“It is not a question of how well each process works, the question is how well they all work together.”

Lloyd Dobens & Clare Crawford-Mason

For information professionals working in management, planning is the first function that is carried out, as it allows managers to look ahead to organizational goals, determine needs, and apply methods to accomplish those goals. (Moran, 2018) According to Moran, planning is engaged in by all levels of library management. “Planning defines where the organization wants to be in the future, and it facilitates the transition from today until tomorrow.” (Moran, 2018, p. 109)

Marketing is a comprehensive and ever-changing discipline that adapts to changes in society and the marketplace. Aspects of marketing include planning and research, target market or audience identification, segmentation, promotion, and evaluation. (Romaniuk, 2018) “There is little doubt that technology and the degrees of connectivity have had a significant role in shaping society, and thus marketing.” (Romaniuk, 2018, p. 127) With the advent of social media, social inclusivity and the acceptance of diversity have changed the marketplace landscape, and therefore changed how companies approach that landscape. (Romaniuk, 2018) Beginning with a human-centric mindset, information professionals must engage in “marketing planning to research, identify, and understand the needs and values of unique segments of their client base.” (Romaniuk, 2018, p. 135) Essentially, information professionals must become advocates for their information needs.

Info 282 - Project Management

This course introduced essential strategies and techniques for project management. Topics included management styles, institutional constraints, project life cycles, stakeholder management, scope definition, risk assessment, project planning tools, and team management.

Over the course of the class, I learned to identify project management roles and environment. I can describe the project life cycle, as well as use major project management techniques including traditional, agile, and extreme. I practiced how to control and evaluate project management approaches effectively to achieve better outcomes strategically and learned how to apply project management concepts to library and information practices.

Assignments included exercises, discussions, essays, a pathfinder, and a final project. The topics included what is a project, what is project management, what are project management process groups, how to scope a project, how to plan a project, how to launch a project, how to monitor and control a project, and how to close a project.

Info 282 - Marketing Your LIS Skills in a Networked and Changing World

This course focused on two main areas: highlighting my skills and expertise online, and exploring the changing world of library and information careers, specifically alternative careers in library and information work. I walked away from this course with an approach to effectively making myself stand out via social tools in a competitive information services and library job market, and with a broader understanding of how I might apply my information skills to a variety of positions and settings. This course was intended to provide practical tips to help prepare for and navigate employment transition and change successfully, no matter the stage of career. The course also touched on the broader topic of managing career change.

I learned how to describe the current job market for information professionals, no matter where they are in their careers. I discussed the broad set of skills and interests that LIS professionals bring to the marketplace. I used online networking and career tools to connect with potential employers, recruiters, customers, and clients, and raised the visibility of my online profile and professional skills. I also developed a broad and flexible perspective on my own career.

Some highlights of course content included a report on the current job market: statistics and trends, development of the online world and my online "brand", how to “be” online professionally, connecting and networking, exploring my own skills, the distinction between information skills and transferable skills, matching my skills to a variety of positions, developing an "alternative careers" job strategy, and the ability to look broadly at my career. Assignments included a skills inventory, a brand assessment, an elevator pitch, and a final online brand project.

Circulating Hotspots: A Traditional Project

This artifact is an essay for Info 282 - Project Management that explores one of the three types of project management: traditional, agile, or extreme. It includes a project description with the method selected, in this case traditional, and why I think that this is the best method, with conclusions and resources. It demonstrates an understanding of project planning and various project management techniques.

Safe Place Youth Homelessness: Staff Training PowerPoint

This artifact created for Info 282 - Social Crisis Management is an outline in Power Point for a training program for staff proposing a community program hosted by the Boulder City Library. The training is for implementation of a community program, Safe Place, in partnership with Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. Each participating library branch will display the nationally recognized yellow and black diamond Safe Place sign at their entrances alerting youth in crisis they can seek help inside, where library staff have been specially trained to assist youth in crisis. The training outline consists of three parts, preparation before the crisis, procedures to follow during the crisis, and post crisis activities.

Safe Place Youth Homelessness: Staff Training Pitch Audio

It is one thing to design a program for the community or offer training sessions for your colleagues, however, it is another to be able to promote the event. For this artifact, I described the training as I would to a peer, and briefly describe the social crisis, what I plan to cover in my program training and the benefit to them attending. As part of the pitch, I include the name of the program training session, date, time and how they can attend.

Final Brand Project: LinkedIn

Sometimes marketing is not just to promote a project or program, but it is vital to promote yourself as well. For this artifact I created and updated my LinkedIn account for Info 282 - Marketing Your LIS Skills in a Networked and Changing World. I worked on building my online presence, and integrating my skills, passions, and interests. I also focused on building my networks and connections. The purpose of this final project was to take advantage of and maximize the effectiveness of online tools for making my skills and expertise more visible to potential employers and clients; to help me stand out from other candidates. This is done through both the strength of my network and the quality of the content shared as an information professional.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlenebrewer/

(While you're looking, let's connect! Add me to your LinkedIn network.)

Reflection

The fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy, are intrinsic to the information professional’s toolkit. By practicing these skills, information professionals are able to provide a comprehensive information experience for our patrons, clients, and users. No doubt whatever career path I end up on, I will be applying my knowledge in the areas of these skills to create and utilize information in action.

References

Dobyns, L. & Crawford-Mason, C. (1994). Thinking about quality: progress, wisdom, and Deming philosophy. New York: Times Books/Random House.

Moran, B. (2018). The New Manager: What You Need to Know to Achieve Managerial Success in Today’s Libraries. In K. Haycock & M. Romaniuk (Eds.), The Portable MLIS (2nd ed., 103-117). Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.

Romaniuk, M. (2018). Libraries and Marketing: So Essential but So Misunderstood. In K. Haycock & M. Romaniuk (Eds.), The Portable MLIS (2nd ed., 119-135). Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.