Blog - Improve your Current Awareness Strategy

I have to thank my friends overseas for introducing me to International Women’s Day. We’ve marched, sung, cried and debated - but ultimately we spend the day celebrating each other. It has encouraged me to think about the individuals who have - and continue to - shape the library and information profession. This is a list of women who have personally inspired me on my career journey. #BalanceforBetter !!!

Marketing & business development (MBD) and client relationship management (CRM) are central to the ongoing growth and success of any organisation. After my conversation with the in-house lawyer, I was inspired to turn to another friend - let’s call her Fatima - for insight into the role of the legal business development specialist, and how it has changed.

A lot can happen in a week. The Vable team always have their ears to the ground and want to highlight a couple of recent information-related items in the news. 

Libraries and information centres are rarely featured in traditional travel guides unless they are flagship or historical showpieces, like national libraries or famous university libraries. And yet, they are stunningly beautiful and inspiring places!

Successful client engagement is about making connections. With this in mind I want to talk about engagement marketing in a more interesting and creative way. It is broadly defined as ‘the use of strategic, and resourceful content to engage people, companies, or brands in order to create meaningful interactions over time’.

As an information professional I am fascinated by the way in which information spreads across an organisation. And - as far as information management is concerned - I’m always keen to learn more about different sectors and industries. Take in-house legal departments, for example: legally qualified people fulfilling a vital role in their company’s long-term success. In my mind, a function which filters information in a similar ways to law libraries.

Why fix what you don’t think is broken? Once upon a time a single organisation-wide internal newsletter was good enough. However it is increasingly apparent that basic daily alerts are old-fashioned and inadequate. Not only that, but businesses need to connect and collaborate with their clients. One way of doing this is through easy-to-manage, intelligent, and targeted news updates.

As the Vable team look forward to an exciting new year of current awareness and premium news aggregation developments, we take a brief look back over our most popular 2018 blog posts. It was an exciting year when information awareness went mainstream from the GDPR implementation, as well as the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The information industry has never been more aware of the importance of current awareness provision. Keeping up to date with news, markets, clients, and industries is central to the success of all types of organisations - from legal, financial services, health, or the third sector. Information and research services, or equivalent, are generally responsible for managing and delivering accurate, reliable, and targeted updates for their end-users.

We live in a hi-tech world where even the simple act of reading can depend on electronic devices. You catch the news on your mobile or tablet; reading for pleasure might mean a Kindle; and longer articles perhaps become ‘TL;DR’ because of service interruption. Imagine the pleasure then, of a picking up a book. Michele DeStefano’s 2018 hardback has been a constant travel companion and physical reminder of the nebulous world of legal innovation.