Sample Essay The Information Officer in a small companyconsisting

Task to be done:

 

Scenario: You are the Information Officer in a small company consisting of 50 employees, with overall management responsibility for the Information Centre (there are two additional members of Information Centre staff one full time and one part time).  The Senior Management Team (SMTP) are thinking about streamlining the company and perhaps outsourcing some of the business processes. The SMTP have asked each department to present a report outlining the contribution each department makes to the company’s overall business strategy.

 

NB: You must choose from the following industry sectors;

Business, health, retail, scientific/biotechnology, Government/legal,  or media/arts.

 

Task: Produce a report of between 1,500-2,000 words justifying the company having an information centre staffed by information professionals, outlining the services which are offered and how these can contribute to the overall strategic aims of the organisation.

Hints:

Some of the issues you might like to raise:

 

·        How can the information service add value to the company?

·        How can the staff demonstrate this value?

·        What benefits are there for having staff with information backgrounds?

·        What services can the Information Centre offer?

·        Could some services be outsourced?

·        How the information centre can contribute to the company’s web strategy

·        What should be the role as regards the internet/intranet?

·        Should the information centre/library also have responsibility for internal information e.g. records, sales data?

·        What are the alternatives? (including the alternative of having an information centre staffed by people with no information background)

·        How could the service be marketed?

 

The assignment is designed to be quite wide ranging, therefore it is up to you to decide what type of services the Information Centre offers.

The assignment must include a case study of an information centre from the literature; however the case study does not necessarily have to be from the same sector you are investigating.

Marking criteria

·        Outline of information service, sources &services offered, argument for retention of the service, demonstration of value etc 30%

·        Case studies 10%

·        Structure/format/grammar/layout 10%

·        References 10%