tfpl blog

Who is managing information? Roles in the e-landscape

Information and communications technology (ICT) is radically changing the aspirations and expectations of large sections of society. In the ‘Amazon and eBay’ society people buy and sell online; connect with friends, relations and strangers throughout the world whenever they choose; and manage a great deal of their life over the net. The ‘Google’ effect has produced generations of individuals who expect information in varying formats at their finger tips.

New media, podcasting, blogs and wikis are changing expectations about how information is created, distributed and used. Bright employees are choosing employers who provide the information environments they expect; and clients expect increasingly more and more from their public and private sector suppliers.

The UK government has explicitly tied its flag to the exploitation of ICT to enable the delivery of effective and efficient public services*. In the private sector technology has enabled a globalised marketplace, increased competition, and bought an increasing need to contain risk and protect reputations. Information has become a key resource in both sectors for meeting targets and client needs, and for sustaining growth and innovation. Many organisations are beginning to treat information seriously - the management of information and its communication has never been more crucial.

TFPL has recently completed a research project to identify the information roles and functions needed in this environment. The results will help employers plan for effective use of ICT and individuals to assess career paths. “The e-landscape relies on a rich mix of expertise to ensure the quality, processes and security of the information that underpins organisational effectiveness” says Darron Chapman, Director of TFPL Recruitment. “Information professionals, working with other disciplines, play a vital role in making information available to many audiences in ways that are useful, appropriate and secure. We have long been aware that the lines between these disciplines are blurring and we felt that a clearer overall picture of e-information roles would be valuable. The research has enabled us to develop a framework of roles which illustrates the roles, their functions and impact they have.”

The conclusions of the research and the Framework will be available in a White Paper available on the TFPL web site in the early autumn.

Richard Pinder, Director of TFPL’s Information Solutions division believes that the Framework also illustrates the functions that organisations need to assess to ensure that their e-landscape is healthy.
“We can see six top level clusters of functions” says Pinder, “Each needing a mix of expertise and disciplines, tools and processes. If organisations ensure that each of these clusters are aligned with business goals, and that they are well integrated with each other and the business, then ICT can produce real return on investment”.

For more information about the research and the Framework, contact Darron Chapman or Richard Pinder on +44 (0)20 7332 6000.

TFPL Recruitment bridges blurring boundaries

TFPL’s latest market research on the development of “e-roles” in organisations in all sectors reinforces the belief that the boundaries between a range of information related disciplines are blurring – and especially between information management, content management and information technology.

“TFPL Recruitment is responding to this dynamic environment by expanding the breadth of our core offering” says Darron Chapman, Director of TFPL’s Recruitment Services.  “Peter Phillips, an experienced IT Recruiter, has recently joined the team to enable us to provide specialist recruitment services in IT disciplines aligned to IM.  We believe that it is no longer possible or sensible to maintain artificial barriers between IM and IT specialists”.

Get out of the library

Sir Muir Gray, Director of the National Library for Health, highlighted the opportunities for librarians in the launch this week of the parntership between Bournemouth University and Partnerships in Health Information.  Every organisation needs, he said, a CKO and each CKO needs to be supported by a librarian.  "Knowledge needs to be managed better than we manage money".  Sandra Ward from TFPL explored with other delelgates , over a glass of wine, why librarians should 'support' the CKO rather than 'be' the CKO.   While some delegates felt that librarians need more skills in order to take those roles, Sandra and I feel that librarians have those skills - they just need to do it.

Recruiting in IT

You can walk into some restaurants and there is a person that takes your coat, another sees you to your seat, a different one takes your order and someone else cooks your meal, I guarantee you that the price of all these people is reflected in your bill at the end of the meal.   Employers are realising that merging roles where appropriate can save them and the client money and still allow them to deliver a good service, chances are you would have been happy in that restaurant if the same person did all those jobs and you paid less for your meal!

We have been saying for some time that the crossover between IT roles and other information roles is increasing with employers expecting a greater technical understanding from their employees and also looking for specialist skills in more than one discipline, a prime example being the web content area where employers are looking for web skills, html and dreamweaver along with basic information skills and a good understanding of content and editorial. 

Peter Phillips has joined us to try and bridge this gap somewhat, Peter has been recruiting in IT for 20 years with the majority of his placements being in continental Europe. With clients such as Ebay and AOL on his books, he has seen how technology and particularly the web has changed the face of recruitment “employers are still looking for software programmers but they have to be competent in web applications also, almost everyone can put up a website with the tools becoming so much simpler to use, making it all the more necessary for information professionals to widen their skill set”.

New research on the information job market

Over the past four months at TFPL a number of us have been engaged in research into the emerging job market. We have now reached the data analysis stage of the project. Soon we will be able to report on the extent to which particular sectors of the information job market-place are identifiable; the major drivers for the creation of new roles; the sectors which offer the greatest potential for employment growth; and how the available roles might be filled. Our expectation is that the results will be of interest to anyone in the information industry whose own job function encompasses workforce planning or training, or the preparation of new graduates for information work, as well as anyone in the sector who believes in investing in professional development - whether for their own benefit or the benefit of the profession as a whole. For a sneak preview of the findings of the project you can sign up for a presentation to be made in London to ICLG by Hazel Hall on Wednesday 19th July. Please see: http://www.cilip.org.uk/specialinterestgroups/bysubject/iclg/events.

Librarian - upgraded!

Hooray - Nancy the Action Figure Librarian has been upgraded.  She now has her very own computer, trolley and books.

Calling all linguists

Not surprising in a global market but we are constantly being asked for information and sales professionals with language skills. I think in the UK we are woefully monolingual (myself included) especially compared to our bi/tri/multilingual European counterparts. However how many of you did a 3 year language degree by itself or alongside another specialisation and now only use it to translate the menu in your local Italian! So everyone who does have a second language that may be a little rusty, dust it off, get some practice and sell it to the employment market.

Ref: 19517
A global market research company is looking for a Sales Executive with German, French, Spanish, Italian or Scandinavian. Based in London
Salary - £20-£24K basic £45-£48K OTE

Ref: 19473
A leading provider of financial information requires an Account Manager with fluent English and German. Based in London.
Salary – £24k

Ref: 20005
A global provider of advertising services is looking for a keyword optimiser with a fluency of German, French and English. Based in London.
Salary – negotiable