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Musings

Revisiting the Past

by Margie Clayman

In 2006, I wrote an article based on the confluence of Library Science and Marketing that had occurred in my life. American Libraries honored me by publishing the article in their September 2006 issue. I think the article is still relevant now, five years later. Maybe more relevant, as libraries continue to lose money and those with MLIS degrees struggle to find a place to use their particular skills. Here’s the text of the article. I’d love to hear what you think about it.

The for-profit world needs us and has the cash to pay our worth
The summer before my senior year in college was a momentous one because I concocted a plan for the rest of my life. I would begin by earning some advanced degrees–a master’s in library science and another in history, specifically. Afterwards, I would find myself working at a small academic library as a reference librarian with an emphasis in the humanities. There, I would bring home a comfortable $35,000-$40,000 salary. Naturally, I’d meet my husband during my tenure, and would retire into a blissful post-employment phase during which I would pass time collecting seashells and writing the Great American Novel. It seemed like a flawless plan, all told.
Five years later, with two master’s degrees in hand, I figured that finding my dream job would be easy. By the time I was ready to apply for that job, however, the field of librarianship had changed. Library employers now tend to require five years of managerial experience or community outreach. As a new graduate, these were qualifications I did not have. I was not alone in facing these changes in the employment market. In the September 15, 2004, Library Journal, Michael Rogers reported that many new MLS graduates “unabashedly accuse LIS instructors of lying about job prospects.”
The myth, as it turned out, was that there would be a one-to-one replacement for library positions left open through retirement and other departures. The truth is, however, that once a librarian retires, his or her job is often combined with another job–or completely eliminated.
What caused these drastic changes? Funding–namely, the post-September 11, 2001, rerouting of channels through which money traveled to community and state levels. Once the federal government began asking local and state officials to divert money to new priorities such as Homeland Security, the fates of libraries, museums, and universities were automatically compromised.
Even as libraries were readjusting to the post-9/11 reality of less funding and fewer job opportunities, Silicon Valley was experiencing exponential growth. After surviving the dot-com boom and bust of the 1990s, companies like Google and Yahoo were evolving into the behemoths that we know today. Google began to change the way people thought about the Web. Instead of merely heading towards perfecting users’ search experience, Google, Yahoo, Overture, MSN, and AskJeeves were also heading towards perfecting niche marketing to users based on their search patterns.
Oddly enough, this series of events has proven more relevant to me than I ever could have predicted. I have been in the business world as a media buyer for three years now, and it seems like this was my destiny all along. The skills that I am using most are those I attained while pursuing my MLS. Indeed, I would go so far as to argue that the world of libraries and the world of business are on a crash course of convergence. The old, reliable image of a librarian with her hair in a bun, glasses on her nose, and a shushing finger to her mouth may give way to an image of a librarian wearing a power suit, providing consultation or other services in meeting rooms around the world.
The question, of course, is what kinds of consultation or other contributions a librarian could offer in those meeting rooms. To answer that question, I will explore how user services and technical services–two main categories of library work–can translate into marketing expertise and client relations that are key to business success. In doing so, I will show why it might be time for librarians to don pinstripe suits.

Customer satisfaction, by another name

User services can be summarized basically as providing the information patrons need. A reference librarian receives requests for assistance in finding almost every type of data, and a good reference librarian will show a patron how she found that data and what her search strategies were, as opposed to simply providing the answer. If this type of reference session is what first comes to mind when you think of libraries or librarians, the connection between user services and business may not be so easy to see.
To build that mental bridge, consider one of Google’s many maxims: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” The problem is that the more accessible information becomes, the harder it is to find exactly what you need. In the business world, time is always short and the need for information is always great. In such a climate, a user services librarian who has been trained to find and disseminate data in the most efficient way possible is invaluable.
A media-buying agency is an example of the type of firm in which a librarian’s training can be extremely useful. In order to stay ahead of the curve and offer new marketing suggestions to clients, the agency must remain informed about the latest publishing innovations. In reality, media planning has become a parallel to the reference desk dialogue. The only real difference is that the end goal has become successful marketing rather than securing an answer to a research question.
A reference librarian trained to keep up-to-date on resources in print and online is already capable of providing this kind of information. She also knows how best to present that data and support her suggestions.
User services skills also have very practical applications. With a readily available knowledge of information resources, a businesswoman with an MLS can efficiently research whether there is a market for a potential new product or how best to pitch a proposal to a prospective client. Researching these subjects can mean increasing profits for an existing client, or packaging a powerful marketing proposal for a new prospect. In either case, good research in the business world often translates to increased profits.

The keyword to a consumer’s heart

A second area of responsibility for which librarians are trained is technical services. In the past, technical services in a library context has covered everything from cataloging and processing material to acting as webmaster. More recently, technical services librarians have also increased their interaction with the organization of information on the internet and how to access that information. How can these skills prove useful in a business setting?
The bottom line is that technical services librari
ans know how people search, how information is organized on the Web, and how to connect searchers with the information they seek. These skills are essential, for example, in designing an online advertising campaign (as I have facilitated for my firm). The key to success is to make sure the advertiser’s message appears in front of the target audience, and that the ad delivers what that audience wants. It is no secret that if a customer’s efforts do not result in instant gratification, he or she may revert to other resources or even such traditional tools as print indexes. An MLS-holder can offer insight into what keywords are likely to lead searchers to an advertiser’s ad–the goal of signing up with the fee-based Google AdWords service. In an era of paid search, cutting down on a potential client’s frustration can mean big clicks for an advertiser, and high credibility for a marketing or advertising firm. In this environment, an MLS is as valuable as an MBA.
Google AdWords is not the only area in which a person with a library science background could prove useful in a business setting. Increasingly, SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) are becoming integral parts of the services that an advertising or marketing firm offers. After all, if a corporate website is not seen, the company cannot succeed in today’s business world. Both services are contingent upon an understanding of how people search and how search engines work. A technical services librarian’s knowledge of search engines and keywords can mean the difference between a company’s success and failure. As such, there are few types of information more valuable in the business world.
In the end, search engines, libraries, and marketing firms have the same goal: Get the patron, consumer, or searcher exactly the information he or she wants. In all cases, it is the person with a master’s in library science–the information professional–who can ensure that these goals are achieved. With training in search patterns, and information organization and access, librarians remain a largely untapped source of expertise, assistance, and knowledge.
Google cofounder Larry Page told author John Battelle that the search engine of the future would be like “a reference librarian with complete mastery of the entire corpus of human knowledge” (The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture, New York: Portfolio, 2005). If Page is right, businesses, libraries, and searchers at home are going to need help sifting through all of that data. Librarians will be needed more than ever, whether they keep their hair in buns or decide to don those pinstripe power suits.

Filed Under: Musings

#8: The secret to good health’s a diet alright…

by Margie Clayman

I’m going to plagiarize John Lennon ever so briefly and say that about 6 years ago, I went through my “fat Elvis” period. I know, of all of the things to quote from John Lennon, that’s what I choose. But it’s appropriate.

You see, around that time, I had gone through pursuing my Masters in Library and Information Science. Not a lot of calisthenics involved, but 3- hour classes where you kind of just…sat there. To stay. uh, alert, I would wander over to the student center and get various types of mochas. With whipped cream. Then I’d go home and make something like Ramen or Kraft Mac & Cheese, because my fat Elvis period was also my “Holy crap I’m poor” period. Guess I could have saved some money by not buying those mochas, but I digress.

One day, I looked in a mirror and thought, “Man, my pants are really poofy…like MC Hammer poofy.” Then I realized it was actually me that was poofy. I instantaneously felt worried, ashamed, embarrassed, and otherwise just plain bad.

Since that time, I’ve been working hard to lose all of those mochas. I’ve done a lot of different things, including Yoga, Pilates, biking, and most recently, my Wii EA Sports Active game (awesome!). And of course, I’ve changed my diet drastically to the point where I’m now about 75% vegetarian (I only eat meat on occasion when I go out or visit someone…haven’t purchased meat to cook for about 3 months now).

It occurred to me today though that being healthy, losing weight, and all of that jazz is really all about one thing. Lying to yourself.

Dr. Phil, Jillian Michaels, and Oprah will never say this or condone this, but it’s really true. Here are some examples.

You have to tell yourself on a regular basis that really, with the limited free time that you have, you’d much rather work up a sweat and get sore and stinky. Watching TV with a glass of wine or a cup of tea is just way too sedentary for you.

You have to tell yourself that a veggie patty with low-fat mayo and some baked chips is just as satisfying as a Wendy’s burger, fries, and a Frosty.

You have to tell yourself that if you count that walk to get the mail as your daily exercise you’ll just feel bad about yourself when you go to bed that night (this is a wammy of a lie).

I was thinking of this diet of lies this morning when I went to the grocery store. There was a LOT of ice cream on sale, and I do like to have a tiny bowl of ice cream as the weather starts to get warm. Some of my faves were on sale too. Mint Chocolate Chip. Moose Tracks. I’m drooling here as I type.

I did not buy any ice cream.

No, instead I left the freezer aisle and went to the dairy aisle. I got 2 containers of Yoplait Whips key lime pie, 2 containers of Yoplait Whips Lemon Burst, and 2 containers of Yoplait Whips Chocolate Mousse. And I told myself that these would taste just as cool as ice cream. I told myself they would taste just as good as that Starbucks coffee ice cream with almonds or as good as my Rocky Road.

Is any of this true? I have to type here that it is, or will be, because this is one of the carefully constructed lies that will help me take my health one more notch up the ladder. Cuz while I’ve made an awful lot of progress and while I’m almost to that goal weight, I’m just not quite there, and ice cream won’t push me along.

Everyone knows that lying is really the key to health, because everyone who makes this decision in life ends up becoming an evangelist about it. Don’t be offended. It’s not about making you feel bad for eating that fantastic looking Chik-Filet sandwich. It’s really because that person REALLY REALLY wants one of those, errr, no they don’t because they told themselves that breaded tofu will taste just as crunchy.

Try it out. Tell yourself just one white lie. It’s a real domino effect. And hey, no one will be able to call you a “big fat” liar. Just an obnoxious one.

Filed Under: Musings

Yeah, so, I’m repurposing my blog

by Margie Clayman

And I’m starting with a challenge.

Inspired by the great Ed Hamell (aka Hamell on Trial), who challenged himself to write a song a day for days and days, I’m challenging myself, and I guess you too, to write a blog a day for the next 100 days. It’s kind of like the 30-day challenge on Wii Fit or Wii Sports Active. Mind calisthenics. No rules, except that it has to be a real writing effort. And now, this does not count for my number 1. This is just my warm-up round 🙂

Will you play?

Filed Under: Musings

Tweet tweet to my face

by Margie Clayman

Hi All,

I’ve started two different things for Homespun Helpers.

First, I’ve started a Facebook account for Homespun Helpers. We got a group going on Facebook but now that groups are way buried on people’s pages…it just doesn’t seem to be getting a whole lot of action. My hope is that by friending “Homespun” on Facebook, people in the group will also start to get to know each other a bit better and build some acquaintances that way.

I’ve also started a Twitter account. In addition to the occasional update on Homespun Helpers, I’m hoping to use this account to keep people posted on groups that need/want crafted items and links to info. @homespunhelpers is where to find me. Come join the fun! 🙂

Filed Under: Musings

Resolution time!

by Margie Clayman

So I guess it’s worthwhile to post resolutions, just so you can look back and say, “Yep…I did that.” Let’s see how I did in 2008 first.

I didn’t do any fun traveling but I did go to Chicago for business, so that was alright I guess.

I am somewhat driving on the interstate now, every day to and from work. Step by step.

I did not move but that is in part because my rent didn’t increase in price as astronomically as I thought it was going to.

I have a new computer thanks to a family friend offering me an AWESOME deal.

Didn’t do quite as well on the exercise regimen over the Summer but I’m getting back into it. I’m still not back to my Fat Elvis period, so that’s good.

In 2009, I have two primary goals. One is to take a really real vacation. Not work related, no business involved. Just a straight-out vacation that does not involve cleaning my apartment.

I’d also like to complete my goal of making charity items for causes in all 50 states. I’m finding that perhaps the hardest part is finding a viable cause in all 50 states! Who woulda thunk?

Ideally, I’d like to revamp my apartment. Get new furniture and what-not. I still have a lot of hand-me-downs from when I first moved, and I love the furniture I have, but I’d like to make my home filled with my actual stuff now 🙂

I’d like to conquer knitting socks with heels. I’m close, or at least I was. I haven’t tried in awhile!

I’d like my deck garden to be even better this year. I am thinking about buying seeds online in a few weeks instead of relying on local plant places, which tend to offer all of the same stuff for way a lot of moneh.

I need to learn to make things for myself. The one time I tried to make myself a scarf it came out horribly! I want to make myself some shawls and maybe some stitching to put on my walls.

Hmm, this is kind of adding up, isn’t it? 🙂

Filed Under: Musings

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