The intranet is among the primary landscapes in which information-based work occurs, yet many info pros continue to view it with equal parts skepticism and dread. In Intranets for Info Pros, editors Mary Lee Kennedy and Jane Dysart and their 10 expert contributors provide support and encouragement to the information professional responsible for implementing or contributing to an intranet. Chapters demonstrate the intranet's strategic value, describe important trends and best practices, and equip info pros to make a key contribution to their organization's intranet success.

For the past decade, e-mail has been the preferred method of internal communication in libraries. However, relying on email for organizational knowledge management seems a bit like storing birth certificates, car titles, and deeds in a pile of junk mail: the important documents are lost amongst other items of only minimal or fleeting importance. A successful intranet can provide a secure place for information exchange and storage; however, in order to be successful, a library intranet must be easy to use, have the functionality desired by its users, and be integrated into the daily workflows of all library staff. Accomplishing this can be challenging for web librarians. The book covers, among other topics, third-party hosting; the use of freely available blog and wiki software for internal staff communication; and developing library intranets in ColdFusion, Microsoft SharePoint, and the open source Drupal content management system (CMS). More importantly, the authors examine in detail the human factors, which, when not thoroughly addressed, are more often the cause for a failed intranet than the technology platform. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Web Librarianship.

An inherent challenge for information professionals involves often difficult-to-quantify contributions of their initiatives to an organizations bottom line and the elusive ROI calculation. This practical guide explains why, when, and how a formal business case can be used as an effective tool for gaining support for information-based projects. Ulla de Stricker discusses the psychology of decision making involving human and financial investments and demonstrates a logically sequenced progression for structuring a business casefrom the identification of the problem, need, or opportunity to proposing viable solutions and ensuring the presentation is delivered with impact. It then provides and comments on three case studies illustrating different approaches to creating successful business case documents.

" "Computerization movement" (CM) refers to a special kind of social and technological movement that promotes the adoption of computing within organizations and society. ... Through theoretical analyses, systematic empirical studies, field-based studies, and case studies of specific technologies, the book shows CMs to be driven by Utopian visions of technology that become part of the "ether" within society. The empirical studies presented here show the need for designers, users, and the media to be aware that CM rhetoric can propose grand visions that never become part of a reality and reinforce the need for critical and scholarly review of promising new technologies."--Back cover.

This first-of-its-kind legal guide showcases how to use the latest Web-based and software technologies, such as Web 2.0, Google tools, Microsoft Office, and Acrobat, to work collaboratively and more efficiently on projects with colleagues, clients, co-counsel and even opposing counsel. The book provides a wealth of information useful to lawyers who are just beginning to try collaboration tools, as well as tips and techniques for those lawyers with intermediate and advanced collaboration experience.