The Specifics Please

Summary of #KMers Twitter chat April 27, 2010.  For details, color, and to see who said what, see the full transcript.

Q1: Information Professionals are stereotypically viewed as database and newsfeed jockeys. Is that changing? Why or why not?

• My informal research says view of corporate librarians, knowledge managers., etc. has NOT changed much in the last few years
• Agree on Corporate Librarians but have seen fair amt of KM managers assume “control” of E2.0 projects
  • People seem to embrace E2.0 more readily than KM. Orgs that co-opt the E2.0 concepts see better adoption rates
• Don’t most people these days consider themselves info pros?
  • I think more people than ever consider themselves info pros. More people need to be, but lack skills and tools
  • No, most people consider themselves “info slaves” -need better info/activity mgmt tools
    • Any kind of activity tool usually needs to stem from e-mail since that is where most info workers “live”
      • agreed but activity mgmt tools have opportunity to shift user attention to new inbox (aka “ActionBox”)
      • although e-mail won’t disappear anytime soon it will be marginalized and not the dominant source of biz activity info
      • too many people are slaves to the inbox – puts blinders on what info is available
    • Information overload key role for info pros – to assist them to create environments to guide and direct info flows
• We have seen info pros begin to focus on data engineering (data into $$) & using data to forge new employee relationships
  • Stereotypes may be same but now there is a greater value-added expectation
• I see tech pain points going through the roof with lack of solid info tools what work for people as information overload is norm
  • That is incredibly important. Knowing where the pain points reside is essential
• Varies a great deal based on the organization and industry. Some KM programs are still mostly document management, but not all
• Some info pros seem to prefer clear narrow definition of role vs explaining more organizationally rich possibilities
• Wondering if organizations not people sometimes want to keep KM in the library/database mode 

Q2: Will the Information Professional role become obsolete as organizations become more social? Why or why not?

• Challenge is that “expert as guide” is not the same as “expert as expert” – need a richer skill set to guide/teach
• Most info pro tasks migrate into everyone’s job. Pros continue to find/introduce new tools/techniques
  • Don’t think the role will die but will evolve. More people will learn KM skills as part of regular work, but experts still needed
• The role will become more valuable to help others get up to speed & fix pain points
• First info profs must help orgs to become more social, then help recognize, organize and capture worthwhile info that emerges
• There will always be a need for people to lead the way, who can use KM/SM processes/tools, and who are able to help others.
• Info pro role will change, but not disappear. Information management has always been about connecting. Need process/tools to help.
• Agree on perpetual need for experts to guide others.
• Info professionals now rethinking their role and identity as ‘embedded librarians’ or ‘participative librarians’
  • I like the idea of “participative” librarians. It describes well how our work is evolving
  • I like the participative librarian too. Our librarians are now in all team kick off meetings. KM folks are not.
• The info pro roles changes because the context and capabilities of the tools change, grounded in KM, but broader coverage
• I see 4 pieces needed for effective information management: Information Professional , tools (features), user interface (ease of use), and sociality (who interacts w/ whom)
• Role diminishing due to improved content/topic search. People/expertise search next. 

Q3: What opportunities are available for Information Professionals to help their organizations become more social?

• Help others learn skills to find, hold onto, curate & share more easily
• Push vendors to improve tools & user experience
• Lead by example, conduct informal training, encourage others, change old ways (e.g., newsletter -> blog, emailing docs -> wiki)
• Understand different types of tools for uses – many orgs have wrong tools for their needs
• Info pros need to have a much better grasp of social (as humans do it with out tools) than many do now
  • Getting a better grasp of social takes work & training. Most social media experts lack it, but ethnographers & soc anthro do
• Never underestimate change management. That has been many KM project’s downfall
  • Info pros must excel at change management which presumes they’ve embraced change themselves
  • Info pros tend to be early adopters – biggest change mgmt challenge lies in empathizing with those who aren’t
  • Going back to Q1 and the Info Prof stereotype, how hard is change mgt and leading by influence? Tough to find best people
• I see info pros as expert connectors. Connecting people to people and to knowledge

Q4: What new skills are needed for current Information Professionals to remain relevant in their organizations?

• As recent job searcher, felt I needed a blog to show writing ability and thought leadership, SEO experience, exposure to social media tools
• New skills: cross context info use/sharing, human social skills, user experience (social interaction design (SxD), and tool types
• Frequent user of existing and emerging social tools, good at writing/presenting /training, searching, asking the right questions
• Top info pro skills? Communication, networking and leading by influence
• Searching, feeds, writing, listening, understanding
• Those are new skills indeed for most established Info Pros. How does one develop those skills?
  • by no longer thinking of themslves as “info pros” and more like curators/guides/facilitators
  • developing skills = practice. Developing well = focused practice.
  • getting those skills is tough as there are few that have the skills. Find someone who can guide to depth
  • lead by example. Best way is to jump in and try tools so you can speak from experience and fit to needs
• More on the changing role of the special librarian/info pro …

Q5: Are Information Professionals becoming Community Managers? Should they? Why or why not?

• A good community manager is also a good info pro, but not all info pros will be community mgrs.
• Both community leaders and members. Once again, lead by example. CoPs are key, so be visible in leading and participating in them.
• Communities need to be very fluid. They must rise and fall as needed. Tough to find right balance btwn support & control.
• I have a short webinar with ThoughtFarmer that outlines some of this in a video >

Other resource: Presentation on the changing role of info pros

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