Two case studies from pharmaceutical companies at Internet Librarian International demonstrated how information and library services can place themselves at the centre of organisational strategy.
A variety of common sense marketing initiatives have enabled employees at a multi-national pharmaceutical company to get to grips with the range of information resources available to them, said Rob Haran from Shire. As a growing company, Shire needs flexible information solutions. The company has never had a library as such, and relies on e-resources to reach employees in a variety of locations around the world. "I describe it as giving users the moon on a stick" commented Haran.
Haran described a range of passive, active and self-marketing tools undertaken by his team, such as utilising out of office messages, creating information emails for new hires, and generating awareness via word of mouth and targeted activities such as desk drops for small groups of users.
Haran recommends learning from mistakes as you go - for example, their initial A4 sized desk drops went into the bin as they were too large so they produced business card sized handouts instead. The team were invited to attend team meetings to brief attendees on the services on offer but quickly learned not to excees a five minute pitch.
As a measure of success, Shire's InfoZone is the third most used area on the intranet, third only to the news page and share price.
Summing up, Haran recommended that services develop an identity and ensure a seamless journey for users. "Carpe diem - be brave!"
As a growing company, Shire needs flexible information solutions. The company has never had a library as such, and relies on e-resources to reach employees in a variety of locations around the world. "I describe it as giving users the moon on a stick, " commented Haran.
Haran described a range of passive, active and self-marketing tools undertaken by his team, such as utilising out of office messages, creating information emails for new hires, and generating awareness via word of mouth and targeted activities such as desk drops for small groups of users.
Haran recommends learning from mistakes as you go - for example, their initial A4 sized desk drops went into the bin as they were too large so they produced business card sized handouts instead. The team were invited to attend team meetings to brief attendees on the services on offer but quickly learned not to excees a five minute pitch.
As a measure of success, Shire's InfoZone is the third most used area on the intranet, third only to the news page and share price.
Summing up, Haran recommended that services develop an identity and ensure a seamless journey for users. "Carpe diem - be brave!"
UCB is a global pharmaceutical company with over 10,000 employees. Andrew Clark's case study showed how a library service can succeed if its strategy places it at the centre of the organisation and reflects the organisational culture. UCB is committed to knowledge creation and sharing. The library has developed apps and e-resources that enable global collaboration in a copyright compliant environment. Users can use mobile devices to tag, comment on and share documents in a creative way.