The Missing Link
Think you're an obvious component of knowledge management? Think again. No, this is not a librarian-bashing column. It's just the opposite.
As the knowledge management craze leaves the "hot trend" phase and enters the "Okay, what are we really going to do now?" phase, operating units within organizations are scrambling to control their own little slice of the KM pie. With so much software and hardware being ballyhooed as essential for knowledge management practices, the IT managers of the world are once again getting a lot of attention. Thankfully, they can't keep the reigns for long. For, as we all know, if we're going to manage knowledge, we must have a thorough understanding of the best practices for organizing and disseminating it. Who knows best how to accomplish this? Look in the mirror.
The problem that will most certainly smack us all in the face is--just like with so many other situations--the people who make the decisions on knowledge management do not get it. Even if they have an extensive staff of librarians on duty to manage their information, they fail to see the crucial benefit of having these people involved in the implementation of KM practices. They don't understand what you have known for years. So, people like you end up being passed over for plum assignments because no one knows any better. Does this sound familiar?
SLA Executive Director David R. Bender has been published in several business journals in the United States recently, touting the notion that the "bells and whistles" that make technology so neat can't possibly solve our content management needs. He sounds the clarion call to IT managers, human resource managers, and senior managers to wake up and realize what talent they have, what potential energy awaits them, if they would only unleash it. Bender's column sends the right message to decision-makers, but that message needs to be repeated over and over again by SLA and, most notably, by you. Opportunities await you to jump on the KM bandwagon and offer your expertise and services to make the venture a worthwhile one for your organization. But--and pardon the cliché--if, at first, you don't succeed . . .
Don't assume just because you fail on the first try, the powers that be don't like you or have no respect for you. Keep plugging at them, pushing for advancement opportunities and assignments that will make the IT folks green with envy. Show them who knows how to make information work!

Remember this year's theme for International Special Librarians Day--"Exercise Your Resources?" What a great way to express yourself on your special day! The accompanying logo only made it better.
For ISLD 2000, we want you to be a part of the theme development process. Come up with a catchy title, one-liner, phrase--anything you believe will catch the eye of your colleagues, customers, management, the public. If your proposal is selected by the SLA Public Relations Committee for the ISLD 2000 theme, you'll win a cash prize of $150 U.S. dollars! Submit your entry no later than December 2, 1999. If you have any questions, drop me an e-mail (john-c@sla.org), or call 1-202-939-3629. Be a part of the first ISLD of the new century!

Rules:
1. One entry per person.
2. Award valid for only the person submitting the entry.
3. Employees of SLA and members of the Public Relations Committee are not eligible.
4. Deadline for entry is close of business on Thursday, December 2, 1999. No entries received after that date will be accepted.
5. In the event that the winning entry is the same as, or similar to, other entries, all qualifying entries will be entered into a drawing to determine the winner.
6. Void where prohibited.

For more information, contact John Crosby: john-c@sla.org.