Seminar in the practice of special librarianship in business and industrial firms, government agencies, and the free-lance sector. User services and information resources.
Organization Profile: ASCE
Planning for a special library begins with a deep understanding of the organization it serves. This analysis must include the stakeholders to be served, their information seeking priorities and tendencies, appropriate formats, criteria driving selection of appropriate resources, and more.
Planning for a special library begins with a deep understanding of the organization it serves. This analysis must include the stakeholders to be served, their information seeking priorities and tendencies, appropriate formats, criteria driving selection of appropriate resources, and more. This product documents that process with a focus on the American Society of Civil Engineers, a large not-for-profit professional association serving the entire civil engineering profession. I chose this organization for its complex information needs and its vital role in information flows within the profession. My profile gives a comprehensive, multi-layered summary of ASCE’s operations and information needs, along with the resources it can bring to bear, the constraints within which it operates and resulting key priorities, and its network of partnership with other organizations that play roles in large infrastructure development projects. My analysis shows a sophisticated understanding of the professional association environment and the political, structural, economic, and political environments in which they operate. It also documents effective research skills and ability to structure and present a complex body of information.
Complete document (.docx, 29k) – Category: Information Service – All Coursework
Plan of Action
Driven by the organization profile, this product represents a plan of action for the first year after taking responsibility for ASCE’s internal library. The online presentation reflects a summary for a busy chief executive who needs complete information, packaged to fit within a crushing schedule of meetings and other duties. It structures the plan as initial actions for the first week, those for the first month, then those for each of the four quarters of the first year. The product demonstrates an ability to formulate a complex and effective plan of action, then to distill down its highlights to support organizational decision making and budgeting.
Complete presentation (Online presentation) – Category: Information Service – All Coursework