*Note: The following is from our archived collection of older documents, and may not reflect the most current information.
Reflections on a Year of Change
This month's issue marks the end of 2000, and the last opportunity I have to reflect with you on the end of a calendar year. In seven months, I will be ending my career as executive director of the Special Libraries Association, and I sincerely hope you will join me in celebrating our past together while eagerly awaiting the future.
The past year has proven to be one of the most interesting times in recent memory for me. Monumental change is taking place all around us in the information profession and throughout the association. As I stated in the June issue of Information Outlook, such change is "the lifeblood of progress. . . " and I hope that we can all look back on our experiences during 2000 and realize what great benefits we have and will continue to bring to our own lives and to the profession.
In the past year, we've experienced growth in the Virtual Association, which has culminated with the rollout of Virtual SLA, the revised Internet community for information professionals. Still found at www.sla.org, Virtual SLA will be evolving over time to continually surprise and impress you and those who should join you as members of the association. Additionally, we've added SLA Career Services Online (www.slajobcontrolcenter.com), a truly unique service that's designed to focus on opportunities that suit your career. With online conference planning already developed, our next step is to develop online conference registration.
Information Outlook received a facelift, thanks to some great member/staff collaboration. And SLA also released several excellent publications to the public, including the Annual Salary Survey, Towards Electronic Journals, and Valuating Information Intangibles. As we proceed into the new century, SLA is exploring the most appropriate way to deliver e-books to you.
The past year also brought us the Strategic Learning and Development Center, which was created to help you become indispensible through learning. We've already seen a dramatic change in the focus on content and presentation that dramatically enhance your experiences with SLA. Look for more exciting opportunities in 2001.
Finally, and most important to the growth of the Special Libraries Association, we hosted the Global 2000 Conference in Brighton, United Kingdom. The discussions held, the friendships developed, and the interaction among information professionals from 56 nations reinforced the notion that SLA must grow into new geographic regions in order to ensure its survival. I sincerely hope that the next global conference advances the Association even further towards that goal.
The past year would not have been successful without the generous support of the information industry. The companies that exhibit at our conferences, sponsor our events and programming, and "show up" to support us are incredibly valuable in our professional ecosystem.
So, as 2000 ends and we begin yet another year, let's remember the great things we've accomplished and the challenges we've revealed. Let's also take the lessons we've learned from these experiences and push even farther and deeper into the unknown, so that our association will continue to grow and evolve.
David R. Bender, Ph.D
Executive Director
RSS
Feedback form
