Ann Schoenenberger, MLIS
Business Librarian
Kenton County Public Library

SoapBlog 3: Inspiring tomorrow: amplifying your inner librarian

On the outside of any profession there is a bit of mystery as to how it really functions. The same is true for librarians.  I am constantly asked what I do and people constantly assume it revolves around books.  Don't tell anyone but I read perhaps a fiction title only a couple times a year.  The skills and organizational practice that librarians have developed are useful to anyone who seeks information or manages collections.  Below are some examples of the work we do in the world and some activities that may encourage the seeker, thinker, and systems manager in you.

Inspiration from the ethics and daily life of libraries and librarians:

Know the limits of recorded information
Librarians know that library resources and information available via the Internet are only a piece of the knowledge building process. This also means we know when to say we don't know something. Recorded information is imperfect by nature, often orphaned by its source (the author), open to misinterpretation, and difficult to verify.  It is meant to be used critically and balanced with experience, yours and your trusted network.

Seek the truth and know your source
Even with its limitations, often recorded information is all we have.  (In the case of the passage of time and history, if information isn't captured by memory or technology it is lost forever.)  Evaluate and confirm the information you discover. Don't accept face value. Stop talking about things you've heard until you can confirm who wrote it and how they reached their conclusion.

Strive to be objective
Know the difference between opinion, theory, and fact.  Strong feelings often get in the way of making rational decisions.   Librarians are trained to inhabit the mind of those they are helping.  I may not believe in ghosts, guns, or other controversial topics but that doesn't stop me from helping people get the best information out there on the subject.
 
Share stuff
The public library allows a community to invest in resources that all its citizens can share.  The collective savings and access to knowledge allows people to spend money on other goods, learn throughout any stage of their life, and have access to information that alone they could never afford.  Librarians take care of the communities' shared possession and ensure that everything is used equitably.  We even extend this policy so that you could borrow book from other countries.  Sharing breeds community and cost savings for all who participate. 

Weed
Every year the library analyzes the use of its collection and removes titles that are damaged, no longer relevant, and are not being used.  We call this process weeding.  By making a periodic habit of weeding your RSS feeds, desktop, and other places where you store information, what you keep will be easier to find and more useful.  We do this for customers to enhance their experience and their save time.

Read
Reading allows us to take back our imagination.  Videos and television are passive activities where the mind sits and absorbs information.  When you read, your mind participates.  You imagine the characters and how they look.  The settings and scenarios light up the networks in your brain and you get to see your opinions, fears, and aspirations.  It helps to preserve your unique perspective while allowing the author to meet you half way.  Browse the shelves or web, grab or stop at something that perks your interest, and wait for inspiration to percolate.  You'll be surprised how the images, words, and ideas will follow and enhance your day.  Final note: if a book or article doesn't do that in the first chapter or first few paragraphs, move to something that does.

Ann Schoenenberger, MLIS
Business Librarian
Kenton County Public Library

SoapBlog 2: Enriching today: expert business tools you may not be using yet                   

Armed with blogs, PCs, and laptops, we are now photographers, reporters, publishers, bankers, travel agents, and, loaded with gigabytes of memory and instant connections, librarians.  So, endowed by the supreme saving and searching devices, we create our own personal libraries.   These electric mountains of financial, health, leisure, professional, and historical information are guarded by secret codes and surge protectors. Depending on your personality or mood, this is cause for joyous celebration of historic auspiciousness or grounds for a nagging paranoia that something somewhere needs attention or has been lost forever.   All this in addition to the physical world that needs tending to…

To be an official librarian, you need an ALA accredited master's degree. While I respect the history, research, and theories of my profession, I think that as we can invest our own money, fix our own car, and book our own flights, that everyone has the capacity to seek, organize, classify, and manage collections. In fact, for any worker or entrepreneur, I would suggest that it is an essential skill set to develop.  Decisions are made and problems are solved based on accurate, reliable, timely information.  
    
3 Tools that to enrich your work life that will make you an expert searcher

1. Databases and other e-library resources
Libraries subscribe to databases that contain premium content not available on the web. Not only is it not accessible from search engines, it is selected by professionals and is often peer reviewed so you can validate it faster. You can also now check out e-books, digital films, music, and more from your library website. Your library card is your access key. 
Examples of what you can do: make custom lists and see estimated sales figures for private companies with ReferenceUSA, check your media hits with Newsbank, download the latest popular business book, and read your field's trade publications.

2. Worldcat
Libraries share information on the books they purchase and librarians access these records through a shared union catalog called Worldcat.  The free and open version is available at http://www.worldcat.org  Type in book, CD, DVD, etc. titles, authors, and subjects to see what library system has it locally or even worldwide.   You can also add reviews and save booklists. 

3. Advanced searching
A quick tip to update your search skills fast: experiment with the advanced search function in the library catalog, search engines, and databases.  You can bypass popular pages and get to interesting Powerpoints and PDFs or limit your search to the "edu" and "org" domain to limit your search to educational institutions.  Put in a little more time in crafting a search and spend less time sorting through results.  You also be amazed at what you find.

For more information on using these tools contact: business@kentonlibrary.org

Ann Schoenenberger, MLIS
Business Librarian
Kenton County Public Library

SoapBlog 1: Preserving yesterday: what's business past is business prologue

My path to becoming a professional librarian was precipitated by a series of rejected library job applications - a mere side product of a chronic, obsessive information habit.  I grew up in a little Pennsylvania town across the street from a one room library where my mother worked.  I would walk there after school and spend hours exploring.  My habit may have started there but, regardless, the curiosity and pleasure of finding information remains a central motivation.  Taking time to remember, gives each work day meaning and purpose. It sustains me as I try to transfer my enthusiasm to the people I help. It compels me to seek out anyway to support education, especially literacy and kids.  
    
The power of remembering doesn't only apply to individual workers.  For any sole proprietor, business, or nonprofit, history plays an important role.  When and why was your company founded? What will it be like in 50 years? To answer these questions as you grow and evolve, you need a methodology to capture the story along the way.  What may have started from a habit or an obsession is now a traceable line of decisions and expended energy. By bringing the notion of history into your business consciousness, any marketing, administrative, and operational efforts will be rewarded with the fortifying power of purpose, legacy, and mission.  

5 reasons why history matters to your business

1. Forces you think long term
What did you achieve today that would be memorable in 10-20 years?  By thinking how the present leads to success in the future, you may eliminate some unnecessary activities and find motivation to make hard choices.  

2. Strengthens your brand
Having record of your history means you have a story.  That story is what customers will relate to and trust.  By saving pictures, documents, videos, and other evidence you won't just have a story but tangible proof of where you've been.

3. Protects institutional knowledge
Knowing the past means you know what decisions didn't work. It will save your company the time and money for paying for mistakes already made.  It will allow you to at least make some new ones.

4. Gives each day meaning
Think about this right now: Why did you start your business?  Does the reason bring you to a central motivation and value center?  Ponder it a bit and if you don't get a little spark maybe it's time to reinvest or move on.

5. Honors overcoming obstacles
Years from now there will be many fascinating stories of how businesses survived during these tough times.  If you've been in business for awhile, you probably have some stories similar to this.  Maybe you need to thank employees who made sacrifices or pitched in. Maybe a vendor or customer needs a phone call.  


5 ways to preserve business history
    
1. People
Designate someone to be the historian.  If you are a solo worker then it is you.  It is preferable that it is someone who enjoys history but anyone can be the point person that is responsible to save, organize, and help everyone else remember.

2. Place
Whether it is a hard drive, remote server, or an archival quality storage box,   historical records need a place to be stored that is protected, safe, and monitored.  So much of our history has been lost because it was placed in a box, forgotten, and thrown away. 

3. System
Having policies and putting a records management system in place will help keep your records from being lost regardless of location changes and staff turnover.  What needs to happen each day, month, and year to preserve your history? Write it down and follow it as if it were law.

4. Practice
Probably the most difficult part of preserving history is deciding what will be valuable in the future.  We cannot predict the future so often we overlook what seems unimportant now.  Do your best and remember the process is useful too.  Select photos, videos, documents, and stories from key events and people.

5. Get help
Visit your local library with a history department and talk to them about their collection policy. They may be interested in accepting your materials and preserving them for you.  If they are not, ask them to recommend some books and classes on archival methods or records management. 

All these steps may sound like a lot of work but you'll preserve beautiful and unique memories and records that others didn't have the thought to keep.  It'll help you stand out now and years from now.  I don't have a picture of that little library in my hometown, but if I did it would hang over my desk a symbol of the goods things that followed.

For sample images of businesses of the past visit: http://www.kentonlibrary.org/genphotos/
Explore and add terms like businesses or street names to the left hand search box.