Quantum² Highlights
A newsletter of the Dialog leadership development program for information professionals

Dear Quantum² Member...
This month we report back on our activities at the SLA annual conference held earlier this month. We are also pleased to announce the new schedule of Quantum² sessions from July through December.

SLA Conference News

The 2005 SLA Annual Conference for Dialog highlighted a range of new services and enhanced products, along with the annual offering of sponsored events and Quantum² Continuing Education (CE) workshops.

Quantum² CE workshops this year included Adding Value to Information Services and Creating a Knowledge Sharing Culture: How to Thrive on Change . These sessions will be offered as Web seminars in the next six months, so be sure to take advantage of these virtual sessions.

Three new North American InfoStars were honored during our Quantum² InfoStar networking reception at SLA. The InfoStar award is given to information professionals whose creativity and innovation in raising the level of their services within their organizations are inspirational to others. The recipients for 2005 are:

• Tom Koehler, senior technical information analyst, 3M Library & Information Services (St. Paul, Minn.), recognized for his work in helping facilitate broad access for 3M professionals to electronic journals using OpenURL-based linking technology.

• Mary Wassum, senior resource services librarian, Pall Corporation ( East Hills, N.Y.), praised for her business acumen and ability to maximize information services for Pall Corporation offices worldwide.

• Steven Werkheiser, electronic resources analyst and training specialist, Abbott Laboratories ( Abbott Park, Ill.), honored for his professionalism and in-depth knowledge about his company's business strategy as well as modern corporate library practices.

View additional comments in the Dialog pressroom at www.dialog.com/pressroom/2005/na_infostars_060705.shtml

And watch for upcoming biographies at  scientific.thomson.com/quantum/.

Quantum² Topic of the Month
Communities of Practice: Catalysts for Change

Communities of practice are proving to be an integral organizational structure for shaping culture and generating the capabilities needed to meet fast-paced, constantly changing market demands. Presenting at an SLA session sponsored by Dialog, Deb Wallace, co-author of Leveraging Communities of Practice for Strategic Advantage (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003), offered insights on how management can nurture community development and leverage the potential to increase adoption rates of communities, thus significantly affecting the ability to embrace change.

Five capabilities were named as necessary for a community of practice to succeed:

• Partnering of mindsets and capabilities within each community
• Alignment of communities to imperatives, strategies and plans of the parent organizations
• Support from both leadership and content suppliers of the community
• A strong technical platform
• Realistic expectations for ROI on the part of management

With these capabilities in place, leadership is then challenged to bring the participants together, establishing an open agenda that encourages a process of sharing stories. Further, creating a climate of trust will facilitate positive interdependence and support face to face interactions.

Finally, is the information challenge of taking into account both tacit and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge requires connection and exchange of information, while explicit knowledge needs the capture and retention of knowledge. For the information professional, becoming active in community is very valuable and can lead to a role as "knowledge steward".

As always, your suggestions for workshop topics are always welcome and encouraged. If you know a friend or colleague who would benefit from Quantum², please encourage them to sign up today.

Regards,
Betty Jo Hibberd
Senior Manager
IPMD, NA
Dialog