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

Content Buying – Content Aggregation or Disaggregation: A Report by Valerie Ryder

The popular topic of “Content Buying: Content Aggregation or Disaggregation” was debated at the Monday June 13^th session sponsored by the Leadership and Management Division, Content Buying Section at the SLA 2011 Conference.  A panel of publishers and content buyers looked at the future of content aggregation, trends in disaggregation and how these issues affect purchasing decisions and usability of information.

For purposes of discussion, the terms were defined as Aggregated Content being available on multiple vendors and Disaggregated Content being available only on one vendor platform.

Some industry trends were presented as an initial starting point for the discussion:

• Pendulum has swung towards exclusivity in recent years.
• 400 titles have moved into some degree of exclusivity in the past 5 years; 50% of those have moved to a single vendor situation.
• In 90% of the past 25 deals, it was the publisher that sought out the exclusive deal.

Publishers expressed the following reasons for seeking exclusivity for their content:

• # 1 Reason: only way to continue publishing that content was to go exclusive
• # 2 Reason: publisher wanted additional features for content and to accomplish that functionality they needed to be exclusive or semi-exclusive.
• Costs of digitizing content have not been recouped as quickly as anticipated, so they needed to increase revenue
• Wanting to “own the last mile” in the delivery chain to the end-user

Content buyers expressed the following issues with the move to exclusivity:

• Price increases that result from exclusive source for content
• Content that is only offered as part of a bundle
• More licenses to read and to determine what are the terms and restrictions on use of content
• Lack of notification when content is removed or moved to a new provider
• Some content is used in conjunction with other content from another provider so users want multiple content sources to be available on the same platform.

The discussion was congenial and respectful despite the strong feelings on both sides of the question.  This open dialogue resulted in a better understanding of the motivations for and impact resulting from the decision to move to disaggregated content.

Valerie Ryder, Director of Information Strategy
Wolper Subscription Services

Dee Magnoni, LMD Chair and Ned Potter, ECCA Winner (Photo by: Jim Tchobanoff)

This year the Leadership & Management Division (LMD) helped sponsor Ned Potter, a winner of the SLA Europe’s Early Career Conference Award (ECCA.)  Ned is an Academic Liaison Librarian at the University of York in the UK and was recently named a 2011 Movers and Shakers by Library Journal.  LJs profile of  Ned gives a fascinating look at a person who is very “inspiring, confident, clear-thinking, and worth listening to.”  Ned created a great video of his personal impressions of the SLA Conference and LMD.

The Leadership & Management Division has co-sponsored a deserving recipient of the SLA Europe’s ECCA beginning in 2009.  Previous award winners include:

2010 Chris Rhodes

2009 Laura Woods

Creating Your Future the Peter Drucker Way: A Report by Ethel Salonen

Wednesday, 15 June 2011; 10:00 AM – 1:30 AM, EST

Speaker: Bruce Rosenstein, www.brucerosenstein.com

Worked for USA Today for 21 years as a librarian/researcher until December 2008

Beginning in 1996 he wrote about business and management books for the newspaper’s Money section

Presentation revolved around Bruce’s new book: Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life, Published by Berett-Koehler, August 1, 2009. The book applies the principles of Drucker, whom many consider to be the “father of modern management,” to individual self-development, by encouraging the pursuit of a more multidimensional life. It is based on more than 20 years of research into Drucker’s life and thought, including several interviews with him. Click here to learn more about the book.

His website show’s Bruce’s video interview with Peter Drucker on April 11, 2005, 7 months to the day before he died at the age of 95. Some observations from the video:

• Achievement focused and multidimensional life is what you should achieve
• There is still low productivity in knowledge workers but he sees more productivity than ever before.
• We still have an overload of data…still figuring out how to transform this into information.
• Advice to young knowledge workers – go to work..don’t emphasize attending a  school such as a MBA program. A 22 year old MBA is a waste. Work for 10-15 years, be successful, and then maybe go for a MBA.
• Teaching will be radically different in 30-50 years

His presentation focused on these major themes that are presented in his workshops:

• How to apply Drucker’s principles for self-development in your personal and professional life
• How to construct a complete, balanced life plan based on Drucker’s principles
• How to create your future through developing your core competencies, and pursuing parallel/second careers
• How to live a more multidimensional life by interacting with diverse people and varied organizations
• How to incorporate lifelong learning and teaching into even the busiest lives
• How to increase your sense of personal meaning and satisfaction through social entrepreneurship, volunteerism, mentorship and servant leadership

        Drucker quote, from Management: Revised Edition:

• “The purpose of the work on making the future is not to decide what should be done tomorrow, but what should be done today to have a tomorrow.”
• He also advised to identify and take advantage of “the future that has already happened.” What are the current trends that affect your professional and personal life, and what are the implications for the future? What can you start doing right now to remain relevant in your workplace and in the profession?

Comments from Bruce Rosenstein

• Focus on the future, not the past – stop defending the past
• What can you do to remain relevant in the various worlds you live in?
• Consider second careers in teaching, writing, art and music.
• Build continuous lifelong learning, exploring and teaching.
• Reinvent yourself, people change, different person, needs, abilities and perspectives.  Reinvent your life and your career
• Social entrepreneurship – consider choices and changes for the second half of your life – over or under 40
• Create and maintain your total life list. What initiative from this list is first?
• Don’t expect everything to happen at once.

Karen J. Switt Leadership Award – 2011 Recipient – Patricia Cia

Presented at the LMD Annual Business Meeting & Tea, June 13, 2011 in Philadelphia

Dee Magnoni, LMD Chair with Patricia Cia. Photo by Jim Tchobanoff

As Co-Chairs of the Awards Committee for the Leadership & Management Division of Special Libraries Association, we are delighted to announce that Patricia Cia has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the Karen J. Switt Leadership Award.

Each year, the Leadership & Management Division honors a member who has shown outstanding leadership, served as a role model for others, and contributed significantly to SLA.  In 1999, the award was named in memory of Karen J. Switt, a much-admired and much-missed LMD member.

Those who have had the pleasure of working with Patricia appreciate her knowledge, dedication and reliability. She embodies the ideal described in the SLA “Competencies of an Information Professional.” Her leadership, technical skills, and pioneering of new technologies have benefited LMD and its members.

Patricia has exemplified the leadership qualities treasured in Karen J. Switt recipients. She has been very active in SLA as Chapter Cabinet Chair on the SLA Board of Directors, Leadership & Management Director, in various positions on the SLA Western Canada Board, and participated on at least one SLA committee, task force, advisory council, and the SLA Centennial Commission. Patricia was awarded SLA Fellow in 2007.

The Division wishes to thank C. Berger and Prenax Basch for their generous sponsorship of the award.

Stephen Kochoff and Carol Ginsburg , Awards Committee Co-Chairs
Leadership & Management Division, Special Libraries Association

Alternative Use of the Library Degree: A report by Ethel Salonen

Tuesday, 14 June 2011; 2:00PM – 3:30PM EST

Speakers: Kim Dority, GK Dority & Associates Inc.: Jean Fisher, Vantage Information Services; George Plosker, IEEE; Bethan Ruddock, University of Manchester

Sponsored by:   IEEE Xplore Digital Library

Moderator:  Ruth Wolfish, Client Services Manager, IEEE

Purpose of the program is to hear career agility stories using information professional skill sets

Bethan Ruddick – University of Manchester, UK

• She is the content development officer for the online UK catalog
• Bethan has used her expertise and skills (flexibility, self-starter, technical skills, an open mind, willingness to communicate) to have had different and successful career paths.
• It is important to be involved in the profession outside of the workplace. Some of her outside networks include SLA Europe, LIS New Professionals Network, and Voices for the Library, and CILIP. She is the editor of the 2012 LIS New Professionals Toolkit.
• Things she has learned:
  • Sharing  your experiences is vital for professional generosity
  • She has not experienced major failure – yet
  • Sharing includes blogging, tweeting, reading and learning, and advocating for the profession
  • Who will succeed? Professionals with an open mind; who go beyond the traditional way of doing business;  who know when to say yes or no; and those who continue to be engaged information professionals.

Jean Fisher – Vantage Information Services

• Has worked at Lexis Nexis, QVC, and other organizations
• She measures success as people who:
  •  Accept challenges; live with uncertainty; are quick to learn; and not afraid of change.
  • One needs to be flexible and to change hats often
  • Find the best solution within budgets issues arise
  • Possess a positive attitude
• Technical skills are also important. Working on the organization’s intranet/portal is a great way of learning current information software. Partner with your IT colleagues and help them develop the sources you need. If possible, knowledge of current computing solutions is vital. She has worked for a number of diverse organizations and is familiar with different service offerings.
• The future:
  • To succeed you must include public speaking and publishing as part of your repertoire
  • Work on your branding
  • Increase or begin networking
  • Diversify your service offerings
  • Will libraries exist in the future?
    • Public – yes
    • Corporate Info Centers – virtual and embedded staff
    • Academic – will become international and interdisciplinary

George Plosker – IEEE Customer Services Manager

• To be successful you must be:
  • Outgoing, approachable, responsive, and communicate well
  • Your personality needs to be flexible, open to change, possess a positive attitude, outgoing, inspire trust/confidence, be curious and a risk taker
  • Diplomatic and know how to work with diverse groups
  • Show the ability to facilitate collaboration
  • Confident about your core skills
  • Able to shorten your learning curves
• You need up-to-date technical skills
  • Understand all levels of search interfaces and data structure
  • Possess a broad knowledge of web apps and tools
  • Understand the linked nature of web and user expectations
  • Provide detailed specific requirements to the technical teams
  • Know how to competently use your organizations hardware
• Different approaches at work
  • Learn more about the business side more quickly
  • Say yes to a project that offers opportunities
  • Leave the reference desk behind
  • Work with non-library groups
  • Network, Network, Network
• Trends
  • More change is coming
  • More outreach and targeted communications
  • More segmentation analysis
  • More proactive at work and with customers
  • Services are more important than your collection
  • Keep speaking, networking, and constantly innovate
  • Demonstrate your relevance with metrics that make sense to your management
  • Take risks
  • Management will understand your value the more you work with them

Kim Doherty – Dority & Associates, Inc.

• Discussed trends and thoughts
  • LIS career opportunities – don’t leave out social media knowledge and use as part of your portfolio
  • Support each other and share information
  • We are all self-employed.  Manage your career as a business.
  • Change is always heading our way
  • The investments you make in yourself will define your career opportunities
  • Not perfection but resilient – What makes you different?
  • Be prepared to land on your feet while the ground is still shaking.
• Key points
  • Flexibility
  • Learning on demand
  • Have a broad view of your skill sets
  • Think just in time and not just in case
  • Think need-to-have and not nice-to-have
  • Learn what tasks will have the highest return on investment
  • Jobs come through person connections
  • Have an exit strategy

The LMD Marketing Section Virtual Swap-n-Shop has happened physically – now it’s time for it to happen virtually!

The Swap-n-Shop was part of the LMD breakfast in Philly, along with the fantastic panel of Jane Dysart, Rebecca Jones and Stephen Abram, who discussed ‘Executing alignment and marketing yourself’.  We know the panel was brilliant, and you might not have had all the time you wanted to browse the Swap-n-Shop entries – but don’t worry! We’re posting all the submissions here, for you to admire, browse and play with to your heart’s content.

Screenshot from the UCSD Science & Engineering Tour

First up we’ve got a couple of YouTube videos – for NC LIVE, the North Carolina statewide online library service (submitted by Jill Robinson Morris) and the UCSD Science & Engineering library tour (submitted by SuHui Ho).  SuHui explains that the tour was developed to ‘demonstrate that we offer friendly, dependable, innovative staff, technology-advanced services, and a diversified space’.

Lesley Farmer submitted materials for two projects she’s been working on. First off, a poster and brochure to promote an IFLA professional report on ‘using research to promote literacy and reading in libraries: guidelines for librarians‘.  Lesley has also developed the K12 Digital Citizenship wiki, which has inspired a whole range of badges and other merchandise bearing the ‘Digital Citizen’ logo!

IEEE offer Xplore tutorials – 11 multi-language tutorials with in-depth captions and course notes in multiple languages. Submitter Ruth Wolfish explains that they are also easily understood by visibly or hearing impaired users.

Deborah Balsamo offered us a whole host of great material from the EPA National Library Network’s webinar-based National Training Program.  There’s a great overview of their offerings, and an explanation of the program.  There’s also a sample training form; examples of how they market their training on their listserv and on users’ desktops; and an example class handout.  We get a sneak peek inside their webinars with shots of the confirmation and thank you screens. Deborah also shared the survey they’re using to measure their effectiveness, and some of the feedback they’ve had.

We’d like to thank all of our contributors for sharing this wonderful material with us!  Want to get involved? Watch this space for news of our next Virtual Swap-n-Shop!  We’d love to feature your material.

A quick snapshot of LMD sponsored or co-sponsored sessions. Includes General Sessions and no-conflict time at INFO-EXPO. Includes a printable 1-page PDF: LMD SLA 2011 Snapshot. We also have full descriptions of LMD sessions

Thank you to IT Division for the idea!

- Patricia

LMD Sessions in Philadelphia – June 12-15, 2011

The SLA Conference Preview Program and Scheduler are online. Below are the LMD sponsored sessions with a few details. Room numbers for guidance only. We also have a snapshot grid of LMD Sessions
Printable, LMD-2011 SLA Annual Conference (PDF, 2 p.)

Sunday, June 12 (1) — Monday, June 13 (5) – Tuesday, June 14 (3) — Wednesday, June 15 (3)

Annual Business Meeting — Consulting Section — Content Buying Section 1, 2, 3 — Marketing Section — Spotlight — Need2Know

Sunday, June 12

8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. LMD Open House, Co-sponsored with KM
Location: Marriott Salon CD
Vendor Partner: Sage Publications

Monday, June 13

7:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. Transitioning from the Library to an Independent Information Professional
Breakfast: $25 for members – Ticketed event
Location: Conference Center 113A
Had it with “pre-meeting meetings”? Want to expand your professional horizon by going independent? This breakfast session with Mary Ellen Bates will look at the questions to ask yourself as you prepare to “pack your parachute” go independent, what you need to do first, and the perils, pitfalls and immense satisfaction that can come with owning your own business.
Speaker : Mary Ellen Bates
Sponsors: Consulting Section, LMD ; Pharma Division
Vendor Partner: Sage Publications

10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Creating Client Luv: What Phenomenal Results Look Like
Location: Conference Center 105B
We info pros live immersed in information, and forget that most of our clients and users want less information, not more. This practical session will offer ideas on how to format research results so that they can be easily taken in and acted upon. Mary Ellen Bates takes “Less is More” to the extreme here; find out how to make your research results clear enough to tweet.
Speaker: Mary Ellen Bates
Moderator: Betty Jo Hibberd
Cosponsors: Solo, KM
Vendor Partner: ProQuest Dialog

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Annual Business Meeting & Afternoon Tea
Afternoon Tea: $25 members – Ticketed event
Location: Conference Center 107B
Vendor Partner: Prenax-Basch Subscriptions, Inc.

4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Content Buying: Content Aggregation or Disaggregation – What’s the future?
A panel of publishers will look at the future of content aggregation, trends in disaggregation and the value derived by vendors. A panel of content buyers will discuss how these issues affect purchase decisions, usability, their perspective on aggregation/disaggregation. A friendly debate to help enlighten everyone.
Moderator: Randall Marcinko
Sponsors: Content Buying Section, LMD (Barbara Hirsh & Stephanie Schubert, co-chairs)
Vendor Partners: Dow Jones & Company

4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Leveraging Diversity and Inclusion for Success
Location: Conference Center 110AB
Rick Schroder will address how 21^st century organizations can either impede or improve their success based on their ability to embrace diversity and create an inclusive culture. Participants will have the opportunity to join a 30 minute roundtable discussion about specific opportunities or challenges facing knowledge & information professionals in diverse organizations.
Speaker: Rick Schroder
Moderator: Eric Schwarz, Dow Jones & Co., DLDP Committee Chair
Co-Sponsors: Diversity & Leadership Development Program, B&F, Social Science
Vendor Partners: EBSCO Information Services, ProQuest Dialog

Tuesday, June 14

8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. LMD Marketing Section Breakfast : Executing Alignment and Marketing Yourself
Breakfast: $10 Members – Ticketed event
Location: Conference Center 113A
LMD Marketing Section Breakfast will feature a panel discussion on branding and self marketing. Virtual Swap-n-Shop submissions also on display.
Speakers: Stephen Abram, Jane Dysart, Rebecca Jones
Moderated by Barbie Keiser and Bethan Ruddock co-chairs, Marketing Section Sponsor: Marketing Section, LMD
Vendor Partner: Elsevier

10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Content Buying Hot Topics 2011: Challenges of Buying and Selling Content in 2011 – Need to Know Session
Location: Marriott Salon L
A panel of buyers and sellers will discuss recent issues faced by both sides of the content acquisition process. Possible topics to be discussed are: mobile access, aggregation/ disaggregation, point of consumption integration, paying for new vendor software development, content access for off-shored/outsourced staff, etc.
Moderated by Barbara Hirsh & Stephanie Schubert, co-chairs, .
Sponsor: Content Buying Section, LMD
Vendor Partner: Dow Jones & Company & Freepint

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Alternative Use of the Library Degree
Location: Conference Center 105B
Come join us to hear about Librarians that are using their degrees in non-traditional roles. What led them to their present position? What skills are important? In hindsight, what worked and what do they wish they did differently? What trends and changes do they see for the future? What will they continue to do in order to succeed? A panel discussion.
Panelists: George Plosker, IEEE Client Services Manager; Jean Fisher, Principal, Vantage Information Services; Kim Dority, Dority & Associates, Inc. ; Bethan Ruddock, SLA Rising Star 2010, Content Development Officer for Library and Archival Services, University of Manchester
Moderator: Ruth Wolfish, IEEE
Cosponsor: Taxonomy Division
Vendor Partner: IEEE

9:00 pm to Midnight – IT & LMD Dance Party
Locaton: Marriott Salon E
Again the Leadership & Management Division is co-sponsoring this event. Take a break and dance off your energy!

Wednesday, June 15

8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. LMD Content Buying Section Breakfast Roundtable
Breakfast: $5 members – Ticketed Event
Location: Conference Center 107B
Annual Content Buying Section of LMD roundtable breakfast. Topics include: Summary and review of what was learned during the two Content Buying Programs at SLA 2011 ;Group discussion on what are the content buying challenges for 2011-2012.
Sponsor: Content Buying Section, LMD
Vendor Partner: BST America

10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Creating Your Future the Peter Drucker Way – Spotlight Session
Location: Conference Center Ballroom AB
Bruce Rosenstein, author of Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life, will guide conference participants to creating a bright future by actions that can be taken immediately:

• Investigating and planning second careers and parallel careers
• Teaching and lifelong learning
• Mentoring
• Exploring opportunities for social entrepreneurship
• Creating and maintaining your Total Life List

A related theme is staying relevant throughout life. What can you do to remain relevant in the workplace, the profession and the various worlds you live in? [Bruce will also screen his 21 minute Drucker interview DVD, recorded in Claremont, CA seven months to the day before Drucker died in 2005 at 95.]
Moderator: Dee Magnoni, LMD Chair
Speaker: Bruce Rosenstein
Cosponsors: B&F, KM, News

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lean Six Sigma (LSS): Coming Soon to a Library Near You
Location: Conference Center 203A
Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in 1981. It currently enjoys widespread application in many sectors. Originally designed for a manufacturing environment it is being used more and more in the service industries. A number of libraries in corporate, public and academic organizations are being asked to participate in LSS projects to reduce costs, improve services and improve wait times.

This session will provide you with an introduction and overview to the Lean Six Sigma process. You will learn what DMAIC, Lean Six Sigma, 6σ, and Green Belt mean. You will leave with a basic understanding of what Lean Six Sigma is and what it is not, where it can be used, and what you can expect if a LSS program is started in your organization.

Speakers: Carolyne Darimont, ArcelorMittal Dofasco; Melanie Browne, Maple Leaf Foods
Cosponsor: Solo (Lead)