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

Dear Quantum² Member...
As the year winds down, don't forget to register and mark your calendars for upcoming Quantum² Web sessions in 2007. Also, take a look at a new slant on showing senior management the return on investment for your information services in our topic of the month.

InfoStar of the Month:
Judith Shiloni

Judith Shiloni is the manager of the Information Centre at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, in Israel. She provides a full range of information management services to her company's various departments while also mentoring other information specialists. She worked closely with Teva's information technology department to launch a new site on the company's intranet that features training resources, the ability to e-mail requests for research assistance and numerous other options. Ms. Shiloni also has worked collaboratively with cross-organizational Teva teams to implement corporate information policy.

Quantum² Topic of the Month
Calculating The Value Of Information Center Services—Let Your Customers Help

What if your customers could help you quantify the value of information services? So begins a presentation on how the Information and Library Services Department (ILS) of Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. rewards the company employees for their effective and innovative use of information services and, in the process, gains corporate-wide recognition for ILS.

The process begins with a request for feedback from the customers. Originally, this was informal, which led to some staff members working actively to gain responses while others felt uncomfortable soliciting what they considered to be ‘praise'. This year the process was changed to identify a representative sampling of information requests each month and send a feedback request via email. Built into the process are the dual goals of not asking the same customers for feedback multiple times and also ensuring that ILS team members' work is fairly represented throughout.

The nomination for the award is then created from the positive feedback and quarterly the awards team meets to review and vote on the nominations.

Awards are made at a ceremony during an event where the recipient is among his peers. Publicity includes a digital image of the ceremony, a short article in the daily employee newsletter published on the opening page of the corporate intranet, and the use of customer quotes about the value of the information center services.

Factors that can affect this award process include the labor of gathering the necessary award information, the difficulty that may exist in making a direct link between the research provided and the project outcome, and the necessity of buy-in from senior management. Each of these factors must be present to make the process work.

Michelle Burylo of Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. presented this topic of demonstrating the ROI of information services as a workshop at SLA in Baltimore, June, 2006. We've posted the presentation on the Quantum² site for you to review at your own pace. You can also read about this process in Michelle's own words. This process offers a best practice that you might adapt to your own organization's needs.

Calculating the Value of Information Center
Services by Michelle Burylo [presentation]

Calculating the Value of Information Center Services by Michelle Burylo [script]

As always, your suggestions for workshop topics are welcomed. Also, 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
North America
IPMD, Dialog