President’s Letter
by Hope Tillman, tillman@babson.edu

This year is off to a rousing start. We have celebrated the geographic boundaries of our chapter by having excellent and provocative programs in the north (Portland, Maine); in the west (Mt. Holyoke, MA); in the south (Woods Hole), and in Boston (J. F. K. Library and Simmons College). We also hosted several SLA Virtual Seminars at Babson College. And for those who chose not to attend programs in person, we hosted a book discussion on our Community of Practice web site, and now we are in the midst of an online course with guru Debra Wallace helping us to use the Community of Practice effectively. There are many more programs in the works, thanks to Dee Magnoni and all the folks on the Program Committee. You can see the fun we all had at each of the fall programs by viewing photos on the Programs and Events page of the chapter web site (http://www.sla.org/chapter/cbos/events.htm#photos).

I want to call attention to the challenge raised by SLA Executive Director, Janice LaChance, in her presentation at Simmons College in October. Both she and the Dean of the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Michele Cloonan, provided provocative presentations on the future of our profession and how education for information professionals is evolving. You can read both of their presentations in full later in this bulletin.

Janice points out 7 questions which author and consultant Tom Peters suggests we should ask ourselves regularly in order to gauge our growth over time. As Janice says, “These questions are an excellent measure for any information professional’s commitment to becoming mission-critical…. The challenge for information professionals today is to: a) continually seek new ideas and practices that will change your impact on your organization; and b) regularly challenge the way things are done today, to ensure that human nature does not limit your growth.”

Here are Tom Peter’s seven questions:

1  I am known for [two to three things].

2  Next year at this time I'll be known for [one more thing].

3  My current project is challenging me in the following [two ways].

4  New things I've learned in the last 90 days include [two items].

5  My "public relations program" consists of [one item].

6  Important additions to my network in the last 90 days include [one to two names].

7  My resume is discernibly different from last year at this time [in one or two ways].

Before you get around to making your New Year’s Resolutions, take this challenge and answer these questions for yourself.  Working with any of these questions can only enhance our value to our organizations and help us grow in our careers.

At the last Boston Chapter Board meeting a request for taping of our programs was discussed. The idea sounded interesting, but there is no one on the Board currently with expertise in this area. Please let me know if you believe we should consider recording our programs and if you would be interested in exploring needed features and what it might cost in order to evaluate such a service.   

We are here to enhance your professional growth through programs and other networking opportunities. Please send me your ideas and thoughts on what we should be doing. Additional volunteers are always welcome as well!

Hope

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