Wow! SLA may finally have a new name…The Association of Strategic Knowledge Professionals. Are we all happy now? Well, if we can all agree that research and open collaborative discussion are key proceedings in making decisions, than the members of SLA should be excited. After two years of research and discussions conducted by the Association on how to best align the national organization with the institutions and clients we serve, the leadership of SLA are taking action based on their studies.
I for one am excited because I am interested in seeing how members can embrace change and how we as an association can establish a new brand of professionals. Now, I am very aware there are some “haters” out there and among other reasons they do not feel a name change is necessary because changing a name does not change what we do. However, if handled as a business entity that puts forth a new focus to promoting our profession as Librarians along with Knowledge Managers, Strategic Planners, High Tech Anthologies, Taxonomy Developers, User Experience Specialist, etc. the name change opens the doors for new opportunities. These new opportunities allows our Library Schools to align their curriculum with many of these positions that are being established around the skill sets that librarians possess. This does not take away from traditional aspects of Collection Management, Reference Services, Cataloging, etc. The name change simply promotes what we do for our organizations and allows our profession to grow.
So, can old dogs learn new tricks? Can librarians learn to grow? Who knows, along with the name some of us might change what we do.