Mari Colello, Chicago Tribune

This electronic tour is by Mari Colello of the Marketing Information Center at the Chicago Tribune. This tour was conducted in the spring of 1999.

Questions

  1. Describe the organization/corporate culture and political climate.

    2. My company uses a lot of cross-functional teams, people from many departments working on a specific goal, such as expanding and retaining customers in a specific geography. Middle management is supportive of the Information Center in regards to providing tools, but I have been unable to get another body. Currently, my objective is to become a manger and have interaction with people above my boss's level. This is the only way to get upper management's attention. We do not do any benchmarking or measuring of services. Too small, too busy. Feedback comes by way of performance evaluation and meeting objectives.

  2. Discuss the availability and use of information technology in general, with particular attention to Internet/Intranet applications.

    3. Our company is heavily involved in Internet/Intranet usage. We have had an Intranet for about 2 = years; however, many people still don't use computers, know too much about the Internet and have no idea what the Intranet is yet. Those that use the Intranet have different points of access and there is no standard look for the Intranet, such as Microsoft has. The company has stated that Frontpage and all Microsoft products are the software of choice. The company policy is that all departments are responsible for their own home pages and content.

    I was the first person on my floor to have a home page. It was a Herculean effort and takes a lot of time to maintain. If we do develop a knowledge center, we will definitely need another person to maintain that area. I served on the Intranet Committee that wrote a report for our president making recommendations for improvement to the system.

  3. How do you align your information services with strategic planning or your organizations?

    4. I have restructured the Info Center's mission that better aligns with company and department goals: "To create, implement and continually improve relevant and critical information-sharing strategies for Chicago Tribune Co. and Tribune Company employees." Basically, this broadens my customer base, and encompasses all "knowledge management" projects that are on the table.

  4. Describe your responsibilities, with emphasis on those areas in which library school did not prepare you for.

    5. My department downsized in 1992 from 2 to 1 full-time employee. I have assumed all administrative tasks as well as taken on more responsibilities, such as analyzing data, not just finding or compiling it. My manager has given me the tools to make me more productive; however, if we go forward with a knowledge management strategy, we will need to add personnel. In order to get out of the "answer lady" business, I have introduced an end-user information database for company personnel. I currently am having problems getting them to use it. So, turning customers into knowledge workers has become a Sisyphean task.

  5. Are your or your organization affected by copyright and intellectual property rights issues? How so?

    6. As for copyright, "don't ask, don't tell" is the motto of most librarians.

  6. How do you market yourself and the services of your unit to the organization? Describe successes and failures.

    7. I do not market the library. If I get a new product, such as OneSource, I write an article for our in-house company newspaper.

  7. Do you have experience with outsourcing? Please describe the details in depth.

    8. I do not outsource.

  8. What changes or projects have your or are you implementing? How have you approached the management and users about these changes?

    9. I am trying to implement a knowledge center on the Intranet. My department was reorganized for a second time in two years and this has held up my plans for implementing and changing the way people access information. I have also prepared a proposal for tools and resources I would need; but my new boss is also new in her position and does not have any experience with libraries. Fortunately, one of her objectives is to implement an "information-sharing" project, which dovetails nicely with my knowledge management project.

  9. How did you get/keep your job? Any job hunting tips or advice?

    10. I've been with the company for 20 years. Because the job market is so good, I would think new graduates wouldn't have too much trouble finding a job.

  10. What can be realistically expected from new graduates in terms of specific skills and orientation? How important is previous experience prior to the MLS degree? How important is subject specialization? How can deficiencies be compensated for? For example, do you look for students who have had practicums in relevant areas?

    11. Managers today may be looking for people who can think outside the box and perform more than just cataloging and online searching. They may be looking for analytical skills, top-notch communications skills for report writing, technology skills and familiarity with HTML and FTP and networks.

    Depending upon the position level, previous work experience may or may not be important. Entry level positions probably would not require any previous work experience. Basically, as long as you know how to dress and fit in with the company culture, you should be okay. That's what job interviews try to determine. Subject specialization, for the most part, is not important because you will get that on the job. However, if you're going to work at an engineering company or law firm and they ask a couple year's experience, they probably expect you to know terminology. This is especially important when you're doing a reference interview.

  11. What is the one good thing you wished you had learned in library school, or learned before you got the job?

    12. Because I was already on the job when I was in library school, I noticed a lot of deficiencies that were being taught in the classroom that had nothing to do with reality. There was definitely a lacking of online searching skills. It should be required of everyone and students should be exposed to all databases. The trend today is web-based products and students should be looking at and training on those.

    They should also be taking classes on creating home pages, learning HTML, content development and keeping up with cutting edge technology and information products.

    The SLA's professional and personal competencies list should give you a good foundation of what is expected in terms of skills. I don't know how you could put things like "how to survive a performance evaluation" or "how to negotiate salary" or "working with upper management" on the curriculum. But these are practicalities that need to be addressed and usually are by the Special Library Association.

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