Keynote Remarks
Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) Forum
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Good morning, and thank you for such a wonderful welcome.  I am especially thankful to you, Dr. Billington, for that warm introduction

I would like to recognize two SLA Past Presidents, Donna Scheeder and Jane Dysart as well as two current Board Members, Lynne McCay and Dav Robertson who is in North Carolina watching the cybercast of this conference. I’d also like to offer a special welcome to all SLA members in attendance as well as to one of my predecessors in this position, Roberta Shaeffer.

I would also like to thank Susan Tarr and the FLICC Executive Board for inviting me here today. It is indeed an honor to serve as your keynote speaker.

And before I get too far into my remarks, I want to spend a moment thanking all of you for the work you do for the American people. I don’t believe that happens often enough. As far as I’m concerned, this profession is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. It is important to remind ourselves that the terms “information” and “knowledge” are used 99 times in the Federalist Papers, clearly establishing the importance of your role in the ongoing success of our nation.

I relished my time as a Federal employee. Being the Director of OPM was an extraordinary experience and great privilege, so I am always pleased to have the opportunity to tie the work I did there with what I am doing today.

As an attorney by training, my education included a strong research component and I was taught from day one that the librarian was my friend and an important resource that could mean the decisive advantage in a negotiation or court case. I have maintained this philosophy throughout my career. At OPM, I never made a decision without getting input from the agency’s information professionals; and I have no doubt that I was a better director because of it.

So coming to SLA has been like finding my way home in many ways. I knew, valued and respected the profession; and I knew I would enjoy spending time with some of the world’s most well-read and well-informed professionals.

Before I tackle the topic of today’s forum, please let me give you a quick update of just some of the endeavors we have undertaken at SLA since my arrival.

Nine months into this experience, I’ve been a part of several initiatives to energize our focus and the member experience.

I’ve worked with our Board of Directors to craft new vision, mission, and core values statements. The statements are simple and to the point.  They cause us to focus on three critical areas of service to the profession:

Learning – real-time and asynchronous continuing education to advance the information professionals’ career in a way that is rational and tied to the SLA Competencies, which I will talk more about later.

Networking – providing genuine and meaningful opportunities that will expand the information professionals’ universe of peers, mentors, and partners for professional assistance and career advancement.

Advocacy – In Washington, we often think of PR and lobbying when someone mentions advocacy, but to me, advocacy is about being a champion for the profession and it is one of our top priorities. 

We’ve also renewed focus on growing the Association internationally and among many disciplines that have not traditionally been identified with SLA.  In particular, we are seeking expansion of our membership in Europe and Australia, and we aim to attract more information professionals practicing in such areas as knowledge management, competitive intelligence, and organizational content management.  These efforts will drive continued diversity in our membership, in keeping with the tradition that SLA has built over its 95 years of existence.

The result of these efforts is the next phase of the Association’s evolution, which is a recent decision to do business (DBA) as SLA. We believe this will give us the flexibility to reach out to information professionals in geographic areas where the term special library is not used. This new identity includes a new tag line – Connecting People and Information – which reflects the value of our profession and our Association.

All of this is intended to position us for exciting opportunities in the coming years, because we expect that our members and the profession we represent will need us more than ever to keep pace with the evolving needs and expectations of their organizations’ users and management.

Which brings us to today’s Forum.  Just seeing the word “competencies” in the title is enough to pique my interest.  After nearly a decade of work at OPM, I know the challenge of setting and articulating the right kind of criteria for hiring the right people, in the right jobs with the right skills at the right time.

When I joined SLA, I was quite pleased to see that the profession I now lead is serious about setting high standards for itself.  Many library-related associations develop competencies to promote professional growth, but I’m particularly proud of SLA’s revised Competencies for Information Professionals in the 21^st Century.  They were produced by leaders in our profession to reflect the knowledge, skills and abilities that are required for success in today’s workplace. 

We are seeking many ways to leverage these competencies for the benefit of information professionals worldwide.  I know that FLICC actually used the SLA competencies as criteria for selecting the award winners we recognized earlier.  And at SLA, we are exploring the development of a competencies-based certification program.  By making competencies a priority at a strategic level, we hope to help employers see the value of competency-based hiring practices.

So where does Federal government stand with regard to competencies in general – and e-competencies in particular – for the library and information management profession?  Well, before we answer that question, I’d like to share some research I collected on the current state of librarians and information professionals in the U.S. government.

These are actually more than interesting statistics. There are some threads behind this data that point to some larger conclusions:

I wanted to see if Federal agencies were keeping up with the rest of the profession when it came to expecting their professional librarians to possess e-competencies.  So, I checked USAJOBS—OPM’s website that lists Federal job opportunities at www.usajobs.opm.gov (note:  as an FYI, administration of this web site has been outsourced to Monster.com.)

When I checked, over 40 vacancies for Librarians (GS-1410) were posted.  Of those vacancy announcements that listed competencies or as we affectionately called them at OPM, KSAs – which stands for “knowledge, skills, and abilities”, the overwhelming majority listed at least one e-competency.  The e-competencies listed ranged from technical knowledge of electronic databases and state of the art applications to demonstrated skill in using World Wide Web technology for the delivery of digital services to end users.

So at least we know that hiring standards for employees classified as librarians are addressing e-competencies to some degree.

As most of you are likely aware, the Library of Congress and FLICC had been urging OPM for a number of years to tighten qualification standards to better “professionalize” the role of information professionals in government agencies.  OPM staff met with you on several occasions to discuss your concern that agencies were not able to hire the right people for their jobs.

OPM staff found a real disconnect between an agency’s HR office and its line managers and hiring officials. OPM’s evidence showed that they were not making use of all available HR flexibilities in their hiring actions.  For example, they were not using subject matter experts on the rating panel or putting “selective factors” in vacancy announcements.  The result was that, in January 2001; OPM changed the qualification standard for Librarian, GS-1410 positions.  They did not make it competency based, as I had advocated throughout my OPM tenure, but they made a very slight – but significant -- change in how candidates could qualify for GS-7 level positions.  With this action, they eliminated the option of qualifying based on work experience alone.

The reality for us is that e-competencies have become somewhat ubiquitous in the information profession. Knowledge and information management in today’s working world simply does not exist without technology and electronic delivery systems and the ability to understand, use and leverage those tools. 

Combine the ever-present awareness of e-competencies in the profession with the very real need for them in the world of e-government, and we’ve come to grips with a challenge that is the perfect microcosm for the difficulties facing our profession:  an awareness gap between the pressing need for information and knowledge management capabilities and the actual hiring of professionals trained to do just that!

Technology – with all the strategic and financial implications it presents to agency management – intersects with knowledge management, content and records management, digital reference and archiving, and brings the information profession to its own personal and professional challenge:  the challenge of relevance.

Our challenge is to demonstrate the relevance of information professionals in the integration of content with technology; in the flow of data and knowledge through an organization, and on to its customers or constituents; and in the strategic priorities of government agencies, corporations, associations, and universities. 

General Eric Shinseki, former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, once said, “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”

For those information professionals who fail to see the changes in needs and requirements for access, delivery, and retention of information and knowledge within their agencies -- and more importantly, those who fail to act on such changes – irrelevance is going to become a reality, if it hasn’t already. 

Information professionals who recognize the importance of this evolution and embrace it must lead the way by anticipating competencies, particularly e-competencies, that will meet future needs and requirements.

Failure to acknowledge the pattern of changes in strategy, processes, technology, and management philosophy will ultimately lead to questions of relevance for employees in any profession, not just ours.  It just so happens that the information profession sits squarely at the heart of one of the hottest of the hot-button issues facing government and business today:  outsourcing.  It is NOT something that will likely go away, so the question becomes “HOW DO WE COPE WITH IT?”

For the information profession, the answer lies in the proactive integration of our competencies into the strategies and processes of our organizations.  Not simply gaining recognition of them.  We want and need INVESTMENT in them.  This can be done by:

First, gaining management recognition of your relevance. You have to demonstrate on a daily basis that information professionals can transform the value of not only information, but also the technology that delivers it. THIS is where librarians and information professionals can break through.

Secondly, educating human resource managers on the WHY and the HOW that makes hiring competent information professionals so important – THIS is where we can alter the trends that harm the future of our profession.

Third, acquiring skills that keep up with developments in the profession, such as e-competencies.  THIS is how we become strategically indispensable to our employers.

So, how can you demonstrate your relevance back at your agency?  I submit that attention to four key areas can have a positive impact on the relevance of information professionals, particularly in government:

First, through paying attention to career development.

FLICC has always been a leader in training opportunities for Federal librarians and information professionals, as has SLA. We must now focus on situational, case study, and scenario-based learning to prepare today’s government librarian to tackle new challenges.

SLA is taking a new direction in its professional development program by looking into the feasibility of a certification program that will give participants an avenue for official recognition of their knowledge, skills, and abilities.

In addition, virtual and asynchronous learning are high priorities for SLA in 2004 and beyond.  With appropriate guidance from leaders like FLICC, our programming will help Federal librarians learn at their desktop at minimal expense.

Step two in gaining relevance at your workplace is to embrace innovation. Innovation is best characterized as a systemic discipline for consistently acting on ideas to create new value.  By investing in this philosophy, you can redefine the service you provide to your agency.

A corporate CEO was once quoted as saying, “I don’t intend to be known as the ‘King of the Tinkerers.’”  He was right. Don’t mistake incrementalism for innovation; they are diametrically opposed to one another.  Be bold.  Take quantum leaps.

My third piece of advice is to collaborate with IT. The Bush Administration, as did the Clinton Administration, has made a commitment to empower citizens through e-government. Today, technology is critical to any organization; but with e-government, it’s indispensable.

Information professionals who forge partnerships with IT are paving the way for a stronger personal future AND delivering on the promise of true e-government.

And last but not least, benchmark your personal competencies and your information center. When you do you will be reminded that there are innovators in this profession.  It will also keep you focused on a higher standard of service.  Our award winners this morning are examples of excellence in action, and their successes are models for transforming the kinds of service information professionals can deliver to users, management, and citizens.

I would like to note that both Federal Libraries of the Year employ SLA members, and the Federal Librarian of the Year is also an SLA member.  That leaves Sissy Riley, the Federal Library Technician of the Year.  I’m pleased to offer her a complimentary membership in SLA for one year, just to be able to claim a clean sweep.

As I look ahead, my hope is that SLA and Federal librarians can work together to achieve our common goals.  We will be more effective advocates for the Federal library and information center if we can join forces.

Here are some ideas for collaboration:

A joint effort to integrate SLA’s competencies into the OPM standards.  Since action has only been taken on qualification standards, this would seem to be an appropriate next step.

In the professional development arena, SLA has already partnered with FLICC on individual projects to train and educate Federal information professionals.  I would like to see the relationship become more active and possibly more formalized.

SLA is also considering the notion of creating a division devoted to government librarians.  We currently offer a division for military librarians and a government information section within our Information Technology Division.  But information professionals employed by the government have common needs and valuable experiences to share through networking, so this possibility is on the minds of many SLA leaders.

I’ll wrap things up by reiterating that there’s a lot for us to do both as individuals and as a profession.  I am in this job because I am excited about the possibilities, and I’m willing to roll up my sleeves and join the cause.  SLA is committed to meeting the challenges of the profession in all sectors of the economy, and I look forward to supporting you as we continue to make the case for the profession and our Association within the Federal government.

Thank you for your time this morning, and I look forward to any questions you may have.