THE BULLETIN - Business & Finance Division - Special Libraries ...

CONTENTS
IN THIS ISSUE . . .
Viewpoints
From the Chair
Hal Kirkwood page 1
Editor's Epitome
Victoria A. Platt page 2
Columns
Featured Article
Gayle Gossen page 3
Connections
John Ganly page 5
Mentoring Milestones
Laura Leavitt page 7
Making Marketing Materialize
Cris Olson page 9
On the Job
Sylvia R. M. James page 11
Conference Connections
Division Recognizes Contributions
Toby Pearlstein page 13
Grants and Stipends Winners
Awilda Reyes page 15
Centers of Excellence Awards
Leslie Reynolds page 23
NewsNotes
SLA News page 27
Treasurer’s Report page 28
B&F Division Roster page 29
THE BULLETIN
The Newsletter of the Business and Finance Division
Established 1958 Special Libraries Association
Number 136, Fall 2007
From the Chair
Hal Kirkwood
Its unbelievable how fast time flies. It seems like
just yesterday we were all planning the sessions,
partnering with vendors, and coordinating the events
for SLA Denver. And now . . . we’re into the start of
the fall semester . . . planning for Seattle is moving
right along . . . and there are still so many initiatives
to move forward on and e-mails to send out.
I’d like to show my sincere thanks and appreciation to
all of the board members and volunteers, including
Toby Pearlstein, Ann Cullen, Gayle Gossen, Miguel
Figueroa, Amy Affelt, Cris Kinghorn, Sylvia James,
Terri Brooks, and so many others. I cannot thank this
group enough.
I also want to thank our incredibly generous
sponsors without whom we could not offer the
interesting sessions and excellent open houses:
Alacra, Copyright Clearance Center, Datamonitor,
PreNax, Dow Jones/Factiva, World Bank
Publications, Ipreo, Serial Solutions, Lexis Nexis,
EBSCO, Wall Street Journal Online, Global Insight,
Plunkett Research, InfoCurrent, Thomson Financial,
10k Wizard, ProQuest, Thomson Dialog, BNA,
Alert Publications, Skyminder, ISI Emerging
Markets, OneSource, Books 24x7, and Standard &
Poor’s. We look forward to partnering with you all
again for Seattle!
Also, the SLABF Wiki (http://www.slabf.org/
resources.html) continues to grow . . . consider taking
a look at it and adding your favorite resource or two.
The value of this will increase if we all participate!
The end of the year is not far off and with that I
will pass the gavel to Cris Kinghorn as the
incoming chair at the Leadership Summit in
Louisville, Kentucky. Cris is hard at work to bring
a spectacular conference for the B&F Division
members. Start to plan now to attend SLA Seattle=

B&F Bulletin
(http://www.sla.org/content/Events/
conference/ac2008/index.cfm). The
conference in Seattle is the fiftieth
anniversary of the merger between
the Business Division and the
Finance Division, and I know Cris
has planned some great activities to
celebrate the merger.
As always . . . contact me if you have comments,
suggestions, or criticisms about what we’re doing. We
try to provide value to your membership in the B&F
Division.
Hal Kirkwood Purdue University
Kirkwood@purdue.edu 765/494-2921
Editor
Victoria A. Platt
Advertisement & Subscription Manager
Ann Cullen
Art Direction
Diane Evans
Division Web Master
Brent Nunn
© 2007 Business & Finance Division Bulletin (ISSN:
1048-5376) is published three times each year. Non-
Division members may subscribe for $30.00 per year.
Please send subscription requests to the Advertising &
Subscription Manager.
The Bulletin is indexed in Library Literature and
Information Science Abstracts.
Editor’s Epitome
Victoria A. Platt
Fall is my favorite time of the
year. Back-to-school festivities, college football, and a
Chicago Cubs pennant race are just a few of the
activities that I enjoy in the fall. I also have a lot of fun
pulling this issue together and recalling all of the great
features of the Denver conference.
If your schedule was full and you missed one of our
activities, or if you were unable to attend the
conference, this issue of the Bulletin will help you catchup
on some of our fantastic Division activities.
The short descriptions of each award, grant, and
stipend winner are extremely inspiring. Each year I am
impressed with the high quality of work that takes place
within our Division. Hopefully, upon reading these
descriptions, you will be inspired to nominate equally
qualified colleagues for this year’s application process.
It’s never too early to start thinking about Seattle 2008.
This issue I have the pleasure of sharing the talents of
two new contributors to the Bulletin. The Featured
Article by Gayle Gossen is a concise look at
“Networking Know How.” While the conference was a
great opportunity for networking, Gayle provides tips
for continuing the process once back in your library.
A new column is also featured in this issue—
“Mentoring Milestones” by Laura Leavitt. Each issue
Laura will collaborate with members of the Division
and share different perspectives on mentoring within
our profession. As Laura leads the newly reformed
B&F Mentoring Committee into an active role within
the Division, we look forward to her next column.
And always entertaining in the Bulletin are the
contributions of our fabulous column editors. Their
commitment to the Division is outstanding and well
represented this fall. We hope you enjoy their latest
contributions as well.
Looking ahead to Seattle 2008, your editorial team is in
the planning stages of a “Special 50th Anniversary
Edition” of the Bulletin. If you are interested in helping
compile this look back at our Division, please contact
me as indicated below.
Vicky Platt Willamette Management Associates
vaplatt@willamette.com 773/399-4314
Spring 2007 2

B&F Bulletin
For some of us, the very mention of the word
“networking” sends our bodies into a flight or fight
response. Today there are many different types of
networking—social networking, computer networking,
a television network. This article is limited to the
Wikipedia definition of marketing networking—
“Networking refers to the art of creating interdependent
or interconnected groups or systems for the mutual
benefit of all members of the ecosystem.”
Networking shouldn’t be stressful; when done correctly
it actually reduces stress and helps you to walk alone
into a crowded room and feel confident. You don’t
need to hide near the bar or the food buffet looking
busy and feeling awkward! You will meet interesting
people and learn interesting things. New social or
professional opportunities could be presented to you.
With all of these benefits, who wouldn’t want to
network?
Some common myths about networking include:
You need to be an extrovert. Wrong! In fact, learning
the simple mechanics of networking helps even the
most introverted personality manage a social
engagement.
You can’t network without something to offer.
Wrong again! The simple fact that you know other
people is enough to start. A colleague of mine in
Halifax started a formalized concept called Reverse
Networking that hosts regular events to raise money for
charity where you promote another professional. For
example, rather than walking around with a badge that
says, “I am an INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL,”
you walk around with a badge that says, “I am not an
ACCOUNTANT but I know someone who is.” That
way, people looking for an accountant know to speak
to you. Everyone knows someone or something so you
can start to network at your next opportunity.
Networking can be rude. Because networking often
involves walking up to people you don’t know and
NETWORKING KNOW HOW
Featured Article
Gayle Gossen
possibly interrupting a conversation, you may feel it’s
rude. It is actually rude not to acknowledge someone
breaking into a conversation. A group may be standing
around a speaker and if you walk up to that group and
wait patiently for the speaker to finish their point, you
should be welcomed into the conversation. Of course,
observing body language will indicate if this is a private
conversation.
Getting Started
Networking online is easier than networking in person
by asking a person to join your LinkedIn
(www.linkedin.com) or Facebook (facebook) network
from the comfort of your home. This will help you get
comfortable with making a request but will not help
you in a social situation.
Approach professionals with jobs that require them to
speak to strangers. In SLA, approach the
president/chair or other executive board member of
your chapter or division. Likely they are at an event to
speak with people and will welcome meeting you.
Introduce yourself to the speaker at a conference
session. Introduce yourself to a colleague in another
department at the company lunch or holiday party.
Some other tips:
Visualize the social situations you will be in over a
year and plan in advance who you will introduce
yourself to.
Come prepared with business cards or personal cards to
give to everyone you meet. Over the course of an event,
especially if it is several days, people may not
remember you. If you are networking to your full
capability you will not remember everyone you met
either.
Set goals on how many people you will meet or how
you will meet them. For example, you can spend an
entire social event introducing yourself to all the other
people who are there alone. They will welcome your
interest! =
Spring 2007 3

B&F Bulletin
Leave an engagement after a few minutes. This keeps
you energized to networking rather than settling down
with the first person you encounter.
Have a firm handshake. A limp handshake does not
instill confidence. Neither does a bone-crushing one.
Keep you name tag on your right between your
shoulder and chest. Pin it on and refrain from using the
lanyard. This prevents people from having to
awkwardly look at your stomach and your nametag
will never be twisted around. As you reach out to shake
hands your name tag will be prominently displayed.
Understand cultural differences. Despite what I said
above, in some cultures it is rude to walk up to a group
and break in. Perhaps how you shake hands is
important. Be aware of where you are and who you are
approaching.
Have a conversation opener. Glance at the television
news or paper before you leave or know some recent
events. At the last SLA conference in Denver, many
conversation openers I heard revolved around
mortgage foreclosures. Comments like “nice weather”
don’t spur a lasting conversation.
Be persistent. If the first person you approach is not
open to conversation try someone else.
Disengaging yourself from a new person also requires
some tips. Rather than excuse yourself to go to the
bathroom or refresh your drink, in which case the
person may accompany you, say something like, “It
was a pleasure to meet you but I promised myself I
would meet 10 people tonight,” or introduce them to
someone else you know in the room.
Of course, networking is not limited to just social events.
Professional networking in your workplace is also very
beneficial. Learning what is driving the business forward
or discovering projects other departments are working on
can only help you increase your profile and professional
competence by stepping in and offering your unique skills
as assistance, such as information gathering or document
organization. If you rarely leave your library or cubicle
you will never learn about these opportunities to become
more central in your organization.
Sometimes you are simply the conduit for a network by
linking one person with another. This is one of the
many satisfying elements of networking that only other
networkers know. So, challenge yourself, meet new
people and get in the know!
Gayle Gossen
Gayle.gossen@gmail.com 416/214-4797
Spring 2007 4

B&F Bulletin
In a global economy where businesses are counted in the
tens of millions, public companies are counted in the
tens of thousands. It is clear that sheer numbers like this
reflect the power of small business in today’s world.
Fostering the development of entrepreneurial activity is
the primary mission of The Small Business Resource
Center at the Science, Industry and Business Library
(SIBL). During its decade of operation we have
observed thousands of individuals planning their
business, expanding their business, and selling their
business. This same 10-year period has seen academic
business school curriculums move in the direction of
entrepreneurial studies. Investment firms and law firms
have expanded their activities related to small business.
More than any other sector the government (in a
worldwide sense) has recognized the small business
economy. In our daily work and in our planning for the
future entrepreneurship looms large.
Individuals come to the library with a business idea.
Most first timers are unaware of how much time and
effort needs to be invested to bring the idea to reality.
The business plan, the capital search, and the
implementation work separates the men from the boys
(women from the girls). The survivors tread the tough
road to success or to the graveyard of failed ideas.
It has been our goal to provide the resources and
services that will level the playing field as much as
SMALL IS BIG
Connections
John Ganly
possible for the entrepreneur. Print titles such as those
from Entrepreneur magazine (http:///www.
entrepreneur.com) and Inc. (www.inc.com), which
cover specific business opportunities ranging from coin
laundry operations to yarn stores and home cleaning
businesses, are complimented by titles focused on
business plans and export planning. Complimenting the
print materials are a range of on-site advisory
opportunities provided by SCORE (The Service Corps
of Retired Executives) and the New York City Office of
Business Development.
The capstone of assistance is the New York City Small
Business Resource Center (http://www.smallbiz.
nypl.org), a fully integrated Web site developed by
SIBL staff that provides opportunities for entrepreneurs
to interact with each other and to access remote
planning documents and other development resources.
Perhaps the most revealing statistic related to small
business activity is the fact that over 5 million potential
client lists were downloaded in FY07 from
ReferenceUSA. In one way or another, all of us in the
information profession are involved in small business
and we are an important lever for the expansion of this
sector.
John Ganly New York Public Library
jganly@nypl.org 212/592-7261
From time-to-time Out of the Box articles are published in the
Bulletin in order to acquaint the B&F Division with the activities
of other SLA members. If you wish to recommend any articles for
publication in future issues of the Bulletin,
please contact Vicky Platt, editor.
Spring 2007 5

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B&F Bulletin
Mentoring Milestones
Laura Leavitt
This column represents one of the first new initiatives of the newly reformed
B&F Mentoring Committee. As chairperson of the committee and editor of the
column, I have asked a newly minted information professional, Brett Bonfield, to
share his perspectives on SLA, the B&F Division, and professional organizations
in general. I specifically asked Brett to discuss what we, as a Division or as
individual B&F members, could provide to those new to the field that would
enhance their career development and overall satisfaction with the profession. In
the next few columns, I hope to have other B&F members with different
perspectives share their opinions about some of the same issues. In the future, you can also look to this column for
discussions on networking, building professional relationships, and getting involved with professional organizations.
I hope that the discussions here will get members, regardless of their tenure with the Division, to begin thinking
about these issues and to ultimately get involved with the Division’s efforts to support the next generation of
information professionals. If you are interested in working with the new Mentoring Committee, please contact me,
Laura Leavitt, at leavitt9@msu.edu.
Guest Contributor: Brett Bonfield
Since joining the library and information science
profession one year ago, I have been blown away by
how good my colleagues are at organizing and
accessing incredibly complex information. Often it
seems the more obscure the question is, the better they
are at answering it; the more chaotic the data, the better
they are at taming it for our patrons.
However, there’s an exception to this rule:
information about our profession. Several people I
respect have advised me to join SLA and to get
active, but the first part is a lot simpler than the
second part. What does it mean to be active? How do
I volunteer for a committee? I realize the answer to
that last question is still being determined, and I
think it’s great that Stephen Abram is introducing
more fairness and transparency into the committee
appointment process. But I had a wonderful time at
the SLA Annual Conference in Denver and I want to
get involved now!
Other questions I ask colleagues about the profession
seem just as troubling. When I ask my colleagues what
sources I should rely on to stay informed, they seem
perplexed and occasionally even pained. I realize these
are personal questions; naturally, information
professionals take information seriously. But there’s a
lot out there that seems worth knowing, so it’s hard to
decide what should get my attention. That’s what I
want from my mentors, my professional associations,
and my colleagues: guidance on how to learn what I
need to learn in order to do something meaningful for
my patrons and the profession.
Clearly, the first steps for anyone new to the profession
are getting trained and finding work that suits our
abilities and interests. Several people helped steer me to
and through my graduate program, and I got a lot more
out of it than I would have without their guidance. I
would love to see an SLA initiative that helps ensure
that everyone gets as many helpful suggestions as I
have received.
I’m also grateful to those mentors who have
mentioned potential employers and passed along job
postings. Some of them have even personally
introduced me to people they felt I should know.
Generally, they seem to think of these introductions as
nothing, but it’s not the sort of thing many of us who
are new to the profession feel comfortable asking.
What’s the polite way to say, “She seems important
and I’ve heard she manages a lot of people. Would
you introduce me to her?” On top of that, most of the
time I have no idea who’s important or how many
people anyone manages until after I’ve met them.
How would I know? It takes someone with the
empathy to put themselves in my shoes and give me
the sort of networking opportunity they would have
wanted when they were new.
Finally, like many new information professionals, I
have time, ideas, and energy. I’m just not always sure=
Spring 2007 7

B&F Bulletin
how to channel them. That’s why I love being invited
to do something that someone with more experience
sees as valuable. I would be happy to serve on your
committee, but I have to know you want me. Want me
to present a poster or serve on a panel? Sign me up.
Literally. Because I’m not yet sure how to do my own
signing up. Want me to write a short piece for the
Bulletin? No problem. I can get you 600 words in three
hours. But you have to ask, because right now the
process for volunteering is still opaque, at least for me. I
Submit citations for articles and editorials, book
reviews, interviews, books or chapters in books,
Web sites, professionally oriented blogs, and
workshops for inclusion in our annual bibliography.
The Business & Finance Division Bibliography will
be published in the B&F Division Bulletin, and will
be distributed at a reception at the June 2008
conference in Seattle.
Shout it out! Send your citations by May 7 to:
bfpubs@gmail.com
To see if your work was already included in last
year’s B&F bibliography, check
www.slabf.org/publications.html
Monica Kirkwood, Chair, Publications Committee
bfpubs@gmail.com
765/494-7873
plan to figure it out, but there are a lot of other things I
need to figure out as well. I’d be grateful if you could
help me with this one.
Brett Bonfield works at the University of Pennsylvania’s
Lippincott Library of the Wharton School and at
Temple University’s Paley Library. He graduated from
Drexel’s MS LIS program in September 2007 and can be
reached at brett@disappearingmoment.com.
Laura Leavitt Michigan State University
leavitt9@msu.edu. 517/355-4647
Shout It Out!
Have you published a paper or
an article in 2007?
Do you maintain a Web site?
Have you edited a book this year?
We want to know about it!
If you have published or presented
professional works in 2007,
please let us know.
Spring 2007 8

B&F Bulletin
What to do about the gray (literature, that is) has been
an important topic in libraries for years. Gray literature
is a special type of resource. The term is used to
describe material that can be hard to classify and to
find. Essentially, gray (or grey) literature is material
that has not passed through the typical commercial
publication process. It is not a book, which often goes
through a year-long editorial process after it is accepted
by a publisher from an author. It is not a journal article
that has been reviewed by peers even before acceptance,
nor is it a magazine or newspaper article that has been
reviewed and edited by a publishing company.
What types of materials are gray literature? Reports,
white papers, preprints and working papers, conference
presentations, standards and specifications, catalogs
and trade literature, and documents internal to an
organization. Many formats of gray literature have
some important characteristics in common. Since they
don’t go through a commercial publisher, they may be
more current than books and articles. They are often
produced by practitioners and therefore may be quite
practical, with important facts and figures, statistics,
and details. The subject treatment may be focused or
targeted, and it may show a bias. For all these reasons,
it often makes sense to add gray literature to the books
and journals you already use in your research.
Finding Gray Literature
Though much of it is scientific or technical, there can
be gray literature in any subject. Gray literature is
often authored by individuals or workgroups in
governmental organizations, businesses, professional or
trade associations, and academic institutions.
One of the problems in collecting gray literature in
libraries has been the difficulty of identifying items—it
is frequently hard to find the author or the issuing
Making Marketing Materialize
Cris Olson
GRAY MATTERS
organization. Even if you are able to identify and locate
authors and agencies, these organizations may not be
interested in selling or distributing the items. Although
library catalogs may contain records for some gray
literature, there is much that never makes it into the
catalog or into article databases.
Enter the Web. Many previously hard-to-find authors
and agencies now maintain their own Web sites, where
they often archive the informal publications that
constitute gray literature. Much of what fills up the
Google pages in a typical search may be considered
gray literature. Even if you only have a piece of the
author or institution name, you may be able to turn up
a reference using an Internet search engine.
However, you need to exercise the same caution you
do with the result of any Internet search. Examine the
site to make sure it is authentic. Note carefully the
credentials of the organization and authors. Determine
release dates and check to see if the work has been
updated or superseded.
Good Resources for Gray Literature Searching
You can speed up the work of verifying your sources if
you search for gray literature on a qualified subset of
the entire Internet. The GrayLIT Network
(http://www.osti.gov/graylit/) acts as a portal to
many federally funded research and development
reports in energy. A Virtual Technical Reports Center
(http://www.lib.umd.edu/ENGIN/TechReports/Virt
ual-TechReports.html) collects preprints and technical
reports for institutions around the world. There are
several other gray literature portals, many of them
concentrating on particular disciplines or issuing
agencies.
Using scholarly search tools can help screen out the
gray stuff that doesn’t measure up. Try Google Scholar=
Spring 2007 9

B&F Bulletin
(http://scholar.google.com) instead of plain Google—
it has the unique advantage of reporting the number of
times that a work has been cited. If other academic
papers have cited one, it ups the validity of the original
work. While most library catalogs may list some
gray literature, WorldCat (http://www.worldcat.org),
which combines the library catalogs of 10,000 libraries
worldwide, has many more. If a gray literature work
has been acquired by a library (or several), it’s probably
a credible source for research. The Carmun social
networking site for students (http://www.carmun.com)
has a growing index of gray literature as well as books
and journal articles; Carmun encourages users to give
each work cited a one- to five-star rating, and they can
also add notes.
Don’t forget to check with a special librarian to find out
more about gray literature in their particular field.
Librarians can tell you when it may be appropriate to
use gray literature in your work; they can describe the
many different types of gray literature; and they can
point you to excellent specialized sources for finding
what you need. If you have a question about the quality
of something you have found, ask a librarian to help
you work through the process of evaluating it.
This article was reproduced with the kind permission of
Emerald Group Publishing and its LibraryLink virtual
community service (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/
librarylink).
Cris Olson Cris Olson & Associates
cris@crisolson.com 410/827-5642
Spring 2007 10

B&F Bulletin
On the Job
One of the most frequent reactions I get when I tell
anyone that I have my own business as a consultant is
the comment that my workflow and income must be
either feast or famine. Before the well-meaning
commentator even knows which sector of consultancy I
work in, they are pontificating about the difficulties of
having either too much work to cope with or too little
to occupy me fully. They usually have the smile of the
fully employed, knowing exactly when and where their
next paycheck is coming from. There are no problems
for them with the issues of the business cycle in their
company.
If you are toying with the idea of becoming selfemployed
you may be wondering if this is one of the
serious pitfalls and is it worth the risk? I did a search on
the Internet when I was planning this column and
found a plethora of training consultants (self-employed,
of course) who offered courses and sessions about how
to avoid or influence feast or famine cycles. The
sessions offered seemed to emphasize that consultancy
by its very nature is a feast or famine business (a
business that follows the ups and downs of the
economic cycle) and that companies would not engage
them in downturns. The other prominent aspect of
business that was covered in this search was the feast or
famine approach to sales campaigns.
I can honestly say that in all my nearly 20 years of
business I have never really encountered this problem
and I am baffled as to why it is cited so often as one of
the major reasons for not becoming self-employed.
What have I done that has avoided the issue? I really
think it comes down to diversity. My definition of
business information is wide and all encompassing. I
am willing to use whatever definition the proposed
project warrants and apply the concept as broadly as
Sylvia R. M. James
CAREERS, JOBS, RECRUITMENT, &
LIFE IN THE BUSINESS & FINANCE WORLD 14
Feast or Famine ?
In the fourteenth installment of her discourse in our ever challenging world,
Sylvia James once again gives us her advice.
the client or potential client expects. For me, this might
be research, training advisory work, consultancy,
strategic planning or writing, and for each project the
client as paymaster dictates exactly what needs to be
accomplished. I have also always done a fair amount of
unpaid association work, which also adds depth to my
experience.
So, a simple research project on a company that takes
half a day is as much business information as discussing,
writing, preparing, and presenting a tailored in-house course
on aspects of researching hedge funds for a law firm over
the course of five days. These are both projects I did in
one week a few months ago while working on an ongoing
strategic plan for the information needs of a professional
firm. It lasted over nearly two months of lapsed time.
What can be difficult for the new business information
freelancer is the ability to assess how these projects can
fit together and be completed side by side the various
deadlines set in the project proposals. This is the
downside of the feast. Take on too much and you can
really over extend yourself. I have had periods where
work slows a little and this can be the most worrying
aspect of this type of work, if you are inexperienced.
The spectre of sitting around waiting for the next (or
even the first) assignment will very definitely seem like
famine. It can be very frustrating waiting for clients,
who can’t seem to decide whether to go ahead with a
project or not.
Here are my tips for avoiding the feast or famine issue.
I have also dealt with several of these points in more
details in some of the previous “On the Job” columns.
When you begin your business:
• Make sure your business information service is
delivering something special and make sure your=
Spring 2007 11

B&F Bulletin
message about this special activity and delivery (the
value proposition) is really clear.
• Have you done everything you can do costeffectively
to make your marketing and proposals
look professional and credible? To be successful,
consultants must have both exceptional consulting
skills and client relationships that are rooted in
trust. Are you doing everything you can to forge
strong relationships at all levels with your current
or prospective clients and also in the wider business
information community?
• Are there any ways you could use your existing
networks to get a regular flow of new projects and
make your new venture a success?
When you have established your business:
• Re-think who you are selling to from time to time.
Understand how to price your time based on client
expectation, competition, and your actual utilization.
If you under price, it is much more difficult to increase
the price significantly for subsequent projects. What
are your real capabilities (and limitations) and what
client needs are you able to serve? This is often
more difficult to answer than it seems.
• Referral by word of mouth is perhaps the most
important method of securing steady project flow.
Clients tend to offer work first to those they know,
so networking with the most appropriate people is
vital.
• Since lead times to secure a large contract can often
be measured in years from initial contact, try and
find a mixture of different types of business. I just
got a significant first contract from a contact I have
known for over 20 years! This is always a surprise
for new business information freelancers.
• Assess how you can help the client see that they
have a problem and plan out a project proposal that
will solve it. If you only work on projects that have
been specified by your client, you will only be paid
on a “time” basis rather than on a “value” basis.
This often happens with business information
research projects. Think about how you can
significantly add value to the results of the search
rather than just delivering a standard set of
documents. To follow the theme, do you charge for
your time by the day or do you price according to
value? Some work may be better priced on a
finished-project basis. Experiment with proposals
•
based on the value you deliver in completing the
project.
Make sure you are prospecting continuously,
otherwise famine then feast then famine will keep
on happening. Ensure that you have put systems in
place that guarantee that every day your name is
becoming more and more known in the
marketplace. Most business information
professionals prefer doing the research, i.e.,
problem solving, rather than marketing and seeking
out new work. Unless you are constantly
prospecting and building your personal brand in the
marketplace, you will always experience the feast
and famine cycle. Another possibility is to delegate
the prospecting. How about creating an
•
information product that could be freely distributed
among your clients? This could be online content, a
news bulletin, or running an automated referral
generation system.
Reconsider spending serious money printing flyers
and brochures. The current view is that this is
wasted money. Clients typically have a tray
overflowing with brochures from freelance
•
consultants looking for work. They comment on
how they never have time to read them and confirm
that they only approve projects to those chosen by
personal recommendation.
Keep on top of the administration and invoices.
Don’t forget the taxes and the sometimes 60+ day
payment times from clients. Ensure you minimize
nonbillable time and maximize time spent on
projects or the personal time you hoped you would
get when you decided to go it alone.
Running your own business is different from working for
an employer full time. If you are experiencing feast or
famine, you need to analyze what you expect and hope to
achieve from the process and don’t underestimate the
problems and difficulties that can and do emerge.
You are the one who has the necessary qualities and
abilities to make a success of it and ensure effective
continuity.
Information Foraging: http://library.northampton.ac.
uk/blog/index.php/2007/04/03/information-foragingfeast-or-famine/
Sylvia R. M. James Sylvia James Consultancy
44 1444 452871
da_james@11daymer.freeserve.co.uk
Spring 2007 12

B&F Bulletin
Conference Connections Toby Pearlstein
Past Chair
DIVISION RECOGNIZES CONTRIBUTIONS OF MEMBERS
AND SUPPORTS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH AWARDS
SECOND ANNUAL AWARDS RECEPTION, DENVER, JUNE 2007
At the Annual Conference in Denver this past June,
our Division took the opportunity to both recognize
those who have achieved distinguished service and
contributions to the profession as well as to provide
professional encouragement in the form of cash
stipends to several students and professionals. It was a
pleasure for the Awards Committee (Toby Pearlstein,
Chair, Sylvia James, Robert Clarke, Awilda Reyes, and
Leslie Reynolds) to join other members of the Division
and association in bestowing the accolades these
individuals so richly deserve.
During the second annual awards reception, the
following were presented:
B&F Award for Outstanding Achievement in
Business Librarianship Sponsored by BNA, Inc.
To Ann Cullen, Curriculum Services Librarian, Baker
Library, Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA.
Ann was recognized for two important contributions:
• Her professional writing and publishing, especially
interviews of HBS staff on business topics of great
interest to business and finance information
professionals. The full text of her HBS publications
can be viewed at http:// search.hbs.edu:8765
/hbswk/?qt=Ann+Cullen. Harvard University Library
Notes also published her profile, available at
http://hul.harvard.edu/
1314/cullen.html.
publications/hul_notes_
• Her role as the Vendor Relations Chair for the
Business & Finance Division. Ann has done a great
job of taking in hand scattered vendor relations
activities and putting them into a system that helps
the Division track what is being done for the
forthcoming Annual Conference, and also serves as
a foundation for building a centralized history of
the Division’s vendor relationships and
sponsorship. This will be invaluable for the
Division’s financial health going forward.
B&F Distinguished Member Award Sponsored by
SkyMinder, Inc. and Alert Publications, Inc.
Awarded to Judy Field and Charlotte Kohrs.
Judy Field has served as a librarian/library manager
and university faculty member with distinction since
1962, which is when she joined our Division. She
served as chair of the Business & Finance Division for
two terms from 1972 until 1974. Her first position was
as the Library Manager at Western Electric/Bell
Telephone Laboratories in Indianapolis, starting in
1962. From 1965 through 1972 she held positions in
four specialized libraries at the University of Michigan.
Wanting to branch out and diversify, she spent the next
several years as the head of the General Reference
Department at the Flint (Michigan) Public Library. To
round out her experience she was the director of the
Minnesota State Legislature Library, and a year as a
management consultant when she returned to
Michigan. With all of this practical experience, the next
logical step was to teach what she knew. Wayne State
University’s Library Science Program hired her as a
part-time adjunct faculty in the late 1980s, and she has
been a full-time senior lecturer since 1994. In addition
to her work experience and exemplary service within
SLA, at all levels and in many aspects, Judy has been a
champion at mentoring, not only students but many
professionals who have had the privilege of working
and/or interacting with her.
Charlotte Kohrs began her distinguished career as a
librarian/library manager in 1977, which is when she
joined our Division. She served as chair of the Business
& Finance Division in 1985–1986. Her first position
was in the library of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell (now
KPMG) in the Houston office. After several years
there, she and her husband moved to the Washington,
DC area. Soon thereafter she began a 10-year stint with
the NBC News library. She commented that “the first
few years at NBC were during the S&L crisis and all=
Spring 2007 13

B&F Bulletin
those previous years in an accounting library setting
prepared me for the research that was required,
supporting [among others] Irving R. Levine, the
business and economic reporter for NBC.” She is now
retired, but she hasn’t slowed down much, as she
continues to be a valuable contributor to our
profession, serving in various leadership roles
(including the conveyor of the SLA Retired Members
Caucus), participating in the SLA Annual Conference,
and mentoring association members.
The Awards Committee also oversaw the following
Division awards:
B&F Division Professional Grant and Student
Stipends (Awilda Reyes, Chair)
This year, professional grants were awarded to Lisa
Ryan, a librarian with the Christie’s auction house in
New York, and David Brackus, a research librarian
from Houston, Texas.
The recipients of the student stipend awards were Tara
Bambrick (McGill University, Montreal, Canada),
Cindy Elliott (University of Arizona, Tucson), Diane
Owens (University of Kentucky), and Leslie Wolf (San
Jose State University, San Jose, CA).
B& F Division International Travel Award (Robert
Clarke, Chair)
This award was sponsored by ISI Emerging Markets
and given to Ms. Shivanthi Weerasinghe, librarian,
Bank of Ceylon, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
We were very pleased that Mr. Muhammad Shafiq
(librarian, Information Resource Centre, Securities and
Exchange Commission of Pakistan), who was last
year’s winner of the International Travel Award and
had been unable to travel to Baltimore, was able to join
us in Denver to receive his award in person. Having
two members from so far away participate in the
Division’s conference activities was a great treat and
underscores the international reach of B&F.
SLA Europe/B&F Division Student Award
Additional evidence of the Division’s international
reach was a new annual award—presented for the first
time in Denver—the SLA Europe/B&F Division
Student Award. We have a long history of supporting
students from North America attending the conference
and this new award not only gives us an opportunity to
reach out and work with an SLA chapter, but also
extends our support to students of the European
community. The award process was so successful this
year that we hope to jointly offer two stipends with
SLA Europe for the Seattle conference in 2008.
Further, the Executive Board is now exploring the
opportunity for a similar cooperative effort with the
Asia/Pacific chapter.
This award, sponsored by Books 24x7, was received by
Verena Till, a graduate student in Library and
Information Management, Stuttgart Media University.
The Division Centers of Excellence Award was also
presented in Denver and is covered in a separate article
by Leslie Reynolds in this issue of the Bulletin.
I want to extend a huge thanks to all who were
involved in the awards process, from working with the
Executive Board and sponsors on funding these awards
to soliciting nominations, reviewing them, and
selecting winners. These volunteers enable the Division
to reach out to current and potential members and both
support and recognize their professional development
and contributions. Below are the names of those who
participated in our efforts for 2007.
Overall Division Awards Committee: Sylvia James, Robert
Clarke, and Leslie Reynolds.
SLA Europe/B&F Student Award: Toby Pearlstein, Sylvia
James, Rachel Kolsky, Barbara Robinson, and Awilda
Reyes.
International Travel Award: Robert Clarke (Chair), Toby
Pearlstein, and Sylvia James.
Grants and Stipends: Awilda Reyes (Chair), Geneviève
Lemire (previous student stipend winner), Laura
Leavitt, and Advisor, Ester Gill.
Centers of Excellence Award: Leslie Reynolds (Chair) with
Tom Marini and judges Tomalee Doan, Sylvia James,
Susan Klopper, Cindy Lenox, and Kathy Long.
It’s never too early to think about next year’s awards
process. We strongly encourage nominations/selfnominations.
You can find out more information by
contacting Hal Kirkwood (Kirkwood@purdue.edu),
who will take on the role of Awards Chair, or by
visiting the B&F Web site and clicking on Awards
(http://slabf.org/division_awards_desc.html) to see
descriptions and contact information related to each.
Toby Pearlstein Bain & Co.
toby.pearlstein@bain.com 617/572-2943
Spring 2007 14

B&F Bulletin
Conference Connections Awilda Reyes
Chair, Grants & Stipends
This year, the B&F Division presented two
professional grants awards and four student stipends
awards at its annual business luncheon meeting; held
at the SLA Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Each of the awards was worth $1,200 and was used
by the winners to attend the conference. All of the
winners were members of SLA Business & Finance
Division.
The student recipients worked as proctors, helping with
the CE courses offered by the Division. They also
agreed to serve on one of the B&F Committees
Roundtables during 2007/2008. The grant winners will
be serving on the Grants and Stipends Committee in
the future to ensure continuity on the committee and
enthusiasm for the award program.
The committee members for this year were: Geneviève
Lemire, previous student stipend winner from
Bombardier Amphibious Aerospace, Quebec, Canada,
and Laura Leavitt from Michigan State University.
Esther Gil from the University of Denver is the advisor
and past chair of the committee. We had the task of
evaluating 13 applications for the student stipends and
seven for the professional grants.
Biographical information about this year’s winners and
their essays are provided below.
Professional Grant Award Winners
David Brackus currently works as a business librarian in the
Houston office of a New York-based global financial services
firm, where he provides reference services to investment
bankers working in the energy sector. He was offered the
position shortly before the start of the 2007 SLA Annual
Conference in Denver.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of
Wisconsin and a Masters Degree in Information Studies
from the University of Texas. Without this award, he would
not have been able to attend the 2007 SLA Annual
Conference.
Receiving the grant was greatly appreciated and
came precisely at the right time, because it gave me
2006–2007
GRANTS AND STIPENDS WINNERS
an opportunity to get a head-start on my new
position. Although I have a background in the
energy industry, it’s on the technical side, whereas
my new position focuses on the business side of the
energy industry. Therefore, one thing I sought to
do was hit the exhibits and make contact with as
many business-related vendors as possible. As I
came to find out, one vendor beat me to the
punch—he had already made contact with my
predecessor and said, “You don’t know this, but
I’ll be in Houston on Friday to give you some
training!”
I also attended sessions—topics of interested related
to my industry but also other sessions that I thought
might be useful down the road. I was heavy on the
business sessions but also found time to attend an
interesting session on libraries in third-world
countries. Coming off a successful job search, I also
attended a retrospective session on finding one’s
dream job and how to keep one’s researching skills
up-to-date by keeping an eye toward the future.
Another thing I did was network. I went to breakfast
meetings, lunch meetings, dinner meetings—even
met people at happy-hour events and events
scheduled in-between. I went to the EBSCOsponsored
baseball game Saturday night at Coors
Field (where I saw the home town Colorado Rockies
beat the Cincinnati Reds), and the dessert party
sponsored by Elsevier on Monday night. One thing I
particularly enjoyed was all the networking open
houses held in the evenings—I attended all the
Business & Finance Division open houses and even
attended a Solo Librarians open house. Although I’ll
have several counterparts in both New York and Los
Angeles, I’m the only librarian in the Houston office
and I truly appreciated the Solo Librarians’
suggestions and ideas. I attended the Business &
Finance Division breakfast meeting Monday
morning and also the Awards Reception later that
evening.=
Spring 2007 15

B&F Bulletin
One special social event I attended was the SLA
Texas Chapter reception, held Monday night at
Rialto Café on Sixteenth Street. It was a great venue
and since I was on the planning committee, it was
nice to see people from the Lone Star State with
whom I had worked virtually in putting this
reception together.
I attended the opening session on Sunday and the
closing session on Wednesday, and listened with great
interest to both speakers, Al Gore and Scott Adams. I
was very impressed with Al Gore, in particular—while
I know many politicians have a cursory knowledge
about many subjects, he appeared to have a wider
depth of knowledge on libraries than I would have
originally thought.
One thing that made the conference great was the
host city of Denver, Colorado. What a wonderful
city in which to hold a conference! Everything
seemed to be near each other—the Hyatt Hotel being
so close to the Colorado Convention Center, which
was close to the Sixteenth Street Mall with lots of
eating and shopping options. And speaking of
shopping, the only shopping I thought was truly
fitting for a library conference was a stop at the
famous Tattered Cover Book Store, conveniently
located in the historic LoDo District.
One other great thing about having the conference in
Denver was that it happened to take place the same
weekend as the Capitol Hill People’s Fair, located near
the State Capitol Building. What an interesting array of
food and art booths for people watching! What I
particularly appreciated was that it was a nice diversion
for a couple of hours on Sunday.
One thing I’ll take from this conference was the
chance to look outside the box. It was interesting to
see what works in other libraries and information
centers and how their solutions to similar problems
can be addressed. What a refreshing way of looking at
things! I certainly came back to Houston energized,
not only about my new job opportunity but also at
being involved with SLA at both the state and
national levels.
In conclusion, this conference could not have come at a
better time—right on the heels of a new job, it gave me
an opportunity to become totally immersed with
potential resources I’ll likely be using in the future. It
also gave me an opportunity to widen the lens through
which I view the corporate library world. I truly
welcome the many challenges that await me in the
months to come and again, I am most appreciative of
the Business & Finance Division for helping to make
this opportunity for me to attend the 2007 SLA Annual
Conference happen. I’ll look forward to seeing
everyone again—and taking on a more active role—in
Seattle in 2008!
Lisa Ryan is the Associate Librarian at Christie’s, the
auction house. She graduated with a Master’s of Science in
Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute and a
Bachelor of Science degree from Fashion Institute of
Technology, State University of New York. Lisa was
instrumental in establishing SLA @ Pratt, the SLA student
group at Pratt Institute and received the SLA New York
2006 Distinguished Service Award in recognition of this
accomplishment. She was also the recipient of the George
Simor Merit Award in Archival Management at Pratt
Institute in 2006. She used the professional grant to attend
this year’s conference to further her professional
development. Without this award, she would not have been
able to attend.
Thank You.
First, I would like to thank the Business and Finance
Awards Committee for taking the time to evaluate
my application and grant me the stipend. I really do
appreciate the time you took to volunteer and serve
on this committee. I would especially like to thank
Awilda Reyes for her leadership of this committee.
Second, I would like to thank my fellow SLA
Business & Finance Division members for your
continued support of the grant program for both
students and professionals. Third, I want to thank my
fellow Business & Finance New York Chapter
colleagues who provided me with support while I
was a student and continue to provide me support as
a professional.
Previous Conferences
As a student I had attended and volunteered at the
2003 New York and 2006 Baltimore conferences.
The Denver SLA 2007 conference was my first
conference to attend as an employed information
professional. At the New York and Baltimore
conferences I had a less focused itinerary. I was a
student and had the luxury of treating the conference
like a tasting platter. I attended a variety of sessions
and talked to vendors. There were always more
sessions I wanted to attend than I had time for and I
never was able to find out about all of the vendor’s
products I was interested in.=
Spring 2007 16

B&F Bulletin
Mission
The day I came back from the Baltimore conference
last year I had a job offer from Christie’s. I accepted the
position of Associate Librarian. This year I
approached the conference with a more focused
itinerary. I had a to-do list of what I needed to learn
to help me succeed in my new position. I thought I
would be able to go to every session and talk to
every vendor that interested me. I really thought
this year would be different. Did I succeed? Well, yes
and no. I spent hours learning about new trends and
technologies and listening to stimulating sessions
about the challenges and opportunities facing
information professionals. I spent even more hours
talking to vendors at the Info Expo Center during the
day and to my colleagues at the evening receptions.
However, thanks to the SLA staff, Denver Chapter
members, and conference planning committees, there
were more sessions and events that I wanted to
attend than was humanly possible. That is a good
thing.
Info-Expo Hall
I am proud to say I filled out my passport and only
once did I pull out my real U.S. passport to be stamped
by a vendor. There were so many interesting vendors to
visit. There were several vendors I had on my wish list
who exhibited at an SLA conference for the first time
this year. I like being able to talk to vendors in person. I
spent most of the conference on the exhibit floor. It was
time very well spent. We are currently trying out some
of the products from vendors at the SLA conference
and I have my eye on some other vendors for future
projects.
Networking
One of the priceless benefits of being a member of SLA
is the opportunity to network. I was able to meet
students and professionals at the Business & Finance
Division breakfast and business meeting. Being a part
of the New York chapter gives me many opportunities
to network in New York. By attending the conference
in Denver I expanded my personal network of
information professionals.
Sessions
The synergy session with Tom Hogan, Stephen
Abram, Clifford Lynch, and Eugenie Prime on
Monday was nothing short of inspiring. It was
synergy and energy. I was truly energized. I had read
articles by and about all four of them, so seeing and
hearing them in person was a real treat. The opening
general session with Al Gore was also exciting. Other
sessions I attended included topics about genealogical
electronic resources and content management
systems.
Wine
Christie’s has a wine department, which I know little
about so I eagerly attend the session: Wine—A Whole
New World. Christopher Noble, an analyst from
Rabobank’s Food and Agribusiness Research
Department, spoke about emerging wine markets. I
learned about wine and wine information resources. Of
course, I can’t mention wine and not mention the B&F
receptions where wine is free flowing. I attended the
B&F Open House on Saturday, the B&F Awards
Reception on Monday, and the B&F Open House
followed by the Information Technology Division
Gold-Digger’s Ball on Tuesday. Not only was I able to
have wine and hors d’oeuvres at the open houses, I was
also able to talk to my colleagues and get feedback on
ideas.
The theme of the conference, “Climbing to New
Heights,” is exactly how I feel about my experience.
Thank you again for the generous grant.
Student Stipend Winners
Tara Bambrick received her Masters of Library and
Information Studies with a specialization in Knowledge
Management from McGill University in May 2007. Her
other degrees include a Master of Arts in Quantitative
Psychology from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of
Arts in Psychology. For the past 18 years, she has both
supported and conducted her own research on topics ranging
from statistical test equation to multidisciplinary education
and collaboration.
I was extremely pleased to be awarded one of the
Business & Finance Division Student Stipends as it
enabled me to attend what I anticipated was going to
be an important and exciting conference. I have sent
posters and presentations to conferences before, but
have never been able to attend myself, so not only was
this my first SLA conference, but it was also my first
conference ever. I can now say that the experience was
long overdue.
I had two major goals in attending this event. First, as a
student, I found that it wasn’t often that we got to meet
real live information professionals working outside of=
Spring 2007 17

B&F Bulletin
academic and public librarianship—especially those
working in business/finance, competitive intelligence,
and knowledge management. I had a strong desire to
meet practicing professionals and find out about
alternative or nontraditional career paths. The
conference was indeed the perfect opportunity to do
this. I came home with a number of ideas and some
renewed inspiration.
A second goal was to investigate the studentprofessional
environment with SLA as a whole, and to
discover whether I might be able to find opportunities
to contribute in the future. As the president of
McGill’s SLA student chapter, I tried to create
opportunities for students to meet and learn from
professionals, and this is something I enjoyed being a
part of. I believe that, in most disciplines in general,
there is an under emphasis placed on mentorship,
apprenticeship, and student-professional relationships.
Yet activities of this nature are extremely important. It
is students who are the potential new members in an
organization or association—the ones who keep
membership growing, ensure sustainability of
programs and organizations, and who infuse groups
with new ideas.
I listened to Hal Kirkwood’s speech regarding B&F
membership and noted that he said the numbers aren’t
growing as much as they could be. I was initially
surprised as B&F has not only a healthy financial
situation, but also is one of the more active and
dynamic divisions, as we all saw from the number of
fantastic networking events and courses that were
offered at the conference. I really felt that a strong and
innovative effort with students, and perhaps some
collaboration with both competitive intelligence and
knowledge management, would be a good
development strategy. I met a few motivated
professionals both within B&F and other divisions who
had similar ideas and I look forward to connecting
further with these people.
A professional association can mean many different
things to people. Prior to attending the conference, I
had a set of ideas about what SLA meant to me as
both a student and a professional. Attending the
conference not only solidified my professional
identity, but I also came away with a clearer idea of
what a professional association should aim to do and
be for its members. I look forward to working further
with SLA to meet and enhance its strategic agenda.
Cindy Elliott received her Masters of Library and
Information Studies from the University of Arizona in
August 2007. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration, with an emphasis in Marketing. Prior to
obtaining her MLIS, Cindy worked for seven years in the
field of marketing communications and academic advising.
Cindy hopes to obtain a position in either an academic or
special library after she graduates.
The 2007 SLA meeting in Denver was a great
opportunity to be among 5,000 other librarians and
learn from their stories, ideas, inspirations,
challenges, and triumphs in special librarianship.
Thank you to the Business & Finance Division for
the chance to attend the conference as a student
stipend scholarship winner. Through this opportunity
I was able to observe, listen, and learn from
librarians across the country in such diverse areas of
special librarianship, and take away tips and lessons
for becoming a twenty-first-century librarian that I
will share.
In one session, Roberta Shaffer, Executive Director of
LC FLICC/FEDLINK, presented Government
Librarians Get Savvy; the need for us all to become
“horizontal librarians.” This is the librarian who is able
to step outside one’s specific role and become a leader
within a company; continuing to grow and learn in
one’s position, and become competent in areas of
project management, privacy, digital rights, research
methodology and metrics, enterprise risk, customer
resources, visualization, human-computer interaction,
commercial psychology, and competitive intelligence.
The role of librarian has shifted, and these are the skills
that I plan to further develop and grow in the coming
years as a “horizontal librarian.”
Many librarians I talked with mentioned the
increasing necessity to get outside the library and
provide leadership through content provision; giving
clients more than just links to articles, but
commentary with synthesized and organized content
and context that adds value to their client’s work. In
the Super Searcher Secrets session with Mary Ellen
Bates, she stressed telling the client why the
information matters, and providing value to the
information that the client could not get through a
simple Google search. Through this discussion I
discovered that we must continually be educating our
clients, adding value for our clients in new and
different ways, and making ourselves indispensable
to our organizations. =
Spring 2007 18

B&F Bulletin
In emerging markets, the information sources available
are not always reliable or accurate. The session
Emerging Resources Intelligence Resources, hosted by
the Business & Finance Division, suggested reading
The Economist regularly as a way to stay on top of
foreign news. Gloria Reyes suggested looking at a
variety of sources to find information about emerging
markets, and putting together the pieces for a full
understanding of what is going on within that country.
I heard this sentiment echoed by several librarians at
the SLA conference. We must be well read, and stay on
top of many news sources so that we can be fully
informed of what is going on in our country and in
other markets.
Diane M. Owens is currently a graduate student in the
Library & Information Science program at the University of
Kentucky, with a study focus in business information and
research. She has an undergraduate degree in Systems
Analysis from Miami University and has also completed a
Certificate in Business Administration program at the
University of Kentucky. Her extensive business experience at
both small and large companies has been focused in the
following areas: business analysis and research, project
management, and technology development.
Very early on a Saturday morning in June I boarded a
plane in Lexington, Kentucky, to begin my journey to
the SLA 2007 conference in Denver, Colorado. I admit
that I was excited, but a bit nervous as well. I had been
to conferences before, but this was my very first “real”
library conference. (Thanks to B&F for the generous
stipend that funded my trip!) Would I enjoy myself?
Would I feel welcomed, being a graduate student and a
conference first-timer? Would I walk away from the
experience with a better idea of where I would like to
take my career? The answer to each of these questions
is a resounding Yes! Read on to learn a bit more about
my experiences.
I began preparing for the conference during the
preceding week as I flipped through the conference
program, trying to decide which sessions I would
attend. This proved to be a bit more time-consuming
than I had expected, since so many sessions seemed to
grab my attention. I dutifully checked all the points of
interest in the online conference planner, simply
ignoring the messages that told me I had selected a
variety of concurrent activities—it just couldn’t be
helped. With no more time to dedicate to preparation,
I figured I would just sort it all out when I got to
Denver.
Once I arrived in Denver, I headed to the hotel to meet
up with my roommate and get a key to our room. I
actually had never met this woman before, but had
found her via the B&F listserv and we had
communicated via e-mail. I decided I wanted to take
every opportunity to meet people at the conference.
What better way than to share a room with a complete
stranger? To some people that might sound weird, but I
know that my natural tendency is to be somewhat
reserved. Since I didn’t know many people attending
the conference, I didn’t want to fall into a trap of just
hanging out by myself all the time. So, I figured that by
sharing a room I would meet someone new and also
would also be “forced” to attend a variety of evening
events, as I wouldn’t have a hotel room to myself in
which to “hide out.”
Having met my roommate (who is lovely, by the way),
I headed over to the conference for registration and to
attend the CE course that I had signed up to proctor. I
was immediately impressed with how well organized
everything seemed to be. When things actually “work”
as they are supposed to, even a simple registration
process, the world is just a better place. I attended the
CE course on using government information sources
and learned more than I ever imagined. I had dabbled
in some of these sources previously, but the instructor
showed us so much more. I can’t wait until I have the
occasion to use them again, as I’m sure I will be so
much more effective than in the past. These sites are
just ripe for the picking.
I finished out my day by attending the Gore keynote,
and then headed to dinner with a group of people I
had never met. (Are you seeing a pattern?)
Determined to meet people and make the most of my
experience, I joined up with one of the dinner roundtable
events. Good conversation and good food
proved a wonderful end to my first day at the
conference.
The next few days were quite the whirlwind. I was
up early each morning, attending 7:00 AM breakfasts.
I typically don’t function much before 8:30, but when
deciding which sessions to attend I figured that I’d
still be on Eastern Time, so 7:00 in Denver would
really feel like 9:00 to me. No problem! That strategy
didn’t exactly work out, as I hadn’t factored in all the
evening activities, which pretty much got me onto
Denver time from the get-go. Nonetheless, each
morning’s topic was interesting enough to get me up=
Spring 2007 19

B&F Bulletin
and going—a true testament to the high caliber of the
conference sessions. The rest of my days were filled
with thought-provoking lectures and walks through
the sense-tantalizing exhibit floor. At first I was a
little leery to approach the exhibitors, as I didn’t
want to feel like I was wasting their time. I’m not
currently in a position where I have any purchasing
power in my organization, so I didn’t know how eager
they would be to spend time with me. As with the
many conference attendees, each of the vendors I
spoke with was warm and welcoming. They took the
time to explain their product to me, even though, in
most cases, it was unlikely that a sale would result
from their efforts.
Each evening, as I had intended, I headed to a variety
of social gatherings. One night I attended another
dinner round-table; a second evening, I “party
hopped” between vendor and division events.
Regardless of what I was doing, I had a good time,
met interesting people, and learned a bit more
about the variety of careers and experiences
possessed by individuals working in the world of
special libraries.
So, back to my three questions: Would I enjoy myself?
Would I feel welcomed, being a graduate student and a
conference first-timer? Would I walk away from the
experience with a better idea of where I would like to
take my career? As I stated in the beginning, the answer
to each of these questions is Yes! I had a great time; I
met a variety of people who all seemed genuinely
interested in getting to know me and help out in
whatever way they could; and my career horizons have
been expanded exponentially. (In fact, I have a phone
interview this week that is a direct result of the contacts
I made at the conference.)
Thank you again, B&F, for funding this opportunity! It
has been the boost to take me to the next step on my
“climb to new heights.”
Leslie Wolf will receive her Masters in Library and
Information Science from San Jose State University in May
2008. She has a BA in Comparative Literature from the
University of California, Berkeley. Leslie has over 15 years of
experience as a service quality consultant, helping clients to
improve performance in service metrics; processes and
procedures; project management; and internal
communication.
My conference experience started on Friday, when I
met two lively librarians on the airport shuttle to
Denver. It ended on Wednesday, when I got on the
airport shuttle to find a colleague from San Francisco
on her way home. Wherever I looked around
Denver, there were librarians—at the coffee shop; at
the cocktail parties; at the hotel; at the Denver
Museum. At the conference center I saw them
listening, sharing, and blogging. Everywhere I
looked, people were embracing old friends and
making new ones.
Everyone I talked to was encouraging and happy to
answer the questions uppermost on my mind: how did
people find their career path, and—because I needed to
register the next week for classes—do I really need to
take cataloging? The answers: I learned about the
diversity of jobs possible with an MLIS, and I signed up
for cataloging this fall.
Another benefit was one you might not expect. The
San Jose State University MLIS program is a longdistance
learning program. Some of my classes are
conducted only online, and some meet on campus
once or twice a semester. I was surprised and
pleased to find three people I knew from the
program, and we had a great time over dinner
comparing sessions, giving advice on classes, and
offering career help.
Choosing the “right” conference session is hard; there
are always two others that look equally intriguing. Here
are three that stood out for me.
“Making a Business Case for the Information Center”:
Lesley Robinson presented a thorough business case
outline and facilitated some lively group interactions.
Her discussion of the sweeping changes she made at the
Financial Times was absorbing, and participants shared
innovative ideas to measure the value of their
information centers. It’s clear that you can never be
complacent—you must always demonstrate value and
actively market your services.
“Finding the Concept: Using Ontologies and
Semantics”: Because I just finished classes in
vocabulary design and Web 2.0, I was fascinated to
learn about the “next big thing”—the power of
ontology to create Web-like relationships and to help
people find concepts even when they don’t know
exactly what words to search.
“Collection Development in the Electronic Age”:
We got a great set of questions to ask of the users
and the vendors when purchasing digital resources. It=
Spring 2007 20

B&F Bulletin
also showed an interesting view of the digital
divide: The University of Auckland Library is
almost entirely digital. The Linda Hall Library is
heavily committed to print resources with limited
digital resources. Both made compelling cases for
their divergent paths.
Attending SLA was a great experience. I want to thank
the Business & Finance Division for this wonderful
opportunity. I enjoyed meeting so many people at the
breakfast and the awards reception, and I’m looking
forward to serving on a committee and contributing to
the success of the Division. In the process, I know I’ll
build relationships and learn more about the workworld
of the special librarian.
SLA Europe’s Student Stipend Award Winner
Business & Finance Division
SLA Europe collaborated with SLA Business &
Finance to provide an exciting opportunity for students
who have never attended an Annual Conference. Any
student currently enrolled in a library studies program
during the academic year of 2006–2007 was eligible to
participate. SLA Europe’s board hopes to continue this
award in 2008 with continued cooperation from the
SLA Business & Finance Division. This year’s award
winner, Verena Till, attended the June 2007 SLA
Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, and will
serve on a panel to determine next year’s award
winner.
Verena Till has been enrolled in Library and Information
Management at Stuttgart Media University, Germany since
2005. At the moment she is completing a six-month
internship in the information research division at a large
market research company in Munich. During her studies she
has focused on marketing and economic courses and project
work. She will finish her studies in summer 2008 with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Library and Information
Management
As I applied for the LIS Student Stipend Award of SLA
Europe, Business & Finance Division, I dreamed of
being selected. But then, weeks after my application
had been submitted, I suddenly had an e-mail in my
mailbox—“Dear blablabla nachschauen”—what a
happy day and what a wonderful message!
Finally, on June 1st my big adventure started: the
annual SLA Conference 2007 in Denver. After a long
flight I arrived in Denver in the evening. It was my first
time in the United States.
My first thought was: HUGE! Everything seemed to be
huge: the landscape, the sky, the mountain chain in the
distance, and the high rises on the Denver skyline. This
impression went on the next day, when I went to the
convention center. Very impressed by the size of the
building and the conference area, I couldn’t wait for the
conference to begin.
The next few days were so full and interesting for me,
as it was not only my first time in the United States, but
it also was my first big conference. There were many
interesting people who love their profession and who
gave me an idea of what “information professional”
really means. I attended informative lectures like
“Making a Business Case for the Information Center,”
I heard about CI worldwide, learned how to speak as if
my career depended on it, and how to use Google more
efficiently.
Of course, I also spent a lot of time in the big and
exciting exhibit hall: had small talks with the
exhibitors, had my handwriting analyzed, indulged
in a free massage, had snacks, etc. Impressive to me
was the opening session with many special moments
as awards were presented and the compelling speech
by Al Gore.
Of course, I also had time to see Denver—big
buildings, friendly people, a charming little street
festival. I did a little bit of shopping and often bought
some coffee at Starbucks, which could be found on
every corner. Briefly said, Denver was the place to
be. But, it was of course not only the events and the
professional input, or the city that made this
conference unforgettable. Above all, it was the
people. I met amazing people from all over the
world, I had wonderful dinners and attended parties,
I learned about networking, and not least, I learned
about life.
I feel proud of being part of this wonderful
organization and I am very thankful. Thanks to all the
people (especially the folks from SLA Europe and the
Business & Finance Division) who made this trip
possible for me and looked after me so kindly. Of
course, these six days were exhausting, not least
because of the exposure to the English language. I
enjoyed each single day and I am sure that I will never
forget about this adventure.
Awilda Reyes West Chester University
areyes@wcupa.edu 610/436-3206
Spring 2007 21

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PAD07

B&F Bulletin
Conference Connections Leslie Reynolds
2007 CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER
The Business & Finance Division of the Special Libraries Association proudly announced the winner of the sixth
annual Centers of Excellence Awards at the SLA Annual Conference—the Science, Industry & Business Library
of The New York Public Library. The award recognized the development of quality practices and services. The
judges were especially impressed with their commitment to service excellence, which was demonstrated by the
ability to engage customers and the community at large, as well as building strategic alliances with their partners.
The presentation of the award for service excellence occurred on June 4, 2007, during the Business & Finance Division
Awards Reception. Immediately following the award presentation, the winner spoke about the best practices for which
they were recognized.
A panel of judges, who are active members of the
Business & Finance Division, evaluated all entries.
Thank you to the 2007 judges who determined the
winner: Tomalee Doan, Director, Management and
Economics Library, Purdue University; Sylvia
James, Principal, Sylvia James Consultancy; Susan
Klopper, Executive Director, Goizueta Business
Library, Emory University; Cindy Lenox,
Coordinator of Collection Development, John
Carroll University Library; and Kathy Long,
Director, J. Hugh Jackson Library, Stanford
University School of Business.
These awards serve to recognize the best of “best
practices” in three categories: service, management,
and technology. Any member of the Business & Finance Division may apply for consideration in any of the three
categories. The winner in 2007 represented service excellence and quality at its highest level.
To apply for the 2008 Business & Finance Division Centers of Excellence Awards, please see the application
guidelines elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin and on the B&F Division Web site. You can also find additional
background information on the Centers of Excellence Awards as well as on the B&F Division Web site.
Please send your application to:
Leslie Reynolds, Associate Professor
West Campus Library
TAMU - 5001
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
Attn: COEA
Or by e-mail: leslie.reynolds@tamu.edu. E-mail is the preferred method of submitting your application.
For further information, please contact Leslie Reynolds at 979-458-0138 or Tom Marini at tmarini@gw.ksu.edu or
785/532-2158.
Nominations must be postmarked January 15, 2008 and all applications must be postmarked by February 15, 2008.
Reapplying is welcomed!
A distinguished panel of judges will review the entries. The judges’ identities remain anonymous until judging is
completed. Leslie Reynolds is not serving as a judge.
Spring 2007 23

B&F Bulletin
PARTICIPATE! NOMINATE! APPLY!
The Centers of Excellence Awards benefit the Division members through:
• Self–evaluation to determine your organization’s excellence and quality.
• Sharing best practices—the very best.
• Publicizing and spotlighting the winners through SLA Annual Conference programming devoted to best
practices and conducted by winners of the Centers of Excellence Awards.
Frequently Asked Questions
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE ONE OF THESE AWARDS?
Any member of the Business & Finance Division may apply. The award is presented to the organization described
by the applicant.
The application can take any form, e.g., written report, videotape, photography, or narration. Each award will be
presented to specific business information centers based on a point system administered by the judges, who are
members of the Business & Finance Division.
CAN I SEND IN AN APPLICATION FOR AN ORGANIZATION THAT I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH?
Yes! You can submit an application for an organization that you are familiar with but not affiliated. If the
application does not address all of the criteria described in section 5.2 of the COE Awards Guidelines, it will be
treated as a nomination. The nominated organization will be contacted and asked to complete the application.
Please note that all nominations are due January 15, 2008.
DOES MY ORGANIZATION HAVE TO BE NOMINATED TO APPLY?
No! You can submit an application for your organization. All applications must be received by February 15, 2008.
WHAT AREAS OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ARE BEING FOCUSED ON?
Service—excellence in service, instruction, and support to constituent users.
Management—successful and effective performance in four basic management roles: conceptualizing/ planning,
organizing, directing/motivating, and evaluation/measuring.
Technology—successful, cost–effective, and appropriate application of technology.
WHAT ARE THE AWARD CRITERIA?
The application should cover and comment upon all of these criteria for each category (Service, Management, and
Technology):
• Leadership
• Strategic Planning
• Customer/User Focus
• Information and Analysis
• Human Resource Focus
• Process Management
• Service Results
Details can be found in section 5.2 of the COE Awards Guidelines.
WHAT ARE THE CRITICAL DATES IN THE APPLICATION, CONSIDERATION, AND AWARD PROCESS?
• Nominations are to be postmarked or e-mailed by January 15, 2008. =
Spring 2007 24

B&F Bulletin
• Applications are to be postmarked or e-mailed by February 15, 2008.
• Consideration will take place between February 15 and March 21, 2008.
• Winners will be notified and announcements will be made in May 2008.
• Presentation of the awards will take place at the SLA Annual Conference in June 2008.
WHAT EXACTLY DO I SEND?
Send by either postal or e–mail (e-mail is preferred):
• A one–page executive summary declaring which category (Service, Management, or Technology) you are
applying for along with a concise explanation of your organization’s excellence. It is at the discretion of the
judges to determine if your application better fits an alternate category.
• An application containing detailed information fulfilling the expectations within the COEA guidelines (see the
appendix for point values related to the criteria). The judges anticipate being presented with relevant measurable
outcomes that pertain to the desired COE award category. The submitted application should very closely follow
the components of the guidelines.
Questions? Contact:
Leslie Reynolds
Leslie.reynolds@tamu.edu
979/458-0138
Additional information can be found at www.slabf.org/centers_of_excellence.html.
Also see the awards guidelines elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin.
The Special Libraries Association and the
Business & Finance Division assume no
responsibility for the statements and
opinions advanced by the contributors to
the Association’s publications. Editorial
views do not necessarily represent the
official position of the Special Libraries
Association. Acceptance of an
advertisement does not imply
endorsement of the product by the
Special Libraries Association.
COPY DEADLINES
Winter 2008, Nr. 137: December 1, 2007
Spring 2008, Nr 138: March 15, 2008
Fall 2008, Nr. 139: August 15, 2008
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
Submissions via electronic mail are
encouraged. Either MS Word or
ASCII files are acceptable.
Please submit copy after
verification, bibliography
checking, spell checking, and
proof reading. Use a recent
Bulletin issue as your
style guide. Peer-reviewed articles
require additional time for the review
process. Authors who wish to publish a
peer-reviewed article should contact the
editor for further information.
Spring 2007 25

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B&F Bulletin
SLA News
NEWSNOTES
SYLVIA JAMES RECEIVES BRASS THOMSON GALE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN BUSINESS LIBRARIANSHIP
Sylvia James, principal, Sylvia James Consultancy, United Kingdom, is the recipient of the 2007 Thomson Gale Award
for Excellence in Business Librarianship administered by the Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS) of the
Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
The award, a citation and $3,000 donated by Thomson Gale, is given to an individual for distinguished activities in
the field of business librarianship.
Sylvia James has written prolifically on international business, from the theory and practice of international business
information to the researching of global information. She is a regular contributor to Business Information Alert and
writes a column in the Special Libraries Association Business & Finance Division Bulletin on career development in
the business information field.
“Sylvia James, a management consultant who specializes in global business information, embodies the best of
business librarianship,” said Mark E. Andersen, the award committee chair. “She uses her knowledge and
experience to promote the understanding and use of business information through her publications and by her
classes and seminars.”
The award was presented at the RUSA Awards Ceremony on June 25, 2007, during the ALA Annual Conference
in Washington, DC. Several SLA B&F members were in attendance to see Sylvia receive the award, including
Janice LaChance, Nancy Sansalone, Toby Pearlstein, Brett Mai, Steve Kochoff, and Terri Brooks.
Winner of Emerald MLS Student Best Paper Award Announced
MARI BETH SLADE OF CANADA WINS FIRST ANNUAL AWARD
United Kingdom, May 22, 2007—Emerald Group Publishing is thrilled to announce the winner of the first annual
Emerald MLS Student Best Paper Award. Mari Beth Slade from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, is
the 2007 winner for her paper titled “Compete or Collaborate? Resource Sharing in Corporate Libraries.”
Ms. Slade will receive a check for $1,200 toward a student membership in the American Library Association (ALA)
conference registration to the ALA Annual Conference in Washington DC, and travel-related expenses. She will be
presented with the award during the Emerald 40th Anniversary celebration reception on the evening of Saturday,
June 23 at the ALA Annual Conference. Her paper will undergo the normal peer-review process with the prospect
of publication in the Emerald journal Collection Building.
“As I begin my career, I am grateful to Emerald for appreciating the complexity of librarianship, supporting student
research, and providing me with the opportunity to attend this year’s ALA conference,” said Ms. Slade.
“Librarianship is not a straight-forward profession; there are many issues to balance and stakeholders to consider,
particularly for corporate information professionals. I hope my essay reflects this.”
The Emerald MLS Student Best Paper Award is sponsored by Emerald Group Publishing as part of its Welcome to
Emerald Program for ALA-accredited graduate schools in North America. The program provides free usage of all
Emerald databases for collection development courses, encouraging the use of peer-reviewed literature in the
selection and evaluation process.
“The Collections Management class at Dalhousie University takes a very broad perspective, exploring a wide range
of issues and debates relevant to the future collections manager. The Emerald MLS Student Best Paper Award
provides a wonderful opportunity for students to explore these issues and to synthesize key perspectives in a concise
research paper as Mari Beth Slade does,” said Vivian Howard, Lecturer at Dalhousie University School of
Information Management. “I’m absolutely delighted that Emerald has initiated this award and I encourage future
students to take advantage of the opportunity to submit their work. The chance to win a trip to ALA, not to
mention the prestige of the award itself, is a powerful incentive!” =
Spring 2007 27

B&F Bulletin
“We are pleased to congratulate Mari Beth Slade, and to inspire excellence in student publishing,” said Gill
Etienne, Head of Corporate Communications at Emerald. “We make this investment in library science students as a
way to give back to the profession, and look forward to hearing from the librarians of the future in years to come.”
In addition, Emerald recognizes two other submissions with Honorable Mentions. Jason Woloski, also from
Dalhousie University, for his paper entitled “Quality vs. Popularity,” and Angela Milock from the University of
Wisconsin in Madison for her paper “Analysis of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Campus Center
(LGBTCC) Library Collection.”
Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, Mari Beth Slade holds a BA (Hons.) in English from Dalhousie
University and graduates this May with a MLIS and MBA, also from Dalhousie. With interests in corporate
librarianship and environmental issues, Mari Beth hopes to pursue a career in sustainability reporting for the
financial sector. Last summer, Mari Beth worked at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as part of a research
team, supplying competitive information to employees worldwide. She is currently employed at the Royal Bank of
Canada in Toronto as part of their Environmental Risk Management Group.
SLA Business & Finance Division
Treasurer’s Report as Presented at the
2007 Annual Business Meeting, June 4, 2007
The balances in our accounts, as of May 31, 2007, are as follows:
Operating Account, Wachovia Bank = $ 93,143.15
SLA Pooled Fund Account = $ 51,261.81
Wachovia Money Market Account = $ 20,557.90
TOTAL = $164,962.86
This compares with a balance of $132,898.06 last year, an increase of $32,064.80.
In 2005, your Executive Board implemented a few new practices, mostly as they relate to our generous conference
sponsors. The Vendor Relations Committee corresponds with our sponsors earlier in the year than before.
Commitments were received earlier, and invoices were sent out soon thereafter. The result has been that most of
these sponsors have already responded with their contributions, as opposed to our receiving most of the dollars after
the conference in years previous to 2006.
We estimate that we’ll have about $50,000 more in income for the year, in combination with the additional vendor
payments, our eight CE Courses, and the ticketed events. Our conference expenses will be about $85,000, which is
typical of most years. Our budget and annual financial statement are published each year in the spring issue of the
B&F Bulletin for any of you who want more detail.
As I mentioned when I gave you the current balances, we have two accounts for our savings, both basically money
market funds. The Wachovia account historically has yielded a higher rate of interest than the SLA pooled fund.
However, I’m pleased to report that the SLA pooled fund is generating a higher yield than in recent years, slightly
higher than 4%. We’ll continue to monitor both accounts.
Please join me in thanking the members of the Executive Board and Advisory Board who have worked diligently
this year to continue the tradition of keeping our Division fiscally sound.
At the meeting, I had reported balances that reflected that I had transferred $40,000 from the Wachovia operating
account to the Wachovia money market account. Upon receiving the May statements, however, I learned that the
electronic transfer had not gone through. Therefore, in June, I transferred the $40,000 to the SLA pooled fund
account.
Terri Brooks
brooks@ici.org 202/326-5904
Spring 2007 28

B&F Bulletin
Chair
Hal Kirkwood, Associate Prof.
Associate Head, Mgmt & Econ Library
504 West State Street - KRAN
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
765-494-2921
kirkwood@purdue.edu
Past Chair
Toby Pearlstein
Director, Global Information Services
Bain & Company
617-572-2943
toby.pearlstein@bain.com
Treasurer
Terri Brooks
Director, Library Services
Investment Company Institute
202-326-5904
brooks@ici.org
Director/Public Relations Chair
Alexey Panchenko
Vashe Research
alexey.panchenko@gmail.com
Awards Committee
• Hal Kirkwood
• Leslie Reynolds
Centers of Excellence Awards Chair
West Campus Library
979-458-0138
lereynol@lib-gw.tamu.edu
• Awilda Reyes
Chair, Grants and Stipends
Government Documents and Maps Librarian
West Chester University
610-436-3206
areyes@wcupa.edu
• Robert Clarke, International Relations Chair
Howard Ross Library of Mgmt
McGill University
514-398-4690 x04552
robert.clarke@mcgill.ca
• Sylvia James, European Student Award
Sylvia James Consultancy
+44 1444 452871
da_james@11daymer.freeserve.co.uk
Business & Finance Division
2006–2007 Executive and Advisory Board
Chair Elect
Cris Kinghorn
Business Information Services
Deutsche Bank AG London
London, United Kingdom
44 207 547 2747
cris.kinghorn@db.com
Secretary
Gayle (Kiss) Gossen
416-214-4797
gayle.gossen@gmail.com
Director/Professional Development Chair
Miguel A. Figueroa
miguel.a.figueroa@gmail.com
Membership Chair
Amy L. Affelt
Lexecon
312-322-0622
aaffelt@lexecon.com
Advisory Board
Bulletin Editor
Victoria Platt
Willamette Management Associates
773-399-4314
vaplatt@willamette.com
Bulletin Assistant Manager
Rachel Watstein
646-265-9350
rwatstein@aol.com
Bulletin Advertising Manager
Mari Beth Slade
mbslade@dal.ca
Spring 2007 29

B&F Bulletin
Division Archivist
Roberta Brody
Grad School Library Info Studies
City Univ. of NY Queens College
718-997-3790
roberta_brody@qc.edu
Mentoring
Laura Leavitt
Labor Relations & Human Resources Librarian
Michigan State University Libraries
517-355-4647
llleavitt@gmail.com
Professional Development Chair
Miguel A. Figueroa
Publications Chair
Monica Kirkwood
765-494-7873
bfpubs@gmail.com
Strategic Planning Chair & Committee
• Toby Pearlstein
Past Chair
• Alexey Panchenko
Director/Public Relations Chair
• Miguel A. Figueroa
Director/Professional Development Chair
Web Content Chair and Committee
• Karin Rausert
LEK Consulting
312-913-6431
k.rausert@lek.com
• Judith Akalaitis
Research Librarian Specialist, AIS
206-528-5858
AIS@Akalaitis.net
College & University Business Libraries
Karen MacDonald
Business & West Campus Library
Texas A&M University
979-862-8933
KmacDona@lib-gw.tamu.edu
Financial Institutions
Christine E. Peterson
Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. (MGIC)
414-347-6904
christine_peterson@mgic.com
Private Equity
Cliff Perry, Director of Information Services
Warburg Pincus LLC
212-878-9314
cperry@warburgpincus.com
List Owner
Chris Poehlmann
Mendoza College of Business
University of Notre Dame
574-631-9099
cpoehlma@nd.edu@nd.edu
Nominations Chair & Committee
• Sylvia James
• Rachel Kolsky
Manager, Desk Research, Corporate R&D
AIG Europe
00 44 207 954 8848
rachel.kolsky@aig.com
Vendor Relations Committee
Ann Cullen, Vendor Relations Administrator
Business Information Librarian
Harvard Business School
617-495-5918
acullen@hbs.edu
Webmaster
Brent Nunn
Coordinator
DePaul University Libraries
312-362-8639
bnunn@depaul.edu
Unit Chairs/Coordinators
Corporate Information Centers
- Currently vacant -
Investment Institutions
David Brackus
brackus@texas.net
Spring 2007 30