The
Library Leadership Network Commons
New
and Reviewed
August
17, 2005
GOOGLE ISN’T EVERYTHING…Yes, all
librarians know this and we never tire of telling the rest of the world
about it. But it is really refreshing to read a column with this very
heading in the August 15, 2005 issue of Forbes magazine (pp. 56-58).
“Can't find what you’re looking for through your
favorite search engine? Try the old-fashioned route: your public
library” writes Stephen Manes who extols many of the premium
databases and other products and services available at no cost to
library cardholders. Here are some notable excerpts:
“None of these databases is perfect, since most were
initially designed for trained librarians, rather than mere flailing
mortals, so the user interfaces can be daunting…”
Vendors – are you listening??
“My biggest complaint is that some libraries websites
don’t detail the amazing range of services they offer online
until you cough up a card number. Memo to those insular institutions:
put the info in the shop windows out front and I bet you’ll
see a lot more card carrying customers walking through the electronic
doors…”
The very least you can do is to make copies of this article and mount
it in several places in your library building, especially at the front
door, and provide a link to it from your websites. Send a copy to your
city manager or library board or provost. And please write to Forbes
magazine thanking them for this free marketing piece!
NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK…How often do you meet with your
peers as Library Directors or groups of other librarians to discuss
issues of the day or simply to chat? We network during ALA, PLA and
other major national conferences, but tend to put networking in the
back burner after we return to our home institutions and allow our
routine tasks to consume all of our attention. In the July 2005 issue
of Sales & Marketing Management, Julia Chang writes on
“Casting a Net” that emphasizes the value of
networking, especially at the executive level. She emphasizes that
networking can be a valuable tool in solving many a knotty problem or
just to talk frankly about service challenges – from large
strategic planning issues to day-to-day management. She notes:
“true leaders know that they must constantly seek out others
throughout their careers in order to gain ongoing knowledge and build
expertise – which in turn, will make them stronger, smarter
leaders...”
Available at: http://www.salesandmarketing.com/smm/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000970164
Last Accessed: August 16,
2005
TURNING GREAT STRATEGY INTO GREAT PERFORMANCE. Michael Mankins and
Richard Steele address this very subject in the July/August 2005 issue
of the Harvard Business Review, pp. 64-72. They note that we spend an
enormous amount of time and energy in strategy development, but often
fall short in executing these very strategies. Their recommendation:
“Raise standards for both planning and execution
simultaneously.” Drawing from a study of 197 companies
worldwide, Mankins and Steele advocate seven simple rules for
successfully closing the strategy to performance gap. Among them:
“Keep it simple, keep it concrete.”
“Continuously monitor performance.”
“Reward and develop execution capabilities.”
The authors highlight several benefits to organizations for closing the
strategy to performance gap and believe that this would result in the
emergence of a culture of “over performance” which
would have positive ripple effects throughout the organization.
© 2005,
Library Leadership Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. |