The future is coming—fast!

Information Outlook, Feb, 2006 by Janice R. Lachance

With 2006 in full swing, we now look to harness the momentum of a successful SLA Leadership Summit in Houston and make some great things happen. There are lots of issues on the table for us to discuss in the coming weeks and months--many regarding the future of the profession.

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I shared something with SLA leaders in Houston that I had read recently. The 23 January issue of Business Week features a cover story on the rise of mathematicians in the business world. In particular, the article focuses on how they are addressing the use of information to achieve organizational goals. I highly recommend the article to anyone who wishes to get a glimpse of the future taking place today, but here's what struck me as I read it during my flight to Houston.

The article begins with an introduction to Neal Goldman, a "math entrepreneur." He works on Wall Street, but his focus these days is on the world of words, rather than numbers. His startup company is called Inform Technologies, and it is developing an innovative analytic tool. To quote the article: "Every day it combs through thousands of press articles and blog posts in English. It reads them and groups them with related pieces. Inform doesn't do this work alphabetically or by keywords. It uses algorithms to analyze each article by its language and context. It then sends customized news feeds to its users, who also exist in Inform's system as--you guessed it--math. Mr. Goldman refers to his innovation as a "robotic librarian."

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your future.

These kinds of changes are going to come at us at an alarming pace. They will remind us that we cannot afford to sit still, to rest on our laurels, to presume that our value is a constant. It also points out that living, working, and growing cannot be done by continually looking in the rearview mirror. We must be aggressive in the effort to prepare the minds of the profession for these challenges and to promote the value of the profession to the world. We must commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to guarantee a healthy future for the profession.

Our 2005 successes will propel several new initiatives in 2006. Click University will continue to garner significant attention as it begins to fire "on all cylinders." A new Web interface for Click U will make the site more user-friendly and visually appealing. And we've already begun to consolidate all of our learning services under its banner, with the SLA Virtual Learning Series now becoming a part of the Click University Live! Series. They will be available only to members of SLA, so this is one more example of how we can increase the value of your membership dues.

SLA 2006 in Baltimore will be structured a little differently this year to maximize your time there. Our opening general session, for example, will take place on Sunday evening, June 11. Look for more announcements on new and exciting changes to our conference structure. (You can start planning your time in Baltimore right now. This issue of Information Outlook is accompanied by a special supplement that includes advance information on conference programming and events.)

We will also be conducting several strategic campaigns:

* We will work to define the value of membership so that we can shape services that will keep you involved.

* We will engage in a major push to recruit new members to the association and retain existing members.

* We will promote the value and values of the profession to executives and hiring professionals in organizations.

* We will participate in policy debates that will affect the profession at large.

As we move forward on these initiatives, the momentum from a successful 2005 gives us some advantages that, otherwise, we would not have.

First, we have completed our third consecutive year with an operating net surplus. To keep things moving forward, our finance team, led by Chief Financial Officer Nancy Sansalone, is working to modernize the structure of SLA's finances. In addition, the board approved a change in the association's reserve fund strategy that guarantees a fallback reserve two and a half times greater than the standard practice for nonprofit associations. Any funds above that level are being invested in new services that will directly benefit the membership.

Second, we are increasing our focus on the use of technology to enhance your membership experience. I know many of you have probably had issues with some of the technology-oriented services deployed by SLA headquarters. Just like any organization that takes risks, some of our efforts have flourished, while others have struggled. The Board of Directors and I are committed to the pursuit of technological excellence and experimentation. In October, the board formed a Technology Review Advisory Group of SLA members who are committed to helping the cause.

We seek to acquire back-office systems and technologies that make the commercial, accounting, and customer service-related components of our operations as efficient as we can afford. But we also want to acquire the kinds of technologies that you can use to enhance your interaction with other members around the world. We invite any SLA member to work with us to make sure this effort succeeds.