Issue and Solutions in Reference Service for Corporate Libraries

presented by Melissa Ludeman and Elizabeth Ramsey

Emporia State UniversityLI 813 Basic Print & Electronic Information

Sources

Issues and Solutions in Reference Service for Corporate Libraries

DEMOGRAPHICS

Advertising and marketing

Biomedical and life sciences

Business and financeChemistryEngineeringEnvironment and

resource management

Food, agriculture and nutrition

Insurance

MilitaryMuseumsArts and humanitiesNews, petroleum and

energy resourcesPhysics and

mathematicsScience and

technologySocial scienceTransportation

Issues and Solutions in Reference Service for Corporate Libraries

KNOWLEDGE OF THE ORGANIZATION

Corporate libraries must become the connection between information and the organization, not simply the custodian of the information

Issues and Solutions in Reference Service for Corporate Libraries

THE BOTTOM LINEBasic research is often outsourced,

market data can be delivered through

aggregators. Special library staff may

be moved into various other

departments--marketing, research,

IT, to name a few--or may simply

be requested to continue their work

in a virtual library setting.

Issues and Solutions in Reference Service for Corporate Libraries

VALUE ADDED SERVICESReaching out to the

organization is essential for success: there needsto be a move to be proactive towards information needsrather that reactive.Don’t make themcome to us – we shouldgo to them.  

Issues and Solutions in Reference Service for Corporate Libraries

CONVENIENT INFORMATION ACCESS:

- Web self help

- Intranets and portals- Reference access through chat or instant messaging

Issues and Solutions in Reference Service for Corporate Libraries

SECURITYProcedures: backing up

information, shredding or other secure destruction

of information, limiting physical access,

monitoring users of information

Technology: firewalls, data protection software, authenticating users through passwords,

encryption, resource isolation

Issues and Solutions in Reference Service for Corporate Libraries

GLOBAL SCALE OF INFORMATION NEEDS:

Partnering –-With other libraries-- With subject or language

specialists

-Technical solutions

IDEAS FOR THE FUTUREKeep our technology

skills up-to-date. Become involvedDevelop

professionallyGet news and

resources to the appropriate people on a daily basis

Collaborate

Establish performance benchmarks

Add business management as a component to library studies programs

Implement Web 2.0 technology

Support issues management (literature scanning, competitive intelligence)