I attended an amazing session today at NE2007 [1]. In “Reveille! Roll Call!: Communicating Our Value to Management,” Steven Lastres (Director of Library & Knowledge Management, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York) and Donna Purvis (Firmwide Library Manager, Morrison & Foerster LLP, San Francisco) energized me by discussing practical examples of what researchers/librarians can do to contribute to our organizations’ bottom lines. Some best practices discussed:
- Learn about your organization’s business goals and objectives.
- Find out what your organization’s leaders are saying about the firm in the media, trade publications, etc.
- Use the same language as your firm when promoting a plan or project.
- Shift the firm’s perception of your group from an overhead cost to a creator of value.
- Tell people in your firm what you’re already doing for them and what more you can do. Communicate with people who control the direction of the firm.
- Communicate library metrics .
- Teach new associates how to do research the firm’s way.
- Integrate KM and the library.
- Report information from your users’ perspectives. Always have your users’ thinking in mind.
- Add an “Ask a Librarian” link on the firm portal.
- Develop a firm-wide password manager tool for online resources.
- Provide client development research and competitive intelligence.
- Provide news alerts/current awareness service for committee groups as well as practice groups and client teams.
- Create pathfinders outlining tools to use for specific research problems.
- Deliver short (30 minutes) research training sessions on 3-4 tools that focus on a specific topic.
- Deliver an annual report to the person you report to.
- Quantify the value of what you’re providing.
- When proposing a new plan, position your argument so managers cannot say no to you.