Slany Chapternews Newsletter Fall 2001

ChapterNews Volume 74, #1 Fall 2001

President’s Report

IN THIS ISSUE President’s Report September 11 and Looking Ahead...........................1 Message from the Editor ...............2 Chapter News Submissions ..........3 Web Information ............................3 Knowledge Services Message to Us – Get Started ....................4 SLA-CNY: The Discussion List of SLA-NY ..................................7 Evening with an Information Provider ..................7 The “Yellow-Brick” Road to KM ....8 A Flock of Solos.............................9 SLA-NY 11th Annual Career Day ..10 Chapter Services .........................10 Need Some Help? Want to Lend a Helping Hand at the Same Time? .........11 A Student Column – A Fresh Idea.............................11

September 11 and Looking Ahead by Marty Cullen, President n the morning of Tuesday, September 11th, I was in my office at Lehman Brothers in the World Financial Center completing my article for ChapterNews. The article had a cute little title – “Spring Ahead, Fall Ahead” – which focused on how the Fall is a reinvigorating time of year, when we come back from summer vacations recharged, ready to take on the world.

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At 8:45 that morning I was leaving a phone message for fellow SLA member Chuck Finnerty, when I heard a plane and a loud noise. I ran to the other side of my floor to see what I didn’t want to believe I had heard. A plane had just hit 1 World Trade Center. Since that day much has changed in all of our lives. It seems every couple of days I find out about someone else I knew who was killed in the World Trade Center suicide bombing. Our hearts go out to all those who were killed and to all the surviving families. At this time it has been reported that three SLA members were among the deceased – Helen Belilovosky of Fred Alger Management, Maureen Olson and Margaret Orloske of Marsh USA.

ADVERTISERS Advanced Information .................12 (800) 611-6801 EBSCO...........................................3 (800) 753-2726 InfoCurrent...................................10 www.infocurrent.com James Lafferty Associates.............9 (212) 665-4250 Kiplinger.........................................7 (202) 887-6558 NKR Associates ...........................11 (201) 947-8039 Pro Libra ........................................7 (800) 262-0070 Special Notice................................5 (202) 637-8480 TFPL Inc.........................................6 www.tfpl.com Wontawk........................................4 www.wontawk.com

ChapterNews

On this tragic day, Lehman Brothers’ Business Information Services management team got every one of our New York based people safely out of 3 World Financial Center. After that we worked extremely hard and put everyone back to work in 7 days. I am working out of Jersey City while other colleagues are working out of the Sheraton. We will be in a permanent office space in November. I always knew we had incredible people at Lehman Brothers and this event has reinforced that beyond anything I could have imagined. Everyone has really stepped up to the plate to get the organization up and running. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a person who views life with the proverbial cup being half full rather than half empty. This applies even more so now. In fact the cup is filled to the brim. People have come out of the woodwork to lend a helping hand. Vendors and fellow SLA members and their organizations have given us space and resources and have asked what else can they do. This has been so incredibly heart warming. I feel incredibly fortunate. My wife, Merilyn, has been her usual super supportive self and I couldn’t ask for better coworkers. I would like to convey one last message to those who still ask, “How can we help?” Actually, this is something that we can all do. Go out and live life to the fullest. By doing so we help ourselves and honor the deceased. They wouldn’t want it any other way. 1

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Message From the Editor

ChapterNews New York Chapter Special Libraries Association Fall Vol. 74, No. 1

Francesca Burgess, New York Public Library ntil September 11th, I worked at the New Amsterdam branch of The New York Public Library. The New Amsterdam branch is located at 9 Murray Street, between Broadway and Church Street, about four blocks away from where the World Trade Center was located. Many of our patrons worked at the World Trade Center, and visited our branch frequently.

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PUBLICATION SCHEDULE ChapterNews, the bulletin of the New York Chapter of the Special Libraries Association, is published four times a year. Deadlines for submitting materials:

I emerged from the Brooklyn Bridge subway station at 8:55 am, shortly after the first plane crashed into 1 World Trade Center. I suspected that something terrible had happened, because I saw news trucks and ambulances rushing by, and an unusual number of people were standing about. I heard a woman exclaiming, “I can’t believe what just happened!” over and over, so I asked her what happened. She exclaimed, “A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!!!” Immediately, I suspected that some sort of terrorist attack had occurred, because the Financial District is a no-fly zone, and I thought it was extremely unlikely that a plane would crash into one of the World Trade Center towers by accident.

Fall issue ....................August 15 Winter issue...............November 15 Spring issue................February 15 Summer issue.............May 15

Submit all material to:

Francesca Burgess ChapterNews Editor e-mail: [email protected]

Submissions: Articles on topics of general interest to information professionals and the New York Chapter are welcome. Authors can send submissions via e-mail as text file or MS Word for Windows attachments, or with article in the body of the e-mail. Please use single-line spacing, Courier font, with minimal use of boldface and italics. Include a byline with your full name and place of work.

I walked through City Hall Park toward the New Amsterdam branch. Murray Street appeared surprisingly normal, considering that a plane had just crashed four blocks away. I arrived at the branch just before 9 am. I was the first staff member to arrive. As I was about to enter the building, one of my co-workers ran up behind me. She was extremely distraught, and was shaking and crying. As we stood by the circulation desk, I tried to comfort her and find out what she had seen. As she was telling me how she had been across the street from the World Trade Center when the plane crashed, I heard a loud explosion – BOOM!!! I didn’t so much hear it as feel the shockwave rocking the floor beneath me, shaking everything in the library, and dimming the lights for a few seconds. In fear for our lives, my coworker and I decided to evacuate the building.

ADVERTISING inquiries should be addressed to:

Laura Kapnick, CBS NEWS 524 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019-2985 Telephone: (212) 975-2917 or E-mail: [email protected] Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by contributors to the Association’s publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official position of Special Libraries Association. Acceptance of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by Special Libraries Association.

In contrast to the unusual quiet on the street just a few minutes before, there was now complete pandemonium. I was swept up into the crowds of people running frantically up Murray Street toward Broadway. It was a stampede of terror – if you were not running, you would be knocked down and trampled. When I got to Broadway, I turned left and ran uptown, and did not stop running until I got to Canal Street.

CHAPTERNEWS STAFF

(Continued on page 3)

Director of PublicationsThomas Pellizzi Editor Francesca Burgess Advertising Manager Laura Kapnick Webmaster Konrad Will ChapterNews

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(Continued from page 2)

At that point, I stopped to listen to a news report coming from the radio of a parked truck, and realized that the shock wave I felt at the New Amsterdam branch had been the impact of the second plane crashing into 2 World Trade Center. Since the tragedy, I have been transferred to another branch of The New York Public Library. I have not been back to my old branch. The New Amsterdam branch is within the Ground Zero area that is inaccessible to the public. When I look at the photographs of the missing, I see many familiar names and faces – the faces of our patrons. I am deeply grieved that I will never see many of them again.

A Message to Our Advertisers he terrorist attack on lower Manhattan has affected even ChapterNews. Most of the original advertising artwork was lost due to the extensive damage at our offset printer’s facility. We did the best we could to get this issue out without too much delay.

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Also, in our move to electronic format, we’ve found the requirements for artwork will need to be revised. We’ll be contacting each advertiser to discuss these changes. New ads will be requested for the upcoming winter issue.

ChapterNews Submissions

In the future, enhanced features of electronic publication will offer our advertisers new and exciting features, such as the option of linking to your Web site.

Francesca Burgess, New York Public Library Hi! I would like to introduce myself – I’m Francesca Burgess, the new editor of ChapterNews. This Fall issue launches the first ChapterNews in a new Web-based format.

Thank you for your support of SLA’s New York Chapter, especially during this time of tragedy and transition.

I would like to invite you to submit articles for the Winter issue of ChapterNews. Articles of interest to the New York Chapter and the special library community in general would be greatly appreciated. ▲ The submission deadline for the Winter issue is

11/15/01, and articles should be e-mailed to [email protected]. ▲ Please e-mail articles as text files or MS Word attachments, or with the article in the body of the message.

The SLA New York Chapter maintains a web site with links to our calendar of upcoming events and full contact information for Chapter

▲ Use single-line spacing, courier font, and make

minimal use of boldface/italics. Be sure to include a byline with your full name and place of work. Thanks!

Executive Board members, committee officers, and group chairs. The New York Chapter URL is:

www.sla.org/chapter/cny/ Check it out — it’s a great way to keep up-todate with your Chapter! ChapterNews

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Knowledge Services Message to Us – Get Started!

It’s an approach I call Knowledge Services, and in my opinion, it’s a winning (and, I would suggest, almost foolproof) combination to embark upon in our organizations. We begin by identifying and documenting the Knowledge Development/Knowledge Sharing (KD/KS) successes in the organization. The connection is already there, according to Caroline Nolan. Quoted in The Library Association Record, Nolan notes that many people don’t like the term Knowledge Management because it’s not possible to “manage” knowledge. “Perhaps a more appropriate term,” Nolan suggests, “is ‘Knowledge Sharing’….”

Guy St. Clair espite all the hype (or perhaps because of it!), Knowledge Management has now become a corporate buzzword. Recognizing the logical, almost “by-definition” connection between KM and the work we do, we information professionals want to be part of it.

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If that’s the case, if Knowledge Management is really Knowledge Sharing (and I think it is in most places where special librarians are employed), then we’ve already hit the ground running, and we’re already part of the organizational KM effort. Perhaps we just need to let the organization’s leaders know. As an example, think about the proposal teams in a consulting firm, or an advertising agency, or in any other work environment in which a great deal of effort goes into putting together proposals for potential contracts.

There is a way for us to be involved. First of all, we have to understand what KM is, and how it fits into the scheme of things – the organizational mission – in the organizations in which we are employed. Then we have to link KM to the information management role that we information professionals have traditionally practiced. Finally we must connect those actions with whatever strategic, performance-centered learning function is in place. The outcome of this three-part effort provides major benefits for our organizations and, not to put too fine a point on it, strokes our professional egos as well.

(Continued on page 5)

WONTAWK

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It’s not a complicated process, this Knowledge Services effort (although it can be, if we want to let it, and the organization is willing to provide resources to pay for the costs that come with complicated systems). As Nolan continued in that same interview, KM is about identifying “who knows what”, and nurturing the culture and technology that will allow this knowledge to be shared and utilized. Information professionals, with their experience of managing information, are particularly well placed to play a key role in KM initiatives, for developing simple KM initiatives on a local level within their own organizations. KM is an ongoing process and is best achieved through small initiatives.”

All the players on all the various proposal teams must gather and organize immense amounts of information: about the potential client, possible competitors, past performance, prospective management plans, and so forth. When the proposal cycle is ended (regardless of whether the contract was awarded to the firm or not), an enormous collection of information – a “knowledge store” – now exists. And it is a particularly valuable body of knowledge, for not only does it contain the facts related to the proposal effort, it records the process, and it has the names, expertise, and contact information for each of the players on the different teams. It is, in effect, the corporate memory of that proposal. As such, it is much too valuable to be lost.

Information professionals, by recognizing opportunities for knowledge services within the company – even small opportunities – can have an impact in the organizational knowledge “sphere.” All it takes is a willingness to seize those opportunities and to offer to do for the organization as a whole what they would do for any information customer walking into the information center.

This body of knowledge – having now been developed – is a golden opportunity for the company’s information professionals, for it can be used to jump-start a KM initiative. By now selectively organizing and analyzing the information, and preparing it so that it can be disseminated and shared, the information professionals can, in effect, provide the organization with a knowledge product that will be referred to again and again. And it is a product that fits the organizational mission, for by making the proposal process – required in such a business – an easier and much less time-consuming one, the knowledge base adds yet another strength to the organization’s overall management framework.

Guy St. Clair is Senior Systems Analyst, Knowledge Management and Learning, Dynamics Research Corporation, New York, NY. A past president of the Special Libraries Association and of the New York Chapter, St. Clair actively solicits readers’ responses to this article. He can be reached at [email protected].

For most information professionals, Knowledge Development and Knowledge Sharing are almost routine, because they’re so much a part of what we do. To move to the next level, though, to that Knowledge Services I’m always preaching about, requires one more step: attaching the results of that KD/KS effort to a strategic, performance-centered learning experience. Unless the members of the firm are aware that the knowledge store is up and running, and available for them to access, it won’t be used. So the information professionals must now embrace the third “piece” of the effort, the strategic learning. In some cases, such learning can be fairly formal and include such learning activities as presentations, hands-on training sessions, or perhaps even attendance at seminars for learning how to use particular tools or formats that make for easier access to the knowledge store. In this case, though, we’re dealing more with awareness-raising than with formal learning, per se. Simply by taking particular pains to see that information about the knowledge store is broadcast so that all appropriate users will know about it, the information professionals ensure that it can be accessed. In all cases, however, this three-part approach will ultimately ensure that the knowledge that has been developed can be shared and used. That, in the long run, is what Knowledge Services is all about. ChapterNews

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SLA-CNY: The Discussion List of SLA-NY Common List Management Commands To do the action at left, send the message at right to [email protected]: ▲ Join SLA-CNY:

☛ subscribe email_address firstname lastname

▲ Leave SLA-CNY:

☛ unsubscribe SLACNYmail_address

▲ Suspend SLA-CNY mail:

☛ set SLA-CNY mail postpone

▲ Resume mail from SLA-CNY:

☛ set SLA-CNY mail

▲ Change to digest format:

☛ set SLA-CNY mail digest

▲ Obtain listproc help file:

☛ help

▲ To Post a Message,

☛ send the message to [email protected].

NOTE: Some systems allow you to set an automatic response to any message you receive. DO NOT use this feature when you go on vacation (or in fact at any other time), since your response will be duplicated over and over to the entire list anytime you receive a message from the list.

Evening with An Information Provider he SLA New York Chapter is launching a new program for MLS students and faculty called “Evening with An Information Provider”. Information Providers have a unique perspective of different types of special libraries, particularly regarding the ways that their products are being used. We hope that this program will expose students to many online products that they will eventually use throughout their careers. Hands-on training and product orientation will be offered.

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Please visit the NY Chapter calendar of events for updates and new programs: http://www.sla.org/chapter/cny

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The “Yellow-Brick” Road to KM

KCI asks its participants to “sign a contract” with their chosen mentor… my mentor was my boss, and partner, who pioneered the Exchange’s intranet initiative, and was now set to explore this discipline in order to capture whatever I “brought back alive” for his “tech silo”. However, one doesn’t compile KM, one shares it. True, the Intranet is the vehicle that conveys the knowledge map, but the CPU of KM is the caliber of the brainpower in your individual enterprise; the minds that “mine the data”.

Bethann Ashfield, New York Stock Exchange Question: What do shamrocks, symphony orchestras, gazelles, federations, astronauts, atoms and molecules, schools of sharks, virtual networks, whitewater rafting, jazz bands, diamonds and ant colonies have in common? Answer: Not much. But all of them have been invoked to describe the “properties of a new organizational model that is replacing top-down bureaucratic machines.”

The World Bank was the first organization to implement KM, so Seth Weaver Kahan, Senior Information Officer of The World Bank, was the first to address the group by beginning “the story” at our welcome reception on the evening of our arrival in Arlington. “Storytelling” is a critical part of KM, and, that evening, Seth set the stage for what was to follow during our passage into KM over the next two days of the KCI symposium.

– Roseabeth Moss Kanter, On the Frontiers of Management Well, what this Harvard Business School Professor has written sums up in a nutshell, what my “Starship Enterprise” is all about. We’re “ensemble players” all working under the “baton of a world renowned brand”. We’re a community and a beehive at work or as some call it, “play”.

That first evening, Seth passed around a “talking stick” (I immediately recognized the “Shaman” in him and recalled Joseph Campbell’s lectures on these mystic healers) so that each of us could relate our stories of our “journey to Arlington”, and in so doing reveal much about ourselves regarding where we had all come from and why we were there.

So, you may be asking. What is the theme of this column? It’s about what radically changed my attitude, as well as my ability to explore what’s “inside”… like exploring the ocean rather than blasting off into outer space… the “Tao”… It’s a necessary, vital part of being there, of truly being alive!!! What is it? It’s sharing.

The panel pulled together for this KM symposium centered around the textbook, Common Knowledge: How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know by Dr. Nancy Dixon, which outlines five distinct “serial knowledge transfers” embraced by five separate enterprises. Nancy Dixon, along with Ann Noles, Knowledge Champion of Capital One; Cheryl Lamb, Manager of the Knowledge Resource Center at Buckman Laboratories International, and Seth W. Kahan, Senior Information Officer, and Coordinator of the Information Solutions Network at The World Bank constituted the KM panel. Jeff De Cagna, SLA’s “Learning Guy”, led the discussion groups for the entire symposium. As our mornings, afternoons and evenings blended into one another, I got the sense we had become one family unit by the time our adventure drew to a close.

We’ve done it on the NYSE trading floor. The specialists’ books are open. The floor’s completely “transparent”. “Open-sesame” — nothing to hide. “Share and share alike”— a mantra I learned at the Knowledge Champion Institute (KCI). KCI is not a “brick and mortar” building; it’s a state of mind. It’s not a “free-floating” thing, but a very well orchestrated, flexible ensemble of individuals pulled together to fulfill a purpose. SLA’s Managing Director of Strategic Learning and Development, Jeff De Cagna (a.k.a., the “Learning Guy”) is gung ho about teaching Knowledge Management (KM). So, he set up a three-day symposium on the subject in April 2001 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.

(Continued on page 9)

“Knowledge Management” (KM) is a critical aspect of doing business in today’s economy. KM is “…the harnessing and organization of information assets that reside in the databases of a company or in its employees’ collective brainpower” and it’s become a critical part of doing business in today’s economy. My “StarShip” had to have it, which provided the impetus for me to attend the symposium.

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(Continued from page 8)

A Flock of Solos

What had happened? Each of the days spent together drew out from each of the participants a clearer understanding of what our individual enterprises sought, where each of them stood in relation to the other, and how the knowledge of each of the serial transfers Nancy Dixon conveyed in Common Knowledge could be used and repackaged to suit the unique enterprises that each of us represented. We took in what each of the panelists shared so freely with us, digested it through a series of improvisational exercises, and when we gathered together the morning of our departure date, we were able to articulate to one another what we would convey to our enterprises upon our return from this symposium.

Tom Nielsen, Hazen and Sawyer, PC, and Lianna Kelly, The College Board very new member of SLA’s Solo Librarians Division receives a small silver lapel pin shaped like a pair of wings. These wings acknowledge the solo librarian’s professional efforts and serve as a reminder of what it means to “fly solo”. Defining solos as multi-taskers would be an understatement. You name it, they do it: reference, collection development, cataloging, marketing, records management, teaching, web design and maintenance. Such a flurry of activity conjures up the image of a hummingbird flitting from flower to flower; the steady beat of invisible wings holding it aloft.

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It’s amazing how much I thought I knew about my own enterprise, yet once I had shared that knowledge with the others at the symposium, and brought it into focus through the cerebral exercises at the symposium, I realized that my former knowledge had evolved.

Okay, maybe it doesn’t conjure up such an image. Nonetheless, all that activity, and no other professionals around to bounce ideas off, can make for a lonely work environment. In an effort to alleviate that isolation, a group of local solos gathered recently to discuss the flurry of activity that makes solo librarianship unique.

…Get ready for the next step, Select the best step. It’s a leap in evolution From the Internet revolution. Just pick a direction In this world of connection. So many problems to solve — You’ve got to evolve.

On Wednesday, August 15, 2001, thirteen librarians, either solos or those working in small special libraries, met at METRO to explore the finer points of “flying solo” and whether to form a special interest group to increase our networking opportunities. The discussion was attended by solo librarians from a variety of specialized libraries – in the fields of social policy, health, education, engineering and advertising. Despite our subject differences, we found plenty of common ground. We discussed the responsibilities of a solo, the justification for our library/information center, virtual vs. paper collections/resources, marketing, budgeting, and information overload.

Evolve! Lyrics by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Of course, we all came to the realization that our journeys had barely begun. The symposium was merely the “stepping stone” onto the “Yellow-Brick Road” of KM.

The result of our discussion is a new special interest group called Solos+. Solos+ welcomes solo librarians while also remaining inclusive of those librarians who may feel as if they work solo. Solos+ meetings are held quarterly at libraries volunteered by members. Meeting times are often in the early evening to accommodate those who cannot readily leave their library during working hours. However, some meetings will continue to be held in the morning for those who prefer daytime meetings. Our next meeting is: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 5:30 to 7:30 pm The Lighthouse International 111 E 59th St, Library, 8th Floor

Look for meeting announcements on the METRO-L and SLA-CNY e-mail lists.Any local solos or special librarians working in small libraries are more than welcome to share their challenges and experiences with us. For more information, contact co-conveners: Tom Nielsen (212) 539-7164 or Lianna Kelly (212) 713-8043. ChapterNews

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SLA-NY 11th Annual Career Day

Your Source for Skilled Information Navigators

Clifford Perry, Warburg Pincus lans are underway for one of the Chapter’s biggest events of the year – Career Day 2002. This event draws almost 250 attendees each year and is essential in promoting the information profession. Why not take part in making this day a success? There are many ways in which you can contribute:

Helping you manage the flow of Information with temp, temp-to-hire, and direct hire placements.

▲ Join the Career Day Committee by contacting me: e-mail: [email protected] phone: (212) 878-9314 mail: 466 Lexington Avenue, 10th Floor,

Professional and clerical placements in Law, Business, Publishing, Pharmaceuticals, Vendors, the Arts & eCommerce.

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Whether you’re a skilled information management professional or a client seeking one, connect directly with our InfoCurrent professionals today.

New York City Metro Area 1156 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-642-4321 [email protected]

New York, NY 10017

▲ Offer to serve as a host at the highly successful Career Café where you can share your experiences and answer questions on a one-on-one basis with the attendees. We need individuals from all library backgrounds (i.e., medical, banking, museum, financial etc.)

Washington, DC Metro Area 815 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20006 Phone: (202) 775-1890 [email protected]

▲ Help the committee publicize the event in newspapers, radio, TV and the Internet. ▲ Offer to be a panelist to discuss what convinced you to become a librarian/information professional. Take this opportunity to share a typical “day in the life” of a professional.

www.infocurrent.com

▲ Send me a copy of your resume that you used in your most recent position. Past attendees have asked to see the resumes of successful applicants. Anything of a personal nature (i.e., names, addresses, references) will be omitted.

Chapter Services Membership in the New York Chapter provides so many benefits, it might be beneficial to remind everyone of some of the Chapter’s services:

▲ We are always looking for new ideas and new topics that may be of interest. Perhaps you have an idea for a new program relating to the Career Day event. We would like to hear from you.

SLA-NY web site: http://www.sla.org/chapter/cny Job Hotline: telephone (212) 439-7290 SLA New York Chapter Listserv: to subscribe to SLA-

▲ Volunteer to help set-up, greet and assist attendees.

CNY, send a message to [email protected]:

This is just one of the many ways our Chapter provides outreach in the metropolitan area. Your involvement will not only enhance and enrich this program, but also strengthen the ties between our Chapter and the potential new members. A number of past attendees have gone on to graduate from library schools and join our profession. Come join us to see old friends and make new ones!

Chapter and Division meetings. Watch for announce-

ments on the Chapter’s web site, listserv, through snailmail and in ChapterNews. The season kicks off in the fall and will include something for everyone! Chapter Christmas Party. The kick-off for the holiday season. An absolute must for all Chapter members! Career Day. This event, held in the Spring, gets bigger

and better every year. Characterized as a “one-stop career shopping” event it’s a great way to learn about new jobs, talk to library students just entering the field and examine new career options.

Date: Saturday, April 6, 2002 When: Noon until 4 pm Where: Lighthouse International 111 East 59th Street Refreshments will be served. ChapterNews

This is just the “short list.” Membership in the New York Chapter helps us stay in touch, stay active, stay informed. 10

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Need Some Help? Want to Lend a Helping Hand at the Same Time?

A Student Column — A Fresh Idea

by Jamie Russell

In future issues of ChapterNews, a Student Column will be established as a regular feature. The SLA-NY Chapter has been expanding its outreach to MLS students for several years now. The time has come to hear directly from the students themselves.

f you need a computer-trained, highly motivated administrative intern to spend 3 months or more, working in your library or office, then First Step is a program you should know about.

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We hope that this column will give MLS students the opportunity to voice their opinions, provide commentary or suggest and publicize student events.

First Step is a job-readiness training program for lowincome women who are first entering the corporate workforce. The women spend several months in job training before going out to an internship position. Internships then provide them with hands-on, real-world work experience in some of the largest and most prominent businesses and academic programs in New York including JP Morgan Chase & Co., UBS/PaineWebber, Time Warner Cable, Estée Lauder, Columbia University and many others.

To submit articles for the Student Column, please contact the following people: Francesca Burgess ChapterNews Editor

e-mail: [email protected] If you have any questions about subject content, article specifics, etc., please contact: Suzan Lee Library School Liaison/Outreach/Diversity Chair

Unfortunately, First Step has lost several internship sites in the recent tragedy of 9/11, and would greatly appreciate hearing from any library or other not-for-profit or corporate office that might be interested in hosting an administrative intern.

e-mail: [email protected] tel.: (212) 821-312

Any potential host site should contact First Step directly, discuss the job that the company is looking to fill, indicate whatever skill sets are required, and then interview several First Step candidates to determine if there’s a match. First Step is not a make-work program; it is designed to fill a real-world job or short-term project requirement, with the same expectations to be met as any other corporate employee. Personally, I’ve had three different interns work at the BusinessWeek Information Center over the years, and I have never worked with a group of women more motivated and willing-to-participate and do what it takes to get the job done. (One intern landed her first-ever, fulltime permanent job at Butler Library at Columbia after her internship here, another returned to college, and a third – who’s still with us – started college last summer.) Need more information about the program itself? Please contact Lisa Tomanelli, Program Director at First Step. She’s at [email protected], or 917-507-0255 in NYC. Want to hear more about first hand experience with First Step interns? Please contact me at:[email protected]

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