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I've opined in the past that when budget woes hit, the first things that many special librarians serve up to their masters are their own professional subscriptions, professional development money, and association memberships. Sad.
Sometimes we just seem to neglect our own need for information. How can we keep up with the trends? How does the info pro stay informed? If we want to stay relevant to our user communities, it is, now more than ever, essential that we keep up with the developments in our field, choose a few innovations, and apply them selectively for the benefit of our enterprises and our clients.
I also opine regularly that our profession doesn't write enough. I see thousands of innovative ideas and projects across our profession, but far too few folks are writing about them so that we all can learn from their experiences. One strategy I have used is to ask innovative colleagues to speak at conferences about their work. I then ask them to write an article for one of several periodicals for which I help source authors.
As librarians, overall, we keep our candle under a basket, but its flame is usually too weak to set that basket on fire. And, really, we have news that can set the world on fire! This reluctance to toot our own horns means that our insights and innovations spread too slowly, our ideas are co-opted by others, and we are not at the center of the information revolution that continues apace.
So this month's column explores writing for the profession what, why, and how technology has changed our communication of ideas and provided new opportunities for us all.
Why Write?
One of my favorite bloggers, Steven Cohen of the Library Stuff blog fame, posted this interesting tidbit on April 14, 2004 . . .
"Weblogs as Career Boosters Dave [another blogger] links to this article from the Christian Science Monitor [http://www.csmonitor.com/ 2004/0415/p14s02-stin.html]. I was most impressed with the last section:
'Although making a living just blogging is nearly impossible, a blog can have a great deal of career value by demonstrating one's expertise and writing skills, thus serving as a "reputation builder," Blood says by phone from San Francisco. "You can quickly establish yourself as an...