-3 p.m.

Who:

Dec. 4:

Desktop retrieval of information: J. Scheurer

New technologies info transfer amongst scientists: C. Carrara

Change management: A. Neifert

Special librarian networks: K. Bell

Dec. 11:

Corporate intelligence: H. Look

Downsizing in corporate libraries: C. Berg

Virtual collections: J. Duncan

Evidence-based medicine: S. Randon

Grading: A = 5C

Clarity of Content: action agenda, easily followed, well-delivered

Cohesive: well-organized, professionally presented

Convincing: fit the scenario youÕve describe. For example, it may convey that youÕve bought in; so should management; need is obvious and in the best interest of the organization, very likely paced by competition or by customer/user needs

Collaborative: show how this project/need/change is supported by others in the organization or how it fits with the overall direction of the corporation/organization

Concise: fits the allotted time; handles questions well

Each student will provide a feedback to the class and receive written feedback on their presentation. These will be private and anonymous, turned in directly to the presenter. They will not be used in grading nor contain a grade. All grading will be done by the professor.

READINGS

The best of OPL II: selected readings from The One-Person Library, 1989-1994, ed. by Andrew Berner and Guy St. Clair. Washington, DC: SLA, 1996

Chakravarthy, Bala. "A new strategy framework for coping with turbulence" Sloan Management Review, Winter 1997.

Competencies for special librarians in the 21st century (http://www.sla.org/professional/competency.html). Submitted by Joanne Marshall, chair; Bill Fisher; Lynda Moulton; and Roberta Piccoli. Special Libraries Association, 1996.

Donnellon, Anne. Team talk: the power of language in team dynamics. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.

Expanding technologies--expanding careers: librarianship in transition. Ed by Ellis Mount. Washington, D.C.: SLA, 1997.

First person: tales of management courage and tenacity, ed. by Thomas Teal. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.  

Leonard-Barton, Dorothy. Wellsprings of knowledge: building and sustaining the sources of innovation. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996.

Lientz, Bennet P. and Kathryn P. Rea. Project management for the 21st century. New York: Academic Press, 1995

Maguire, Carmel. Information services for innovative organizations. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1994 

Malone, Thomas. "Is empowerment just a fad? control, decision making and IT. Sloan Management Review, Winter 1997.

Managing information for the competitive edge, ed.by Ethel Auster and Chun Wei Choo. New York: Neal Schuman, 1996

Micklethwait, John and Adrain Wooldridge. "Peter Drucker: the guru's guru The McKinsey Quarterly, 1996 (3), p. 144-159 

Penniman, W. David. "Strategic positioning of information services in a competitive environment" Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science, April/May 1997, p. 11-14.

Pritchett, Price and Ron Pound. The employee handbook for organizational change. Dallas, TX: Pritchett & Associates, 1990.

"Putting people values to work: current research. The McKinsey Quarterly, 1996 (3), p. 163-167

Reinventing Information Services: linking information services to business strategies (a section of several articles) Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science, April/May 1996, p. 8-26

Remeikis, L. A. and E. Koska. "Organizing for knowledge: developing a knowledge management system", Proceedings of the 17th National Online Meeting, May 14-16, 1996, p.315-18

Scholtes, Peter R. The team handbook: how to use teams to improve quality. Madison, WI: Joiner, 1988.

Seeing differently: insights on innovation, ed. by John Seely Brown. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1997.

Stear, Edward B. and Joel Wecksell. "Information resource center management (IRCM). Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science, April/May 1997, p. 15-17.

Williams, Monci J. "Agility in learning: an essential for evolving organizations--and people. Management Update, 2(5), May 1997, p. 4-6.

mph 11/13/97