Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | C | Computers in Libraries

Core values lead us to the core of the enterprise.

Article Excerpt
I ran a business as a first career, and I have brought several beliefs along with me into the information profession. Perhaps having a board of directors, a monthly profit/loss statement, and a balance sheet helped me visualize our core business in a concrete and clear fashion. Those first-career lessons I learned boil down to three guiding beliefs I have about organizations and people. None of the three would break new ground in Harvard Business Review-but perhaps they bear mentioning in these pages. First, customers change with the times, and effective businesses are changing with them. Second, staff within organizations can resist change, but this urge can be overcome through building trust and clear communication. And finally: Any business that wants to keep the doors open has to make a 100% commitment to using every technological advantage that comes to market.

The information professions have been fortunate because our core goals map well to the times we live in. We are tasked with providing strategic information everywhere it's needed (that's the reference part), and we must also keep an eye on the intellectual capital that is being developed (that's the collection development and digital library part). If we follow these two principles of librarianship, they can prove to be remarkably durable and trustworthy foundations for a vibrant information service. If we are doing our jobs right, our core values drive us closer to the most important enterprise content, embed us into the crucial knowledge management initiatives that are underway, and also provide us with a compelling set of rhetorical language that can affect hearts and...