tfpl blog

Audits are back!

Information and knowledge audits have never entirely gone away but audit work's been rather quiet for a year or two.  Suddenly, over the past few weeks clients are talking audit and looking for training in how to audit, and we're seeing a range of reasons for it:

1.    working leaner and quicker following loss of staff or market
2.    restructuring (merging, downsizing) in these difficult times
3.    responding to demands for greater information security and governance 
4.    increased return from information assets
5.    preparation for EDRMS and, in particular, for SharePoint projects

Now, audits come in all shapes and sizes and we see organisations looking to audit knowledge, records, published and internal information, and datasets.  Some clients want a high-level review to start off a strategy project, others want a strategic health check while some are planning in-depth cupboard by cupboard surveys. Hardcopy formats are still much in evidence but digital content is now in scope as organisations look to get to grips with what sits in their file shares.

Whether you’re looking for cost saving from better management of space and IT resources or facing the loss of critical knowledge through staff change, audits allow organisations to redress the balance and identify what they need to do differently to adapt to new working environments.

Audit is the new black.  Haute couture and prêt à porter; bespoke and off-the-peg.

John Davies
Senior Consultant

Training Discussion Corner - July

At the end of our training schedule before the start of the summer holidays we had some interesting topics discussed of note particularly were the following:

“In our Information Governance course run by records management guru, Philip Jones, the key focus was the ever expanding legislative framework within which all public authorities have to work. Philip is quite clear that nothing ever stands still and that “this is particularly challenging when there are tensions between different pieces of legislation in this area e.g. between data protection and freedom of information.” He continues to emphasise the increasing role of records management as the critical foundation to the successful delivery of any organisation’s responsiveness to this legislative framework.  Philip works with course delegates to scope and design an information management programme that embodies all these different legislative requirements as part of its objectives.”

Paul Pedley's course Digital Licensing offers a guide through the 'legalese'.  The course looked at the typical layout of licence agreements for electronic products. It was an opportunity for sharing knowledge and experience of negotiating agreements, including lessons learnt from practical examples; what to watch out for; and tips and tricks on negotiating a deal that best suits the organisation. Paul advised that one point was not to focus exclusively on cost as the vendor may have limited room for manoeuvre. Thinking laterally about whether there might be other ways of getting better value from the deal such as free training, free documentation, access to another module, or setting up a few extra userids was a better solution.

The training discussion corner will be back in September, but if you have had similar experiences or have any comments on the above we would be keen to hear from you.

Plan for your holiday with a knowledge transfer

I have spent a frustrating day talking (or should I say chasing) two ‘service’ organisations for information about work/services being provided. Guess what these two organisations have in common, other than the pleasure of me as a customer? The thing they have in common is that they have key members of staff on holiday. 

“Shock”, “Horror”, “What ever next” I hear you say – is this man about to suggest that loyal and hard working employees should not be allowed a holiday?  Of course not, but what does annoy me is that the knowledge required to provide me with the information about the work/services I have commissioned resides in the heads of those on leave, and that little thought has been given to transferring this knowledge to those left ‘holding the fort’. As result, I am frustrated by the lack of knowledge forthcoming from these organisations and those left ‘holding the fort’ are frustrated about not being able to deal answer my questions. It would appear that the only person up in the deal at this point is the person on leave – but now doubt that situation will change when he/she returns and gets an earful from colleagues. 

Whilst many organisations do pay attention to knowledge transfer when someone is leaving or retiring, how many have simple knowledge sharing and transfer techniques in place to cover short periods of absence or holidays? For those who do not there is a quick remedy, check out TFPL’s knowledge transfer and knowledge harvesting consultancy services and seek professional advice and guidance now – before it’s too late as another precious (and hard to come by) customer is lost forever.

 

Ian Wooler      
Senior Associate Consultant

Information Literacy - old subject, new outlooks

We are very pleased to welcome Elisabeth Goodman to the team of consultant/trainers who deliver training at TFPL.  Elisabeth has over 20 years' scientific information management and business consulting experience in Pharmaceutical R&D. Her focus is on enhancing team effectiveness, with an emphasis on process improvement, knowledge management and collaborative working, underpinned by sound project and change management. She takes a holistic view of situations, and uses her portfolio of approaches to advise on and facilitate strategic and tactical ways forward.  With a Masters in Information Science she is also qualified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt in process improvement.  She has a real passion for information literacy and has the following comments on the subject, (we would also be keen to hear your comments and thoughts):

 

Information Literacy, also sometimes referred to as Research Skills, is nothing new.  It has been described in the literature since 1974, with the American Library Association first defining it in 1989.  CILIP has a section on Information Literacy on its web site, and there is a dedicated Information Literacy website.

 

Academic institutions have been particularly active in developing Information Literacy courses for their students, whilst business workplaces have been variably so.  But how successful have we actually been in creating an Information Literate research and working community?

 

Sources of information continue to proliferate.  Search engines and feeds make it increasingly easy to locate information.  But are people accessing the right information for their needs?  Are they taking the time to evaluate it?  Do they really have the skills to be effective knowledge workers?  Do we have the right resources to guide them, and are we promoting these resources effectively?

From tapes to MP3s and beyond....

TFPL associate and trainer David Bowen comments on the topical issue of digital preservation:

Is inertia good for information?  No.  Resistance to change, the tendency of organisations or individuals to keep dong the same things in the same ways, is fatal to your information management and to your information assets.  Change is going to happen whether we like it or not, and whether we plan for it or not:  people will retire or move on;  computers will be upgraded or replaced;  software will be upgraded, replaced, or just disappear;  and new technologies (like Flickr, Twitter, Blackberries, Google Wave) will appear and be used in your organisation or industry. 
 
Digital Preservation, asking the question "Will we still be able to read (use, repurpose) this digital asset in 5 years, or 50 years?", is part of the solution.  So avoid inertia and the rapid, invisible loss of your digital assets.  Embark on the digital preservation roller-coaster:  it is easy to get started;  the ride will be exhilarating;  and you'll have all your assets at the end of it!

David Bowen, who specialises in this area has worked with computers since 1968, and has been concerned with preserving, sharing and using computerized data since 1972. He was the Architect on the Digital Preservation Testbed (a seminal digital preservation initiative of the government of the Netherlands) and has been working in Information Management and Digital Preservation with clients in industry and government since 1994.  He has recently developed a training course in the practical aspects of Digital Preservation for us.

Claire Valentine

Training and Events Officer

Is the glass half full or is it half empty?

Loading up a search engine today I stumbled across an article with the title “10 safest jobs in a recession” .  The title alone was enough to catch my interest – are there any safe jobs in a recession these days?  Reading through the article it highlighted that UK unemployment has hit its highest mark in over a decade (2.38 million people).  This cannot be surprising news to anyone – I think most people have been affected directly or through friends, family or colleagues by the unstable economy.

So what are the safe jobs/sectors in which to work?  The article highlighted roles in Education, Health and Social Care, Internal Audit, Insurance, Energy and IT.  I wouldn’t disagree with this but the story does have a slightly different focus when you look specifically at Knowledge and Information Management roles.  

Over the past few months TFPL have seen an improvement in our market compared to the sluggish months of January and February but there are still lots of people applying for seemingly fewer opportunities.  People I am speaking with on a daily basis are having to face up to the harsh reality that despite solid experience and a strong breadth of skills and experience it can take longer than they hoped to find their next role.  As we approach the summer inevitably some are having to make the decisions to re-apply their skills outside of the sector.  

What does the future look like for someone looking for work?  On a daily basis I struggle with this, some weeks look more optimistic than others and as a Recruiter finding the balance between “glass half empty/glass half full” can be a challenge.  I do know that the skills and competencies I come across daily are still valued by organisations, they play an important part in helping organisations grow (both financially and strategically) and there will always be a need for them.  

My advice to those looking for work is stick with it, utilise your situation as a time to try something different, value your network and continue to build and develop it, be flexible and stay positive.  The worst is behind us.

Luisa Jefford
Director of Recruitment

Libraries Change Lives Awards

I was fortunate to be invited to the "CILIP Libraries Change Lives Award" luncheon at the Umbrella Conference (15 July).  It was one of the most memorable events that I have attended this year.  The three finalists:

1. Across the Board: Autism support for families - Leeds Library and information Service
2. The Edinburgh Reading Champion Project - Edinburgh City Council and
3. Six Book Challenge - The Reading Agency in association with Costa Coffee

were exceptional and the people involved were inspirational and so passionate about their projects.  I really can’t articulate how much these projects mean to the individuals they support so please watch the short videos about the the three projects and make your own minds up.

The winning entry was Across the Board: Autism support for families who were presented with a £5,000 prize by Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate 1999-2009 and chair of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.  Andrew read a poem which he wrote when he was 20 years old and had just visited Anne Frank’s house.  The whole event was incredibly moving.  Further information about the finalists and the awards is available on CILIP’s website.

Darron Chapman
Managing Director

Connect: Fit for purpose?

Knowledge & Information Management (KIM) strategies that make a difference

Salutations! Just posting to tell you about Tuesday night.  We had the pleasure of hosting another highly successful and enjoyable TFPL Connect networking event. Our delegates and panel of speakers represented a broad range of organisations from the private, public and third sectors with a shared interest in knowledge management and its evolution in the current political and economic climate.

You can follow a Twitter feed from the event under the hashtag #kimtfpl or check my page for more (@shooreshian)! 

We kicked off with three presentations on how KIM strategy is being aligned in HM Treasury, PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Social Enterprise Coalition.  As tradition has it, we then broke off for networking, drinks and snacks (strictly prescribed in that order by our chairman, Ian Wooler!).

Jacqueline Rees - Head of Knowledge Management - HM Treasury

Jacky introduced her presentation by describing the structure of KM as a function within the Treasury. She heads a central KM department, with a knowledge manager placed in each of the five directorates.  There are ’knowledge champions' attached to each department (or team) at operational level.

The Treasury's KIM vision:

To empower staff to perform effectively in their roles, through capturing and sharing the right knowledge to the right people at the right time in the right format to enable HMT to fulfil its objective to be a strong, respected and professional Economics and Finance ministry.

Jacky has overseen the alignment of KM within corporate and directorate strategies at the Treasury, all of which have a KM enabled business plan.  The Treasury's senior management is thoroughly convinced of the virtues of KM: the Permanent Secretary is one of the departmental champions and supported the formalisation of the discipline to a function in 2006.

Touching on the economic crisis, Jacky told us how the recession has raised the stakes in KM at the Treasury placing emphasis on doing it right and getting it right first time, both at a strategic and a tactical level. 

Jacky went on to describe areas of KM success at the Treasury including:

• An awareness of KM as an effective tool amongst staff at all levels

• A solid evolution of KM in her organisation from ambiguity to its solid embedding within the Treasury
  
• Effective embedding of techniques such as knowledge harvesting

Some of the key KM challenges which Jacky highlighted were:

• High staff turnover Lack of incentives for staff to abide by good KM practice

• Security policies block the use of some social media collaboration and KM tools
  
• The impact of business and economic cycles on staff (for example the Budget and pre-Budget report)
• Managing people’s perceptions about sharing

Scott Pearson - Knowledge and Communications - PricewaterhouseCoopers

Scott introduced PwC as an entity which basically makes its money from the sale of its knowledge assets. KIM in his organisation is distinctly targeted at improving business, people/culture and efficiency. Noteworthy in Scott's presentation was the fact that he alluded to knowledge, as opposed to knowledge management. This subtle distinction is important in how KM has been perceived at PwC.  For instance, practically all PwC professionals can relate with the fact that knowledge is something which is key to their daily professional lives.

PwC's knowledge vision:

We are renowned for distinctive thought leadership and delivering insights that help our clients succeed. We are motivated to build our networks and leverage them effectively to share and combine our knowledge and experience to deliver a unique client experience. We know where to find the contact or information we want quickly.

Scott went on to describe the kinds of knowledge aims, metrics and structures are in place at PwC. What struck  me most from this  was how the knowledge function in PwC has aligned itself with the corporate vision of competitive advantage: that good KIM enhances PwC as a factor of differentiation.  As a result of the solid foundation which KIM enjoys at PwC it has been possible to productise knowledge and 'sell' it to internal stakeholders, at the same time as keeping a keen eye on trends in the external environment to ensure the relevance and currency of the solutions they offer.

Kirsten van den Hout - Director of Business - Social Enterprise Coalition

Kirsten firstly introduced the concept of social enterprise to us: that it is commercial but with the difference that profits are reinvested into the organisation to further its social or environmental mission, rather than paying shareholders.   Social enterprises have three bottom lines/measures of success: commercial profit, social impact and environmental impact.

This is a significant sector with 62,000 social enterprises, with a combined turnover of £27bn in the UK.  Examples include The Big Issue, Divine Chocolate, Hackney Community Transport and Hill Holt Wood. The Social Enterprise Coalition has a membership base of 300 organisations and an outreach to an estimated 10,000 social enterprises.

The SEC is an industry body which aims to:

• Promote the benefits of SE to government – use insight/research to inform policy

• Strengthen the sector through knowledge exchange of best practice
  
• Run programmes and media campaigns to raise awareness

The fact that social enterprises are commercial doesn't make Kirsten's job any easier.  She described the membership as naturally wary of sharing due to their commercial and competitive nature - so a great deal of effort is required in "managing personalities", at events such as the Social Enterprise Knowledge Exchange (SEKE).

SEC is 60% grant funded, the remainder of its income has to be generated through internal funding initiatives such as hosted events.  With this in mind the management of costs poses a significant challenge to the organisation especially in a challenging economic climate.

In terms of the overall KM strategy, Kirsten highlighted that her organisation is now in the second of a three year programme which is yielding results with overall improvements in knowledge sharing.

Like Scott Pearson, Kirsten found the use of KM as a term potentially problematic and her preference is to use the phrase "doing what we do, better" instead.

Angela Abell (TFPL) summarised the presentations well saying that, "They had one common theme – behaviours.  The need to embed IM and KM behaviours in everyone – and the real difficulty in doing that.  ‘Changing organisational culture’  just doesn’t sum up the real challenge.  Very interesting that all three bought out real business drivers for what they are doing – which is a leap forward.  And that the KM language issue hasn’t gone away – but is being tackled pragmatically."

Martin Sanderson (TFPL) reflected after the event that "KM is essentially positioned on a risk – opportunity spectrum which varies from one organisation to another but is never just risk or just opportunity; that the biggest challenge to implementing KM is, as with other information programmes, changing human behaviour: change management by many means."

Feedback from our delegates on the content and the general atmosphere of the evening

We received great feedback in conversation with the delegates on the format and quality of presenters.  The delegates clearly shared a great passion for KM; the Q&A session, time for reflection at the end and the fact that the speakers stayed on for drinks and networking really added value for them. The content created a real buzz for conversation with prolific exchange of ideas and business cards.

Many organisations in the current economic and political environment are actively reconsidering their KIM strategies and structures. Because of this, delegates felt that the event was very timely in giving them a platform for insight into how peers across sectors were pushing the KIM agenda in the wider business strategy - a great learning and sharing opportunity.

Here are some pictures from the night:

 

For information on TFPL Connect and our other events, please visit our

Training and Events page. 

SharePoint for Records Management - continued.....

Following on from comments raised from James Lappin's post back in February our Consultant Edward Taylor had the following comments:

Personally I do agree that SharePoint is capable of substituting a file plan to a certain extent, provided you are not hoping SharePoint will give you the functionality to carry out EDRM.  In many cases an organisations main aim of using SharePoint is to enhance collaboration; and the combination of using Content Types and Columns allows enough metadata to be gathered when uploading new information to meet the needs of most users.  For this to be a success those implementing SharePoint must understand the different types of content they are managing through SharePoint and assign a suitable strategy to gather the information and where to store it via document libraries etc.  It is also important to consider the needs of the user and not to expect them to enter a vast array of metadata to satisfy the needs of an information worker to upload a document – speak to the users, carry out piloting on sample groups and try to understand what is important metadata that must be entered and data that is nice to have but not required. 

I also agree with the opinion that SharePoint Sprawl has the potential to cause SharePoint to become ineffective and therefore it must be governed accordingly (this cannot be stressed enough), ensuring that there is consistency in how is it managed and used across all departments.  For example an organisation must ensure that when new Team Sites are created existing content types are used rather than creating new ones, this allows information to flow across the organisation effectively.  If SharePoint is ungoverned information silos can develop along with problems that are more often associated with shared drives.      

In terms of applying retention schedules and the ability to put records on hold; this is possible and requires the use of the SharePoint Records Centre, however its functionality has not be well received and fails to meet the needs of most users requiring an EDRMS.  We will be keeping a keen eye on the release of SharePoint 2010 later in the year to see what changes they have made to RM.   Further information on this topic has been written by a good friend James Lappin who has provided an excellent piece on Records Management in SharePoint which is well worth a read - http://thinkingrecords.co.uk/2009/04/19/how-records-management-works-in-sharepoint-2007/.  As for the other areas in SharePoint I would say keep trying new things with the users to see what is popular and what is not.  At TFPL we have been trying out the Wiki pages to allow our consultants to brainstorm and develop ideas and strategies for different sectors that we work in which is proving to be useful and a handy way for our consultants to collaborate. 

 

Should the SLA rename itself?

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”

[Romeo and Juliet, 1594]

Juliet had a motive for asking Romeo to forsake his family name. It was, she thought, standing between her and true love; if only he changed his name her family would accept him. She is portrayed as naïve (she was only 14 years old) but she did recognize that names carry strong messages.

The information profession, if it wants a successful and lasting marriage with the organisations of the future, does need to think about how it is perceived. If talented information and knowledge specialists are to have influence and impact, they need professional organisations that clearly represent them and communicate the benefits they can deliver. A change of name may not be the whole answer, but we believe it is a step in the right direction for SLA.

Janice's opening piece at the SLA Conference  on "why SLA must consider a name change”, and the supporting evidence from the Alignment Project, argues the point that a name communicates a message. It has long been recognised globally that the term ‘Special Libraries’ means very little to anyone outside the library and information sector. Who amongst our potential market understands the traditional classification of libraries into public, academic, government and ‘Special’? What does ‘Special’ mean? What does the term ‘library’ conjure up?  The point is, what does the name ‘Special Libraries Association’ convey to the people we want to influence, our market, funders and policy makers – our organisations?

And what does the name mean to members, current and potential? Who are the future members? TFPL shares SLA 's view about the range of disciplines that will make up an effective and valuable knowledge and information management profession. We are already seeing a striking diversity of experience and expertise required by employers and offered by candidates. So how does SLA attract these aligned professionals and persuade them to add their weight and enthusiasm to the ambition to ‘speak with one voice’? How does SLA indicate to them and information professionals that their expertise is an essential part of a complex profession.

SLA has made laudable steps towards developing its international reach, but the current name will inevitably limit this development to the small sector of people who identify with ‘Special Libraries’ – not a huge market in many parts of the world.

So, I support Janice whole heartedly in her proposition that we should seriously consider a name change for SLA. We have entered a time of almost unlimited opportunity for those with information and knowledge management expertise but are constrained by the perceptions – how other people see us. However, as CILIP in the UK found, choosing a replacement name is not easy. The underlying problem is the broad church of people we want to include in our world. Finding words that describe the organisation, its aims and members, and which doesn’t become confused with other professions (especially IT) is bad enough. Avoiding an unfortunate acronym adds to the problem. Knowledge and Information Management Association (KIMA) – doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. And will it hold good for another 100 years? That is one of the strengths of the name ‘Special Libraries Association’ – even if it was reluctantly chosen.

Just a thought about a new name. The UK organisation the RSA was founded in the eighteenth century as a coffee house meeting place. RSA stands for ‘The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce’ – not the most modern sounding name. It is successful, with an international membership; influential – successfully steering through initiatives to affect government policy; runs great events and and provides great networking opportunities.  But the point is it is known as the RSA – that is the name it uses and promotes. That is its brand – encompassing its values and activities. A bit like Hoover – the one we have isn’t necessarily a Hoover but we all know what it does. Of course it didn’t happen overnight – but changing names takes time. The key is building the brand. TFPL built on this concept when Task Force Pro Libra became a new company in the late 80s after building a reputation over the previous decade. OK, some new contacts still ask what it stands for – but surprisingly few. The Special Libraries Association has already built a strong brand. What do the consultants think about keeping that brand by moving from standing for Special Libraries Association – to just SLA? Or KIS – Knowledge and Information Specialists – or ‘Keeping it Simple’?

Final note on Shakespeare.  Romeo didn’t change his name and even if he had done so it is very doubtful that this alone would have made him acceptable to Juliet’s family.  He would have needed to have come from a completely different place and background for that to happen.  Luckily the knowledge and information profession doesn’t have to go that far but it does have to adapt to accommodate new business models, technologies and expectations.  SLA has shown that it is able and willing to assess the future, is sensitive to the present and is able to make changes that have long-term benefits.  So a name change – or adaptation will have real substance behind it.

Darron Chapman

Managing Director TFPL