slany chapternews newsletter summer 2002

ChapterNews 1 Vol. 74, #4 Summer 2002

Greetings from Agnes MattisAgnes Mattis, President

H ow did she become President? I can hear you asking this question whenyou read my name above. Well, it’s a long story. Back in May at the ChapterAnnual Meeting, you elected Leslie Slocum to be your President Elect.

Shortly after, Leslie got a promotion at the British Information Service. She is no longer in the library and with her additional responsibilities she had toresign as President Elect. In the event of a resignation by a board member(other than President), the remaining board members elect a Chapter memberto fill the vacant position. So, in July, I became your President Elect, afterLeslie’s resignation. Then, in August, President Bethann Ashfield had to resignas President due to a serious illness in her family. Bethann felt that she needed to concentrate all her energies on her family and her job at the New York StockExchange. I’m sure that you will join me in wishing Bethann well and to hopefor the speedy recovery of her mother. According to Chapter bylaws, if the President resigns or cannot fulfill the term of office, the President Electbecomes President and the office of President Elect remains empty until thenext election. So, in a matter of two months, I went from being a regular Chapter member to President Elect, to President, for a term of two years!

Let me assure you I will do my best to lead the Chapter during my term asPresident. The entire Board of Directors has committed itself to bringing Chapter members a year of successful programs and activities.

Speaking of the year ahead, the Chapter will have a meeting on October 29 at the British Consulate entitled “Turning the Pages.” Clive Izard of the BritishLibrary will discuss the award winning interactive imaging system developed by the British Library, which recently digitized images of their world famousmanuscripts collection. I want to thank Leslie Slocum for offering this programand for arranging for the use of the British Consulate facility. A meeting noticewill go out shortly to the NY Chapter discussion list. You must pre-register and attendance is limited to 150.

Our Holiday Party will be at a new and exciting venue this year. We will meet at the Manhattan Penthouse at 80 Fifth Avenue on Tuesday, December 3. I hope you can join your fellow Chapter members at this festive occasion tokick-off the holiday season. A warm thank you to LEXIS-NEXIS for their very generous sponsorship of the holiday party. Their contribution allows us to control the cost of the Holiday Party to our members.

There will be other events in the chapter year: virtual seminars, professionaldevelopment programs and Career Day. You will hear more about these eventsthroughout the year. But the really big event will happen in June 2003 when the SLA Annual Conference returns to New York after 14 years! The last annual conference that was held in New York was in 1989! Plans are alreadyunderway to bring a very exciting and enriching program to our great city. I hope every NY Chapter member will attend to help make it the most successful SLA conference ever.

ChapterNewsVolume 74, #4 Summer 2002

IN THIS ISSUE

President’s Report

Greetings from

Agnes Mattis.. ...........................1

SLA – Plenty of Opportunities

to Grow and Volunteer..............2

Up Close to a Stereotype .............4

Lights, Cameras...Action! .............7

Knowledge Services

Specialist Librarians

in the New Profession ..............8

Celebrations for

Carol Ginsburg ..........................9

Essence of a

Successful Intranet .................10

New York Chapter Awards .........13

Social Science Division:

We Want You! .........................14

Members in the News.................14

Website Resources –

Anti-Money Laundering Sites..15

ADVERTISERS

Dialog ............................................6

EBSCO ..........................................5

Heller and Associates...................5

InfoCurrent ..................................10

Library Co-Op ...............................3

NKR Associates ............................4

Pro Libra........................................7

Wontawk .....................................14


ChapterNewsNew York ChapterSpecial Libraries AssociationSummer Vol. 74, No. 4

PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

ChapterNews, the bulletin of the New York Chapter of theSpecial Libraries Association, is published four times a year.

Deadlines for submitting materials:

Fall issue ....................August 15Winter issue...............November 15Spring issue................February 15Summer issue.............May 15

Submit all material to: Thomas PellizziInterim ChapterNews EditorE-mail: [email protected]

Submissions: Articles on topics of general interest to infor-mation professionals and the New York Chapter are welcome.Authors can send submissions via e-mail as text file or MSWord for Windows attachments, or with article in the body ofthe e-mail. Please use single-line spacing, Courier font, withminimal use of boldface and italics. Include a byline with yourfull name and place of work.

ADVERTISING inquiries should be addressed to: Laura Kapnick, CBS NEWS524 West 57th StreetNew York, NY 10019-2985 Telephone: (212) 975-2917 or E-mail: [email protected]

Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for thestatements and opinions advanced by contributors to the Associa-tion’s publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent theofficial position of Special Libraries Association. Acceptance of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product bySpecial Libraries Association.

CHAPTERNEWS STAFFDirector of Publications Thomas PellizziInterim ChapterNews Editor Thomas PellizziAdvertising Manager Laura KapnickWebmaster Konrad Will

SLA – Plenty of Opportunities to Grow and Volunteerby Marty Cullen, Past President

T he Special Libraries Association’s strength is in itsgrass roots volunteerism. Having just completed ayear as the Chapter’s President I can attest to the

fact that it’s hard work but also very rewarding. No mat-ter how hard you work in SLA you always get more outof the experience.

To me, any role in a professional association is animportant one. Before committing five years as NYChapter Business & Finance Chair-Elect, Chair, ChapterPresident Elect, President and now Past President, I hadbeen involved in the Law Librarians Association ofGreater New York. I can tell you that organizing lun-cheons, checking attendance at meetings, and even drawing up flyers were all rewarding endeavors.

The benefits of getting involved are many. SLA hasallowed me to grow at work as it presented me with challenges that work just could not offer. For example, learning how to get people to do things when they don’twork for you is an invaluable skill.

After September 11th the SLA community provedinvaluable as fellow members offered us space and data.It also offered the Chapter the opportunity to do more for the membership by grieving for three of our memberswho were killed, bringing in a counselor, and havingthree Library Director’s talk about their experiences.

Throughout the next year there will be plenty ofopportunities to volunteer, beginning locally with Chap-ter meetings and concluding with the Annual Conferencecoming back to New York for the first time since 1989.

For more information please visit www.sla.org Members Only – Get Involved section.

(Continued from page 1)


Up Close to a Stereotypeby Jamie Russell

T he library staff at BusinessWeek was as surprised as the rest of our readers at the stereotyped imageused to portray our profession in the March 18,

2002 story on the potential shortage of librarians. (“Psst!Help Wanted in the Stacks”, by Kimberly Weisul.) Wehad worked with the reporter on that story, as we do onmuch of the editorial content of the magazine, but we’regenerally not involved with the graphics for any story, soit was not unusual for us to have been out of that loop.

We saw it for the first time when the magazine waspublished. We responded internally immediately, lettingour views be known, and trying to determine to our ownsatisfaction how this basic ‘disconnect’ could occur withfolks we work with on a professional basis every day ofthe week. What I can tell you is that none of us recog-nized the woman depicted as anyone we knew— let alone work with!

It was all the more puzzling because the BusinessWeekresearch library is a great place to work — the staff worksvery closely with BusinessWeek editorial staff as part ofthe reporting teams that come together each week tocreate the best possible coverage for our readers. We’reone of the few major weekly magazines where the librarystaff gets bylines along with reporters for work in whichwe’ve made a major contribution. We are highly regardedinternally for our research, as well as for the web trainingand Intranet research site we provide for reporters. Oureditorial staff is extremely professional, highly intelligent,and objectively generous about sharing the credit whenit’s appropriate. In a venue where bylines are the currencyof the culture, that’s saying a lot.

Various reasons for the choice of that image wereproffered internally. Most bespoke a very real disconnectbetween the stereotype of our profession, and the realityof what we do, who we are, even what we look like — inthe minds of the editors making these choices. This is anissue we as a profession have suffered with and struggledover for decades — and will no doubt continue to do so.At issue are semantics, comfortable but outdated mind-sets, and convenient stereotypes that require no thinkingor questioning. Unfortunately, these perpetuate theproblem and do the most disservice to a story that was agood recruiting piece, and could have been great — butwhat would anyone advise their son or daughter about aprofession depicted as ours was in the photo?

The response from BusinessWeek’s readership was swiftand broad. We heard from biker librarians, belly-dancinglibrarians and others who were generally outraged at

another shot at a pink-collar profession. But JimMatarazzo’s succinct, tongue-in-cheek/gently-chidingletter said it best, and was published in our letters-to-theeditor section, called Readers Report, on April 8, 2002.(Jim is the very-recently-retired Dean of the SimmonsGraduate School of Library and Information Science.)Both ALA and SLA were apprised of the story, but didnot respond.

After the story ran, we began posting other publishedversions of librarianship on the windowed wall of theresearch library — the Honda ad, The New York Timespiece from last summer about the diversity of backgroundsin the field, the Bacardi Rum ad, and a few other image-busting views. The responses were as interesting as thetopic — some folks thought these views, as well as theBusinessWeek stereotyped image, were “cute” — and thiswas from young people! Some were offended, not byBusinessWeek’s photo, but particularly by the Bacardi adof a scantily clad model, complete with Batman tattoo,with the tag line “Librarian by day – Bacardi by Night.”We all tried to tactfully point out that the extremity of thatimage was equally as ungrounded in reality as the tight-lipped, tight-bunned, buttoned up, shushing librarian.

NKR AssociatesConsultants to libraries, offices,archives.

Get to know Davida Scharf,Richard Steele, Nancy Nelson

They’re hands-on information professionals helping clients in the NYarea with projects, large and small.

■ Special Projects■ Workflow & Systems■ Database Design & Development■ Records & Archival Management■ Intra/Internet Projects■ Cataloging & Indexing■ Inmagic software experts

201-947-8039 fax: [email protected]

www.NKRassociates.com

(Continues on page 5)


The ‘wall’ has changed now. We post the follow-upstories that have resulted from BusinessWeek’s raising ofa very important issue — the real problem of a potentialshortage of librarians. We’ve included the Boston Globeonline piece this June, and the Dallas Morning Newsstory of May 21, which did a great job of image-busting,by interviewing and picturing spikey-haired librarianswho play in punk rock bands, or who look like the rest of us — contemporary, hip or not, barely identifiable in a crowd, in fact.

Ultimately, I have to believe that raising the topic was more important than any beating we took from theaccompanying image. At a time when corporations,schools and the public are looking increasingly towardpublic libraries to provide internet access, internet train-ing for potential hires, internet screening for our chil-dren, and when the entire literate world is suffering frominformation overload, I hope our story will encouragepositive consciousness-raising effects. But that’s foranother story.

Jamie Russell is the Director of Information Services at BusinessWeek.

Editor’s Note: Some readers may find the following websiteinteresting. It was brought to my attention by Dorothy Nelsen-Gille. http://atst.nso.edu/library/perception/


Global Library & Records Staffing Specialists

Over 25 years of staffing experienceProviding temporary, permanent and consulting services

New York OfficeHeller & Associates Inc.

2 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036Tel: 212-819-1919 Fax: 212-819-9196

www.hellerandassociates.come-mail: [email protected]

Chicago OfficeHeller Information Services Inc.

53 West Jackson Blvd. Chicago, Ill 60604Tel: 312-922-6740 Fax: 312-922-6741

e-mail: [email protected]


Lights Camera...ACTION!by Sandra Kitt

In New York a person’s worth is judged by their profes-sion, and maybe where they live. In L.A. the criteria isthe car you drive. Since Angelinos spend an indecent

amount of time on the road the game is to guess whatbusiness a person does based on their model of car.Here’s a hint: driving a Mercedes is typical. And every-one thinks they are a star.

The Hollywood film industry is one of the major employ-ers in Southern California. The other is UCLA. These areconsidered ‘star vehicles’. But you wouldn’t have thoughtso at this year’s annual Special Libraries Association con-ference, which was held in L.A. Amidst all the courses,programs, tours, board meetings and exhibits, the NewYork Chapter managed to grab center stage, and hold on for the duration. And we only had a supporting role!

Next year’s annual conference will be held in New York City. In preparation for what is hoped to be a grandturnout of SLA members, the New York Chapter staffedand maintained an information booth at the L.A. confer-ence. Our purpose was to dispense maps, brochures,direction, and to answer questions about the conferencesite in 2003. Where will the conference be held?(Answer: The New York Hilton, The Sheraton Hoteland Towers, and the Marriott Marquis Hotel). How farapart are the venues from each other? What is the aver-age cost to get in from the airports?

We also gave out what seemed like tons of chocolatewrapped in the shapes of basketballs, baseballs and foot-balls, in honor of our local sports teams. Given the sizelimitations of the space (about 8x10') the booth assignedto the Chapter was simply decorated. Sports bannerswere displayed against the drape which made up the back wall. In front we displayed a mounted poster of New York’s spectacular skyline photographed at night.The other poster was a blow-up map of mid-town Man-hattan with all three conference hotels for next yearclearly indicated. It was the perfect visual to allow thoseplanning to attend next June to see not only where we’llbe, but also what’s in the immediate surrounding streets(LOTS of restaurants, shopping, and tourist attractions).

The New York Chapter planning committee for thebooth also decided to hold three prize drawings witheach give-away representative of our great city. Theyincluded three bottles of wine from various vineyardsaround the state, a basket of New York entertainmentwhich consisted of two videos (“Breakfast At Tiffany’s”,the quintessential New York movie, and “Manhattan”),two DVDs and two books about the city. The final giftwas a cookie jar in the shape of a taxi cab with packages

of black and white cookies. More than two hundred busi-ness cards were collected for the drawings. All three win-ners were announced on the last day of the conference,and the prizes were all claimed.

The one item, however, which really put the NewYork Chapter on the Walk Way of the Stars was the NewYork taxi lapel pin which our Chapter volunteers handedout to eager and delighted conference attendees. Weonly had 500 pins which were rationed over the five daysof the conference. Still, there were countless disappoint-ed librarians who didn’t get one. We discovered, howev-er, that the pin was more than just a cute freebie. Peoplealso coveted it as a presentation of a city which had gonethrough so much after 9/11, but whose spirit was stillindomitable. We were proud of that, and gratified tohear how many attendees at the L.A. conference wereeagerly awaiting next year.

While I’m happy that the Information Booth was sowell received, I am most proud of the 32 Chapter mem-bers who willingly volunteered their time to answerquestions...and represent New York. Everyone did socheerfully, and this was not lost on the many people whostopped by to visit and chat. The Chapter volunteerswere the stars of the moment, and to each of them Iextend my heartfelt appreciation for a job well done. If I could, I’d give each of you a little statuette called Oscar.

Sandra Kitt, Richard S. Perkin Collection Astronomy & Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History(212) 769-5215, Fax: (212) 769-5009, e-mail: [email protected]

Knowledge ServicesSpecialist Librarians in the New Professionby Guy St. Clair

T he new knowledge services profession is going tobe made up of many different knowledge workers,coming from many different professions, disciplines,

and types of work. It will be a profession that comes fromthe convergence of information management, knowledgemanagement, and strategic (performance-centered)learning. And it will be the new knowledge services profession that will provide the practitioners who enableKnowledge Development/Knowledge Sharing (KD/KS) in the organizations where they work.

What a splendid opportunity for specialist librarians!Specialized libraries — and the people who work in them— have always been on the cutting edge in informationand knowledge delivery. And certainly when we thinkabout some of the advances in information managementthat have been led by specialist librarians, their transitioninto the realm of knowledge services is going to be,indeed, a smooth one. For those who want to embark on this splendid journey, it will be an almost seamless and certainly an almost painless transition.

Knowledge services calls for professional workers whounderstand (and know how to implement, for their cus-tomers’ benefit) information management, knowledgemanagement, and strategic learning. Specialist librarians,building on models and guidelines that their communityhas developed over the past 93 years, are uniquely quali-fied to be knowledge services professionals. Starting withJohn Cotton Dana’s recognition that a new kind oflibrarianship geared to meet the needs of specializedinstitutions and users was required, on through the 1993recommendations of SLA’s ground-breaking PREPSCommission, to the 1996 competencies document and itsenthusiastic acceptance in the international informationmanagement community, to the current recognition ofspecialist librarians as knowledge professionals providingfocused information and services, these knowledge work-ers have demonstrated—and continue to demonstrate —that they are the experts in what will be a new profession.It is an evolution — this move from specialist librarian-ship to knowledge services — that is so truly relevant it isalmost natural in its development. The fit is perfect.

Of course the evolution has not — and will not — beaccomplished without some bumps and some resistance.For example, as specialist librarians move toward theirrole as knowledge services practitioners, the distinctionsbetween what they do and what other librarians do willbecome even more pronounced, more striking. Specifi-cally, the affiliations between specialist librarians and typ-ical librarianship of the later 20th century — already ten-uous at best — will definitely be broken. As the newknowledge services profession takes hold, bringing with itinformation specialists, knowledge managers, and learningproviders from many different professions, disciplines, andtypes of work, that connection will be lost. Most of thesepeople will have nothing in common with (and perhapshave not even heard of) the approaches to informationdelivery that so typically characterize American librarian-ship, and there will be little — if any — need for tradition-al librarianship and knowledge services to be affiliated.

Not so with specialized librarianship, of course. Hereis how Marion Paris described the situation in theDecember 1999 issue of Information Outlook, previewingfor us some of what the new knowledge services profes-sion is going to be like:

… In searching for the technical, the obscure, theundocumented fugitive report, or the one final detailthat will win a new client, special librarians havealways been indifferent [to] walls and boundaries. Special librarians networked long before the noununderwent linguistic conversion into a verb…. Whetherthe context is a corporation or a museum or a militaryinstallation or a specialized academic collection or aresearch and development laboratory, the ethos of special librarianship veers sharply away [from that ofother types of libraries]. … According to the [AmericanLibrary Association’s] Library Bill of Rights speciallibrarians are heretics. You practice censorship; you do not as a rule educate your customers; you do yourclients’ work for them, you acknowledge and admitthat all customers of your libraries are not createdequal. Summoning the totality of who you are (in pos-session of intelligence, education, experience, discern-ment and no small amount of cultivated prescience),you anticipate needs and cater to your customers.Moreover, it is essential to your credibility and to thecontinuing prosperity of your libraries that you makejudgments about information sources and means oflocating them. Means, by the way, that may be uncon-ventional, but invariably their ends justify them. Youcreate new information on demand. Knowledge man-agement is merely a fresh take on your expertise.



Let’s recognize, though, that knowledge services ismore than knowledge management. In fact, as I’m sayingover and over, knowledge services is the convergence ofinformation management, knowledge management, andstrategic learning. Its great value is in this convergence,and, as one colleague has pointed out, for many organi-zations the concept of knowledge services makes moresense than knowledge management, per se. KM has notalways (even yet!) been readily accepted into the manage-ment mainstream. There are probably many reasons forthis, but one seems fairly straightforward. For manybusiness leaders, KM — as a concept — has been diffi-cult to understand, mainly because KM as a cultural con-struct has been around for as long as human beings havebeen communicating with one another. The only new“piece” is technology. So knowledge services, as a con-cept, makes more sense. It is less ambitious and morefocused than KM. It is also — not to push this idea toohard! — more in line with the capabilities of specialistlibrarians and other information professionals whoseroles have expanded and now include the very attributesof information work that are required for success inknowledge services delivery.

Have I convinced you? Do you now see yourself as amember — no, as a leader — in the new knowledge ser-vices profession? Of course you do, because, as Paris asnoted, it’s what we’ve been doing all the time. Once youbegin to think of the work that you and your colleaguesdo, and the roles that you play in your organization, interms that build on knowledge development and knowl-edge sharing, you’re on the road to great success as aknowledge services professional. In this new capacity,you will be laying the foundations for a new approach toinformation and knowledge delivery that can’t help butbe valuable to the organization that employs you andwhich will, at the same time, establish you as the knowl-edge leader that you’ve always wanted to be.

ReferenceParis, Marion. “Beyond competencies: a trendspotter’s guide to library education.” Information Outlook, 2 (12),December, 1999.

Guy St. Clair is Consulting Specialist, Knowledge Manage-ment and Learning, SMR International, New York, NY. A pastpresident of the Special Libraries Association and of the NewYork Chapter, St. Clair actively solicits readers’ responses tothis column. He can be reached at [email protected]

Celebrations for Carol GinsburgBy Roni Pidala

On July 31, 2002 many members of the special librariescommunity celebrated Carol Ginsburg’s retirement fromDeutsche Bank at two separate parties. Carol had workedat Bankers Trust (and then Deutsche Bank, after themerger of the two firms) for over 20 years. She is a PastPresident of the New York Chapter and has been activein SLA for many years, both in official positions and as a speaker at Chapter and Association events. In addition,Carol has mentored many grateful information profes-sionals over the years, and has inspired many morethrough her impressive career path and her rise to theposition of Managing Director at the bank.

The first party was an afternoon gathering at DeutscheBank offices on 52nd Street, near Avenue of the Americ-as. Members of DB Business Information Services orga-nized this party, and the revelers included present andformer information center staff (some coming from as far away as London and Tokyo) and other staff membersof the bank. In addition, many colleagues and friends inthe industry, and family members attended this party.Carole Ottenheimer, former DB InfoCenter Manager,spoke a heartfelt tribute to Carol.

Friends from the Chapter also organized a second“surprise” party, to continue the tribute at the Chemist’sClub. The planners, Pam Rollo, Steve Kochoff and JohnGanly moved swiftly to the ceremonial aspects of theparty, presenting Carol with a crown and red satin cape,offset by a bouquet of roses. Thereupon the testimonialsbegan, from additional heartfelt remembrances to wittycommentary. Carol was then presented with a special gift — an Hermes scarf — designed for the bicentennial,which has become a collector’s item. In sum: these weretwo great parties for a great lady.




Essence of a Successful Intranet by Roberta Piccoli

W hen I began developing Intranets, I had hopedto find a good primer on the elements neededto create a successful Intranet, but found instead

that I learned the most on the job. While the creation of every Intranet has its own unique twists and turns, Ibelieve I can now share some basics that I have foundessential to the process. The use of these concepts willallow the flexibility to incorporate the unique factors that will characterize your organization’s Intranet.

I have coded the Intranet elements under the term“LOCKSTEP.” It includes the concepts:

• Listening

• Orchestration

• Communication

• Knowledge-sharing

• Strategy

• Tactics

• Engaging decision-makers

• Promoting change and value

While these concepts have already been cornerstones ofevery successful career, I will outline how each is criticalto the successful launch and development of an Intranet.

ListeningWhether you join the Intranet team from its first dayor sign on within the development process, listeningbecomes the cornerstone of all you can accomplish.Intranets often fail because the technology drives the creation. Instead, Intranets should solve business prob-lems by using the technology as a tool. Conductinginterviews with a sampling of the professionals who will use and benefit from the Intranet is an early step. Through this process, you will build relationships withkey decision-makers throughout the firm, who will ulti-mately use and influence usage of the Intranet. Althoughbrief, these interviews should seek to identify the firm’smission, key users’ needs, and steps already taken by anyIntranet visionaries to date. By listening and then return-ing to the participants to validate your findings, you willinsure continuing participation and pride of ownershipfor the Intranet.

At its best, listening yields the following buildingblocks to the Intranet process:

• Business Mission and Problems

• Corporate culture and how firm-wide professionalswork and respond to change

• Day-to-day needs and priorities

• Talent assessments of the current development team,including any outside Intranet vendors

• Status and support of project (if entering the team in mid-development)

• Costs or sources to find costs for producing, printing anddistributing key documents that will be transferred to theIntranet to be used later as a measure of Intranet value

For example, in a large ad agency setting, technologydrove the Intranet development. There was little inputinto the content that needed to be shared firm wide. Theinitial launch version featured few pieces of recent, rele-vant content. Since so few people had been made awareof the initiative, much less interviewed, it was difficult to solicit new content. Under those circumstances, fewprofessionals’ trialed, much less used the Intranet. As aresult, ongoing funding suffered a deep cut.


Helping you manage the flow of Information with temp,temp-to-hire, and direct hire placements.

Whether you’re a skilled information management professional or a client seeking one, connect

directly with our InfoCurrent professionals today.

Professional and clerical placements in Law, Business, Publishing, Pharmaceuticals,

Vendors, the Arts & eCommerce.

New York City Metro Area Washington, DC Metro Area1156 Avenue of the Americas 815 Connecticut Avenue, NWNew York, NY 10036 Washington, DC 20006Phone: 212-642-4321 Phone: (202) 775-1890 [email protected] [email protected]

Your Source for SkilledInformation Navigators

www.infocurrent.com


In a global brand consultancy, more people participat-ed in the process from its beginning. But I was broughtin to take over leadership after two years and two teamshad been unable to launch the system. Although Iencountered widespread frustration from two years filledwith interviews that had never resulted in a launchedproduct, I still needed to interview key managers andconsultants. I found that the technology was driving theearlier attempts, not the value of its content. By under-standing the current business needs of the company andthe priorities felt by the client-facing consultants, wedesigned an Intranet to solve business problems. At thesame time, I discovered that the Intranet-design vendorwas also frustrated with the process and ready to walk offthe job. We created an improved way of working togetherto solve the problem.

OrchestrationLeading an Intranet is like conducting a symphonyorchestra. The conductor sets the vision and tempo andeach player knows their exact role to play to achieve apleasing, harmonious sound. Each team member needsto understand the overall goal, the value to the organiza-tion of what they are designing, the Intranet’s strategy.Next, they need to clearly understand their role or thetactics needed to achieve that goal. A good Intranet teamleader concentrates on reminding the team of that clearvision, then keeps its members accountable for their contri-bution. In addition, the leader maintains top managementsupport, builds excitement for the upcoming Intranet, andclears any obstacles that will impede the team’s progress.

CommunicationIntranets are a major investment. Its team leader needs to passionately advocate its value to the organization atevery opportunity. Validate the priorities that were iden-tified from management interviews. Communicating andgaining the approval of the strategic/development planwill validate the priorities identified from the early inter-views. Throughout the design, launch and ongoingmaintenance phases, top management needs to be keptapprised of progress in succinct messages. Stating thevalue of the Intranet in attaining the firm’s goals andimproving the bottom line though greater efficiencies is critical. Here are some key opportunities to garnerfirm wide support through communication:

• Keep key decision-makers informed of the Intranet’s progress.

• Build excitement for the tool throughout its development.

• Be the first to inform top management if the unexpected occurs, like a security breach or the inability to make a key deadline. Briefly outline the problem; recommend a solution along with its communication plan.

• Solicit relevant, fresh content that fits the establishedstrategic guidelines by building relationships to keycontributors.

• Keep top management aware that the Intranet’s goal is to solve business problems. Supply them with shortquotes on the benefits of the Intranet expenditure sothat they can easily defend its vale in management and budget meetings.

• Plan and execute an ongoing marketing campaign toachieve trial and use, to gain contributions, and tosolicit feedback to create Intranet enhancements.

Knowledge-SharingBe sure that the technology available is not driving thepriorities of the Intranet. Only the content and services canmake an Intranet invaluable to its constituency. Sharinglearning, promoting consistent company values, and build-ing new, productive working relationships are key benefits.Technology should be the tool to facilitate access to thesevaluable Intranet benefits. Ultimately, the Intranet’s valueis to foster greater collaboration and innovation by makingthe firm’s best thinking and experts more accessible, whichwill create greater learning and time efficiencies. Beyondits launch, the currency and relevancy of ongoing contribu-tions to the Intranet are vital to its trial and continued use.

StrategyIt is critical to digest the initial interviews’ feedback toidentify the business goals and set the priorities. Thisanalysis provides the core of the Intranet vision. Thisvision will also outline the Intranet structure and contentto help attain those overall business goals. This strategicplan will include:

• Overall vision of how the Intranet will address key business problems

• Firm wide benefits of sharing Intranet content to create greater time efficiencies

• Guidelines that will form the basis to solicit, then to judge relevant Intranet content

• The Intranet’s structural goal to make the navigationlogical and the content easily accessible

• How security will be ensured




Once top management approves this strategic plan,then the tactics are designed to bring the vision to life.Having a strategic plan underlines the value of what topmanagement and the firm will receive for their invest-ment. It also gives the Intranet team a focused, endorsedpicture of what they will achieve together.

TacticsOnce that strategic plan is validated with top manage-ment and other key decision-makers, a process and spe-cific roles and expectations need to be defined for eachmember of the Intranet team. The Intranet team leaderneeds to:

• Hold internal and external team members accountablefor deadlines and top quality work.

• Tie accomplishments back to the overall vision.

• Create recognition of the value of teamwork as well as individual performance.

• Streamline communication with the Intranet designvendor, internal or external, to ensure clear, wellthought-out specifications and deadlines.

• Add sample content, then test and retest its navigation.

• Instill a pride that comes from sharing ownership in the finished Intranet product.

• Quantify the time of staff, production, printing anddistribution costs that the Intranet eliminates whencontent is shifted to the web.

• Create guidelines for content.

• Plan overall security and individual access policies as needed.

• When creating budgets and timelines, allow a reason-able cushion so that if you can not exceed expectations,you can at least honor the budget and deadlines set.

Engaging Key Decision-MakersIt is not enough to conduct interview with key decision-makers early in the process in order to determine Intranetpriorities. These contacts should become ongoing advisorsto the Intranet. One needs to find the unique and focusedcommunication means within the parent organization tokeep them feeling engaged and sharing ownership for theIntranet’s ultimate success. Analyze the communicationmeans that are unique to your organization and fits theirworking style. Some considerations may be:

• Hallway and elevator conversations

• Brief stops in individual offices to share a quick updateor triumph

• Focused e-mails asking for input or giving quick updates

• Brief, bullet-pointed one-page memos

• Lunches

If these key decision-makers believe in the value of theIntranet, not only will they take pride in their role in its success, but they will also influence trial and usagethroughout the firm. Most importantly, they will continue to vote for funding of the Intranet.

Promoting Change and ValueOften, I see teams exhausted after the design and launchprocess. With momentum spent, they neglect the ongo-ing promotion and refreshing of the Intranet. Withoutfresh, relevant content, the Intranet tool may neverbecome habit throughout the organization. Without pro-motion, relevant content, and usage, funding will dry upand the Intranet will fail.

An ongoing promotional campaign is needed to intro-duce, train, and show the value of this new tool. I call itthe “What’s In it for You” campaign. Each communica-tion needs to underline the business benefit of quality,relevant content and time savings by using the Intranet.Methods need to be tailored to the communicationmeans available in a given organization. Presentations toboth large and small team groups in every office acrossthe globe are only effective if they become a vehicle tosolicit feedback, to build relationships, and to garnercontributions for fresh and relevant content. E-mails and memos must be succinct and engaging because they are tailored to each audiences unique needs.

The quest for updated, relevant content is ongoing.If Intranet users detect inaccuracies or out-of-date infor-mation, they will not continue to log on. Professionalsmust be able to follow the navigation logic to find con-tent that will save them time. If no content exists on theirtopic, they should find a mechanism to connect them toone of the firm’s experts. The Intranet team must main-



tain its passion for the product and find innovative waysto get updated, relevant content. To do this, they mustcultivate and maintain strong, positive relationships withcontent producers. Designing incentives that fit the firmwill enhance the flow of content.

ConclusionWhile I have distilled the elements that should ensure asuccessful Intranet, its ultimate longevity will depend onwhether it answers a valued need within the organiza-tion. Ultimately, bottom line benefits speak the loudestfor its continued use and support within the organiza-tion. If some expenses eliminated by the Intranet can bequantified, like time of staff, production, printing anddistribution expenses, management will convince evenfinancial managers to continue funding and supportingthe Intranet.

Facilitating greater access to key knowledge and experts,greater staff efficiencies and collaboration, the Intranetshould increase productivity and generate cost savings.Giving employees the tools to be productive should prove tobe an irresistible value proposition to top management.

Roberta PiccoliIn 24 years as an information professional, Roberta Piccoli hasbuilt customized solutions to sharing knowledge within eachorganization she has joined. Most recently as a Senior Partnerat the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in Chicago, shemanaged a department that provided background on 60 clientsand industries, then created a competitive intelligence unit tooffer more in-depth analysis. As a knowledge manager, shecontributed to a team designing and launching a global Intranet.

She moved to New York in June of 2001 to lead the designand launch of a global Intranet for FutureBrand, a brand con-sulting arm of McCann-Erickson. The launch proved success-ful, on deadline and relevant, achieving over 3,500 hits in itsfirst 60 days in an 800 member firm. The promotion campaign,already begun in the U.S. and London, had garnered increasedtrial and usage, feedback for enhancements, and promises ofmore content. After a 20% layoff in early December affectingthose who were not bringing in consulting revenue, Robertahas reactivated her business Search Source to offer research,analysis, information audits and Intranet consulting to a widerange of businesses and industries. But she loves exploringNew York and wants to thank the SLA community for its warmwelcome. She can be reached at: [email protected]

New York Chapter Awards

SLA 2001 Conference Grants: Sharon MosenkisCarol HochbergSarah WarnerChristopher LowdenJulia Rosenthal

Diversity Leadership Scholarship: La Shawn Ross

President’s Recognition Awards:Sarah WarnerMartha SchweitzerClifford PerryThomas Pellizzi

The NY Chapter’s Distinguished Service Award: Steven Johnson



Social Science Division:We Want You!

T he Social Science Division is a vibrant branch ofSLA. With broad subject coverage and more than350 dynamic members, the Division spans a myri-

ad of interests and activities and thrives as a forum forthe exchange of information and knowledge for speciallibrarians having a social science subject interest. Found-ed in 1923 as the Civics Group, the Social Science Divi-sion ranks as SLA’s second oldest. It is composed oflibrarians, knowledge officers, and other informationprofessionals who proactively satisfy the substantiveinformation needs of the specialized clientele found infoundations, associations, universities, research organiza-tions, corporations, law firms, and municipal, county,state, provincial, federal government, or internationalagencies and organizations.

The Division features two specialized Roundtables,formed to meet the distinctive needs of information pro-fessionals and to furnish a medium for the exchange ofideas. Each Roundtable typically supports programs orworkshops at the Annual Conference, in addition toother activities.

Independent Sector Roundtable members are infor-mation professionals from organizations and associationsinvolved in the voluntary philanthropic and general non-profit sector.

The International Relations Roundtable presents formembers interested in the global aspects of librarianshipand information transfer the prospect of promoting activi-ties and developing programs that strengthen ties amonglibrarians and information professionals worldwide. Inaddition, the IR Roundtable works to advance programsthat increase the spread of information in developingcountries. The IR Roundtable — partnered with theInternational Relations Committee and the EuropeanChapter — sponsors the International Reception to welcome non-US attendees to the Annual Conference.

The Social Science Division is considering replacingthe Roundtables with similar Division Sections.

The Bulletin of the Social Science Division is a stimu-lating communications tool, for members and non-mem-bers alike. Published 3 times annually, this periodicalincludes feature articles written by SSD members ontopics of professional interest, bibliographies, Internetresources, book reviews, and Division and Roundtablenews and events. Contents of the Bulletin are indexed in Library Literature, published by the H. W. WilsonCompany. In future, the Bulletin may be sent to Division

members and other subscribers via e-mail, in addition tobeing posted on the Division website.

The Division website (http://www.sla.org/division/dsoc/index.html) strives to keep members abreast ofunfolding news and information.

The Social Science Division Discussion List ([email protected]) supplies an electronicvehicle for idea exchange and communication among theDivision’s members, simultaneously forging a personalconnection. It informs subscribers about all upcomingSocial Science Division meetings and events; puts sub-scribers in the loop with regard to SLA internationalactivities — conferences and accommodations; publicizesthe latest job openings in the information field; proffers a place where subscribers can post help-wanted notices;constitutes a group of people subscribers can consultwhen looking for information. So, join a band of lively,sophisticated, far-flung social science information profes-sionals and revolutionize your world!

Members in the NewsLucy Lettis joined the Marsh & McLennan Companiesas a Senior Vice President in February. She is responsiblefor Marsh’s research department, known as the BusinessIntelligence Unit (BIU). The BIU is a division of Marsh’sMarketing Practice. Lettis is responsible for creating cus-tomized competitive and business intelligence services forMarsh personnel, and for the integration of third partycontent in Marsh’s enterprise portal. In addition, the BIUresponds to research requests from Marsh personnelglobally and provides research skills training to end-users.

Jessica Frankel was named Director, Global Head ofLibrary and Information Services, for CS First Boston,located in New York. CS First Boston is a leading globalinvestment bank and a unit of Credit Suisse Group, aleading global financial services company. She was previ-ously the Director of Administration for the New Yorkoffice of Spencer Stuart, a major Executive Search firm.

Mindy Samitt joined KPMG LLP in New York in Aprilas Senior Associate. Mindy will be working with the Corporate Intelligence unit of the Forensic & Litigationpractice, supporting the senior staff with their businessresearch and investigative due diligence service needs.Prior to KPMG, Mindy held the position of InformationSpecialist with GE Capital’s Equity business located inStamford, CT and as Research Associate with Pricewa-terhouseCoopers in New York.


Website Resources – Anti-Money Laundering SitesBy Louise Klusek

Asia/Pacific Group on Money Launderinghttp://www1.oecd.org/fatf/Ctry-orgpages/org-apg_en.htm

A regional group that works closely with FATF to develop anti-money laundering policies, APG also monitors the work of itsmember countries and posts summaries on this Web site. Click on the member countries for links to home country legislation.

CFATF: Caribbean Financial Action Task Forcehttp://www1.oecd.org/fatf/ctry-orgpages/org-cfatf_en.htm

CFATF, an organization of the states of the Caribbean region,addresses money laundering from a regional perspective throughtheir “Aruba Recommendations” and works closely with FATF todevelop policy. To assess the anti-money laundering programs oftheir member countries, CFATF posts summaries from its mutualevaluation program.

Council of Europe. Select Committee ofExperts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measureshttp://www1.oecd.org/fatf/Ctry-orgpages/org-pcrev_en.htm

The PC-R-EV Committee was set up to provide policy assistanceto the 22 Council of Europe countries (mainly from EasternEurope) who are not members of FATF. It also runs an evaluationprogram to assess whether members are meeting anti-money laun-dering standards and posts summaries at this Web site.

Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Unitshttp://www1.oecd.org/fatf/Ctry-orgpages/org-egmont_en.htm

Many countries have established financial intelligence units(FIU’s) to deal with money laundering; the Egmont Group provides a communications forum for these groups. One will findits “Statement of Purpose”, a list of operational FIUs, and infor-mation papers at this site.

FATF – Financial Action Task Force on Money Launderinghttp://www1.oecd.org/fatf/index.htm

The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering wasestablished in 1989 by the G-7 summit to make policy to combatmoney laundering; it is now one of the most influential intergov-ernmental bodies working in this area. Its twenty-nine memberscome from countries in Europe, North America and Asia.

FATF established a set of “Forty Recommendations” that havebecome the world standard for compliance and compiles a list ofnon-cooperating countries and territories (NCCTs) that are subject to sanctions because they lack adequate anti-money laundering legislation.

Under “Legislation” one will find extracts from and links to rele-vant legislation of the member countries. The Web site alsoincludes basic information sheets on money laundering techniquesand information about its recently expanded mission to combatterrorist financing. FATF works closely with other regional groupssuch as the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-money LaunderingGroup which are listed at “Members and Observers”.

Financial Crimes Enforcement Networkhttp://www.ustreas.gov/fincen/

FinCEN, established in 1990 by the U.S. Treasury to fight financialcrime especially money laundering, is one of the principal commu-nication centers for sharing information among the law enforce-ment, regulatory and financial community. “Regulatory” containsthe text of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and BSA regulations. Forthose interested in the history of money laundering regulation inthe U.S., FinCEN also provides a timeline of legislative activity.Twice a year FinCEN publishes the SAR Activity Review to pro-vide guidance on the use of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)filed by financial institutions. Each issue highlights a key trend,reports on law enforcement cases and includes statistics on SARfilings. Issue 3 (October 2001) reports on transactions that may be related to terrorist activity.

Financial Services Authority. Money Launderinghttp://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/money_laundering/

The Financial Services Authority in the U.K. has made moneylaundering one of the main themes of this Web site. In addition to the text of the “Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000”,many policy statements and press releases are available.

FINTRAChttp://www.fintrac.gc.ca/index.htm

FINTRAC, the government of Canada’s Financial Transactionsand Reports Analysis Center, is responsible for ensuring compliancewith the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act and accom-panying regulations. In addition to the text of the Act, the Website includes guidelines for filers and other regulatory documents.

Global Banking Law Databasehttp://www.gbld.org/

This database, a joint project of the World Bank and the Interna-tional Monetary Fund, provides English translations of bankinglaw covering 35 different topics and 36 different countries. Fromthe pull-down menu of topics, choose “Money Laundering andPrevention of Bank Use by Criminal Elements”. It is also possibleto compare topics in two jurisdictions or search the database by keyword.



Global Programme Against Money Launderinghttp://www.odccp.org/money_laundering.html

The Global Programme against Money Laundering (GPML),sponsored by the U.N. Office of Drug Control and Crime Preven-tion (UNODCCP), coordinates the IMoLIN Network and closelycollaborates with other international agencies. GPML has anextensive research program and provides these reports on its Website. One example, the report on Financial Havens, Banking Secre-cy and Money Laundering, (https://www.imolin.org/ finhaeng.htm)describes the money laundering cycle in detail and proposes issuesfor action.

IMoLIN Networkhttps://www.imolin.org/

The International Money Laundering Information Network(IMoLIN) was developed under the United Nations Office forDrug Control and Crime Prevention. It now acts as a clearing-house for national legislation relating to money laundering.“Country Pages” link to official transcripts and regulations fromaround the world. The Web site publishes the full text of the UN’smodel legislation on money laundering and also provides usefullinks to other model legislation and legal instruments. Certainareas of the site are secured from public access.

Interpol: Financial Crimehttp://www.interpol.int/Public/FinancialCrime/Default.asp

The Financial Crime section of the Interpol Web site providesinformation on its program to fight money laundering andincludes copies of resolutions passed to encourage police access tothe financial records of criminal organizations.

Money Laundering Alerthttp://www.moneylaundering.com/

Primarily a news alerting service that focuses on regulatory issues,Money Laundering Alert On-Line also provides fee-based consult-ing services and access to a documents library. The valuable MLADatabase contains almost 1000 articles dating back to 1993. Allusers must register; parts of the site are limited to subscribers.

Money Laundering: A Banker’s Guide to Avoiding Problemshttp://www.occ.treas.gov/launder/orig1.htm

This publication, produced by the U.S. Comptroller of the Cur-rency, is an introductory guide for banks that outlines the legisla-tion regulating money laundering in the U.S. and abroad.

Office of Foreign Assets Controlhttp://www.treas.gov/ofac/

This Treasury Department unit is responsible for administeringand enforcing U.S. government sanctions against countries andorganizations imposed pursuant to national security and foreignpolicy goals. “Industry Summaries” describe the current state ofsanctions imposed in these areas. The site also offers primary legaldocuments, country/area summaries, and lists of organizations andcountries currently subject to OFAC sanctions.

USA Patriot Act of 2001http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ056.107.pdf

The International Money Laundering Abatement and FinancialAnti-Terrorism Act is incorporated as Title 3 of the USA PatriotAct. The act requires anti-money laundering compliance programsfor all financial institutions.

In addition to banks, insurance companies and broker-dealers,these institutions include mutual funds, credit card operators,money services, credit unions, and branches of foreign banks.

U.S. Department of Treasuryhttp://www.treas.gov/

The U.S. Department of the Treasury administers the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the primary U.S. civil anti-money launderingstatute, and, in cooperation with the Department of Justice, pre-pares an annual report on the “National Money Laundering Strategy” (http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/afmls.html) which is the major platform setting out the government’s agenda in thisarea. From this Web site, link to the Financial Crimes Enforce-ment Network (FinCEN) which enforces the law, or the Office of Foreign Assets Control which has jurisdiction over foreignassets in the United States.

Wolfsberg AML Principleshttp://www.wolfsberg-principles.com/

The Wolfsberg Principles, the Global Anti-Money-LaunderingGuidelines for Private Banking, were developed by a group of majorinternational private banks in collaboration with TransparencyInternational (http://www.transparency.org/) and other experts.

Louise Klusek is the coordinator of the Research Services area of the Corporate Library at Salomon Smith Barney, part of Citigroup, where she has worked for the last fifteen years.



slany chapternews newsletter summer 2002

Documents

chapter year

president h

chapters president

office of president

chapter bylaws

new york chapter awards

ny chapter member

fellow chapter members