The Corporate Librarian

It seems that several librarians use some form of cataloging or database software, which isn’t surprising. With a global network of colleagues and (potential) customers located all over the globe, our research group has been heavy users of instant messaging (and it’s widely used within the larger firm). We’ve got a website for our research group, with the capability for users to register for and/or subscribe to research sources from the website.

What other technologies are widely used in corporate libraries? E-mail, obviously. I’m assuming most firms have some sort of knowledge management application, but I could be wildly overoptimistic about that. How many of you lot are using blogs for work? How many are using wikis? Do you have developers you can call on for applications? What technologies would you like to explore that you haven’t so far?

For those of you with public or academic library backgrounds, do you see any differences in how technology is adopted and which technologies are adopted in the corporate environment versus the public/academic one?

When I was first hired, my job straddled knowledge management and corporate research. One of my responsibilities was for the collection of internal and external materials - assigning Cutter numbers to books, otherwise cataloging binders and videos, managing their circulation, ordering new items and weeding the collection periodically. Our catalog was a custom Lotus Notes database, which I’d helped build and maintain.

I have to admit, I hated this with a passion. I’d hated cataloging in library school, people never returned items on time (often losing them, or lending them to other people and not telling me), and the final straw was when the group I was supporting was moving to another building and told me I’d have to pay for transporting the resources.

So, largely by fiat (and the support of my manager), I transitioned control of the video collection to someone else, tossed most of the books and magazines (or donated them to a local library school), shredded much of the internal documentation (don’t worry, I made sure I had backups of the important stuff), and washed my hands of the affair.

In the building I moved to, there was a library as well, with the catalog maintained in some Inmagic product or another. When the Grand Restructuring occured, many of the library items were disposed of, with a few remaining in people’s (limited) file drawers or in their home offices.

Currently, there isn’t a catalog of the various publications, reports, etc. we researchers have. I’m considering suggesting this as something to add to our Sharepoint site.

My suspicion is that most corporate libraries still have a physical library of some sort, with some type of catalog. So sound off! Do you have a library? Do you have a catalog, and if so what software do you use and why? What do you look for in cataloging software?

I’ve been looking around for topics for this week’s post - I thought it might be interesting for those people reading the blog who are still in library school to see how some of us got jobs in corporate libraries.

I got my first corporate library job, a temporary job which became permanent,  through a placement agency, Pro Libra. I’d signed up with a few agencies after library school: Heller & Associates, Inc., William Harris Associates, Wontawk. A few tips: let the agency negotiate the salary if you’re hired on a full-time basis, and keep in mind that the agency just wants you placed - therefore they may pressure you into taking a job you don’t feel you want. The agencies I named are mostly NYC-area, so look around for others as appropriate for your region. SLA has a list, though it’s US-dominated (with one UK agency).

My second job was a result of experience from my first job. I used TFPL for my staffing needs, the agency my ex-boss had used. I’m also getting more calls from executive search firms with my experience at two jobs now.

So what have your experiences been? And students, what questions do you have?

What with the vagaries of budgets and cutbacks in space and whatnot, I find myself relying on other libraries a great deal.

The two main ones I use are St. John’s University’s Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library (for access to A.M. Best CD-ROMs, insurance reference books and periodicals) and the New York Public Library’s Science and Industry Business Library (some insurance sources, but also references from other industries - for example, I recently went there to check out the LexisNexis Advertising Red Books). I’ve also used the New York Public Library’s NYPL Express document delivery service as well as the University of Michigan’s Michigan Information Transfer Source (MITS) in the past. And I’ve used the Open WorldCat search to find specific resources I’m looking for. As far as I can tell, I’m the only person who uses local libraries, at least in my office.

The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library charges $30/day for a day pass, which I expense back to whichever project I’m working on along with travel time to and from the library. There’s no charge for me for NYPL Branch Library and ACCESS cards, so I just charge for travel time.

Do you find yourselves relying more on local libraries with budget cutbacks and space reductions? Any useful tips to share?