Seriously? A Series of Tips on Setting Up a Research Library (Part 12)

“Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?” -- Thomas J. Watson (American Entrepreneur and Founder of IBM , 1874-1956)

ADDENDUM: HIRE A PROFESSIONAL
This series of tips on setting up a research library concludes with a caveat: We have just scratched the surface.  If you are serious about providing high quality support for the research efforts of your people, you should do two things …

1) Reread the twelve posts in this series
2) Hire a consultant

To recap the series …
Hundreds of databases are available on the Web. But no matter how big your budget, you won’t be able to afford to subscribe to all of them.

• The first step is to get an idea of what is available.
•Step two is to prioritize them in terms of the research goals of your organization.
•The third step is to contact customer representatives from each of the top ten on your list.
•Step four is to negotiate contracts with database vendors.
•The fifth step is to make your researchers aware of the subscribed resources, and to encourage them to use the databases.
•The final step is to monitor usage statistics to determine: (a) whether to continue to subscribe to a given database and; (b) if you choose to continue the subscription, what can be done to increase use of the resource.

A convenient way to reread the series is to go to …
http://desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPSTARTALIBRARY

As for hiring a consultant, I recommend three Web sites …

Jean Steinhardt Consulting (www.JeanSteinhardtConsulting.com).
Jean Steinhardt Consulting brings a broad range of experience to bear on helping you design an effective library.

Special Libraries Association (SLA) (www.sla.org) 
SLA has a “Post a Job” page …
“Find qualified information professionals in your industry by posting a job to SLA’s Career Center. As an employer, you receive more than just a job listing. You also gain access to SLA’s member-resume database, containing thousands of qualified resumes for you to browse through. Your job posting is also pushed to a broader audience through SLA’s e-newsletter, and promoted via SLA’s Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn communities.”
source: http://www.sla.org/career-center/post-a-job/

Association Of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) (http://aiip.org)
AIIP, Web offers the following information …
“Hiring a member of the Association of Independent information Professionals (AIIP) saves you time and money by letting you focus on making decisions, products, and sales.
Spend your time using information, not looking for it.
Browse the AIIP Member Directory and bring an AIIP member onto your team today!
Knowledge and Access
AIIP members offer top-quality assistance in locating, analyzing, and applying information.
• Members use premium, subscription-based online research tools.
• Members are expert consultants with professional degrees in information science and other specialty fields.
• Members provide value-added brainpower for short- and long-term projects.”
source: http://aiip.org/content/hire-info-pro

Visit www.JeanSteinhardtConsulting.com for more tips and tricks