There are four parts to Outsell's 2003 benchmarking series, "The Changing Roles of Content Deployment Functions" shown below. PDFs of the Executive Summaries are provided for SLA Members only.
"The Changing Roles of Content Deployment Functions: Corporate Information Professionals" is the first briefing in the fifth annual study of deployment functions provides unique data and analysis about Corporate Information Professionals, specifically their reporting relationships, organization, and staffing; users and services; knowledge management activities; content deployment activities, including portals and content vendors; and budgets, including content spending.
Among the key findings:
- the trend toward globalization continues unabated;
- fewer information professionals report to executive management;
- budgets are down, but so are user numbers;
- information centers are struggling to find sustainable service portfolios; and
- the pace of "going digital" is slowing.
For content deployment professionals, this data is an indispensable benchmark for their own operations and a road map to continued success. For commercial content vendors, this Briefing presents critical data about a huge buyer market.
"The Changing Roles of Content Deployment Functions: Market, Business and Competitive Intelligence Information Professionals" is the annual analysis and metrics about professionals engaged in providing market, business, and competitive intelligence to their organizations. Metrics covered include reporting, organization, and staffing; budgets and spending levels; users and services; and content management and creation.
Among the key findings:
- the demands for intelligence services are soaring;
- these functions are called on to deliver analysis-intensive services to larger groups of internal customers;
- target marketing of services and partnerships with other functions are recommended strategies for dealing with the demand;
- intelligence professionals are now more likely to be placed throughout organizations rather than in discrete and separate departments;
- unless content repositories are leveraged across an organization, neither internally created nor purchased content is likely to be leveraged effectively.
For commercial market intelligence content vendors, the Briefing identifies areas where flexible offerings and true partnerships with internal functions can be the key to increased sales. For content deployment professionals, the Briefing prescribes the marketing and organizational changes that can make their operations more effective and visible.
"The Changing Roles of Content Deployment Functions: Academic Information Professionals" are fundamentally restructuring the way they provide services to their organizations, in response to budgetary pressures and technological developments. Those are the key themes of this Briefing, which is based on interviews with over 328 information professionals in education. The Briefing shows how self-service models of service are becoming more prevalent, even as libraries focus on certain high-value services and de-emphasize the physical library as the primary delivery mechanism. Other data includes reporting relationships, budgets, content spending by information type, and staffing levels. For academic information professionals, this Briefing provides key functional benchmarks and trend analysis, and prescribes a targeted approach rather than an "all things to all people" service level. For commercial content vendors, it prescribes products with essential content that fit the self-service needs of academic libraries and their users.
"The Changing Roles of Content Deployment Functions: Government Information Professionals" shows that various market drivers are making government one of the most dynamic fields for content deployment professionals. This Briefing analyzes data about the roles and responsibilities, users and services, content deployment methods, budgets and staffing, and management and marketing practices, of information professionals employed in the U.S. government sector who participated in Outsell's annual study of content deployment functions. For content deployment professionals in government, the Briefing prescribes a continued focus on end-user needs and loyalty-building. For commercial content vendors who serve government, implications include consolidating purchases and an increased emphasis on high-value partnerships rather than transactional relationships.
Executive summaries of the briefings based on the survey are available to SLA members only.
Note: Some people are experiencing problems opening the PDFs below. Please click OK on the Error Message and reload the page which should open the report. If this does not work Log In as a member first and then try accessing the PDF. If you still have problems contact the Information Center, resources@sla.org. We apologize for the inconvenience.
- Corporate Information Professionals
- Market, Business and Competitive Intelligence Information Professionals
- Academic Information Professionals
- Government Information Professionals
For more information about the briefings please contact John Latham, jlatham@sla.org or 703-647-4915. If you wish to have a copy of any of the briefings in full, you will need to contact Roger Strouse at Outsell at rstrouse@outsellinc.com.
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