Sunday, June 9th                    11:15 am – 1:45 pm     

CONSULTING SECTION SESSION: Consulting: Managing the Expectation, Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones

Successful consulting is all about managing the expectations – yours and theirs. Come discuss with Rebecca what you need to know about managing the engagement and benefit from what she has learned in over 20 years of consulting.

Sunday, June 9th                    1:30 pm – 3:00 pm     

Leadership Roles in KM: Grabbing New Opportunities! Ramin Assa Booz, Allen Hamilton, Knowledge Management Manager; Denise Chochrek, Frito Lay, Senior Knowledge Analyst; Jane Dysart, Dysart & Jones; Deborah Keller, Department of Homeland Security; Nancy Lewis, DuPont

As David Weinberger points out in his new book, Too Big to Know, organizations today need to recognize the power of difference (fruitful disagreement), public learning (leaving tracks for others to follow & conversations to engage in), filtering information on the way and out (taxonomies and finding places for inclusion while embracing messiness) and opening a window so that the expert really is in the room. Our speakers discuss new opportunities for using our skills in different and exciting ways.

Sunday, June 9th                    3:30 pm – 5 pm    

SPOTLIGHT SESSION: The Experts Are In! – One-Off Career Advice, Stephen Abram, Gale Cengage;  David Cappoli, UCLA School of Law; Anne Caputo, Anne Caputo Consulting; Ann Cullen,  Emory University;  Susan DiMattia; Jane Dysart, Dysart & Jones; Bill Fisher, San Jose State;  Richard Hulser, Natural History Museum Los Angeles County; Deborah Hunt, Information Edge; Jill Hurst-Wahl, Syracuse University;  Juanita Richardson Dysart & Jones Associates; Thomas Rink, Northeastern State University; Ethel Salonen, The MITRE Corporation; Donna Scheeder, Library Of Congress;  Jan Sykes, Info Mgmt Svcs Inc; Rebecca Vargha Univ. of North Carolina School of Library and Information Science; Ulla de Stricker, de Stricker Associates

Do you have a vexing workplace issue and are not sure where to turn?  Are you facing a career decision and would like some advice from senior SLA members who have “been there?” Using a speed dating format, you will have the opportunity to run your challenge past some of SLA’s most knowledgeable and experienced members as they act as a sounding board and give you their take on your situation. This is not resume review or assistance with a job search, but rather a chance to pose that question you were afraid to ask and get an answer from some of the most seasoned professionals in our industry. 

Monday, June 10th                 8:00 am – 9:30 am     

BUSINESS MEETING: Leadership and Management Division Business Meeting and Breakfast

Amy Affelt, Compass Lexecon, Director of Database Research

Join division chair Amy Affelt and the LMD board for a review of the events of the past year and a look at the future. The Karen J. Switt Award will be presented.

 Monday, June 10th                 8:00 am – 9:30 am     

CONTENT BUYERS SECTION SESSION: Content Buying Hot Topics for 2013, Robin Neidorf, FreePint Director of Research; Bill Noorlander, BST America

The session has 3 parts – panelist presentation, attendee ‘round table’ discussion, Q&A * The two panelists will provide an overview of the Content Buying issues and challenges for 2013; * Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss their own challenges, issues and possible solutions on dealing with the challenges of content buying in 2013

Monday, June 10th                 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Leadership: A Commanding Officer’s Viewpoint, Winton Smith Captain, United States Navy

Come hear the Commanding Officer of Naval Base San Diego, Captain Winton Smith, talk about his leadership experiences and how his lessons-learned and insights can benefit information professionals. Welcome Aboard!

Co-Sponsored with the Military Division

Monday, June 10th                 10:00 am – 11:30 am

SPOTLIGHT SESSION: Organizing Knowledge, Patrick Lambe, Straits Knowledge

Internationally known, Founder, Straits Knowledge, and Author, Organising Knowledge: Taxonomies, Knowledge and Organisational Effectiveness, shares insights on the roles that taxonomies can play in knowledge and information management. Patrick looks at a variety of ways in which taxonomies can underpin other important knowledge management applications, such as content management systems, records management systems, search, data warehouses, etc.

Monday, June 10th                 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm     

MARKETING SECTION SESSION:You Built It. They Didn’t Come. Now What? Communications for Managing Change, Joleen Schultz Joleen, Schultz & Associates

Think about it. We ask people to modify how they request our services. We launch new web site interfaces. We replace familiar databases with other resources. We introduce new services. We enhance our abilities to add insights to our research. Information and knowledge services are either initiating change themselves, or they are being changed by external forces. And you’re at the epicenter. You’ve embraced the changes but how do you get everyone else on board? Change management communications calls for understanding how people change and how communications can affect change. Join us for lunch as our speakers discuss how communications are developed to modify habits, perceptions and processes related to changes in information services. Key communications components will be outlined and best practices will be shared.

Monday, June 10th                 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm     

LMD and KMD Open House

Join your SLA colleagues from the Leadership & Management Division and the Knowledge Management Division for a networking reception that will be second to none! Let’s stay classy, San Diego!

Tuesday, June 11th            10:00 am – 12:00 pm     

Disaster Planning for Information Professionals, Tahirih Fusscas; Tim Siftar, Drexel University Libraries; Dan Wilson, University of Virginia

SLA’s members are experts in information sharing environments and structures. They excel in setting up collaborative systems. They are more likely to occupy a neutral role within their organization as an unbiased provider of quality external information. Come learn how you can be indispensable to your organization when disaster happens! It’s no longer “if,” but “when.” Think Hurricane Sandy, the Derecho, and the mid-Atllantic earthquake. Focus will be on lessons learned by affected libraries and information centers as well as guidelines for effective disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Using social media during and after an incident will also be discussed.

Tuesday, June 11th                       2:00 pm –3:30 pm      

Leading from the Library: How Can I Be a Leader When ________________? Ulla de Stricker,  de Stricker Associates; Gloria Zamora

In this interactive session, a panel of three SLA leaders will offer their practical experience to help you overcome leadership challenges you face in your work.  Attendees will have two minutes to explain their leadership challenge and our panel will have five minutes to respond.  This session will be facilitated and attendees are encouraged to share and participate.  During the last ten minutes attendees will have a chance to identify and share the “golden nuggets” they will takeaway from this session.

Date: Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST

• Presentation
• Webinar Recording

“Marketing that FITS (Fun, Interactive/Informative, Targeted, Succinct) + Branding” will cover:

• Websites
• Vendor events
• Social media outside the US
• Successes and things we could have done better.

Let’s have an interactive session, and learn from each other.

Ruth Wolfish, IEEE Client Services Manager, provides training and marketing for IEEE online products via both on-site and internet conference. She currently works with IEEE’s academic, government and corporate accounts in the US and UK. She created the IEEE Customer User Group and has customized this meeting format in the UK, Germany, and China. Ms. Wolfish came to IEEE in 2001 from Lucent Technologies. Her 18-year career with Lucent and its predecessor companies included roles as Bell Labs Reference Librarian, management trainer and administrator of education, information specialist for business systems, and electronic content coordinator for Lucent’s Digital Library. She was President of the NJ SLA chapter in 2006 and served a 3 year term as the SLA Chapter Cabinet Chair. Her goal is to share with you her pitfalls and successes OR lessons learned during her career as an Information Professional.

This webinar is supported by the generosity of LMD Membership Committee Chair, Tom Rink.

January 23, 2013

• Webinar Recording
  
• Presentation

In any disrupted industry or profession, innovation is an essential response. As members of a disrupted profession, librarians require new strategies to realign what we do with the changed expectations of our employers. For librarians in corporations, government, law firms, medical facilities, higher education, and others, embedded librarianship is just such an innovative strategy. Many librarians are succeeding with embedded librarianship, but there are traps and pitfalls awaiting the unwary.

In this webinar, Dave will briefly survey the core characteristics of embedded librarianship, and discuss why it can be an effective strategy for aligning librarians’ work with the needs of their employers. He’ll then present some of the common traps and pitfalls, offering strategies for getting out of them – or avoiding them altogether.

David Shumaker is Clinical Associate Professor at the School of Library and Information Science, Catholic University of America (CUA). His research focuses on the development and successful implementation of new roles for librarians in all types of organizations, with a special emphasis on embedded librarianship. Prior to joining CUA, Dave was Manager of Information Services at the MITRE Corporation, leading corporate library, archives, and records management operations.

In 2008, he and his co-investigator, Mary Talley, were awarded the Special Libraries Association Research Grant for their project, “Models of Embedded Librarianship.” Project reports are available on the SLA website, and related articles have been published in Information Outlook, Library Journal, and Reference & User Services Quarterly. Last July, his book, The Embedded Librarian: Innovative Strategies for Taking Knowledge Where It’s Needed, was published by Information Today. He blogs at http://www.embeddedlibrarian.com

December 5, 2012 – 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Eastern)

Presentation

See also: Part 1 of this 2 part series, Owning Copyright and Using Copyrighted Works

In the past year courts have handed down dramatic decisions in a number of major cases across the nation.  These decisions have changed the way we understand fair use, streaming media, archiving, and accessibility in libraries.  Kevin Smith, Duke’s Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communication and William Cross, NCSU’s Director of the Copyright and Digital Scholarship Center, will lead a discussion about these cases and the far-reaching impact they will have on libraries and library services in the 21st century.

William M. Cross is the Director of the Copyright and Digital Scholarship Center at North Carolina State University where he provides advice and instruction to campus stakeholders on copyright, licensing, privacy, and contractual issues. As a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Will earned an M.A. in Technology & Communication, a J.D. in Law, and an M.S.L.S. in Library Science. Before joining the Copyright and Digital Scholarship Center Will worked in academic and law libraries, in constitutional litigation, and at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He lectures nationally on free expression, copyright, and new methods of scholarly communication and has been published in law and library journals on topics ranging from the pedagogy of legal education for librarians to the First Amendment status of video games.

As Duke University’s first Director of Copyright & Scholarly Communications, Kevin Smith’s principal role is to teach and advise faculty, administrators and students about copyright, intellectual property licensing and scholarly publishing. He is a librarian and an attorney (admitted to the bar in Ohio and North Carolina) and also holds a graduate degree in religion from Yale University. At Duke, Kevin serves on the University’s Intellectual Property Board and Digital Futures Task Force, and he convenes the Open Access Advisory Panel. He is the current Chair of the ACRL’s Research and Scholarly Environment Committee and serves on the SPARC Steering Committee. His highly-regarded web log on scholarly communications discusses copyright and publication in academia, and he is a frequent speaker on those topics.

November 14, 2012

Presentation

See also:  Part 2 of this 2 part series, Recent Developments in Library Copyright

Concerned about copyright issues? Uncertain about how you can use images in your instruction? Want to be sure you’re following the law and doing everything you can to support your patrons? Kevin Smith, Duke’s Director of Copyright and Scholarly Communication and William Cross, NCSU’s Director of the Copyright and Digital Scholarship Center, will lead a discussion about copyright basics, the rules of ownership, and best practices for academic use.

William M. Cross is the Director of the Copyright and Digital Scholarship Center at North Carolina State University where he provides advice and instruction to campus stakeholders on copyright, licensing, privacy, and contractual issues. As a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Will earned an M.A. in Technology & Communication, a J.D. in Law, and an M.S.L.S. in Library Science. Before joining the Copyright and Digital Scholarship Center Will worked in academic and law libraries, in constitutional litigation, and at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He lectures nationally on free expression, copyright, and new methods of scholarly communication and has been published in law and library journals on topics ranging from the pedagogy of legal education for librarians to the First Amendment status of video games.

As Duke University’s first Director of Copyright & Scholarly Communications, Kevin Smith’s principal role is to teach and advise faculty, administrators and students about copyright, intellectual property licensing and scholarly publishing. He is a librarian and an attorney (admitted to the bar in Ohio and North Carolina) and also holds a graduate degree in religion from Yale University. At Duke, Kevin serves on the University’s Intellectual Property Board and Digital Futures Task Force, and he convenes the Open Access Advisory Panel. He is the current Chair of the ACRL’s Research and Scholarly Environment Committee and serves on the SPARC Steering Committee. His highly-regarded web log on scholarly communications discusses copyright and publication in academia, and he is a frequent speaker on those topics.

September 19, 2012

• Webinar Recording
• Presentation

With GoToWebinar you can conduct do-it-yourself webinars. Reduce travel while reaching larger audiences around the world. Hope has had a lot of fun working with LMD getting to know the GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar platforms, as well as exploring several other options of platforms before SLA decided on this one.   This past year she hosted the LMD webinars before turning them over to David Cappoli this spring.

The objective for this session is to cover what you need to know to be comfortable setting up and running an online meeting with GoToWebinar.

• What to do before a meeting to prepare
• What to do during a meeting to make the event successful for you and for your clients
• What to do after a meeting to get feedback from your attendees, harvest the data collected by GoToWebinar, and provide a recorded version of the session.

This session is targeted for those SLA members who are considering running their own webinar sessions, whether in an SLA setting, in a corporate or non-profit setting, or as individual entrepreneurs.

Presenter:  Hope Tillman
retired.
Currently active in several genealogical societies and, as always, enjoying new technologies.
former Director, Libraries, Babson College
An SLA Fellow, Hope has served as President  of SLA, as well as Chair of the IT and Education Divisions, and President of Princeton-Trenton and New England Chapters of SLA.

LMD-SPONSORED SESSIONS AT THE 2012 SLA CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO

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Sunday, July 15, 2012

8:00 – 11 p.m.
LMD & DKM Open House

Join your fellow division members for a party to kick off the 2012 SLA conference!

Co-Sponsoring Division: SLA Knowledge Management Division
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Monday, July 16, 2012

8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Rapid Fire Consultant Showcase: Come One, Come All!
(Breakfast meeting)

Ticketed Event: $15/members and students, $30/non-members

Persons who are actively engaged in consulting will give a rapid fire “song and dance” about their consulting practice. Consultants will benefit from honing their value proposition in a safe and friendly atmosphere. Those who are thinking about venturing into consulting will have an opportunity to practice some essential introduction and positioning skills. Through this fun and creative communication opportunity, they can illustrate their value and the innovative insights they can bring to projects while meeting future clients for themselves and their practices. Session attendees who are actively considering contractors or partners to work with are encouraged to attend for a personal introduction to section members who will present the skill sets they might bring to potential partnerships. Costumes and props are optional.

Moderators: Lorri Zipperer, Zipperer Project Mgmt [LMD Member]; Jan Sykes, Info Mgmt Svcs Inc [LMD Member]
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10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Transitioning to Management and Leadership

Whether you are moving into a management position at your current organization or taking on a team-lead role at a different organization, the first three months are critical for your longer term success. Your success depends on your ability to do the job, but equally important is clearly positioning yourself in the role with your boss, your team and yourself. The speaker walks you through a process for transitioning successfully and sanely.

Speaker:  Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Assoc [LMD Member]

Co-Sponsoring Divisions: SLA Insurance & Employee Benefits Division, SLA Social Science Division
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Noon – 1:30 p.m.   SPOTLIGHT SESSION!
Meaningful Measures: How Do Buyers and Sellers Show ROI?

A panel of buyers and sellers will discuss how you can best illustrate return on investment and the distinct value of your content purchases to management and budget approvers

Moderator: Robin Neidorf, FreePint
Speakers: Jantinus Meints, Ernst & Young; Clare Gillan, IDC; Bill Noorlander, BST America [LMD Member]; Ann Lee, Dow Jones
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4:00 – 5:30 p.m.    SPOTLIGHT SESSION!
Reinventing Library Skills

Speakers: Deborah Hunt, Information Edge [LMD Member]; Richard Hulser, Natural History Museum Los Angeles County [LMD Member]; Ethel Salonen, MITRE Corporation [LMD Member]

Co-Sponsoring Divisions: SLA Taxonomy Division (lead division), SLA Academic Division, SLA Social Science Division, SLA Museums, Arts & Humanities Division, Encore – Retired Members Caucus
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Marketing Section Virtual Swap-n-Shop Breakfast

Ticketed Event: $15/members and students, $30/non-members

Participate in the annual LMD Marketing Section Swap-n-Shop breakfast. Join us for a panel discussion, Using Social Media to Promote Libraries and Librarians.

Moderators: Barbie Keiser, Barbie E. Keiser Inc. [LMD Member], Bethann Ruddock, Mimas [LMD Member]
Speakers: Melissa Giovagnoli, Networlding; Connie Crosby, Crosby Group Consulting [LMD Member]; Roger Tye, Allstate Insurance Company

Co-Sponsor: SLA Advertising & Marketing Division
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10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Tales from the Trenches: Contract Negotiation is not for the Faint of Heart

Vendor contracts are getting more complicated. Many librarians are involved in the contract negotiation process or work alongside their institutions’ purchasing and procurement staff. They have to be able to read and comprehend often complex contracts in order to get the most favorable and sensible terms for their libraries and organizations. Experienced information professionals who manage the content and contracts for their organizations will share their knowledge and tips for “getting to yes” without too much bloodshed!

Moderator: Amy Affelt, Compass Lexecon [LMD Member]
Speakers: Carol Ginsburg, BST America LLC [LMD Member]; Bill Noorlander, BST America LLC [LMD Member]; Barbara Hirsh, NERA Economic Consulting [LMD Member]; Laurie Leichman, WoltersKluwer; Steven Goldstein, Alacra; Bob Lemmond, WoltersKluwer

Co-Sponsoring Divisions: SLA Legal Division, SLA Military Libraries Division
Sponsor Partner: ProQuest & Dialog
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2:00 – 2:30 p.m.
LMD Business Meeting and Afternoon Tea

Join division chair Rebecca Vargha and the LMD board for a review of the events of the past year and a look at the future. The Karen J. Switt Award will be presented.

Speaker: Rebecca Vargha, University of North Carolina, and Chair, SLA Leadership & Management Division

Sponsor Partner: Basch Subscription Services
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4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Creating Organizations We Want to Work In: Combatting Defensiveness at Work

This presentation will describe how defensive routines begin and live within organizations, making trust, true teamwork, and honesty difficult. The presenter will describe tested theories and concepts that explain how defensiveness creates threatening and uncomfortable work environments. These theories will relate to how toxic environments feel to the members of the organization and what can be done to create workplaces in which we want to work.  Ms. Deiss will provide insights into how all staff can play critical roles in creating a healthy workplace. After this presentation, attendees will understand organizational climate and culture more deeply and will see the connection between individual behaviours and their effect on the organization.

Speaker: Kathryn Deiss, Association of College & Research Libraries
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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Challenges of Buying and Selling Content in 2012

Ticketed Event: $15/members and students, $30/non-members

A panel of buyers and sellers will discuss the most significant challenges faced in acquiring content over the past year.

Moderators: Cynthia Studnicha, Ernst & Young LLP, Ann Kenny, Ernst & Young LLP
Speakers: Mike Stelzer, Knowledge Management Services; Bill Moore, ThomsonReuters; Dawn Lynn, Abbott Laboratories; Jim Toomey, Standard & Poor’s

Sponsor Partner: BST America LLC
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10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Marketing for the Rest of Us: A Guide for Introverts

Marketing may not be in your job description, but it’s a critical part of everyone’s job. Mary Ellen Bates offers techniques for raising the profile of your information centre and yourself in ways that are authentic and comfortable to even the most marketing-phobic.

Speaker: Mary Ellen Bates, Bates Information Services Inc. [LMD Member]

Sponsor Partner: Dow Jones
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5:15 – 8:15 p.m.
Architectural Boat Tour of Chicago

Ticketed Event: $55/members & students; $70/non-members

An evening boat cruise that will highlight the architectural features of Chicago.

Co-Sponsoring Divisions: Architecture Caucus, MAHD, DITE, DTRN

On May 31, 2012, Past-President Anne Caputo discussed SLA’s new strategic vision and how it is being implemented. This program provided an opportunity for all members to learn more about where SLA is headed and how they might be able to use SLA’s vision in their units’ strategic plans.

Presentation  |  Recording of a past presentation on SLA’s strategic vision

Strategic Vision

SLA is a vibrant, global association of professionals who are employed in every sector of the information and knowledge economy. Our members thrive where data, information, and knowledge intersect, and our strategic partners support SLA because they believe in the association’s mission and the future of its members. The goal of SLA is to support information professionals as they contribute, in their varied and evolving roles, to the opportunities and achievements of organizations, communities, and society.

Focus for Action

Note: The following has been repurposed from the Rocky Mountain Chapter’s webinar in January.

SLA has identified five priorities to guide the association’s leaders, volunteers, and staff toward fulfillment of this vision. (See full post from Cindy Romaine, Nov 14, 2011.)

1. Annual Conference (see Nov 28 blog post from Mary Ellen Bates, Past Division Cabinet Chair), with attention to collaboration across SLA’s divisions to provide more focused, refined, and learning-relevant content.
2. Professional Development (see Nov 29 blog post by Sara Tompson, Director) through improved in-person offerings and a year-round, virtual education program in partnership with schools of library and information science.
3. Richer Volunteer Experiences (see Nov 30 post by Daniel Lee, Past Director) that provide stepping stones to learning, a promotion, or achievement at work in areas such as web development, marketing, and program management.
4. Opening New Markets (see Dec 1 post from Brent Mai, President) to expand SLA’s partnerships and visibility within the broader information industry. -
5. Growth Through Diversification (see Dec 2 post from Richard Huffine, Division Cabinet Chair), aimed toward expanding SLA’s already diverse membership by reaching competitive intelligence specialists, IT development specialists, and others outside the traditional library/information field.

Join us for the LMD Professional Development Series March 2012 Webinar

Title: Mining Enterprise Assets: Another Role for Info Pros with Deb Hunt, SLA President-Elect

Date: Thursday, March 29, 2012

Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

Topic:

Folks with an MLS/MLIS have skills that can be adapted and applied in a way that may not have occurred to them: to empower organizations that are desperate to find their information assets (paper, digital, knowledge) in an information overload (or maybe information hairball!) reality. This can be a career opportunity for us — in the jobs we have now, in our next jobs, as consultants.

Presenter:

Deb Hunt is Principal of Information Edge which empowers clients to find the information they need to do their work. Information Edge specializes in enterprise content management, knowledge services, professional research, and library design and automation. Deb has been a member of SLA since 1986 and is SLA’s 2012 President-Elect. She served on the SLA Board as a Director from 2008-2010 and is the creator and team leader of SLA’s 23 Things, for which she received the SLA Presidential Award. She is a past President of the San Francisco Bay Region Chapter and a member of the Silicon Valley chapter and the Library Management, KM, and IT divisions. She is an active member in the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) and served on its Board of Directors from 2001-2003.

System Requirements:

PC-based attendees: Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees: Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/508932561

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

This webinar is limited to 100 attendees and the session will be closed to registration after that number is reached

After the limit is reached, we would want the text to change to:

The registration for the March 29 webinar, Mining Enterprise Assets: Another Role for Info Pros with Deb Hunt, SLA President-Elect, is closed, as it has exceeded the attendance limit.

We will be recording the session and the recording will be announced by LMD as soon as it is ready.

Thank you for your interest.  We are so very sorry we cannot accommodate the number of SLA members interested in this topic.

Challenges of Buying and Selling Content in 2011: A Report by Valerie Ryder

It was standing room only at the Tuesday, June 14^th session sponsored by the Leadership and Management Division, Content Buying Section at the SLA 2011 Conference that highlighted “Challenges of Buying and Selling Content in 2011”.  A panel of buyers and sellers discussed issues facing both sides of the content acquisition process in a debate style presentation that was skillfully moderated and involved the audience in the lively dialogue.

Topics and discussion ranged over a variety of “hot spots” in the content landscape.

Ensuring that terms of use regarding content are respected and abided by outsourcing firms or consultants

One solution was to establish a three-way license agreement among the content provider, the content buying organization and the outsourcing firm or consultant.  Another solution was to ensure that the contract with the outsourcing firm included actions and penalties to cover violations by the outsourcing staff.  Another issue that surfaced was the requirement to ensure that the outsourcing firm purged all data that was obtained from content providers when an outsourcing contract ended.  A related issue was to require precautions to be taken by the outsourcing firm to ensure that data obtained from content providers was used only on projects performed for the content buying organization.  Concerns were expressed that some offshore outsourcing contractors state that they can provide equivalent content, often at much lower prices, to replace the licensed content required for projects.  Content buyers as well as content providers expressed the need to ensure that the equivalent content was indeed equal to the licensed content and to determine that the source for the equivalent content was legitimate.  Some content buyers require that the outsourcing firm provide them with copies of their contracts with the content providers as proof of the content that will be used on their projects.

Vendor enhancements to their products

Content buyers took issue with the practice of added features resulting in additional cost for the product, especially when they were not involved in requesting or prioritizing the new features.  Content providers often request direct access to end-users to give them a better view of what users need.  Content providers lamented the decrease in interactions with end-users over time.  They expressed the concern that product development often misses the mark when intermediaries interpret end-user needs on features needed because they are too remote from the end-users.  Content buyers countered with the viewpoint that end-users always like new features without considering the value of the new feature or the increased price.  Panelists debated the question of who pays for the new features – the buyers or the sellers, as a cost of staying competitive in the marketplace.  The example was given that executives are high on using their iPads but does the vendor add the cost of an iPad app to an existing contract for content?  A balance must be reached between vendors wanting end-users to critique new features during development with a content buying organization’s requirement to control access to end-users by vendors.  Both sides of the debate agreed that effective product development involving end-users must be based on mutual trust and respect between buyers and sellers.

Price increases

Content buyers expressed the need to keep price increases within certain percentage range to abide by their budget constraints.  Content providers countered with the viewpoint that market demand dictates price increases.  Some content buyers are willing to consider price increases if there is more transparency in the factors used to determine the price increase.  One content provider expressed the opinion that conversations about price increases took place during the Great Recession that would never have occurred in the past.  Some content buyers suggested the approach that content providers keep their prices flat to enable content buyers to be able to renew their contracts because if they drop the content then they learn to do without that content and will not re-subscribe when budgets are increased.  Some content providers expressed their need to make up for past years of flat pricing in their revenue stream.  The discussion around usage-based pricing elicited the analogy of the “crack model” – get them hooked and then raise the price.

Usage data

Practices of certain content providers not to provide usage data were soundly criticized by content buyers.  Some content buyers include clauses in their contracts that require the provision of usage data and specify the level of data detail.  Content sellers promoted the view that buyers need to consider the value of the content used, not just the volume of usage.  Content providers also use data to determine which content to keep or discontinue so they track usage at the data element level.

Decision-making in the buying process

Content sellers lamented the change that has occurred in the last 4 – 8 years where the decision-making has shifted from the information professional to the purchasing, legal or market data group in an organization.  This shift has introduced a lack of transparency in the negotiations process as a group of people make the decision rather than one person.  Content sellers feel that this shift has driven up their costs in the selling process.  Part of their dilemma is that the sourcing person does not know their product nor its value to the content buying organization.  Content sellers must find a champion within organization because end-users can influence a decision but not make the buying commitment.

The moderated debate format ensured that many viewpoints were expressed, discussion was lively and appropriate amount of time was spent on each of the topics.

Valerie Ryder, Director of Information Strategy
Wolper Subscription Services