| Home > Portal > Events > SLA Conference 2003 > Interview with Sylvia James
Interview Sylvia James at the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Conference, New York, 2003 by Annabel Colley, FreePint
UK based consultant and trainer, Sylvia James, tells Annabel Colley why she prefers to be called a researcher rather than librarian. She thinks that the information profession is completely misunderstood by the business, scientific and technical communities and appeals to professional bodies to stop navel gazing. She predicts a growth opportunity for information professionals in the investment sector.
Sylvia is active in the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and was awarded a prestigious fellowship in June. She has held various board positions in the SLA European Chapter, Business and Finance Division and the Insurance and Employee Benefits Division. She is currently Chair Elect of SLA Business & Finance Division.
NB: When you have finished, click here to see photos and read other FreePint dispatches and interviews from the SLA conference.
Can you tell me about the sort of work you do currently as a management consultant and trainer?
I'm a researcher, writer and trainer in the business and financial services sector and I carry out cross border merger and acquisition projects. I create lists and targets for buying and selling. I am commissioned to do research, for example for an American company may be looking to move into Europe. A lot of my work is market research, and primary market research. I write for Business Magazines too. Training is important, it is my bread and butter.
When I do market research, I usually do a market study of published sources first. I've got a strict methodology for doing that. A twelve step study. So I will start with official statistics, industry information, etc. If you are very lucky you will get about 80% of the market doing it that way but there is going to be a lot of holes. So I will present that to the client and they will come back and say they are interested in a particular gap and ask me to design a market research survey, so I will do that.
You set yourself up as an independent consultant in 1988 at a time when there were not so many independent information consultants around. Was that a big challenge and did you find it risky?
Yes, that was when I left Credit Suisse First Boston, but actually I did traditional information brokering back in the 1970s too, with a colleague. We did some interesting work but decided to stop because back then the financial position for freelancers - particularly freelancers who were women, in terms of getting a mortgage and the like - was impossible. Yes working independently is a challenge and it is financially risky. Also you are very isolated working at home.
In terms of isolation, don't you find nowadays that the number of professional listservs and communities on the Internet reduce professional isolation?
No not really. It's worse because everyone relies on email. At least I used to meet clients face to face more . Now they all rely on email and virtual communication. It's nice to see a human being today Annabel!
Sylvia, I know you trained as an information professional originally, but it seems like you don't market or position yourself as an "information professional". What job title do you prefer? What is your view of "Information Professionals"?
Well I usually prefer to be called a researcher. I get by-lines as a researcher, for example the research I did for Real Business Magazine in March 2002 in an article called The Hot 100 Companies. My by-line for that was "Research and Interviews". I think we have lost sight of the importance of research. We should use the word research much more. Everyone understands that. That is what the work is. I think we have completely misunderstood how the business, scientific and technical community see us.
By "us" you mean Information Professionals?
Well, anybody who is in the intermediary role. When scientists do a study what do you do? You go and look at what has been published. That approach is called research and research should be done in every project that anybody ever does. So if you are looking at a merger you are looking at competitive intelligence, looking to study a market what do you do? You have a proper research project.
You mentioned the Hot 100 Companies article, can you tell me a bit more about the work you have done on researching company lists and rankings?
At one of the courses I did here at this SLA conference, I got the participants to analyse the Hot 100 Companies survey I did for Real Business. I gave them all the working papers and the drafts, the extract from the data dump from Dun and Bradstreet (D&B), the raw data, my first draft, my interviews.
Do you think that Information Professionals need to focus more on writing skills? They have a great knowledge of the sources, but I wonder if they are sometimes presenting it in an indigestible form? Is that a fair assumption?
Yes, emphasis on writing and presentation skills is my whole approach to teaching report writing. I tell them about methodology. I tell people that they should have templates, and use technology to help them display the information. They should keep attributions, explain gaps. For example if you use D&B day in day out to produce certain criteria, write a couple of lines about D&B that explains it and upload it into the report. It makes the report look so much better. If you use an unusual source from the Internet, explain that you don't know where the data came from. People are so bad at using their inherent knowledge.
Yes, and this approach is part of educating clients that not all information is easily obtainable or attributable isn't it?
Yes, it shows that you really have thought about what you do, not just leapt onto Google.
Do you do any traditional information brokering any more?
No, not now, that side of the business has dried up. It is more market research and writing.
What is your personal view of new library and information graduates? Are universities turning them out with the right range of skills for the corporate sector?
No. I think the problem is that teaching, with the best will in the world is done by people who either haven't practised in the real world, or who haven't kept cutting edge. Also, it's sad but it is a fact that universities can't afford to pay the best visiting speakers to come along and give students a proper picture.
In the light of scandals in corporate America (WorldCom, Enron, etc.) I would like to move on to talk a little about corporate information governance. There are couple of sessions here at this year's SLA conference on this and due diligence. What do these terms mean?
Well lets be clear. "Corporate information governance" is essentially a forensic accounting term used to check out a company for takeover or sale. Due diligence has four steps. First you look at what is filed on a company by law. Secondly you follow the money trail, that is trace information in the public domain. Thirdly you look at professional sector activities and lastly you do a news trawl.
So can you tell me about the increased regulation in the US and UK as a result of the corporate scandals and what this will mean in practice?
Yes. Sarbines Oxley Act 2002 is the corporate governance legislation. Essentially it says that the Boards of Directors should behave properly - for example not behave like Bernard Ebbers, former chief exec of WorldCom, who according to the Washington Post article I have just read, threatened to throw someone out of a window if he exposed accounting irregularities at WorldCom! (Washington Post, 19 June). There has been an independent legal report. WorldCom were running two sets of books - the real ones and the ones that were published.
Is there a role for information professionals in corporate governance?
Well the first thing WorldCom did when they took over was sack the librarian!
Really, is that true? Is that because the librarian knew too much? If that is the case then it answers my question. It illustrates that librarians are very valuable in intelligence terms.
Oh yes. They had a magnificent information service at MCI. It was cutting edge and MCI was one of these honourable companies. That is why they changed the name back again to MCI. WorldCom should never have taken over that company. They should never have been allowed to.
Moving on to talk about the SLA, as incoming Chair Elect for SLA's Business and Finance Division what do you think is the biggest challenge?
Without doubt attracting and retaining the young professionals. I did a big strategic survey of the division, and we discovered that of those people who were most favourably disposed to the business and finance community to whom we had given grants (stipends) - over half of the 50 people since 1988 were no longer members. Not just of the Division but even of SLA. They had just disappeared off the face of the earth.
Perhaps these people are going into the"alternative careers" that the SLA have identified as targeting to increase membership. Lets talk about these alternative careers. What are they?
Well you know, as a former ESLY! (European Special Librarian of the Year). It's the hidden community of innovative information jobs. Jobs where the core information and knowledge management skills are used in the widest and most innovative ways and on the fringes of the profession.
Look at the concept of a cybrarian. 1994, Michel Bauwens then of BP Nutrition in Antwerp was the first recipient of the ESLY award. He was a pioneer in the concept of developing the virtual library and the special librarian which he called a "cybrarian". I remember at the time being very pleased to see an article in an airline magazine describing a cybrarian.
As chair of the nominating committee for the SLA, you played a significant role in selecting key figures at the top of the SLA. What qualities do inspirational leaders have in the information profession?
Practical experience of the rough and tumble of the business world. I think it is going to be very interesting having Cindy Hill as President. She is the first President for a few years that has come from industry and not academia. That is a good thing in my view. That is going to make it really fascinating. She has a lot of relevant experience.
What role do professional library and information bodies like the SLA, CILIP, ASLIB, etc. play? What should they be doing to attract and keep members?
Well they have got to stop naval gazing and start looking out for goodness sake. I have to say that nearly all professions and professional bodies are guilty of it. I have been along to other conferences outside the information profession; accountants, competitive intelligence professionals; they all naval gaze. The SLA also has to put serious people, money and resources into globalisation and not just talk about it.
In terms of the strategic direction of the SLA What do you think about the appointment of Janice LaChance as new Executive Director?
I haven't yet had a chance to talk to her. I think the organisation probably needed someone who was going to be a healer.
It is interesting that she is not an information professional. In terms of fresh perspectives and getting away from naval gazing isn't that a good thing?
Yes, but I am not sure that a lot of the SLA membership will see it like that!
Oh no I am sure they won't.
Perhaps it will detract from her first year or so until she proves herself. There are two viewpoints really. On the one hand, you can be very biased as an information professional in that job, bring too many axes to grind. On the other hand if you don't know anything about the community you are going to be serving, then it doesn't help you to get over the big leap at first. Ultimately she didn't look controversial and I think that is what the organisation needs at the moment. The Executive Director should not be too controversial or too impatient for change.
What is your own long term view of the information profession. Where will it be in 10 years time?
In 1979, Dennis Lewis, a British corporate Librarian and head of the ASLIB, wrote what came to be known as the "Doomsday Scenario". This study was even before online information had really taken off. He said that information professionals wouldn't be around by the year 2000. My theory is he is right. Of course, the types of information professionals he was thinking of aren't around any more. Corporate libraries and information centres run as a central resource had indeed almost died out by 2000. Their place in the UK information world has been taken by units in the financial services sector and in other advisory firms such as management consultancies, accountants and corporate lawyers. So many business information professionals work directly in the financial services sectors that they are acutely aware of the situation.
The positive opportunities I see for the future are for globalisation which has to mean the need for better and integrated information flows involved in running operations across many borders and regions. The other opportunity for information professionals is in the investment sector. The growth of all kinds of investment management services, as more people realise they need to make provision for the future particularly retirement years.
| 
