FreePint for Skills Upgrades: In an Era of Constant Change
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

Information professionals must adapt their skills to the demands of today's challenging information environment and its new requirements in terms of tools, techniques and resources. Robin Neidorf examines some of the most popular FreePint articles and how they are helping information professionals to make best use of tools such as social media and email and to appreciate how human-led data analysis continues to play a crucial part in information and knowledge management.

Item

Is there an industry that has changed as dramatically as information work in the past 10 years? The range of tools, techniques, resources and skills that today's information professionals need is staggering.

Two much-shared items published recently on FreePint highlight the extent of these changes, as well as the ways that FreePint supports information champions as they steadfastly work to keep their teams ahead of the curve:

Social Media Tools Will NEVER Replace Email!, by James Mullan, quickly became one of the most-shared items in the FreePint Article database - which is fitting, since social media tools are exactly what have accustomed us all to sharing all the time in the first place. James is a social media enthusiast and often writes about the strategic ways he encourages their use within the law firm where he works in knowledge management.

But like most technologies, social media gets used the wrong way and at the wrong times. At risk are privacy, complete communications and organisational liability, particularly in regulated (or at least closely scrutinised) industries.

FreePint Subscribers seem to be sharing this one for two reasons: to educate on best practices in internal and external communications, and to make the case for appropriate uses of social media within even the most conservative environments. The articles that James writes on role that email and intranets should occupy are also frequently shared.

Another recent article with rapid sharing activity is Tim Buckley Owen's Tough but Achievable: Reskilling for Data Analysis. We've known for years that it's essential to adapt our information skills and move from gathering, categorising and assembling to higher level analysis.

Tim leads by example, weaving together threads like big data, the flat economy and the mixed outputs of crowdsourcing with his unique analysis on how professionals can turn circumstances to their advantage. Based on the evidence of busy sharing, many FreePint Subscribers want to put this practical and timely insight into the hands of their colleagues.

Lifelong Learning

Fast-moving industries like ours require lifelong learning. Busy careers require targeted education in quick-to-absorb bits. Every time you visit FreePint, you can find - and share - an insight based in this rapid change that can affect those busy careers in positive ways.

More Ad Hoc Learning Tips

Read about more ways to share FreePint articles and gain ad hoc learning on important business information skills:

• Using FreePint to Support Skills Upgrades
• Stop the Intranet and PowerPoint Insanity

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