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Books, bingo, blogs! All the world’s a stage
 Mad libs go to Taupo
How do librarians and publishers add value to content? Library Connect Seminars in Japan and Korea shed some light
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Common ground: Understanding libraries and providing better solutions
To provide real information solutions for libraries in educational and research institutions, a good account manager has to understand customers and the challenges that librarians face. Account managers learn the most by listening to librarians, since they are the ones who work with publications and are in contact with communities actually using the material. Equally important are understanding the overall mission, context and goals of individual libraries within the hierarchies of their institutions and staying current with library issues.
Within Elsevier, we tap into staff who have library and information studies degrees and may have worked as librarians. These colleagues are often asked to help spread market knowledge throughout our organization. Librarians in our midst include Senior Vice President Karen Hunter and Library Relations Director Daviess Menefee in the US. Looking internationally, Account Manager Li-Wei Lai in Taiwan, Account Manager Linda Dunne in Australia and Senior Product Manager Michiel van der Heyden in Amsterdam are just a few other colleagues with library backgrounds. My alma mater is Pratt Institute in New York, where I earned an MLIS before spending a couple of years in a medical society library and then transitioning into STM publishing.
Our in-house librarians hold training sessions for account managers as well as other support staff who deal with librarians. Topics covered vary considerably. At the most basic, we offer orientation to how libraries are structured and what tasks and responsibilities are handled by librarians with different titles. Of course, in the world of electronic access this is all changing rapidly. We also try to cover topical issues discussed among librarians today — including access models, intellectual property, electronic archiving and the changing roles of the librarian and publisher. Elsevier account managers are trained to answer questions about current policy and are expected to engage in discussions. Conversely, we rely on them to bring customer feedback to Elsevier management to assist in decision making for policy development. In the dynamic environment of information, we don’t expect to have all the answers, and Elsevier looks for direction to come through the librarians with whom our staff are in contact.
A good account manager has to understand customers and the challenges that librarians face.
At large library conferences, our account representatives are often busy with customers. However, when they are not in the booth, we encourage Elsevier staff to attend sessions and hear firsthand from the library community about important issues and trends. Further, we find that conferences — such as the Charleston Conference and NASIG — that are primarily devoted to sessions rather than exhibits are excellent primers, especially for new staff.
And, as James Tonna, our new vice president of sales and marketing for North America, remarked: “We have also taken an active stance by asking librarians to speak frankly to our staff. In the past several years, we’ve invited librarians to be guest speakers at our annual sales meetings. They’ve at times delivered tough messages, but the sales team has responded enthusiastically and appreciatively.”
Strengthening our staff’s ability to understand issues facing information professionals benefits Elsevier and, more importantly, our ability to serve library customers effectively. Staying current with library issues is a tall order, but we find these interactions stimulating and challenging. 
Chinese librarians help get information into more hands
During a recent Library Connect Seminar in China, some librarians were talking about the Library Connect Newsletter (5:1, January 2007) article, “Going E-only: All Icelandic Citizens Are Hooked.” That discussion has led to an innovative collaboration producing tangible results.
Library Connect Newsletter articles in Chinese Simplified
appear on the Liblog blog.
The Chinese library association Liblog is partnering with us and on a volunteer basis translating two or three Library Connect Newsletter articles per month. Translated articles are being posted on the Elsevier China website and the Liblog blog (www.qiantu.org/liblog) with links to the English versions on Elsevier.com.
Already, Mr. Guofu Qian, a librarian from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and among the founders of Liblog, has translated the article “Publishing and the Environment: The Story Behind the Words” (Library Connect Newsletter, 5:2, April 2007). You can see the Chinese version on the Liblog blog at www.qiantu.org/liblog/?p=59.
Additionally, Miss Yuan Wang, a librarian from Tsinghua University, has translated the 2007 Elsevier Foundation library program guidelines, which have also been posted on the Liblog blog.
Sharing news and best practices around the world is faster and easier when information is provided in the local language. Stay tuned for updates on the Elsevier-Liblog collaboration.
