The challenges facing information professionals are immense–even their names sound imposing. Cutting through the clutter and getting your point across has never been more difficult. New tools and different approaches are needed.

Increasingly, those tools and approaches involve visual representations. From basic charts, tables and graphs to 3-D images and virtual dashboards, visual representations of information and data are becoming more popular and easier to create. Their very convenience, however, also makes them prone to misuse and misunderstanding.

The May-June issue of Information Outlook takes a look at some of the promises and pitfalls of visually presenting data. Read it now online.

The post Picture This: The May-June Information Outlook appeared first on Special Libraries Association.

Sound like a fairy tale? It gets better—you don’t have to change careers and become a park ranger or botanist or musician. You can be what you are now: a librarian.

Joy Banks is proof that this isn’t a dream. She’s the librarian and archivist at Bok Tower Gardens, a National Historic Landmark in central Florida, and she has, by her own admission, “one of the coolest jobs in the world.”

See if you agree—read more about Joy and her work in the March/April issue of Information Outlook.

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Some organizations are now paying greater attention to managing their data and encouraging the sharing, re-use and re-purposing of it. Information professionals increasingly are being called upon to lead these initiatives, especially those related to data curation, which is distinguished by its emphases on adding value to data throughout its life cycle and enhancing its usefulness.

The March/April issue of Information Outlook contains articles that address both of these emphases. Steve Goldstein of Alacra offers recommendations on how info pros can add value to data, while Daureen Nesdill of the University of Utah  discusses the benefits of using electronic lab notebooks to enhance research efforts.

The March/April issue of Information Outlook is available online to SLA members. Not a member? Click here.

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"I'm interested in redefining librarianship–specifically, what the average person has in mind when they think of what a librarian looks like," she says. "The stereotype that exists is a tough one to shatter."

Kim may just as well have been speaking of Information Outlook, SLA's magazine, which until this year was published in print (as was its predecessor, Special Libraries). The popular perception of magazines is of a printed publication on glossy paper that arrives in your mailbox or in-box and becomes dog-eared and wrinkled over time from being read, filed and re-read.

Thanks to a group of SLA members, Information Outlook is challenging that perception. The Information Outlook Advisory Council, formed in 2009, recommended that the printed magazine be replaced with a digital version. The January/February 2013 issue is the first digital edition, and it's available online for you to read and share.

Does it push boundaries and shatter stereotypes? In one sense, no–it looks just like the printed version it replaced. But it opens the door to an entirely new learning experience, one based on community interaction rather than personal reflection. An online platform will allow Information Outlook to become a focal point for discussion, engagement and value, opportunities that were unavailable in a print-based publishing environment.

Of course, as with any change, the termination of the printed version of Information Outlook and its replacement by a digital version has prompted some complaints. Chief among these are that the digital version is difficult or even impossible to read without using the "Zoom" feature, and that no alternative formats (such as a PDF) are available. Evidence thus far suggests that the small text size is a function of the Internet browser–Internet Explorer 7 and 8 are prime suspects–while the format restriction is under review and may be lifted.

The format change is part of a larger effort by SLA to transform itself and provide new opportunities for its members to learn, evolve and adapt–to "push the boundaries" of the information profession and develop new ways to serve it. The digital version of Information Outlook is just one step in that process, but an important one.

To read the interview with Kim Silk or any of the other articles in the January/February issue, go to SLA's home page, click on the link under the words "Read the digital Information Outlook," then click on the magazine cover on the landing page. It's accessible on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone, and for a limited time, it's available to non-members as well as members. So feel free to invite a colleague to help shatter a stereotype and push a boundary or two. In a digital environment, you can read, share and learn together.

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Two sessions will be held so information professionals across the globe can participate at a convenient time.

When:

2 choices on Tuesday, March 5^th
Session #1 at 18:30 GMT (1:30 pm Eastern / 10:30 am Pacific)
Session #2 at 00:00 GMT (7:00 pm Eastern / 4:00 pm Pacific)

Questions to answer:

1. What’s a successful job hunting method that helped you land you your current job?
2. What’s a profession-specific way you’ve prepared for an interview that worked for you?
3. What are key organizational traits you look for during an interview or online job search?
4. How did you empower yourself to move ahead at your job? or what skills did you learn which led to your career growth?

…or ask your own question/share your own idea related to this topic!

Hashtag:

Tag your answers with #SLAtalk and the number of the question you’re answering.  For those wondering, #SLAchat is now used by the fine folks at Sporting Life Arkansas.

Start thinking with some light reading ahead of time:

“Networking for Introverts,”
from the March/April ’12 issue of Information Outlook
“Future Now: Operation Agility,” from the Jan/Feb ’12 issue of Information Outlook
“Dressing Like We Mean It,”
from the March ’11 issue of Information Outlook

Not an SLA member? To access these articles, join SLA, or contact us to receive temporary access.

Following the session:

Check back into this SLA Blog post after the #SLAtalk, where we’ll post some of the best ideas that you all have tweeted. Notice your tweet being favorited from @SLAhq? Your handle and tweet will be posted here!

The post Job Hunting and Career Growth: an #SLAtalk! appeared first on Special Libraries Association.

If you've seen recent Samsung Galaxy 3 ads (40 seconds in), they portray NFC: move one smartphone within a few centimeters of another (or tap them if you want to really feel the exchange) to transfer data. The data could be a video, an e-mail, files, anything really (that fits within copyright law). The technology also works by pairing a 'tag' with a smartphone. This concept is more similar to accessing data via QR codes, but still easier because if your phone is compatible, it works with the tag, (almost) no questions asked.

The #SLAchat question: how might you use this technology to provide access to information? Here are 3 of Sophia's bright ideas to start:

"Idea 1: Use NFC sticker tags to make "smart" books. If you work in an organization where your colleagues yearn for easy access to book reviews while browsing the library collection, NFC can be your solution. With NFC tags, you can place a sticker tag on the book's cover and program it so that it links to a page of reviews to help your patrons decide if the book is right for them."

"Idea 2: Make "smart" posters. Create a smart poster that can pass along information to employees with a quick tap. All you need to do is affix a preprogrammed tag to an already existing poster and note that the poster is NFC-enabled. Cut down on your organization's silos by creating a poster that provides messages and updates from your organization's leaders and their departments. On their walk into work, employees can tap the tags that are of interest to them and get updates on important things going on within the organization."

"Idea 3: Use NFC in your information literacy training program. For example, if you provide information center orientations to new employees, create a tag with links to the resources you describe. Instead of giving these employees a list of resources and links on paper, give them an NFC tag that contains the resource information within the tag. This is not only an efficient means of sharing information, it also decreases the problem of having training sheets lost or thrown away."

The post #SLAchat: Why adopt Near Field Communication (NFC) at Work? appeared first on Special Libraries Association.

How can librarians and information professionals meet the expectations of today's users? The Nov/Dec issue of Information Outlook–the final printed version of the magazine–offers some advice. Authors Debra Kolah and Gretchen McNeely discuss user expectations within the context of user experience and usability, two concepts that frequently are applied to Websites but also relate to physical environments (especially with respect to lighting, seating, signage, and so forth). Their insights into how to conduct user experience research will help even info pros with limited expertise and budgets understand how clients engage with their information environment and identify ways to enhance that interaction.

In addition to the theme articles, the Nov/Dec issue also contains several other pieces worth reading:

• A look at the copyright practices of nonprofit organizations and the arguments for greater information sharing by such groups;
• An overview of near field communication (NFC) and answers to common questions about it;
• A first-person account of the roles of information professionals in helping venture capital firms make successful investment decisions; and
• An interview with SLA member Tim Siftar, who has worked in health care, financial and academic settings and held several different titles yet still lives in the same neighborhood into which he moved while attending graduate school and still rides the same trolley line he rode to his first job.

You'll also find columns by Stephen Abram, Lesley Ellen Harris and Jill Strand, plus the usual assortment of news items. Watch your mailbox for the printed version of the magazine, or begin reading the articles online by clicking here.

The post In Final Printed Issue, Information Outlook Looks at User Experience appeared first on Special Libraries Association.

Collaboration today is increasingly virtual. In this installment of #SLAchat, we ask you to share one collaborative Web 2.0 tool you recently started using.

Examples can come from your day job or from virtual collaboration with
your SLA colleagues. Maybe your division or chapter is using something others should know about.

Questions to keep in mind:
What goal is this tool helping you and others pursue? 
What are the tool's key merits?
What improvement can you recommend from the user experience perspective?
Have you trained others to use this tool?

By commenting on this post, you're turning the SLA Blog into a more collaborative environment.

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For the members of SLA's Information Outlook Advisory Council, the transition will mark an inflection point in a process that began in 2009, when the original members of the council started talking about how the magazine can best serve the needs and interests of information professionals. This discussion has produced consensus that, when Information Outlook goes digital, it should continue to look and "feel" as it does now. So, while the digital version will have many features the printed version lacks (such as mobile accessibility and searchable content), it will look like the same magazine you've been reading for the past several years.

The Advisory Council's discussion has also touched on how to build community around the magazine and encourage SLA members to share ideas and feedback. In keeping with this goal, SLA members are encouraged to review the 2013 editorial calendar themes and suggest article topics that support these themes. By starting a conversation about article topics, SLA members can ensure that Information Outlook better meets their needs and interests.

Following are the themes for 2013. Scroll down to the "Comment" section to share your thoughts about specific article topics that support these themes and meet your information needs. The Advisory Council will review the comments and then
flesh out the editorial calendar for 2013.

• Strategic Planning
• Data Curation
• Presenting Data
  Visually
• 5 Things Librarians
  Should Stop (and Start) Doing Now
• Facilitating
  Collaboration and Value Co-Creation
• Librarians as
  Content Strategists

If you're interested in writing a theme article or know of someone who would be well qualified to do so, please be sure to include that information in your comment. If you are not interested in writing an article but would be willing to review a draft
written by someone else, please indicate that as well.

The post Information Outlook: Going Digital, Going Native appeared first on Special Libraries Association.

One skill (actually, it's more like a set of skills) that is gaining favor among workplace experts is transliteracy–essentially, the ability to use and share information across a variety of media and tools. Stephen Abram, in his "Info Tech" column in the July/August issue of Information Outlook, notes that transliteracy lies at the heart of helping tomorrow's workers and workplaces be more productive.

" … Search, retrieval, and usage rarely suffice to create a competent and successful employee," he writes. "We need more discussion about, and study of, the unique challenges of increasing information literacy skills in the workplace … I take a broad view of information literacy and subscribe to the emerging discussion about 'transliteracy.' I believe that these skills will be essential in the 21st Century."

Devin Fidler, a research manager with the Institute for the Future, echoes Stephen's thoughts. "The next generation of workers will need to become fluent in media forms such as video and be able to 'read' and assess them in the same way that they currently read and assess a paper or presentation," he writes in his article, "Understanding Work Skills for the Decade Ahead."

The academic and business communities are doing their part to encourage transliteracy and other skills among current and future workers, and information vendors are getting into the game as well. In "Staying Relevant in the Digital Age," Delores Meglio notes that her employer, Knovel, sponsors a "University Challenge" to provide engineering students with hands-on experience using information resources.

For information professionals, the implications of a generation of transliterate workers entering Fortune 1000 companies, law firms, medical centers, government agencies, and other organizations are profound. They will need to re-think their work methods, training approaches, and service models. They will also need to keep abreast of changes in technology and content as well as developments in their industry and profession.

To learn more about the skills that will be increasingly critical to workers and info pros in the coming decade and beyond, read the July/August issue of Information Outlook.

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