[Publib] A Library WOT and SWOT - Mike Eisenberg

[osler.gareth at gmail.com]

 I listened to an audio mp3 download of the following:

"A Library WOT and SWOT" University of Washington Information School, Dean
Emeritus and Professor: Mike Eisenberg
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s46/conf/SeattleProgram.htm (scroll down page to
final day's 'Keynote address')

WOT by the way stands for What's Out There.

I would like to in this post (1) take issue with, and (2) builld on, what
Mike Eisenberg says.

I would like to take issue with the mission that ME gives for library staff,
which is along the lines of the following quote (John Hubbard):

"The job titles may change but the mission of the profession remains the
same: organize information and help people find it."
http://www.tk421.net/essays/nwyt.html

This approach is epitomised in McColvin's "report to end all reports"[1].

[1] Ref. http://webjunction.org/forums/message.jspa?messageID=43938#43938

My argument goes as follows: consider the following quote (Thomas Carlyle):

"If we consider ... every human being has, by the nature of the case, a
right to hear what other wise human beings have spoken to him. It is one of
the rights of men; a very cruel injustice if you deny it to a man!"
http://informatics.buffalo.edu/org/lsj/articles/popowich_2007_2_carlyle.php

This broadens the remit of the library to anything which one person has
intended for others to hear. Which easily inlcudes audio and film. And so
on. I would argue that Mike Eisenberg's remit of just 'information' is
narrow.

Secondly, I would like to build on the way in which Mike Eisenberg has
rephrased in laymans terms formal corporate planning, i.e., WOT (What's Out
There) and SWOT. WOT is beautifully simple, and from a WOT we get a purpose
(as humans our purpose is a long and enjoyable life!), and goals. A purpose,
the reason for as opposed to the function itself, is broadly synonymous with
'role'. Goals we can think of as the abilities we have. There then follows
the SWOT, which doesn't mean what are we going to swat, but means a
situation analysis (appraisal in formal terms), what is the situation? From
the situation follows options, which we can think of as 'a menu' from which
we can choose. The decision results in a plan, or strategy ("steps"). Your
strategy can be deduced from your actions. And finally just to point out
this is a formal top-down planning approach, in reality strategy is not
formulated in its entirety top-down, power play can play a part, and
strategy can just as easily be arrived at ground-up and incrementally as top
down, and so on.

Bibliography:

'Public Library Purpose - a reader', edited by Barry Toterdell (Clive
Bingley, 1978).
'Tactics: The Art and Science of Success', Edward De Bono
'Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases', Kevan Scholes, Gerry Johnson



Gareth Osler
Liverpool, UK
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