He noted that there is an information overload. Depending on the user’s purpose, most of this information may not serve any purpose. Therefore, Rosenbaum suggests that it is not necessary to review all information just because it is available. He gave the example of how several years ago, most people relied on a travel agent’s authority to select destinations at the best price. Just ten years ago, people could go online to select the best price. Visitors would “surf the web” and find the top four best prices. Nowadays, people use a one stop travel search engine, enter their destination and nine different windows and other search engines popup. However, this puts the user in a quandary. It is a crap shot selecting from these search results that may have only a few dollars difference among them. These prices do not tell the user which airline loses the most luggage or which airport has the most delays or cancelled flights. The search results do not put the content (prices) in context (user satisfaction) so the customer is armed with the most relevant knowledge to make the best decision.

When I search for hotels, I check the prices using several search engines, and I check characteristics like security, neighborhood eateries, transportation and entertainment on several sites where users who have stayed there can post or write reviews. It sounds like a lot of work, but in the end it is worth it. Who wants to find themselves in a hotel on a bad side of town just above a loud bar that does not close until 5 am?

But I digress, although he did not introduce any new concept, I did buy Steve’s book. I guess it would be useful to anyone who is in the marketing, e-commerce, or user experience field. For those who do not have an MLS, this book will put the reader, who feels the need to know it all, at ease.

Steve said that instead of trying to find all relevant information on a particular topic, he goes to hootsuite. He scans the top 400 topics and narrows it down. He reads the top four best articles and, if he deems its worth sharing, he will retweet (RT) in a shortened URL. He states that twitter is invisible to google. Also, that if twitter is used optimally, a tweet may reveal a breaking story before a newspaper can post it on its site.

I agree that there is an information overload and it is next to impossible to stay abreast of each and every item. I alos agree with Steve in that people must learn to use filtering tools, search engines and other social media sites to retrieve and share the most current, accurate and relevant information. When a user knows how to seek out relevant information, they can share it and become a source of information themselves.

I attended sessions that explored various topics including, but not limited to, competitive intelligence, taxonomy, metadata, knowledge management and content management. There were so many sessions that I wanted to attend, but they were held during the same 90 minute time slot. I found myself narrowing down what I wanted to attend to five sessions. If I was lucky, all five were on the same floor, so I would stay in each session for about 15 minutes. However, the most valuable seminars were the career sessions. These sessions, targeted at the unemployed, discussed networking, resume writing, interviewing techniques and more. I spent most of my time in the career sessions since I am seeking employment. I even paid an extra $40 on top of my full registration for a one-on-one session with a career coach. I learned a lot from these sessions including how to present an elevator speech; how to advertise myself online; how to build and maintain networks; as well as how to answer difficult (sometimes illegal) interview questions. I did not feel so bad about being unemployed after talking to others who attended these sessions. Some had been looking for work much longer than I have.

 The conference had much to offer, including “unconferences”, roundtable discussions, open houses for divisions of the SLA, gatherings for chapters by region and tours of the Philadelphia area. Unfortunately, due to an online booking snafu (see my personal blog at mlharding.wordpress.com), I did not have a hotel reservation. Despite not being able to attend networking sessions after the day time seminars when people more relaxed and more open to discussion; I was able to network with dozens of people in my profession in hopes of finding a career opportunity. Wish me luck!

The primary reason I was going into the city was to attend the SLA Happy Hour from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in mid-town. However, I dislike spending the time (90 minutes to 2 hours) and spending the money to make a trip into the city for just a two-hour event. I decided that I would volunteer a few hours at ANS to make it more worth my while.

Earlier that day I volunteered from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm at the American Numismatic Society Library. I interned there during the summer. I helped create call number assignments for their collection. Although they have two interns (MLS students, of course) for the fall semester, they still have a long way to go in creating call numbers for their collection. I was happy to do it.

Fast forward to 5:30, I was in Jack’s World, a close out store where I find a lot of nice things for cheap, killing time before going to the CQ which was across the street.  Well, just crossing the street, with my umbrella in full effect, I got my sneakers and the ankles of my pants wet. It was raining cats and dogs and you could hear the wind.

About 30 information professionals and library school students braved the elements to attend the Special Libraries Association (SLA) at the Club Quarters in mid-town.  It was a good turnout considering. It was cash bar so I skipped the drink. At every happy hour I try to make at least four new connections and build up my linkedin account. One my fellow summer ANS intern was there. It was her first time attending a SLA happy hour and I took her around and introduced her to some good people I thought she should get to know.

They did something at the happy hour that I never experienced but I am glad that they did it. They passed the mic around the room and had each person introduce themselves, state their name, where they earned or will earn their MLS, what is their specialty, where they work and anything else they would like to add. I gave my usual schpill. I will earn my MLS from St. John’s in May 2011 and hopefully will be able to find a job by then. I do not want to pigeon-hole myself and I am open to any professional opportunity in librarianship. I also named the two organizations where I am an intern this semester.

I enjoyed the happy hour and met nice people as usual. I was inspired by one of the former officers who discussed getting involved in the association. He stressed that you could give as little or as much time as you want. I always wanted to get more involved; I was just apprehensive about the time commitment. After the introductions, I spoke to some of the officers about how I can get more involved in SLA. One officer encouraged me to attend the Student Swing on September 25 from 11 am to 2 pm. I had penciled it in on my calendar but I wasn’t sure if I would attend-it means another trip into the city.

Fast forward to 9 pm. When I got home and turned on my computer, I saw one of my friends posted on their facebook a youtube video about a tornado hitting Brooklyn. I couldn’t believe it. I was in the city all day and there was a tornado. A tornado in New York City. I can’t even say it without a tick.

I have attended Westlaw trainings before and I was always overwhelmed by the home page and lack of white space. The interface was useful if you were familiar with the program I guess. However, I was really impressed with the Westlaw Next program. The homepage has a lot of white space which makes it so much easier on the eyes than the original Westlaw homepage. The Thomson Reuters personnel offering the training mentioned that a lot of research went into creating the program from the ratio of white space to content to the hue of blue that should be used. The homepage can be customized according to favorites and resources used the most. Also there is an ability to create Client IDs and switch them during a usage session. When a search is done, there is an option to view less, more or most detail before making a selection. Once the selection is made, the cost is incurred; but with the detailed information provided within the search, valuable information can be discovered without having to pay for it.

Westlaw Next allows the user to save searches. The last ten searches are automatically saved the next time the user logs in. Once the user selects (pays for) a search item, that item can be placed in a folder that the user has named and it is available for 12 months. The user also has the ability to email LIVE documents to other authorized users. The live part is important because details can change between the time the user selects an article and the time the person they sent it to will view it. With a live document, the item is not static, as status changes within the item, it will change within the document. When the end-user decides to open the selection, they will see what information is currently available on that particular item. 

The searches within in Westlaw Next are intuitive. As the user begins to type, the search field will begin to show suggested topics with the same first few letters or numbers, just like what google does for its users. Also, the searches do not have to be entered with appropriate spaces, punctuations or capitalizations. As long as the appropriate order is there, the search engine will find what the user is looking for. The searches also can be found by popular name or acronym in case the user is unsure of the proper title of the document. There are basic searches and advanced searches. When advanced searches are done, the user may limit selections by various fields to return fewer results.

When a selection is made, the user can save it in a folder and email it to another authorized user. The user can add to the document as well. Within the document they can highlight text, make notes and more. Users may share their folders and search history to show their path or strategy to finding information. Unfortunately, both the saved folders and saved searches cannot be combined. That process, although it sounds simple, may involve disaggregation, one of the presenters said.

One of the attendees asked if this product was being sold to law schools. The presenter said no, because if the students learn Westlaw Next and they go work at the law firm that does not have it, it would not be good for the law student or the firm. It may be inclined that Westlaw Next, once it gains popularity, may replace the original Westlaw. I think because in this day and age of the google generation, when young law school graduates get wind of this product, law firms will have to make the switch. It was discussed that professors do not have the time to adequately teach usage of the original Westlaw because the program is not meant to operate like google. It has many features, and the interface is not intuitive, it must be used repeatedly to get the hang of it.

The Westlaw Next trainers offered an opportunity to practice the program via special username and passwords without paying for the program. They also showed the website www.betweencases.com and west.thomson.com/librarian which are free Westlaw products.

The event was very informative. I was able to do the one-on-one speed-mentoring with a librarian who works in the military, a law librarian, grass root organizers and a consultant. I attended the correctional facilities librarian workshop which was very interesting. I am glad to know that the number one priority in serving the incarcerated is security. The librarians who gave the presentation have worked in Riker’s Island. I also attended the Job Hunting workshop which opened my eyes to various ways to marketing yourself as an LIS student to an LIS job seeker. Suggestions included not only becoming members of LIS professional organizations but volunteering and taking active roles within it, organizing “unconferences” and maximizing the potential of social media networks.

I also was advised to create a portfolio on a website and not to be afraid to bring class projects to interviews for lack of professional experience.

DIALOG, by ProQuest, utilizes a number of databases including Gage, ABI/INFORM, D & B and more. It useful for searching for industry, financial, trade and business information. When entering a query, depending on how many results are returned, the user may have to narrow their search. Then, articles will be displayed in abstract or full text, depending on whether or not DIALOG has access to the entry in full text. Attendees were allowed to practice searches. I was unsuccessful in my usage of the database the first few times, but my last try did return 2 results.

I plan on practicing using this database because it is a fee-based database. Each search must be executed accurately or else the user may be accumulating unnecessary fees. There is an 800 number for tech support and blue sheet designed to walk the user through any search to get the desired results.

The logistics are a little crazy. I have to be at the Queens campus by 6:45 am and the bus returns no later than 11:30 that evening. I discussed staying 2 nights in a hotel in Queens with one of my colleagues who was accepted and also lives in Westchester. A cab ride may more economic and require no overnight bags.

The day in Albany will be packed with panel discussions and time will be allotted for face to face Q&A with St. John’s alumni who graduated in the 70s and the 80s.  

The Alumni Relations office hosts this trip, for 50 students with GPA of 3.5 or higher, each semester to various parts of the country. Last semester they went to Washington, D.C. for 3 days and 2 nights.

The Nexis training was very useful. I learned about using the database for searching for news articles, setting up emails and other methods to export information in a presentation-ready format. Funny, I remember in 1994-98, while I was in undergrad, I used the LexisNexis terminal to find news articles. The Information Professional who led the training showed what news sources were available and what was not. She noted that since Bloomberg purchased Business Week that it is no longer available on LexisNexis. Oprah’s magazine was removed from the database as well. I may be reaching but I think Bloomberg may be in the market for creating a database for corporations needing to collect news for competitive intelligence.

LexisNexis also has a free resource for Information Professionals called Info Pro. It provides links to 20 minute webinars, personal as well as professional development and a monthly column about topics affecting corporate information professionals.

All in all, the workshop was very helpful. I hope they offer a Westlaw training soon.

The career fair featured government agencies that handled intelligence, presenters included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, Office of National Counterintelligence, the National Counterterrorism Center and more.

It was great and unique opportunity to speak one-on-one with professionals in the field. I asked questions about what job opportunities are available to people who have a Master of Science in Library Science, relocation expenses, tuition reimbursement and opportunities for continued education and professional development.

About 22,000 people registered for the event. It was free. Each agency had attachments about how to apply for a job, benefits, salary, postions available, job descriptions and more. The career fair also featured a briefcase where jobseekers could visit the agencies and dump documents into a folder to refer to later. There were live chats, capability to send personal email with attachments(i.e. resume) to recruiters and a selection of avatars to choose from (optional). The only black one was a woman with dreadlocks with large earphones resting on her shoulders. I was offerended by the avatar that was a Latino looking man wearing a red and black plaid shirt and a yellow construction worker hard hat.

In conclusion, I was grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the intelligence community. I found out more at this fair than If I had just visited usajobs.gov or cia.gov etc. which is so impersonal and it is almost impossible to contact a human person.