How have librarians evolved from a traditional role of organizing information into strategic partners in decision support for executive management?
SLA President-Elect Jill Strand will show how the information profession has evolved in recent years, from inward-looking technical experts to externally-focused, client-centric enablers. She will trace this evolution across findings from the recent surveys and reports from IFLA, and partner studies from SLA and the Financial Times as well as special libraries associations in Australia. Jill will identify the unique skill sets that librarians and knowledge professionals bring to their organizations and how to showcase that value to internal and external decision makers.
Learning objectives:
- Gain an understanding of industry trends and key competencies needed to succeed
- Articulate our unique skill sets in a compelling way
- Think strategically and proactively about improving the value we offer to our organizations
Jill Strand has nearly 20 years of experience in delivering knowledge to help people succeed in the boardroom and court room. She has worked in a variety of areas (non-profit, government, corporate and law) and roles (development, community relations, marketing and sales, research and information management). Jill has always been passionate about the wealth of experience offered by librarians and information professionals and as such has looked for ways to promote the profession.
Jill currently serves as director of the Knowledge Management Library at Maslon Edelman Borman Brand LLP in Minneapolis where she and her staff deliver knowledge resources and services which help the firm’s attorneys and staff excel at the practice of law as well as the business of law. Jill earned her MLIS from Dominican University and her B.S. in Journalism from the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University. Jill was named an SLA Fellow in 2010 and now serves on the Board of Special Libraries Association as President-Elect.