Although not specifically focused on remuneration, there is a growing trend in the U.S. for library personnel to market themselves and "prove their value." ALA has developed a five year marketing plan with many libraries participating, SLA has sources about the changing role of information professionals and their value – http://www.sla.org (use their search engine to search on the term “value” and see their continuing education programs, and last week I gave a workshop titled “How to Write a Marketing Plan” for public library directors. I emphasize developing tangible products for target markets, which involves marketing to users, and also nonusers. This is the fourth time I've given this workshop, twice in Kentucky for the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives geared toward public, academic, and special librarians, once in New Mexico for academic librarians, and last week for some 75 public library directors.
Last week, an article I wrote was published as the cover story in Marketing Library Services (MLS) http://www.infotoday.com/mls/may02/mls-cont.htm and is titled “Practical Tips to Help You Prove Your Value.” Perhaps this will be of interest to readers here.
From some perspectives, this marketing/promotion movement for libraries, and the need to prove our value, especially in corporate libraries, has to do, in many instances, with survival – but I can see how it also ties into increasing remuneration for information professionals.
During the past year, I interviewed a number of librarians about these issues and gave a workshop titled "Library Services in the Face of a Merger," geared toward utility librarians who have faced downsizing and layoffs because of deregulation that has caused many mergers. The workshop themes included:
1. How Library Services can be Recognized as a Vital Organization Before, during, and After the Merger
2. How to Sell your Competencies Outside of Library Services
3. How to Develop New Competencies
In preparation for this workshop, I learned that some librarians who had reinvented themselves as CI or market research specialists, or research analysts, are enjoying higher salaries. I cite one instance in the MLS article about a librarian who became a “coordinator” for developing IT Web resources. His salary and status increased. There is also a growing trend for special librarians to conduct research and analysis.
With this marketing/value movement afoot, there are opportunities to tie all of this together with better salaries, at least in some sectors. There’s a lot of work that has to be done and, personally, I would like to see library schools and working information professionals band together to develop some unified strategies. I appreciate this discussion and hope we can make some headway soon. The opportunities are there. We need to take advantage of them.
Amelia Kassel
Marketing Libraries Workshops
Information Broker Mentor Training Program by Email
Internet and CI Research and Seminars http://www.marketingbase.com Author: Super Searchers on Wall Street
[Editorial from Free Pint No.111 at http://www.freepint.com/issues/020502.htm]
Rates of pay for information professionals are rarely discussed at the Free Pint Bar. ...
Mark Field writes in a profoundly personal capacity:
Evidence.
Evidence. Evidence. Evidence.
Five years ago I (and other advisers at CILIP) started to ...
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