In this issue...
Quantum2 Web Sessions

New Quantum2 Coaches

Spotlight on Quantum2 InfoStar – Sonja Van der Haeghen

Quantum2 Topic of the Month — Achieving Information Service Excellence


Visit the Q2 Highlights Archives

Quantum2 Web Sessions

The following Quantum2 Web sessions are being offered through June 2007. The World Clock will convert the hours to match your local time.

Developing Best Practices: How to Achieve Operational Excellence in Information Services
Feb. 22, 2007
2:00 p.m. EST;
7:00 p.m. GMT

Negotiation Skills for the Information Professional
Mar. 22, 2007
2:00 p.m. GMT;
9:00 a.m. ET

Creating a Brand Identity
Apr. 19, 2007
2:00 p.m. BST*;
9:00 a.m. EDT

Adding Value to Information Services
May 17, 2007
2:00 p.m. EST;
7:00 p.m. GMT

Gaining Commitment: How to Partner with Management
June 21, 2007
2:00 p.m. BST*;
9:00 a.m. EDT

Use the links above to register for these sessions.



From the Editor

As always, your suggestions for workshop topics are welcomed. Also, if you know a friend or colleague who would benefit from Quantum2, please encourage them to sign up today.

Liz Blankson-Hemans
Liz Blankson-Hemans
Director, IPMD


Quantum2 Highlights Archives

Quantum2Quantum2 Highlights
A newsletter of the Dialog leadership development program for information professionals

Dear Quantum2 Member...
As I write, I am “down under” attending the 13 th Information Online Exhibition & Conference in Sydney, Australia. We took advantage of my visit to organize a Quantum2 workshop, and what an engaging group it was! It was a delight to see the audience participate in the spirit of Quantum2 and exchange issues, thoughts and ideas in a sometimes passionate manner. To feed off this enthusiasm, Melinda Kershaw, Dialog intellectual property specialist, will be taking on the role as our local Quantum2 coach in the region, allowing us to offer more sessions in Asia-Pacific. Look for upcoming sessions for Australia/New Zealand in the near future.

Also during the conference, the SLA Australia & New Zealand Chapter held its second conference breakfast and announced the call for applications to the 2007 Australia & New Zealand Information Professional of the Year Award. The 2005 and 2006 recipients of the award, Nerida Hart and Alyson Dalby respectively, were also honored at this event. The award is open to all information professionals in Australia and New Zealand. Nominations should be emailed to Marie Mackenzie, immediate past-president of the Australia & New Zealand Chapter. For more details read the accompanying press release.

New Quantum2 Coaches

In addition to Melinda Kershaw, as mentioned above, we are also very thrilled to welcome back Gabrielle Derriks, GEP and training consultant, as a member of the coaches team. Many in continental Europe will remember Gabrielle.

Spotlight on Quantum2 InfoStar
Sonja Van der Haeghen

Sonja Van der HaeghenAs Medical Affairs & Drug Safety Coordinator, Sonja Van der Haeghen of Astra Zeneca, Belgium and her team believe it is their responsibility in helping with the safe use of drugs, to identify relevant sources of information and filter out the “noise” of information overload by providing scientifically accurate, balanced and focused responses to information requests.

To read more about this InfoStar, please read her profile at http://quantum.dialog.com/infostars/gallery/.

Quantum2 Topic of the Month
Achieving Information Service Excellence

Seeking and adopting best practices can help improve the work processes for delivery of products and services to better meet client needs. That translates into achieving efficiencies and economies that are extremely important to senior management. It also aids in building stronger relationships across the organization.

The process of identifying and implementing a best practice can be outlined in five steps:

  • Asses internal needs by looking at the business needs of the organization and how the information center should perform to meet those needs.
  • Understand current practices by capturing the current workflow that meets those business needs, and identifying gaps and points of failure in that process.
  • Examine alternative practices, including research into benchmarks in order to identify possible improvements
  • Model best practice through selection of an appropriate solution, and creating a new workflow or process for implementation.
  • Implement the new process, measuring the effectiveness and communicating the results to staff, customers and senior management.

By taking a visible role in leading this best practice project with visible results, the information center becomes associated with the value of the project, thus making its ROI self-evident.

This summary is taken from an article by Betty Jo Hibberd, s enior manager, Information Professional Development, published in the January 2007 edition of the SLA journal, Information Outlook. Reprint permission granted by SLA. www.sla.org .

This topic is also the subject of our scheduled Quantum2 workshop on February 22, 2007 (see Quantum2 Web Sessions above).