Quantum² : InfoStars : Kristin Oberts

Kristin Oberts

Aligning Information Services with the Business Goals of 3M
by Felicia Lowenstein

When 3M made the difficult decision to spin-off a portion of its business this past year, the Information Services management team faced the age-old question: How can we do the same job with fewer people? To deal with this challenge, Information Services needed to adapt to meet 3M's changing environment.

The Information Services staff developed Library Line, a ready-reference phone service to answer information requests of all types. Library Line rings at several library locations throughout the company. "Library Line takes advantage of expertise of our staff without having to bring everyone physically together," says Kristin, "saving time and money — two crucial factors in today's business climate."

A veteran 3M'er, Kristin joined the company 18 1/2 years ago as a technical reference librarian for the main technical library. Today she is part of the Information Services management team with responsibilities that include technical libraries, internal technical information, current awareness, and end-user support and consulting. Information services is the organization within 3M that offers a wide range of services that provide access to both internal and external knowledge. "Our job is to align Information Services with the business goals of 3M. So my responsibilities tend to be partly within Information Services, but a lot beyond it — partnering with the rest of 3M to make sure our client groups benefit from the information we provide and the value-added nature of our service."

Along those lines, the Information Services staff is working in several strengthened areas. One is providing information sources at the desktop for 3M staff regardless of their location. "We've developed a number of menu access points in traditional computer environments, in Web technology, and in Lotus® Notes® to provide information in an easy-to-use form," say Kristin. "We've also developed internal databases. An example is our technical skills database which highlights 3M technical employees' expertise. So an employee in Japan can find another employee in St. Paul, Minnesota, with the special expertise to solve their problem." Another strong emphasis continues to be "alerting" products which track technologies and competitors to keep the 3M community up-to-date in their specific areas of interest. Information Services is continually tracking the latest products available in the marketplace to meet this need.

The Information Services staff are helping people manage their information flow. "We're providing people with good information. Our staff work on product development teams to advise how the information can be used in the product development and patenting process. I think that's what we can bring that is value-added. We understand the company and the technologies, so we assist in using information as 3M leverages these technologies. We're not just someone from the outside saying,'This will be useful to you.' We know the company well," she says.

There's no question, Information Services will continue to evolve as it approaches the next century. "Will the physical library collections be made obsolete by electronic access to information, five or ten
years from now?" Kristin asks. "Personally, I think there still is value placed on browsing physical collections of library materials especially within the 3M culture. We see value in providing a blend of both hardcopy and electronic resources. Libraries are not just for housing materials . . . they're used as the gathering point and a place to meet and exchange information to solve problems."

Whatever the future holds, Kristin and the Information Services staff at 3M are open to new ways of doing things. "I believe we are a business and therefore need to market our services as a business. We will be more successful if we do so, particularly when there's so much work being outsourced across the U.S. today." The Information Services staff is doing promotion and outreach, participating in internal trade shows and promoting its new products and services. Kristin adds, "Being flexible and being open to new ways of doing things is really critical to success in the fast-changing business."