Assignment #1: Career Exploration by means of a Case Study

Write-up due: Jan. 25
Group comparison & presentation due: Feb. 1

---

The purpose of this assignment is to explore in depth one special library or related information support unit in a corporate, government, academic, or professional setting. (The emphasis in this course is the corporate setting but other environments can be accommodated).

Before you select a library (used here in a general sense to refer to any information support service or business), do some background reading looking particularly for descriptions of special libraries. One example from your reading list is:

Pack, Thomas and Jeff Pemberton, "The Cutting Edge Library of the Ford Motor Company," Online 22(5) (Sept/Oct 1998) 14-30.

The Online journal frequently carries other such descriptions, as does Information Outlook and Managing Information. A useful source for the range of different types of special libraries can be determined by browsing through SLA's Position Descriptions in Special Libraries (3rd ed., 1997, on reserve) and the (most recent edition in SILS reference Z675 .A2 N4 (year)).

Once you have an idea of the kind of library you wish to focus on, identify a special librarian to interview, preferably this person will be the head of the library or information service. I will send a message to the NC/SLA member librarians to let them know you may be contacting them. You can also use Who's Who in Special Libraries, or other membership directories. UNC-CH journalism librarian, Barbara Semonche, provides a list of mentors for student groups at http://metalab.unc.edu/journalism/mentors.html that may be useful.

Choose your library carefully. The library that you choose for this assignment may be the same one for the planning proposal and the intranet assignments. I would appreciate knowing which library you have chosen by Jan. 13. Your task, once you choose a library, is to call (or email) and arrange an interview with a visit if the library is nearby or by telephone if not. You will need to request about an hour's time for the interview and may wish to email the questions you will ask ahead of time as a courtesy.

Below are some interview questions you may want to include:

1. What business or industry does your library serve?
2. What subject areas does the library support?
3. Where does the library fit organizationally and geographically within its parent organization?
4. Does the library have a mission statement? What is it?
5. Who are the primary clients? What other clients do you serve?
6. What products and services does the library offer?
7. Do you have budgeting responsibilities?
8. What is the size of your library's staff? What are their job titles? Do they have formal job descriptions? (Ask for a brief summary of what each individual does)
9. What is YOUR job? How do you spend your day?
10. Does the library have an Intranet site? Who has responsibility for designing and maintaining it? What kinds of information are provided via this channel?
11. How do you market the library? How do you market yourself?
12. What value does your company place on the library?
13. Is your company interested in knowledge management? If so, what efforts have folks in the organization made and what departments have been involved? Has the library been involved?
14. How long have you been with the company? Has your job changed in any substantial way since you started with the company?
15. What professional reading do you do?
16. What continuing education or course development activities have you engaged in in the past year?
17. Do you have any advice for a new professional?

If you can visit, record your impressions of the physical setting as well.

Put together a report of your interview and post it to the G drive workspace for the class. Any supporting documentation (such as job descriptions, copies of marketing materials, etc.) may be handed in separately and will be returned to you.

You will be assigned to a group of 3-5 people from the class. We will spend class time on Jan. 25 working in the group -- sharing similarities and differences. Please select one or two spokespeople from the class and provide a 5-10 minute summary of the libraries that each of you visited. The group presentation will be on Feb. 1.

Revised 1/13/99. (Note: changed date due)
Email Evelyn Daniel if you have any questions or want to discuss the assignment.