An OPL Shows How to Survive a Recession

Penny Sympson, OPL at Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., Northbrook, Illinois, was mentioned in “Saving Special Libraries in a Recession: Business Strategies for Survival and Success,” a Contributed Paper at the 2009 Special Libraries Association Annual Conference. The paper was written by five graduate students and a professor in the College of Information Studies, University of Maryland, College Park.

There is a summary of a survey of special libraries and four case studies: a long one on KMPG’s National Tax Library, and shorter ones Wiss Janney, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Apple Computer. It concludes with lessons learned: Market Yourself Aggressively, Know Your Audience, Be a Part of the Organization, and Prepare Metrics and Justifications.

This is a good article that all librarians should read—and implement its suggestions. Way to go, Penny!

URL: http://www.sla.org/pdfs/sla2009/SavingSL.pdf