The SLA Business & Finance Division is excited to announce that it is offering the following free webinar as a sneak peak of half-day or full-day Continuing Education Courses that will be presented during the SLA 2012 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO to be held this July in Chicago.

The Narrative of Business: Finding and Finessing Your Message
June 19, 2012, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EDT)

Who doesn’t love a good story? Gathering a wealth of information can only take minutes — but delivering a timely, relevant message remains the challenge. How can you make your voice stand out from the crowd? Whether it’s a brief email or extensive briefing, capturing a compelling narrative can strengthen both your report and your relationships. In this webinar, we’ll cover the importance of tailoring research to your audience, as well as practical tips on how to do so.

Presenters KC Hudson and Robbie Diaz of PricewaterhouseCoopers will also be presenting the half-day Continuing Education Course titled “Delivering to an Executive Audience: Find and Design your Narrative for Maximum Impact and Influence” during the SLA 2012 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO.

Register for the webinar.

More information about these and other B&F Continuing Education Courses being offered during the SLA 2012 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO is available on the B&F website. If you have any questions about these webinars or about the B&F Continuing Education Courses you can contact Jeff Graveline at jgraveli@uab.edu.

The Business & Finance Division of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) proudly announces the following recipients of its 2012 recognition awards:

Distinguished Member Award
Rita Costello

Prior to her retirement earlier this year, Rita worked for more than 25 years at UCLA’s Management Library, including service for part of that time as head of the Eugene and Maxine Rosenfeld Management Library. She directed the 2008 renovation of the Rosenfeld Library and transformed it into an active learning environment, earning Distinguished Status within the librarian rank and later served on both local and statewide task forces for distinguished status of UC/UCLA librarians. During her illustrious career, she also received SLA’s Disclosure Award and served as B&F chair. “She is the definition of distinguished service.”

Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business Librarianship
Sponsored by Bloomberg Law/Bloomberg BNA
PK Jain – University of Delhi Enclave, Delhi, India

PK is a Librarian at the Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi Enclave, Delhi, India. In the last four years he has recruited many librarians in Asia to join SLA, the Asian Chapter, and the B & F Division; organized two important conferences attended by members from 15 countries; and identified additional acknowledgement awards for the Asian Chapter as well as sponsors. During this period he also received his PHD and published seven papers.

Achievement in Academic Business Librarianship Award
Sponsored by Business Expert Press
Jeffrey Graveline – University of Alabama – Birmingham

Jeff embodies the skills and talents needed to be a successful business librarian. His deep knowledge and experience with business information allow him to provide excellent service in both the academic and corporate arenas. He is currently an Associate Librarian at the Mervyn H. Sterne Library at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He teaches business and law information courses at the School of Library and Information Services at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and has developed course content for graduate and law school classes. Jeff chaired the B&F College & University Business Libraries section, and is currently the B&F Bulletin editor as well as Professional Development Chair. He also serves as a member on SLA’s Public Policy Advisory Council.

Distinguished Leadership and Service Award
Sponsored by EvaluatePharma
Kyle Naff – University of Wisconsin – Whitewater

Kyle has been a member of SLA and the B&F Division since 2004 and assumed the role of the Division’s Webmaster in 2008. During his tenure, he completed two website redesigns and created and implemented the social media site for the Division. In addition to this, he has organized local fundraising functions for the Katie Memorial Foundation (KMF), a budding nonprofit organization founded in 2007 to provide funding to public health graduate students to enable them to engage in international projects. Through his efforts, thirty people donated to KMF, including one donor who matched all the monies received, thus raising $1,465 for KMF’s programs.

Impact Award
Sponsored by Wolper Information Services
Gayle Gossen – Dow Jones and Company

As Project Manager for the Knowledge ProfessionalsAlliance at Dow Jones and Company, Gayle spearheaded the launch of a refocused, revitalized and rebranded portal for information and knowledge professionals that aligns with Dow Jones’ mission of inspiring new thinking and providing insights for their customers to make informed decisions. Knowledge professionals can share their insights and techniques through the portal and strengthen their professional expertise in delivering targeted information to decision-makers in their enterprises.

The presentation of these awards, as well as the Business & Finance Division’s other awards, will occur on Monday, July 16 at 5:30 PM at the SLA 2012 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Attendees will have a chance to speak with the winners of the awards, as well as some of the judges, at the reception immediately following the awards presentation.

Many thanks to Bloomberg Law/Bloomberg BNA, Business Expert Press, EvaluatePharma, and Wolper Information Services for their sponsorship.

The Nominations Committee is pleased to announce the following 2013 Business & Finance Division Executive Board candidates:

• Chair-Elect – Laura Leavitt, Michigan State University
• Director – Vendor Relations – Roberta De Gregorio, Perfect Information
• Director – Public Relations – Kyle Naff, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater
• Secretary – Karly Szczepkowski, Wayne State University
• Membership – Michael Bernier, Bloomberg BNA

For biographies and photos of the 2013 Executive Board candidates, visit the 2012 Election page.

Any B&F member interested in running for office or would like to nominate someone else should contact Gayle Gossen (gayle.gossen@gmail.com), Chair of the Nominations Committee, no later than 30 days after the B&F 2012 Annual Business Meeting to be held July 16, 2012. If there are no other nominations within this timeframe, the proposed slate will become official.

The Nominations Committee consisted of Gayle Gossen (Chair), Anne Caputo, Stephen Abram, Cindy Hill, Breezy Silver, Jane Ray (Macoustra), and Carol Ginsburg.

Organizational Agility in Business Libraries

Academic libraries are being challenged to find new, more efficient ways to approach almost every aspect of work. Some libraries are implementing changes—occasionally major ones—to incorporate agile practices into their operations and to make agility part of their culture. Our speakers have contributed to such changes within their organizations and have valuable insights to share.

The session will take place on 17 July 2012 (Tuesday) from 8:00 – 9:30AM and will be moderated by Carissa Philips, Chair of the CUBL Section.

For more information, including the presentations and speakers, check the CUBL Conference Activities section of the website.

Believe it or not, the conference is just a few short months away! Want to start planning your schedule? Take a look at the great programming that has been put together by the Business & Finance Division. You’ll see familiar favorites, as well as some new and exciting hot topics, all to keep you ahead of the curve.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

1:00 to 4:30 p.m.
Business & Finance Division Board Meeting

8:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Business & Finance Division Open House
The Business & Finance Division welcomes you to Chicago. All conference attendees are invited to stop by to begin the 2012 conference by greeting old friends and making new ones.
Sponsored by: Bloomberg Law / Bloomberg BNA

Sunday, July 15, 2012

8:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Business & Finance Division Open House
Join friends and colleagues in honoring the Division’s published authors.

Monday, July 16, 2012

8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Business & Finance Division Annual Business Meeting and Breakfast
The Division’s annual business meeting will be held over breakfast, followed by S&P Capital IQ’s chief equity strategist Sam Stovall’s perspective on the stock market.
Speaker: Sam Stovall, S&P Capital IQ
Sponsored by: S & P Capital IQ

10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Division Partners’ Strategies to Lead the Way
A panel of experts will discuss how trends outside the industry are influencing information delivery and the design of their products and services.
Sponsored by: Bloomberg Law / Bloomberg BNA, Dow Jones & Company, S & P Capital IQ

10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Collaborative Insights
As competitive intelligence and information management evolve, collaboration can lead to better results. Speakers will address how to develop insights through collaboration from different perspectives.

Speaker: Amy Affelt, Compass Lexecon; Arik Johnson, Aurora WDC – Centre for Organizational Reconnaissance; Nicco Mele, Harvard University–Kennedy School of Government
Presented by the Competitive Intelligence Division with the collaboration of the Business & Finance Division, Knowledge Management Division, and Pharmaceutical and Health Technology Division

12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
Three M’s: Mapping, Merging, and Multi-lingual Taxonomies
Developing a sound taxonomy is a challenge in itself, but what happens when a taxonomist needs to harmonize existing or legacy vocabularies, or when a taxonomist needs to address a multi-lingual audience? This session will present tips and case studies for bridging multiple vocabularies and languages.
Speakers: Heather Hedden, Project Performance Corporation; Marcie Zaharee, The MITRE Corporation
Presented by the Taxonomy Division with the support of the Business & Finance Division and Transportation Division

4:00 to 5:30 p.m.
Business & Finance Division Poster Session
Business & Finance Division members who have previously submitted their posters for review by a committee will display their posters and describe their research to attendees.

5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Business & Finance Division Awards Presentation and Reception
The Division’s 2012 award winners will be announced and honored.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Section and Roundtable Breakfasts (see below)

10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Global Economic Outlook
Sponsored by: Economist Intelligence Unit
Robin Bew, Chief Economist and Editorial Director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, will present his views on the state of the global economy and share what a “day in the life” is like for a leader in this worldwide business intelligence organization.
Speaker: Robin Bew, Economist Intelligence Unit
Presented by the Business & Finance Division with the support of the News Division

2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
Opening the Vault: Getting the Most from International Economic Resources from the World Bank, IMF and OECD
Experts from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will discuss and demonstrate examples of the wealth of international economic data and other resources available, much of it free of charge, from their organizations.

Speakers: Kathleen DeBoer, OECD; Tariq Afzal Khokhar, World Bank; Gareth McGuinness, International Monetary Fund
Presented by the Business & Finance Division with the support of the Government Information Division and the Social Science Division
Sponsored by: Dow Jones & Company

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

8:00 to 9:30 a.m.
Best Practices in Self-Assessment: Offering Sustainable Value to Users and Clients
Assessment is everywhere, it seems, and in every type of library. At the 2011 ACRL Conference in Philadelphia, James G. Neal, Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University, made an impassioned presentation for appropriate means of assessment, noting that “A focus on outcomes can link the academic library to more effective qualitative measures.” In the July/August issue of Information Outlook, Christine Stamison, senior customer relations manager with Swets, argued that ROI assessment can be part of a sound e-book collection development strategy. Whether you use terms and practices from ROI or other assessment experts, you’ll always do a better job if you make room for self-reflection. This panel session focuses on best practices in self-reflective assessment to better communicate your achievements to your clients and supervisors.
Speakers: James G. Neal, Columbia University; Christine Stamison, Swets
Presented by the Food, Agriculture & Nutrition Division with the support of the Academic Division, Business & Finance Division, and Solo Librarians Division

10:00 to 11:30 a.m
Skeptical Knowledge-Seeking: Business Research in the Age of “Truthiness“
Is the trustworthiness of business news changing? Given the decline in resources devoted to investigative reporting in the mainstream media, is business reporting also deteriorating? Are corporate spin, “truthiness” and flat-out errors of fact more common? Using insights from her own work and from conversations with business journalists, Cynthia Lesky of research firm Threshold Information explores how business news is changing and how this fact challenges and potentially rewards researchers and information analysts. Attendees are invited to bring examples of inaccurate business news stories from their own work.
Speaker: Cynthia Lesky, Threshold Information
Presented by the Business & Finance Division with the support of the Competitive Intelligence Division
Sponsored by: Dow Jones & Company

Section and Roundtable Breakfasts

Tuesday, July 17
8:00 to 9:30 a.m.

College and University Business Libraries Section Breakfast
There will be three presentations around the theme of Organizational Agility in Academic Business Libraries:

“Transforming the 21st Century Academic Business Library”
The Management & Economics Library at Purdue University has undergone a three year multi-phase renovation to become the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management & Economics. The new library is a student-focused multifunctional learning and collaborative space. It is designed with multi-purpose adjacencies for a variety of student activities. The presenters have been involved at every phase of the renovation; meeting with architects, communicating with alumni/donors, collaborating with the interior designer, and overseeing construction. The presentation will highlight key facets of our involvement, the overall design, and the impact it has had on the School of Management and campus-wide.

Speakers: Hal Kirkwood and Tomalee Doan, Purdue University

“Action-Based Learning Means Action-Based Reference at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business”
The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan takes pride in its focus on action-based learning. In addition to the traditional b-school fare of case studies and other classroom-centered instruction, Ross students have the opportunity to participate in a number of “real world” projects that challenge them to put what they’ve been learning to the test. This 15 minute presentation will elaborate on action-based learning at Ross and how librarians at the Kresge Library have evolved over time to implement agility into their day-to-day workflow to support this curriculum model. In addition to a discussion of our action-based reference services, we will also highlight some of the collaboration that takes place across departments, as well as technology and resources used. We will try to identify some best practices as well as areas for improvement and lessons learned.

Speakers: Celia Ross and Nathan Rupp, University of Michigan

“Insights from a Business Library Re-organization”
In 2010, MIT Libraries underwent a reorganization that changed the way subject librarians cooperated to support business information needs across the Institute. Interdisciplinary “communities of practice” replaced a more traditional reporting structure that was previously organized around (and confined by) the geographic layout of our campus libraries. With the benefit of two years’ worth of hindsight, this presentation highlights a few examples of how a more agile organizational model has resulted in new opportunities– and new challenges– for serving our communities and for developing liaison librarian competencies.

Speaker: Alex Caracuzzo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Corporate Information Centers Section Breakfast
“Building a Knowledge Environment Utilizing Agile Methodology”: Nalco recently upgraded its knowledge management environment to incorporate enterprise search and integrated a social layer. The methodology used to manage the project was SCRUM, a form of Agile. This presentation will discuss Nalco’s approach and application of Agile in the process to develop and implement a world class knowledge system designed to be utilized in 150 countries around the globe and by its 12,500 employees. Daniel Flynn is Nalco’s knowledge management manager. Nalco’s customer-intimate business model demands quick access to operations data, knowledge assets and subject matter experts. Dan has been published both on-line and print. Nalco has been recognized this year as an APQC 2012 best practice partner in Knowledge Management. Dan can be reached through email at dflynn@nalco.com.
Speaker: Daniel Flynn, Nalco

Financial Services Section Breakfast
The Intellectual Property Exchange International, the world’s first financial exchange focusing on intellectual property rights, plans to begin issuing the first unit license rights contracts in 2012. The Chicago-based exchange will allow intellectual property to be licensed more efficiently and with more transparency. Unit License Rights(r) (ULR) contracts allow patent owners to license select technology in a non-discriminatory manner via standard form licenses on publicly disclosed terms. Each ULR contract purchased will give the buyer the right to use an agreed unit of intellectual property, for example the right to make and/or sell up to an established quantity of products covered by the patents. Gerard J. Pannekoek, President and CEO of the Exchange, will discuss the organization’s activities and answer questions from attendees.
Speaker: Gerard J. Pannekoek, Intellectual Property Exchange International

Hospitality and Tourism Roundtable Breakfast
Michelle Grant, Travel and Tourism Research Manager, Euromonitor International, will draw on Euromonitor’s latest travel and tourism research to explain the global hospitality industry’s performance and present insights about future growth opportunities in the industry. The presentation will also highlight key trends and corporate strategies shaping the market.
Speaker: Michelle Grant, Euromonitor International