SLA members have long asked for help in communicating their value to their organizations--a need that is particularly acute in the current economic environment.
In January 2006, the Board of Directors voted to approve the funding for this necessary alignment research and the association embarked on a journey to attempt to understand the changing environment and how it affects our profession.
After completing an exhaustive RFP process to find the right team, SLA began a far-reaching and thorough study of the information profession, examining the roles of and attitudes towards librarians and info pros, and how their association can help them build a better future.
Working with a team of respected communications and research professionals led by the international consulting firm Fleishman-Hillard, supported by futurist Andy Hines of Social Technologies and the information analytics firm, Outsell Inc., the project, which relied heavily on primary and secondary research, was designed to help librarians and info pros align their knowledge, experience, and skills with the evolving expectations of the organizations of tomorrow, while ensuring that SLA would continue to provide members with the right tools and valuable services they must have to be successful.
Employing a four-step methodology, Fleishman-Hillard--which has extensive experience advising organizations such as AARP, the Association of Fundraising Executives and the U.S. Library of Congress on their branding, positioning, and marketing communications--worked to identify and understand SLA's core purpose, mission and value.
June 2007Fleishman-Hillard attended the SLA 2007 Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, and met with various elected leaders and members to begin gathering information.
Primary and secondary research conducted, gathered, and compiled.
Fleishman-Hillard held a meeting with Association Office Operations Committee. This was an important opportunity to present the elected leadership with an overview of the alignment process, the preliminary findings and next steps and obtain qualitative feedback through one-on-one interviews and focus groups.
Keynote speaker Andy Hines of Social Technologies discussed future trends in the profession with leaders and members at the SLA Leadership Summit in Louisville, Kentucky. Fleishman-Hillard presented the basis for the alignment project to the volunteer leadership and members. (Principles and Processes of Alignment) Member roundtable discussions on the preliminary research findings were held and feedback was gathered. Fleishman-Hillard continued to meet with various leaders and members to conduct interviews and build profiles of the information professional of the future.
During the SLA Board Retreat in Alexandria, Virginia, Fleishman-Hillard and Outsell presented Outsell's initial findings and conducted strategy sessions with the Board, providing another opportunity for our partners to interact with the Board about the research findings.
Fleishman-Hillard briefed the SLA Association Office Operations Committee on the results of the Fleishman-Hillard and Outsell strategy sessions.
Focus groups of information professionals were conducted in Washington, D.C., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Seattle and Los Angeles to explore reactions to language relating to the information profession.
The SLA Annual Conference in Seattle was another key milestone and opportunity to present the research findings to leadership and members and obtain feedback on the language presented to the membership.
At the June 2008 Annual Conference Membership Meeting, Fleishman-Hillard and Outsell gave the presentation, SLA Alignment Survey and Language Exploration.
Fleishman-Hillard continued to meet with various leaders and members to conduct interviews and build profiles of the information professional of the future.
An alignment Web page was created on the SLA Web site to house all presentations, articles, and research for members' information.
In August, Fleishman-Hillard surveyed six professional groups across four countries (Australia, Canada, U.K, and U.S). The groups included C-level executives and professionals in HR, IT, Marketing and Strategic Planning as well as information professionals and students from the University of North Carolina and graduate students in the Librarianship Program in the College of Education at The California State University, Long Beach.
Fleishman-Hillard engaged Luntz Maslansky to conduct in-person Instant Response Dial Session focus groups with information professionals and executives in Washington, D.C. and Toronto, Canada, to gauge reactions to key messaging and language.
Fleishman-Hillard presented the results of dial-testing focus groups during the SLA Association Office Operations Committee meeting in Alexandria, Virginia.
President Gloria Zamora and CEO Janice Lachance presented the research findings at the Leadership Summit in Savannah, Georgia, Positioning SLA for the Future: Alignment Initiative Results and Recommendations. Leaders were asked to provide feedback during round-table discussions and to go back to their units and share alignment research and information with members.
President Gloria Zamora and CEO Janice Lachance presented an update on alignment at the Leadership Development Institute during the SLA 2009 Annual Conference. (Power point presentations: Part #1 and Part #2 ) After receiving extensive feedback from attendees, both leaders also announced the potential for an association name change during the Annual Membership Meeting. (Janice's remarks).
Twitter #slaname was created as a forum to discuss possible new names for SLA.
An alignment wiki was set up to share information resources, hold discussions, and post information about the alignment project research and possible new names for SLA.
A stand-alone presentation and description of the research and language for SLA members to use to describe their value is distributed to members and posted to the Web site. "Positioning Information Professionals for the Future"
SLA issues a call to unit leaders and members for alignment ambassadors to assist members in understanding the research results and its implications for the future of the profession, the association, and each individual member.
One name emerged from extensive research, input from members, and legal investigation. That name, the Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals was fielded in a survey of information users and providers in five key functional roles (C-level executives and professionals in HR, IT, Marketing and Strategic Planning as well as information professionals) across four market sectors (corporate, academia, healthcare, and government) in the U.S. and U.K. and was confirmed to be relevant, likeable, credible, and to fit well with the association's attributes.
The Alignment Information Portal launched.
Alignment ambassadors and elected leaders begin working with members through online discussion lists, Twitter, blogs and newsletters. Chapter alignment ambassadors also begin to engage in in-person meetings, dine-arounds, and town hall conversations to answer questions and dispel myths about the alignment project.
Fleishman-Hillard conducted training for alignment ambassadors on the top-level findings of the research and the Alignment Information Portal.
The SLA Board of Directors voted to present a new name for the association to the membership for electronic vote.
The SLA Board of Directors proposes that SLA change its name to the Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals.
Alignment ambassadors and elected leaders continue to discuss alignment project and serve as point-of-contact for members of their units with questions about the name change vote and the alignment project.
From 16 November through 9 December, members of SLA will voice their opinion through electronic vote in a special referendum to amend the Bylaws and Certificate of Incorporation to legally change the name of the association to Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals.
Results of vote will be announced on 10 December.
If membership adopts a new name, roll out will begin of a new communications plan that will eventually include branding initiatives, logo and tag line, Web site, and templates for units.
Work will continue to share alignment research with both members and the business community and to share member stories of how they have used the information to promote their value to their bosses and hiring officials.
At the January 2009 Leadership Summit, SLA President Gloria Zamora and CEO Janice Lachance presented the results of two years of extensive alignment research. Following that meeting we continued refining the direction of the alignment project and made great strides in communicating information and research findings to all SLA members.
Over the last year, as more members reviewed this alignment information, they started recognizing that the time has come to go down the name change road once more. Gloria Zamora and Janice Lachance announced at this year's SLA 2009 Annual Conference that, based on the findings of the alignment research, the Board of Directors had voted to pursue a name change for SLA.
We were forced to deal with the reality of the research: the term "special libraries" no longer works for our members because it in no way captures the depth of their importance to their organizations. SLA founder John Cotton Dana said 100 years ago that the name was chosen for lack of a better one. The time has come to demonstrate in our name the concepts of value-added service and knowledge.
In taking this step, the Board directed the staff to work with Fleishman-Hillard to perform an additional phase of research focused on a new name. The objective was to find a name that captures the positive attributes associated with information professionals and librarians. Words and concepts that tested well with both information professionals and CEOs were used to test potential names with the same groups of people involved in the earlier phases of the research.
With the assistance of a work group of your elected board members, Ann Sweeney, Deb Hunt, and Daniel Lee, Fleishman-Hillard also produced an alignment information portal that brings together in one location all of the alignment information, including extensive information about the findings of the research, as well as advice on how our members can immediately use this information in their current positions.
This portal is not static in any way. It is constantly updated with new information and research as well as presentations as they are developed. This is a one-stop shop for our alignment. It will contain an alignment toolkit with suggestions on how the findings can be communicated in a simple straightforward manner. It will include a fact sheet, FAQ's and key messages, and documents and templates with language specifically informed by the alignment findings.
Throughout this process, the SLA Public Relations Advisory Council (PRAC) has organized efforts to communicate alignment information to our members by using individual alignment ambassadors. PRAC has held training sessions for the ambassadors to communicate with their chapters, divisions and caucuses in order to spread the word on the alignment and the name change.
In June 2009, Gloria Zamora talked about Seth Godin's book Tribes. Seth says that a tribe is a group of people connected to an idea that is communicated by the tribe members in order to bring others into the tribe. We have an "Alignment Tribe" coordinated by PRAC because member-to-member communication is the best way to spread the alignment word. There is also an alignment wiki that was used to discuss possible names and other questions about the project.
The Board of Directors on 8 October 2009 voted to present a new name to the membership for an electronic membership vote. The membership and the alignment ambassadors have been provided with the information needed to communicate the proposed name. This week you received a letter announcing the new name, Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals or ASKPro, and the timeline for a name change vote in the coming months. We sincerely hope that all members will take the time to review the research and make an informed vote for the future of this association.
The Board of Directors has not entered into this decision lightly. We have reviewed the research, and we have listened to members who are reading the alignment research--members who have asked us if we intend to go down the path indicated by the research. We are convinced that our association will be stronger and will provide better service to our members with a new name that indicates the knowledge and value that our members provide to their organizations. In addition, the new name will help the association build a bigger tent, becoming more inclusive of professionals who are in the business of providing information but who may not see themselves in the "special libraries" association.
The time to change is now. We have the research that indicates the direction we should go, and we have the momentum to carry us forward to our second century. This year, we have looked back on a 100-year history that makes us all proud. It is time now to focus on the future--where this professional association is going, and what it will be in its next 100 years. The alignment project has provided us the tools to move our association forward. Now we must grab onto those tools and exploit them to the advantage of our members.
In answering a question from a young new member of our association during the SLA 2009 Annual Conference about how the alignment information could be used, CEO Janice Lachance replied, "We have just written your resume for you." All of the words and concepts to describe what we do and the value we as information professionals provide are available right now in the alignment research. We could not agree more with this statement from Janice, and continue to see this as one of the most important member benefits that has come out of this four-year process.
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