A librarian by any other name...

This article in the April 21 issue of Advertising Age is Tom Martin's new idea -- an Insight & Information Department for small advertising firms. Here's his proposal:

[S]maller agencies need to have access to smart people and smart research. Whether it's just the basics of someone actively scanning current marketing writings, magazines, books and blogs and making sense of it all for us, or a more robust option that includes the aforementioned research resources. Our world demands that we have access to and utilize compelling insights to keep our work and our clients' brands relevant.

The big hurdles to this vision are usually the same for all smaller agencies -- time, money and talent. We don't have the time to actually make this vision a reality. And more importantly we don't have the freedom to dedicate a full-time employee, not to mention a talented senior one, to what is in essence an overhead position. [...]

Insight & Information shouldn't just be the privilege of those that have the money and size to afford it. There are smart marketers in every shop in the country and they deserve access to great insight. Even better, if we could find a way to share the costs, a Insight & Information department could even field primary studies designed to answer compelling questions that we all deal with daily. The big boys routinely do it, package it and sell it during new business pitches. Why shouldn't we smaller guys have the same chance?

Dude... that's what librarians do! And organizations that can't invest in a full-time info pro often use people like me, info-entrepreneurs who serve as, well, librarians of fortune.

I'll be curious to see how his proposal develops.

Comments

[Tom Martin]

I think many have misunderstood the goal of my project. I'm not looking to create a librarian so much as a curator service. I&I is designed to be a service that gives marketers or agencies access to a person with a particular lens that they use to view the world.

With this lens they curate information, insight, and content and then present that back to subscribers in a format that is quick to read and digest but more importantly provides a context.

In fact, I'd think it a service perfect for InfoProfessionals like yourself.

Hope you'll stay tuned and keep your readers up to date with my progress.

[Tom Martin]

I think many have misunderstood the goal of my project. I'm not looking to create a librarian so much as a curator service. I&I is designed to be a service that gives marketers or agencies access to a person with a particular lens that they use to view the world.

With this lens they curate information, insight, and content and then present that back to subscribers in a format that is quick to read and digest but more importantly provides a context.

In fact, I'd think it a service perfect for InfoProfessionals like yourself.

Hope you'll stay tuned and keep your readers up to date with my progress.

[Tom Martin]

I think many have misunderstood the goal of my project. I'm not looking to create a librarian so much as a curator service. I&I is designed to be a service that gives marketers or agencies access to a person with a particular lens that they use to view the world.

With this lens they curate information, insight, and content and then present that back to subscribers in a format that is quick to read and digest but more importantly provides a context.

In fact, I'd think it a service perfect for InfoProfessionals like yourself.

Hope you'll stay tuned and keep your readers up to date with my progress.