By Janice Keeler, Manager of Information Resources, NERA Economic Consulting, and winner of the Illinois Chapter travel award to the 2008 SLA Annual Conference

The 2008 SLA Annual Conference, held in Seattle June 15-18, ranks among the top SLA conferences in my experience. With dozens of Continuing Education workshops and programs, over 5,000 attendees, and over 280 exhibitors, there was plenty to keep everybody busy learning, networking, and finding out about products and vendors.

By Eileen Davenport, Research Analyst in the Business Research Group at BMO Capital Markets

Earlier this spring, the Wall Street Journal ran a special report on knowledge management and its effectiveness in business, "Putting Ideas to Work: Knowledge management can make a difference, but it needs to be more pragmatic" by Thomas H. Davenport, Laurence Prusak, and Bruce Strong (March 10, 2008). It identified some successes, but also many missteps that have followed the concept of knowledge management. 

By Suzanne Arist, Informant Committee and Reference Librarian

Second Life (SL) is changing the way organizations such as the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), conduct business. NAR manager of Library and Information Services, Mary Martinez, was first introduced to SL in a class through the Graduate Library School of the University of Illinois in 2007. Since then, she has been incorporating it into her work.

By Margaret Quinlan, Knowledge Manager at Grenzebach Glier and Associates

The Chapter's Book Club recently discussed Ambient Findability by Peter Morville. We began by commenting on how the book is organized (or not organized, as we decided). Interestingly enough, one of us had also had the author as a guest professor, and the class was much like the book: a string of very interesting topics in no discernable order. An information architect by trade, Morville has not designed a how-to manual, but rather a treatise on theory and technology – where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are headed.

By Suzanne Arist, Informant Committee and Reference Librarian

We all eagerly read Judy Alspach’s concise, informative weekly emails. She keeps us abreast of SLA Illinois Chapter events through the SLA-ILINFO mailing list. Recently she was the well-deserved recipient of the chapter’s Library Communications and Marketing Award for her committee work in Public Relations, principally the mailing list.

By Jennifer Borrell, Associate Information Scientist & Emmi Costello, Project Manager, Library Information Resources, Abbott

Knowledge Management (KM) initiatives can take many forms. One KM effort that is currently taking form at Abbott is "enterprise glossary management."

Christina Stoll, Library Services Consultant at the Metropolitan Library System, reports on the recent SLA Leadership Summit in the March 19, 2008 MLS E-nnounce.

By Bonnie Sebby, SLA Illinois Chapter Secretary and Knowledge Manager at Exelon Corporation
With a nod to St. Paddy’s Day, nine librarians met to trade tales and business cards at Emmet’s Ale House in Downer’s Grove for a DineAround. The DineAround is a regular event of the Chapter, where members and friends converge on a restaurant to talk shop and exhaust any other topic they may fancy. On this night, March 4, other Chapter DineArounds took place in Chicago, Homewood, and Skokie.

Lorene Kennard has opened her own research and consulting company, Walnut Avenue Research in Downers Grove after many years as solo librarian at Morningstar Inc. The upstart company, launched Jan. 21, offers research and services from competitive intelligence to long range planning.

By Jan Sykes, Principal, Information Management Services Inc.

Listen up SLA Illinois members. This is for you.

APQC is holding their 13th annual KM (knowledge management) conference and training event in Chicago, April 28 through May 2, 2008. This year it is titled The New Edge in KM and this year APQC has agreed to extend its member rate to KM-Chicago and SLA-Illinois Chapter members. When you register, use this code:  KMCHIGP.