University Librarian Sarah Thomas opened the session by introducing Olga Cabrero, a law librarian from Barcelona, Spain, who is visiting the Law Library for one month. Sarah announced that Suzy Szasz Palmer has been promoted to the Head of Public Services in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in Kroch Library. Sarah reminded the Assembly that nominations for the Assembly Steering Committee were open until May 8th. She mentioned that the 1999/2000 Assembly programs have been diverse and well attended and that serving on the Steering Committee offers an opportunity to participate in developing Assembly programs. Sarah concluded her announcements by noting that Suzy Szasz Palmer has been selected to serve as Program Chair/Vice President/President Elect of ENY/ACRL.

Sarah introduced Boodie McGinnis, Assistant Director of the Catherwood Library, who is serving as President of the Upstate New York Chapter of the Special Libraries Association. Boodie introduced our guest speaker, Susan DiMattia, current President of the Special Libraries Association, editor at Cahners Business Information, and Visiting Associate Professor, Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science.

Susan began her presentation, titled “Synergies and Your Professional Future," by observing that, in surveying information-related issues, it is hard to imagine an electronic or traditional setting without seeing roles for librarians or information professionals. Susan lamented the recent trend of corporate library closings, which she related to a popular belief that there is no need for libraries or librarians because information needs can be met directly via the Internet. Susan stressed how important it is that librarians communicate the value of the services they provide.

Susan related an excerpt from the recent book, The Social Life of Information, by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid (Harvard Business School Press, 2000), in which a professor from UC-Berkeley said that he felt in touch with information in new ways because of his ability to access it directly through the university’s digital library. The authors stressed that this perspective overlooks all of the people and the organizations in which they work that make such direct access possible. Susan noted the dilemma that library staff members face in that, when they do their jobs well, they often do them in ways that are invisible to their users. She underlined the need to move beyond invisibility and instead to promote the value inherent in providing access to information.

Susan told the story of an MIT professor who said at an OCLC meeting that she hadn’t been to the library in four years because information in her field of information filtering technology is changing so rapidly there is no point in publishing it in paper. Such rapid information obsolescence calls for librarians to think about their services and clients in new ways, which is complicated by the continuing demand for traditional services.

Susan recalled a presentation she made at FORO, the Transborder Library Forum, which included library workers from Arizona and Mexico. In that presentation, Susan explained that special librarians have had to develop new skills in dealing with an increasingly global economy. These skills include becoming more adept at global communication, that is, accounting for cultural differences and developing basic language skills; providing products and services for organizations that never sleep or organizations in other countries who do not follow the U.S. holiday calendar; and providing services to clients that one never actually meets, which makes it difficult to assess those clients' responses to the information given them. Susan again referred to The Social Life of Information, in which the authors noted the many aspects of interpersonal communication that are lost in electronic exchanges conducted at a distance.

Susan noted that in a global information environment a technological differential between organizations is often apparent. She cited the example of the Russian State Library, which is second in size in the world to the Library of Congress, but which is not automated. The Russian State Library has entered into an agreement with the Library of Congress in which LC will digitize a portion of one of the Russian State Library’s special collections. Susan pointed to the irony that scholars around the world will be able to use the digitized Russian resources, but the Russians who supplied the collection will not be able to use it online. Susan used this example to highlight the importance of synergy, which she defined as increased effectiveness produced by combined action, where interacting elements generate an effect that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Susan referred to an issue of Fast Company magazine in which twenty-one “thought leaders” were asked to submit one idea each to prepare people for the twenty-first century. The overall thrust of their responses was that we shouldn’t try to predict the future, we should create our own. We can do that by leaving open as many doors as possible in order to prepare for inherently unpredictable events. Peter Drucker suggests developing parallel careers because people will typically outlive the organizations they work for. Susan said that Micho Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at the City College of New York, has called Silicon Valley the “rust belt” of the new economy, predicting that jobs there will be good for only another twenty years. Kaku holds that jobs that survive will build on common sense and real vision, which are traits that computers do not have. Susan pointed out that both common sense and vision are traits that librarians definitely have. Susan invited us to learn continuously, build community, think creatively, develop common sense and vision, take the best of the past into the future, and don’t overplay technology.

Regarding overplaying technology, Susan quoted humorist P.J. O’Rourke as having said, “When you had to carve things in stone, you got the Ten Commandments. When things had to be written with a goose quill and you had to boil blood or whatever to make ink, you got Shakespeare. When you went over to the steel pen and manufactured inks, you got Henry James. When you get to the typewriter, you get Jack Kerouac. When you get down to the word processor, you get me. So improvement in the technology of writing hasn’t improved writing itself, as far as I can tell.”

Susan suggested that we use career intelligence and continue to look for work we love. She related that entrepreneur David Allen said in Fast Company magazine that people who get too wrapped up in the stuff coming at them lose their ability to respond. According to Allen, the silent trauma of workers’ lives is that there are no edges to their jobs and no limit to the potential information that can help them do their jobs better. His position is that the frantic approach is a recipe for disaster, that our challenge is not to manage time, but to maintain focus.

Susan recommended that we regularly reconfigure ourselves and our jobs. She invited us to take out our resumes once every six months and look for one thing to add that we have accomplished in that time. She said that if we can’t think of something to add, we should try harder to “keep on the edge of challenge,” which will enable us to do our best work. Susan cited the example of the new head of the U.S. Mint, who is responsible for the state quarter coins and who transformed the mint into a fast-moving organization that stresses customer service and has a cutting-edge presence on the Web. His strategy is to do big things by doing a lot of smaller things, which Susan sees as another example of the benefits of synergy.

Susan mentioned a Library Journal article in which virtual library users were asked what they missed most when comparing virtual libraries to traditional libraries. Susan said that they didn’t miss the physical library resources, they missed a place to meet people and a quiet place to think. In enacting synergies, Susan recommended that we mix traditional operations with innovations, that we mix our traditional selves with our reinvigorated selves. She suggested identifying groups on campus with whom the library has traditionally not interacted and to target them for services. Susan invited us to reach our personal levels of discomfort. She proposed creating a “stretch” wish list for the future and then collaborating with others for support, ideas, and education.

Susan closed her presentation by referring to a recent Fireman’s Fund ad that said, “Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you or stand up tall as you can, show it your teeth, and say, ‘Dish it up, baby, and don’t be stingy with the jalapenos.’” She endorsed combining an attitudinal strategy that relies on chutzpah with a strategy to generate synergy by seeking support and partnerships with our peers.

In response to Sarah Thomas’ invitation for questions and observations from the audience, a member of the Assembly questioned whether the MIT professor who hadn’t been in the library in four years had used electronic journals that were paid for by the library. She suggested that she be reminded who puts the “information on her plate.”

An audience member asked Susan about the current viability of the term “special libraries” and in turn the name of the Special Libraries Association. Susan responded that the SLA Board has considered whether to change the name of the association. One of the five SLA task forces that are reviewing the structure of the association is going to work with a branding and imaging firm to come up with three new names that will be presented to the SLA membership along with the option to retain the current name.

Sarah thanked Susan for her presentation and the CUL staff members in attendance expressed their thanks through their applause.

Minutes recorded by Marty Kurth.

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