By Suzanne Arist, Member of Informant Committee and Reference Librarian
The most interesting aspects of Ramona Howerton’s job are that she is constantly learning something new and finds her customers’ information requests to be interesting. Howerton, President of the SLA Illinois Chapter, is the Library Services Manager for Duff & Phelps, a financial services/consulting firm.
'BRANDED BAGELS' ANYONE?
At Duff & Phelps, often the information she must provide predates the World Wide Web, and it is difficult and occasionally impossible to locate some print information. Requests range from projections for core inflation to market share data for branded bagels.
This is the sort of information she delivers in a firm which provides valuation and consulting as well as investment banking services. The firm’s main library is in Chicago. It contains around 5,000 print titles and subscribes to over 75 electronic databases. Ramona’s library serves the entire company which is worldwide.
Ramona’s undergraduate degree is in special education. After doing various jobs, including teaching learning-disabled students, she went to library school at the University of North Texas. Before enrolling there, she knew she wanted to work in a corporate environment.
After learning about Special Libraries, she decided to pursue her MLS. While in library school, she did an internship in a Special Library. She received her MLS in 1996. Upon graduation, she worked at Kerr-McGee Library in Oklahoma City. Since moving to Chicago, Ramona has worked primarily for Duff & Phelps.
USING EXISTING AND FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES
Duff & Phelps has changed drastically in size since she has been there. The company grew from 150 employees to almost 900 employees. It has been a challenge for library staff to merge resources and to get the additional employees accustomed to having a library and the centralized ordering of material.
Ramona finds she is doing less research (which she loves) and more managerial work. Yet she anticipates that her library will be using both existing and future technologies to provide information for end users in new and unique ways.
Ramona joined the SLA as a student member while in library school. When she moved to Chicago to find work, she attended SLA meetings to meet others in the profession. Initially she volunteered to process payments from vendors sponsoring Chapter meetings. Then she served on the Meeting Planning Committee and became active in SLA Cares. Last year she stepped in as President upon Priscilla Stultz’s move to the west coast.
PREPARED ON MANY SUBJECTS
Ramona finds she is almost always at work, but when she is not at work she spends time with her pets, reads, attends plays and movies, visits museums and enjoys festivals in and around Chicago.
She has advice for any librarian who wants to work at a financial organization. The prospective librarian should keep up on industry events, learn the databases used in financial firms, and be prepared to answer questions on many different subjects.
Contact Romona Howerton at ramona.howerton@duffandphelps.com [1]