spotlight on: Pam Green     return to other professionals

Your primary responsibilities:
As part of Information Services' editorial team within the Knowledge Network Group, I am responsible for maintaining a portion of the Library's internal Web site as well as researching and selecting news for two topical news alerts that are distributed to internal subscribers. My responsibilities for the Web site include defining the editorial direction and content scope for my sections as well as researching and selecting high quality resources that will meet the business information needs of our customers (Microsoft employees). This includes writing editorial commentary, when appropriate, for each selected item. Maintenance is also an important aspect of my job--we must keep the information relevant and up-to-date if the site is going to remain a key resource for our customers. I also oversee our group's role in a weekly presentation that takes place for new employees.

The knowledge and skills required to do your job:
In addition to strong research and information aggregation skills, I find I often call on what I've learned about understanding how users seek and utilize information. Everything I do is based on understanding the industry in which we work, the business goals of the organization, and the purpose and goals of the audiences for my portion of the Web site. Strong written and verbal communication skills are also essential. Not only do I need to clearly and concisely describe the resources I select to be high quality for my users, but I am constantly communicating with coworkers, internal partners, vendors and customers via email not to mention the many meetings. We take every opportunity to promote and teach people about our services which means calling on presentation skills for large and small groups.

The Future:
As someone who has just recently graduated and started working in a special library I am only beginning to develop my own perspective on the future of the industry as an information professional. I definitely believe that my interest in technology and constantly learning will remain important to my success. I may not be creating complex taxonomies, databases, wireless applications or server networks, but I need to understand how all of these technologies work in order to understand my company's business as well as my users and their information needs. To be effective in a dynamic industry librarians must be able seek out and maintain partnerships as well as manage the projects that results from these partnerships. This requires strong negotiation and strategic communication skills--skills I think will not just be helpful, but essential for librarians of the future.

(September 2001)