*Note: The following is from our archived collection of older documents, and may not reflect the most current information.
David R. Bender, Ph.D.
March 12, 2001
Good evening, and thank you, Jim, for your introduction. Well, here I am, back home in Ohio. I am reminded of a song by the Pretenders ("My City Was Gone"). Of course, that song painted a very bleak picture of Ohio. But, from my perspective, things don't look bleak at all, - and never have. Quite the opposite to me, perhaps being home makes one more optimistic, for Ohio is where I was born, reared and educated, and where I first began my teaching and library career. One of my first chapter visits was with the Central Ohio Chapter and the Cincinnati Chapter soon followed, so it is truly fitting that one of my last visits as executive director is with all of you.
As Jim mentioned, my tenure with SLA will come to an end this summer. It was a decision that required a lot of careful thought and planning. After all, when you've worked for twenty-two years to lead an organization through times of unprecedented growth, thoughts of retirement can be difficult. When I notified the Board of Directors of my decision, right after the Annual Conference in Philadelphia last year, I knew it was the right time for me to move on. It was time for us to step into a new landscape for SLA had reached a new apex in its growth and development. I, also, realized that the beginning of a new century was an appropriate time to initiate new chapters in our lives - and by "ours" I mean my own life and that of the Association. Being Executive Director of the Special Libraries Association has been the best job in the world! I've worked with members and staff to make SLA a vibrant, ever-changing and ever-growing professional association. I'm sincerely thankful for the opportunity you all have given me these for twenty-two years. It's been a thrill and a joy. The people I've met, befriended, and served have provided me with a lifetime of memories, which I'll never forget. You and the rest of the SLA membership worldwide are well educated, knowledgeable, and motivated, and I am proud to say that I have served with you over these many years. And I can't say enough about the staff at SLA Headquarters. They have worked so hard for so long to make my job pleasurable and rewarding. So you see, satisfaction at the end of a career is rarely about fame or fortune, but most often it is about the people who share your values and goals. Thank you for the many memories you have given. I've learned that we should not measure life by the breath we take; instead, we should measure life by its breathtaking moments that are so rare.
I've learned so many things in my time with SLA - about you, my professional colleagues; about the world and how it perceives the work we do; but most importantly, about myself. I have reached a state of harmony; a feeling that everything has a place or is in its place. Through all the successes and failures, I've realized that what makes life worth living is not where we're going, but how we get there. The journey is always more interesting than the destination.
Our profession has changed on my watch - for the better, in many ways. And yet, there are some ways in which it has desperately needed change for decades, but we are too divided or too focused on other matters or unwilling to see the need for such change. John Seely Brown wrote, "We have become so focused on where we think we ought to be… that we fail to see where we need to be going and what will help us get there." And that is where I'd like to spend the rest of my time with you tonight.
It used to be that most in our profession toiled in relative anonymity, happy to serve others and get very little credit. Then, the information age bloomed, and our profession - which sits at the epicenter of all the changes resulting from this blossoming - has fractured, for a number of reasons: 1) the specter of disintermediation, which has now "boomeranged" as information overload hits the workforce; 2) the changes in technology that have reduced the need for full-scale physical collections; 3) the cross-training of information professionals into diverse areas of expertise; 4) the explosion of resources available at our fingertips; 5) the incorrect perception that technologists understand information management; 6) the habit of corporations and governments to outsource or eliminate their information resource management staff; 7) the rapid retirement of the baby-boom generation is occurring while we see a burst of Generation Xers and Generation Nexters, many of whom know more about technology at 25 than we do after 30 years of work! These factors have sent us scurrying in many directions seeking answers to the changes and uncertainties of our time. I have some advice for you: Don't waste your time trying to find answers. Change and uncertainty are here to stay, and the sooner we come to rely on them, the more prepared we will be for them. The New Economy - via electronic commerce and digital intellectual property - is having a huge impact on the manner in which each of us works on a daily basis. As virtual assistants we must be quick, intuitive, proactive, focused and confident.
Our profession and the information industry - a one hundred forty six billion dollar business - is often perceived as largely invisible, as the media continues to focus on technology rather than content. One company - which will remain nameless - learned this a few weeks ago in the form of a response to a trademark application they're pursuing. In the application process, the company was required to identify the industry they serve, which they call the "information content industry." The trademark examiner informed company officials that there is no such thing! Since the content industry could cover almost any subject matter, the trademark office, rightly or wrongly, won't grant a trademark for something that covers all potential industry categories. The examiner just couldn't grasp the concept of an information market within various market categories. Information is like oxygen - it's all around us, so people don't think about the many ways it's generated and consumed (or how important it is). That basic level of awareness about information is one of the biggest challenges our profession faces. Maybe now that we have a librarian for a First Lady, the Patent and Trademark Office will change its tune - but I doubt it.
The February 2001 issue of Knowledge Management includes a column by Rebecca Lloyd, in which she reveals the findings of a study by Outsell about return on investment in corporate knowledge initiatives. Quote: "The study specifically considered the benefits to these companies of... the quote-unquote "corporate information center." "Such a center accumulates reports, best practices, abstracts and other knowledge assets from both internal and external sources, which usually are made available to staff and partners through an intranet...as well as a conventional library of documents." My response to this is "DUH…for where has she been." Either the author is very young, or she just landed on the planet! My point is this: we all know our value, but there's a whole universe out there that often doesn't have a clue or needs constant reminders. I am surprised that she didn't tell us that the Internet has changed our way of doing business. Or perhaps she has seen the Internet for what it is: an enabling technology-a powerful set of tools
Folks, this is what we're dealing with out there. I predicted several years ago that the wave of technological development - and the corresponding love affair with the people who are technology experts - would subside, and WE would be left to pick up the pieces. Well, my friends, that time is NOW! If you are in a position to establish partnerships - be it with management, technology staff, consultants, whomever will help your boat rise with the tide - take action to make them happen immediately. In the case of technologists, who once kept senior executives starry-eyed about the prospects for increased revenues, the luster has now worn off their stars. They now need you as much as you need them. Take time to show them why a partnership can help THEM.
Now, I'd like to take a few minutes to talk about the future of SLA. Obviously, of most immediate importance is the search for a new executive director. You'll be happy to know that a search committee of your peers has narrowed the field of candidates down to two people. Each of the candidates will be visiting SLA headquarters at the end of this month to meet with your Board of Directors and the Association's staff. It is quite possible that the next SLA executive director will be announced shortly after those meetings.
But the selection of a chief staff officer isn't the only tangible matter facing the Association currently. Your President, Donna Scheeder, has been vigorously delivering the message that "Change is our Tradition" since her inauguration last June. She believes - and I wholeheartedly agree - that the time has come to reassess who we want to be in the 21st Century. In order to guarantee our future, we must focus on change and renewal in the profession. This is nothing new to SLA. It has been a part of our history dating back to John Cotton Dana, our leading founder. Be willing to embrace risks by trusting your instincts. Renew and rekindle your sense of mission. In my experience, the one of the keys to this type of action is openness. Stay open to new ideas, new people, new technology, and new methods. The greatest asset we have in today's knowledge economy is our wealth of expertise. I refer you to an article in the Harvard Business Review---p 108, March 2001 on T-shaped management - a natural fit between it and our profession.
There are five factors involved in SLA's future:
Our membership will continue to shrink if we are not proactive in making our Association attractive to new information professionals.
Global strategies for member recruitment and service delivery are critical.
Our environment is changing and, therefore, demand for the services provided by SLA is changing.
SLA is over-managed and over-regulated. We must be more nimble and quick - with fewer rules - in order to rapidly respond to changing needs.
Volunteer burnout due to task overload is straining our abilities. We must get more out of our Virtual Association investments.
We are investigating all five of these factors through Board-enacted task forces on membership definition; branding of the association; conferences; partnerships; and simplification. Stay tuned for more on the results of these efforts. More important is that all SLA members must remember that the best way to predict the future is to invent it!
Ruth Bernhard - Photographer and graphic designer - has eight factors by which she lives:
1. Never get used to anything
2. Hold on to the child in you
3. Keep your curiosity alive
4. Trust your intuition
5. Delight in simple things
6. Say yes to life with a passion
7. Fall madly in love with the world
8. Remember: Today is the Day
In closing, I'd just like to remind you that there are no limits to what you can do. Just twenty-two years ago, I was moving onward and upward in a career focused on educational librarianship. Then suddenly, I'm involved in growing an organization with my peers. Before I know it, that organization had grown into a multi-million dollar educational foundation focused on the principle of putting knowledge to work. People used to say such things only happen in America. Now, that geocentric phrase is no longer valid. Such things begin only in your mind, if you are willing to let them happen. Farewell, and thank you for coming tonight and providing me another breathtaking moment of sharing this time together.
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