Vol. 5, No. 1 October 2009 - units.sla.org - Special Libraries ...

Message from the Chair, Victor Camlek
Intelligence Insights is back—
we’ve picked up where we left off
and we are doing it with quality.
Although we’ve missed a few issues,
I’m pleased to say that in
this issue we’ve not missed a beat.
We owe a great deal of thanks to
the efforts and perseverance of our new Editor,
Sandra Stauffer, and to the various folks who have
contributed to this very interesting issue. We look
forward to bringing you additional coverage of a
variety of topics and events within the challenging
and provocative realm of competitive intelligence.
I would like to extend a heartfelt Happy Fifth Anniversary
to the entire membership of the Competitive
Intelligence Division. We’re celebrating five years of
accomplishment, along with the promise to continue
Scanning the Business Environment: More than
Information Delivery
Margareta Nelke, I.C. at Once
Scanning the business environment is an activity that everyone does—it is a
matter of survival. To get the most benefit from this activity it is however necessary
to complement the unsystematic serendipitous way of working with a
systematic and methodical approach. One method is to follow a Business Intelligence
cycle known as PCMAC: Plan & Prioritize, Capture, Manage, Analyze and
Communicate. This process allows the information specialist or librarian to participate
in and bring value to business intelligence activities.
Everybody’s Doing It
Everybody is scanning the surrounding world—it is a matter of survival. This
scanning is spontaneous and partly unconscious. In order to use the scanning
as a tool to improve your business you have to complement it with a conscious
and systematic approach.
Organizations and corporations need to monitor their business environment for
several reasons:
To follow what’s happening in the market and among competitors.
To follow legislation and regulations, new funding opportunities and impor-
(Continued on page 6)
The Bulletin of the
Competitive Intelligence Division
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
OCTOBER 2009
our goal to provide a meaningful organization that
will demonstrate increasing value to our members.
The fact that we’ve reached this cool milestone during
SLA’s Centennial year further illustrates the staying
power of our parent and the various applications
of our profession. Many things have changed over
the past one hundred years from the perspective of
SLA, and a remarkable number of changes have
occurred during the past five years since the beginning
of this Division. We will continue to work together
to explore how information professionals can
enjoy great satisfaction by utilizing their proven
skills in new and exciting ways as competitive intelligence
professionals.
Moving forward, I believe we are at an important
juncture in the domain of competitive intelligence.
(Continued on page 3)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Editor’s Letter 2
The Intel Blog 4
Intelligence Bookshelf 9
SLA Conference 10
Member News 19
Events Insights 19
Division Board 20

PAGE 2 INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
Bulletin Committee:
Welcome back to Intelligence
Insights! After a year-long hiatus,
Intelligence Insights resumes
publication with a new
look and a new sibling—The
Intel, the official blog of the
Competitive Intelligence (CI)
Division. Intelligence Insights
will continue to support competitive
intelligence practices and the professional development
of SLA's CI Division members. The quarterly
newsletter will focus on longer, in-depth articles
for professional development, as well as book reviews
and coverage of conference programs. The companion
blog, edited by Jill Stover Heinze, will provide information
on current news and events in the CI community,
as well as moderated discussions of CI topics. Jill and
I are excited by the opportunities that this new synergy
will provide, and hope that it will help CI Division
members to connect outside of the SLA Annual Conference.
Please read Jill’s article describing the focus
of The Intel blog, and check it out for yourself at
http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/dci/.
In this issue, you’ll find a review of the CI Division’s
annual conference program in Washington, DC. We
are also pleased to bring you Margareta Nelke, to discuss
best practices for scanning the business environ-
Sandra Stauffer, Editor, Intelligence Insights
Jill Stover Heinze, Editor, The Intel Blog
Teresa Wilkins, Subscription Manager
Vendor Relations Chair:
Paul Century
Division Web Team:
Letter from the Editor, Sandra Stauffer
Intelligence Insights
Shelley Arvin and John Azzolini
ment. Thank you to the moderators of our CI Division
program sessions, as well as our contributed paper
authors, for sharing their perceptions and lessons
learned from the SLA Annual Conference. With the advent
of The Intel blog, we’d like to explore liveblogging
of CI topics from next year’s annual conference
in New Orleans. Stay tuned for more details!
Finally, I’d like to offer a special thank you to Cynthia
Cheng Correia, for her gentle guidance and patient
mentoring of me as the new editor of Intelligence Insights.
It has been an exciting and challenging (and
humbling) experience thus far, and I look forward to
continuing this journey. Both the Intelligence Insights
newsletter and The Intel blog are recruiting additional
volunteers to assist with production, as well as new
content for publication. I look forward to your feedback
and your contributions!
Best regards,
Sandra Stauffer
sandra.stauffer@gmail.com
© 2009 Intelligence Insights, the Bulletin of the Competitive Intelligence Division. Intelligence Insights [ISSN: 1930-
0441] is a quarterly publication dedicated to supporting competitive intelligence practices and the professional
development of SLA’s Competitive Intelligence Division members. It is published electronically and distributed to
Competitive Intelligence Division members. Non-members may subscribe for $20.00 per year. Please send subscription
requests to Subscription Manager, Teresa Wilkins at teresa.wilkins@buckconsultants.com.
Intelligence Insights accepts advertising and other sponsorships. Please send inquiries to Paul Century, Vendor
Relations Chair, at PCentury@blgcanada.com.
Members and non-members are encouraged to contribute content. Publication of content is determined by the
Editor and the Bulletin Committee of Intelligence Insights. Article length may vary according to topic. For more
information about Intelligence Insights, please contact Sandra Stauffer, Editor, at sandra.stauffer@gmail.com.
Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by the contributors
to the Association's publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official position of Special
Libraries Association. Acceptance of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by Special
Libraries Association.

Message from the Chair, Victor Camlek
(Continued from page 1)
There are many challenges that we will likely encounter
along the future path of our profession. Given the severe
economic crisis facing many of the companies that employ
our colleagues, it is a reasonable assumption that many CI
teams have experienced serious impact. Even prior to the
crisis, we’ve seen articles proclaiming that the profession
is facing a fundamental shift in the way CI is organized
within an enterprise. However, as a CI veteran of many
years, I believe that there will be new opportunities to
practice our skills in the recovered economy.
As CI practitioners, we need to be part of a dynamic association
devoted to the interests of its professional membership.
I firmly believe that this notion elevates the importance
of the CI Division based on our current careersupporting
programs, coupled with the ―opportunity‖ to
become more visible as a premier organization of CI professionals.
The fine programs that we bring to the table
include CI training and certification, the Intelligence Insights
newsletter and The Intel blog, the CI Division Mentoring
agenda, and our annual SLA Conference program.
Great organizations have a vision and a strategy to
achieve that vision. I believe our Division is poised to continue
its initial accomplishments and serve as a strong
voice articulating the issues facing our members. Our new
blog, The Intel, offers an opportunity to collaborate and
share ideas. The Intelligence Insights newsletter provides
a forum to address developments and issues, and, most
importantly, to peel back the layers of the CI profession
Are You In the Loop?
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
The Competitive Intelligence Division Web Site offers information
about our division, the Intelligence Insights archive, as well as a
growing body of Intelligence resources to support your needs
and interests. Visit us at: www.sla.org/division/dci/cihome.htm.
The Competitive Intelligence Division Discussion List is our own
forum dedicated to CI-related news, issues, and questions. Find
out how you can join at www.sla.org/division/dci/DiscussList.htm
and start sharing your thoughts and ideas!
with articles on the various elements of a practitioner’s
value-added work. This will help us to be aware of the
kinds of skills and training we need to succeed.
PAGE 3
I would like to thank our founding Editor, Cynthia Cheng
Correia, for the energy and dedication she contributed to
the development and support of Intelligence Insights. This
is a noteworthy publication and I am committed to supporting
it fully. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to
contribute a few articles to Insights, and I truly appreciated
Cynthia's editorial expertise. I also want to thank
Cynthia for her service and dedication to the CI Division
and wish her well as she continues her career as a highly
regarded CI practitioner and expert trainer.
I also want to extend a special thank you to Scott Brown,
who has been a vital contributor to the CI Division. Scott
will continue to serve as Past Chair in 2010, and I’m looking
forward to working with him over the next year.
The CI Division is in a great position to continue on a path
that will position it as a beacon of light, guiding its members
by providing meaningful news, insights, and the opportunity
to share our various views and perspectives.
Let’s all work together to make this beacon even stronger
as we develop our agenda moving forward.
Victor Camlek
victor.camlek@thomsonreuters.com

PAGE 4 INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
The Intel Blog: A Forum for Professional Development
Even in the most ordinary times, keeping up with news
and trends in our profession can be a challenge. And we
certainly are not living in ordinary times! The daily news
brings with it notice of layoffs, bankruptcies, and new
regulations. Few of us are untouched by these developments.
Many are struggling with job loss or reduced
hours, while others are trying to cope with heavier workloads
and making sense of game-changing events. As we
sort through monumental work and life changes, the connections
we rely upon in our professional association take
on new importance. Friendly advice, training opportunities,
and fresh perspectives can inspire and guide us
through uncertain times.
As a new member of the CI Division, I can attest to the
immeasurable value I have received in finding a place with
colleagues who understand the challenges I face and offer
me guidance. Intelligence Insights serves as an important
vehicle for sharing this professional knowledge that supports
members' everyday work. Also important, however,
are timely updates and opportunities to exchange
thoughts and ideas instantly. These needs motivated us to
create The Intel blog - a forum for CI professionals to participate
in a dialogue and continue their professional development
online as events unfold.
The Intel blog serves as an extension of the Intelligence
Insights newsletter. Authors who contribute to the newsletter
will also be offered the opportunity to interact with
readers by bringing discussions about their articles into
the blog, thereby allowing readers to gain even more insight
from the aptly-named publication. The blog also supplements
newsletter articles with breaking news and current
information about upcoming events of interest. Perhaps
most importantly, The Intel blog allows members of
the CI Division to have a greater voice. Here, members
can write and comment about what is going on in the profession
and contribute their own expertise to benefit others.
The Intel blog will include such features as:
Events Insights: This former newsletter feature will
now be part of the blog and will highlight the latest
training opportunities and events.
Get to Know the Board: The blog will introduce CI
Division board members and their special projects to
help members become more aware of leadership initiatives.
Essays: Reflective writing on themes and issues im-
portant to CI Division members.
Tips and teachings: Helpful advice for working in
and managing a CI function.
We hope and expect that The Intel blog will become a
dynamic, informative forum for members to learn from
one another. Securing the success of this new publication
will depend on your readership and contributions. We welcome
you to make The Intel blog a part of your regular
reading and to comment on posts in order to add your
own perspectives. Also, we invite you to contribute posts
that support the blog's professional development mission.
Please send your posts, content suggestions, and overall
feedback to intel.insights@gmail.com. We hope you will
enjoy participating in this new service for members.
Jill Stover Heinze
New Beginnings: A Facelift for Intelligence Insights
The CI Division Board, Intelligence Insights editor Sandra
Stauffer, and The Intel blog editor Jill Stover Heinze offer
their sincere appreciation to Heather A. Perry, the web
designer who created new logos for both Intelligence Insights
and The Intel blog.
The new logos provide a distinct identity for both publications,
yet with a unifying theme. The picture in the upper
right corner of each logo serves a dual purpose: it illus-
Editor, The Intel Blog
http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/dci/
trates a magnifying glass honing in on its target and it
also spells out ―CI‖—our Division’s purpose.
It can be challenging to coordinate suggestions and feedback
from a diverse (and enthusiastic) panel of editors
and board members; both Jill and Heather kept the design
process on track. We hope you like the new logos as
much as we do. Thank you, Heather!

PAGE 6 INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
Scanning the Business Environment: More than Information Delivery
(Continued from page 1) Advantages to the organization or corporation are often a
more efficient process and more comprehensive data for
tant decisions from authorities.
To be proactive for early discovery of threats and op-
portunities.
To inform strategic planning—what products and ser-
vices to develop, how is the situation in the market.
To map current and potential clients, partners, and
competitors.
To be a well informed business partner.
To be a well informed employee—scanning the busi-
ness environment also means competence development.
Systematic monitoring, analyzing and synthesizing lead to
insight on which alternative actions to take and what road
to choose. The ―Triple-I-Chain‖ where Information is
transformed into Intelligence, which creates Insight, is a
value-adding process.
Business intelligence has been a natural activity in corporations
for a long time. Lately, more and more organizations,
universities and authorities have started to work
with business intelligence. This is driven by increased
competition in funding and requirements to prove result
and return on investment. In many cases, information
specialists participate in this work with their core competence
to locate, collect, refine and manage information.
Figure: The PCMAC Model
analyses. Advantages for information specialists are better
integration in and understanding of the business and increased
visibility.
The Process
Scanning the business environment and creating business
intelligence is more than information delivery, it is a process
where different competences act together to bring
reliable and relevant data for strategic decisions. There
are several advantages to using a method for the process:
It provides a systematic way of working that can be
repeated, validated, and improved.
It uses a check-list to not forget anything important.
It increases the possibilities for a mutual understand-
ing between the client and the information specialist.
It means increased quality and a more cost-effective
way of working.
The method could be a Business Intelligence (BI) cycle.
There are several variants of the BI cycle; my variant is
called the Plan & Prioritize, Capture, Manage, Analyze and
Communicate (PCMAC) method. It can be used for ad hoc
intelligence for special cases or for continuous monitoring
of the areas that are of critical importance for your business—Key
Intelligence Topics (KITs).
The PCMAC phases are not sequential, but some of them
are done in parallel. It is, however, very important to start
with the Plan & Prioritize phase as it is the key to further
steps. Capture and Manage are often parallel activities and
go hand in hand with the Analyze phase.
Plan & Prioritize
This phase answers the classic questions Why, What,
Who, How and When.
Why do we need business intelligence? What is the purpose
of doing it? When you are scanning the business environment
for your client, be sure that he or she knows
the answer to these questions.
What in the environment do we need to scan? Are the
KITs identified and are they connected to the Why question?
Identifying the KITs is best done as teamwork where
(Continued on page 7)

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
Scanning the Business Environment: More than Information Delivery
(Continued from page 6) games, road mapping...there are plenty of them.
you as the information specialist have a given role. It can
be done in workshops or in brainstorming sessions to get
all the facts on the table before evaluating and prioritizing
them. It can also be done according to a more structured
method like EPISTELM 1 . Prioritizing can be done with an
impact-probability analysis 2 . The key to success is to do
your homework with the Why and What questions.
Who is doing what? How is the work to be done? What is
the ambition level as to time, quality, and cost?
When do we need the result? Do we need the result for
certain occasions in the annual cycle—market plans, strategy
days, budgeting—or for regular meetings; whatever
the purpose, the right timing is a must.
Capture
If you are an information specialist this phase is, of
course, very familiar. It is about source evaluation and
selection, search strategies and search methods to quickly
and efficiently find relevant and accurate ―published‖ information.
However, human sources coming from your or
the client’s networks should also be included.
Manage
The manage phase goes hand in hand with the capture
phase. An important first step is the filtering process. The
starting point for filtering is of course the KITs, but to
evaluate the relevance of the information is often difficult.
The selection task is one of the most important and difficult
tasks for an information specialist. Moreover, it is often
an overlooked task. Information specialists don’t deliver
just information. They deliver selected, managed,
refined and packaged information as a part of the analysis
work. The task to filter and manage is a value-adding task
that requires both information competence and knowledge
of the actual area. Therefore, it is very important that you
get enough knowledge about the purpose of the scanning
and that you participate in the work to identify the KITs.
Analyze
In the analysis phase a synthesis of the captured and
managed information is done. Different methods can be
used like SWOT, EPISTELM, scenario planning, war
Communicate
PAGE 7
In this phase the result of the analysis is disseminated to
the target group. Check with the client to determine the
target group, as well as the form in which the result
should be presented. Dissemination also means the target
group should be able to retrieve and access the information—dissemination
in time and space!
Working with business intelligence
There is a lot that you as an information specialist can do
within business intelligence. Besides participating in business
activities you can support these activities through the
following actions:
Recommend working ways, methods, and tools.
Train in methods and information research.
Disseminate results in the form of regular newsletters.
Assist in disseminating tacit knowledge through tools
like a Who-knows-What database.
Specify demands for, purchase, and implement busi-
ness intelligence systems and tools.
Evaluate, select and purchase information.
Tips to avoid common pitfalls
Many people working with business intelligence experience
some challenges (including me). Fortunately you
learn from your mistakes. I have outlined some common
pitfalls, as well as tips to avoid them.
Pitfall: Scanning without an explicit purpose.
Tip: Demand an explicit purpose before starting the
project.
(Continued on page 8)
1 EPISTELM is an acronym for Economics, Politics, Society, Technology,
Environment, Legislation and Media. It has several variants and it is used
to ensure that all parts of the business environment are covered.
2 The probability that the KIT is going to occur and the impact it has on
the organization if it occurs. It is used for different reasons, e.g. for risk
analyses.

PAGE 8 INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
Scanning the Business Environment: More than Information Delivery
(Continued from page 7)
Pitfall: The result is not in line with the client’s ex-
pectations.
Tip: Maintain clear communication and regular con-
tact with the client.
Pitfall: The result is negative for the client, who turns
this fact against you.
Tip: Again, define a clear purpose before starting the
project and maintain regular communication with the
client.
Pitfall: There is no organization for managing the
results of regular scanning.
Tip: Demand that this organization be in place before
starting the project.
Pitfall: The scanning produces information only—no
analyses.
Tip: Demand the client allocate resources for analy-
ses.
Business intelligence is a growing area not only in corporations,
but also at universities, organizations and authorities.
As an information specialist, you can give a good
contribution and add value to your client. And last but not
at least—it is exciting, instructive, and fun.
This article is also published in Swedish in the January 2008 issue of
InfoTrend, a Nordic journal for information specialists.
Margareta Nelke works in her own firm, I.C. at Once
(www.icatonce.com), with business intelligence, business development
and information provision strategies. In 2006, her book ―Bevaka din
omvärld‖ (about business intelligence) was published in Swedish by
Liber (www.liber.se). Margareta is also president of the Swedish
Association for Information Specialists.

BOOK REVIEW: The Intelligence Bookshelf
Teresa Wilkins, Buck Consultants
Competitive Intelligence: Fast, Cheap & Ethical. By
Rob Duncan. AuthorHouse. 2008.
This book is a quick read offering a compilation of CI tools
and techniques based on the author’s experience teaching
and consulting in the fields of marketing and competitive
intelligence.
Divided into three parts: Core CI Skills, Applied CI Skills
and Tying it All Together, this book presents the behavioral
attributes that serve as the foundation for competitive
intelligence work, the techniques and methods used
as tools to obtain and analyze information and offers advice
on how to incorporate core and applied CI skills as a
daily practice. Each chapter in the book is dedicated to a
core and applied skill, and ends with a series of exercises
to help improve or master the specific skill or technique
discussed.
The core skills to be a good CI practitioner identified by
the author are: Curiosity, Sensory Awareness, Numeracy,
Research Ability and Ethics. Regarding ethics, the author
states that ―nothing about top-notch CI has to be unethical‖.
SCIP's Code of Ethics for CI Professionals is included
in the chapter on ethics and it is one of the issues addressed
throughout the book.
The applied skills segment examines common CI tactics
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
PAGE 9
and techniques, selected by the author because they are
quick, effective and ethical ways to gather information.
These CI ―tools‖ include: Industry Analysis, Internet Competitor
Analysis, Qualitative Market Research, Quantitative
Market Research, Mystery Shopping, Human Intelligence,
Trade Show Intelligence and Executive Profiling. According
to the author, ―few of the CI techniques presented are
uniquely mine‖. In fact, Michael Porter’s 5 Forces Model is
suggested as one of the tools to use to develop a CI Matrix
for Industry Analysis. The chapter on Internet Competitor
Analysis provides useful tips on using Google, The
Invisible Web, RSS, Web Aggregators and Blogs as ethical
and inexpensive ways to gather information and as a fast
way to gain a competitive advantage.
In the final segment, advice on how to keep the CI process
sustainable is offered.
―Competitive Intelligence Fast, Cheap & Ethical‖ is concise,
well-written, well-organized, and truly meets its objective
to ―demystify CI tools and techniques‖. New and seasoned
practitioners will want to add this timely CI field
manual to their intelligence book shelves.
The Intelligence Bookshelf features reviews of books and other
publications related to and benefiting intelligence practices.
Share Your Insights
Do you have any thoughts, comments, or insights about the bulletin
or the blog, or about intelligence practices?
Do you have expertise you can share?
Have you read an interesting book that you’d like to review?
Have you attended a workshop or seminar worth mentioning?
Do you have any professional news or upcoming events that
you’d like to share with your CI Division colleagues?
Contact us at intel.insights@gmail.com.

PAGE 10
SLA 2009 Annual Conference Highlights: Washington, DC
Competitive Intelligence Division Business Meeting and Breakfast
Speaker: Arik Johnson, Aurora WDC
By Session Moderator Scott Brown, Past Chair, CI Division
This year’s CI Division Business Meeting and Breakfast
was a terrific success. Despite the 7:00am start time (and
that’s EST—even harder for those of us from earlier time
zones), we had a good group of 30–40 folks.
CI Division membership at most recent count is 674. The
Division’s current account has $43,252.37. We are looking
at options for putting some of the current cash in our account
into no risk short term investment vehicles such as
Certificates of Deposits (CDs).
The CI Division will conduct a comprehensive survey of
members in early fall, as a way of checking in with members
and updating our understanding of their profiles and
needs. The last extensive survey was conducted in May
2005.
The CI Division Board is delighted and excited with our
INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
The SLA CI Division Thanks
initiatives for this year, as reported by each of the Division
leaders. I want to express my deep appreciation to everyone
who helped make the 2009 CI Division sessions a success,
including Kathleen Rainwater, Jill Strand and Cynthia
Cheng-Correia, who comprised the 2009 CI Division Planning
Committee, for providing sound support and great
ideas; James King, who ran with the Spy Museum event
and turned it into an event tour de force (best selling ticketed
event at the Conference!); and of course our speakers,
event sponsors, and moderators, who help the Division
produce exciting and enlightening programs this year.
The 2010 planning team is already up and running, thinking
about topics, speakers and sponsorships for the New
Orleans conference.
The new initiatives, such as the re-tooled Intelligence Insights
newsletter, The Intel blog, and 2010 programming)
(Continued on page 11)
the Sponsors and Supporters of Our 2009 Conference Program

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1 PAGE 11
Competitive Intelligence Division Business Meeting and Breakfast
(Continued from page 10)
are part of our effort to keep up with the professional development
needs and support of our members and their
priorities. We also hope to continue our webinars initiative
in the second half of 2009.
As the CI Division Past Chair, I talked briefly about the
changes going on at SCIP. The Division already has many
members who are also SCIP members, and several of our
speakers are SCIP members as well. I hope that we will
continue to have an open dialogue with SCIP members
about ways that we can partner together.
At the business meeting, we also were very fortunate to
have Arik Johnson of Aurora WDC speaking about Intelligence
2.0. Arik’s talk was about a significant shift in competitive
intelligence. These days, competitive advantage is
not necessarily about having a unique piece of information—it’s
more about being aware of the landscape and
seeing emerging trends. As Arik put it, Intelligence 1.0
was influenced by the military intelligence community
moving into business, and was reflective of policy and political
perspectives of the nation. Intelligence 1.0 was
about getting the "nugget" of information that nobody
else has—which often led to ethical dilemmas.
Intelligence 2.0 is more about dealing with the "info-glut",
and interpreting what's there, as well as trends and directions.
Because of this shift, everyone in the firm becomes
a virtual member of the CI team, because everyone is getting
a flow of unique information. As a result, Arik suggested
dropping all "descriptive" words for intelligence
(competitive, business, market) and just calling it
"intelligence".
The ultimate product of intelligence is confidence—which
is provided to decision makers so they don't have to second-guess
themselves. If you're interested in more conversation
and perspective on this topic, check out the CI
Ning community at http://www.CI2020.com.
It was a great business meeting, presentation and breakfast—I
just wish I’d had more time to talk with everyone!

PAGE 12
Skills for the Effective CI Practitioner
INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
Speakers: Claudia Clayton, Managing Director, ViewPoint; Toni Wilson, Principal Educator and
Consultant, MarketSmart Research Services
By Session Moderator Victor Camlek, VP Market Intelligence,
The Healthcare & Science business of Thomson
Reuters
This presentation was offered by Claudia Clayton, Managing
Director of ViewPoint and Toni Wilson, Principal Educator
and Consultant for MarketSmart Research Services.
Although the session appeared to focus on across-theboard
CI skills, the talk also distinguished the differences
between corporate and independent CI roles. In fact, this
reviewer left with the perception that the presentations
demonstrated a bit more zeal about the value of the independent.
Perhaps this was due to the fact that both presenters
had moved into an independent role following corporate
careers.
The session proved valuable as the attendees learned
about various personal attributes and professional qualifications
that are necessary ingredients that enable practitioners
to perform full-service CI work. For example, CI
practitioners should be: inquisitive, persistent, confident,
observant, creative, independent, self motivated, selfdirected
and capable of showing initiative. These skills
coupled with various ―learnable skills‖ permit the practitioner
to understand various business concepts. The learnable
skills range from basic research techniques to the
Competitive Intelligence and the Government Librarian
Speaker: Roberta Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress, Library of Congress
By Session Moderator Scott Brown, Past Chair, CI Division
Roberta Shaffer of the Library of Congress spoke to a
packed room about the role of competitive intelligence for
government librarians. (Roberta made clear that these
were her own opinions, and not those of the Library of
Congress!) The session was co-sponsored by the CI Division
and the Military Librarians Division, and generously
funded by Dialog/ProQuest.
Roberta started by providing her definition of CI: a process
that gathers data and information from diverse
sources and puts it all together by using analytics, in order
to evaluate, interpret and apply that mosaic to a specific
industry, organization, program, project or event. The
ability to use various analytical frameworks. In addition,
the successful CI type should be able as function as an
effective team player while being an evangelist and advocate
of the CI role. In addition, knowledge of management
techniques, such as sales and marketing, along with
strong communications and presentation skills are also
vital. Nor should we forget various primary CI skills such
as elicitation and an awareness of the standard CI process
cycle. We also were told that the effective CI type should
be quite effective at networking.
For those attendees who may have identified personal
weaknesses among the many requirements presented, the
two speakers offered a valuable section devoted to ways
to improve one’s personal inventory of skills. The useful
tips ranged from informal reading and reference sources,
to formal education, training and mentoring.
Overall, this was an excellent session for the entry-level CI
practitioner or those individuals contemplating a move into
a CI job. The independent practitioner techniques mentioned
were coupled with various anecdotes derived from
the many years of impressive service that our two speakers
possess.
government phrase for CI is "strategic intelligence".
According to Roberta, library science tends to look at
―hard facts‖—known authority, authenticity, reliability, and
experience with the source. CI looks at hard fact sources,
but also ―soft sources‖—rumors, anecdotes, op-ed pieces,
and customer feedback. CI also rates information on confidence
levels: HIGH (solid), MODERATE (plausible/
credible but not corroborated) and LOW (scant, fragmented,
problems with source). However, today library
science and CI are getting closer because library science is
now finding ways to incorporate Web 2.0 and grey literature
into our sources.
(Continued on page 13)

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1
Competitive Intelligence and the Government Librarian
(Continued from page 12)
The government intelligence landscape is also different
from business and competitive intelligence in that it includes
regulators, auditors, and other similar bodies. It is
very common today for nations, states, regions, and cities
to engage in competitive intelligence, then to use regulations,
tax incentives, banks, immigration, local universities
and schools, health care, quality of life and transportation
systems to compete with peers.
Government CI is really more about identifying strategic
trends rather than "competitors". Roberta shared a couple
of acronyms that identify other forces to track in government
CI:
PEST: Political, economic, social and technology fac-
tors.
PESTLE: Using PEST as previously defined, but adding
legal and environmental factors/forces.
Governments often look at leading indicators and bellwethers—in
my opinion, one of the hardest things to identify
in CI work.
Roberta then shared her view of some of the leading nations
in different areas and indicators:
Finland: education innovation.
Philippines: workforce/work ethic.
Lies, Damned Lies, and Annual Reports
Speaker: Mary Ellen Bates, Principal, Bates Information Services
By Session Moderator Victor Camlek, VP Market Intelligence,
The Healthcare & Science business of Thomson
Reuters
This session was colorfully presented by Mary Ellen Bates,
a well known CI expert and founder of Bates Information
Services. Ms. Bates was quite adept as she offered an
engaging session that held everyone’s attention. The presentation
focused on the best way to read and understand
SEC Filings, such as the annual Form 10-K and Form 8-K.
As the session title indicates, rather than simply a rehash
of various financial terms and a simple summary of the
various sections of a Form 10-K, Mary Ellen provided a
Korea: manufacturing efficiencies.
Nigeria: shipping gateway to Europe and the US.
Netherlands: a very open society.
Norway: exemplifying a flexible and citizen-
empowered government.
Brazil: raw materials, manufacturing, technology.
Some of Roberta’s favorite sources include:
World Future Society: http://www.wfs.org
PAGE 13
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop-
ment (OECD): http://www.oecd.org
Federal Reserve: http://www.federalreserve.gov
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA):
http://www.usda.gov
United States Department of Commerce: http://
www.commerce.gov
Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com
Seed Magazine: http://www.seedmagazine.com
Science Magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org
Overall, Roberta gave a powerful overview of the breadth
of government CI—or should I say, strategic intelligence.
A compelling and thought-provoking session!
lively and fast-paced tour through the many ―techniques‖
that are often included in creative Form 10-K authoring.
Ms. Bates first described ways to gather financial information
from company web sites. Then she proceeded to dissect
the Form 10-K piece by piece. She provided useful
tips about the way many of the sections may be used for
competitive analysis purposes. For example, in addition to
financial data these forms contain a wealth of fact-based
data about competitors, product offerings, business risks
and other vital information. Ms. Bates showed how some
(Continued on page 14)

PAGE 14
Lies, Damned Lies, and Annual Reports
companies provide outstanding information while others
offer banal statements that simply permit them to conform
to the requirement to file. One good section that epitomizes
banality is the statement about business risks. Ms.
Bates noted how statements about ―business risks‖ that
identify the need to maintain a competent staff as a challenge
are truly laughable and lack any reference to realistic
descriptions of true business risks.
From the perspective of this reviewer, the session was a
terrific opportunity for those folks who have little financial
information experience or who are challenged by the prospect
of exploring these documents—a valuable and user-
INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
(Continued from page 13) friendly 101 perspective. Of course, once the CI profes-
sional gets into these required filings there awaits another
layer of knowledge required to deal with the financial performance
exhibits, such as the income statement, balance
sheet, and statement of cash flows. Indeed, it would have
been wonderful to have the pleasure to spend several
more hours with Mary Ellen Bates to hear her expound on
some of the basic elements of financial analysis.
Perhaps the key take-away from this session was the notion
that regardless of your level of financial acumen, the
best skills needed to assess financial data would be the
ability to approach a series of facts, figures, and statements
with a somewhat cynical and skeptical approach.

CI Clinic: The Prescription for your CI Needs
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1 PAGE 15
Speakers: Ellen Naylor, CEO, The Business Intelligence Source; Jennifer Swanson, CI/Market Analyst,
Draper Laboratory
By Session Moderator Kathleen Rainwater, Owner, Competitive
Business Research
The purpose of the CI Clinic was to provide an opportunity
for SLA conference attendees to ask the panelists anything
about Competitive Intelligence. Ellen Naylor and Jennifer
Swanson, both CI practitioners with over 25 years of experience,
fielded a variety questions about CI.
A lot of CI gathering involves primary research.
How has the internet and social networking affected
your primary research process?
Social networking sites have made it easier to find names
of experts—but people are getting more calls and are becoming
less willing to talk to a researcher. A CI researcher
can learn a lot about a person via social networking sites,
however, the person you are researching can also find out
who you are through the same tools. There is the possibility
that once they know who you are, they will end the
conversation.
Ellen Naylor has enthusiastically embraced social networking
as a means to expand her primary research network.
Ellen says it takes time to build a reputation on Twitter.
She recommends that you use your tweets wisely and
provide something of value in each tweet. People really do
not need to know ―what you are doing,‖ but are interested
in ―what you find useful.‖ Ellen tracks topics on Twitter
with Twilert (http://www.twilert.com/), which she says is
much faster to review than an RSS feed on a topic. She
recommends Twellow (http://www.twellow.com/) for finding
experts within Twitter. Ellen also recommends using
your LinkedIn contacts to find experts; joining the CI social
network on Ning (http://www.ci2020.com/) and
monitoring Duct Tape Marketing (http://
www.ducttapemarketing.com/).
How much time should you spend on a research
project and how do you know when to stop?
First, ask about your client’s expectations: Does the project
have strategic purpose or is it just a quick overview?
What is the budget for the project? If your client needs a
quick turnaround, or has a limited budget, make sure he
or she understands that the information you can gather
will be limited.
Communicate with your customers before, during and after
the project. Ask your customers about their expectations.
Find out what they need to know, why they need to
know it and who the ultimate audience is. ―The quality of
your answers is directly related to the quality of your
questions.‖
Keep the lines of communication open and contact your
client during the course of the project. Schedule regular
meetings with your client as the project progresses.
Ultimately, the amount of time you spend on a project is
determined by your customer’s needs. At some point,
even if time and budget are unlimited, you have to stop
and realize that you’ve covered most of the possible
sources.
Can you do CI without primary research?
About 80% of the information you need is available in
publicly available sources. However, about 20% of competitive
information is only available through primary research.
What does it take to transition from a position as a
Corporate or Academic Librarian to a full time Competitive
Intelligence position?
Learn business analysis tools and practice analyzing
companies and industries.
Work on your primary research skills.
Practice adding value to your research.
Building expertise in an industry can help you get your
first CI position.
Be willing to take an entry level position; you can
learn CI skills on the job.
An MBA is helpful—it gives you knowledge of the business
environment, and an understanding of how business operates.
However, if you don’t have the time or money for an
MBA program, at least take some classes on business
analysis. Ellen recommends the following two books:
―Strategic and Competitive Analysis: Methods and
Techniques for Analyzing Business Competition‖ by
(Continued on page 16)

PAGE 16
INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
CI Clinic: The Prescription for your CI Needs
(Continued from page 15) Jennifer Swanson told the audience to remember that ―CI
is fun—it’s like putting puzzles back together. Once you
Craig S. Fleisher and Babette Bensoussan, 2002.
―The Analyst’s Cookbook‖ by Kristan J. Wheaton,
Emily E. Mosco and Diane E. Chido, 2006.
Primary research involves the art of Elicitation, which is a
skill set that can be learned (you can take a course). One
of the best books on elicitation is ―Confidential: Business
Secrets—Getting Theirs, Keeping Yours‖ by John Nolan,
1999.
Can you share some tips on adding value to research
results?
Start with an executive summary and include your recommendations.
Organize the research results. If you can, put
the information into an Excel spreadsheet and make the
data sortable so your client can work with the data.
Make your report visually easy to read. Use the analytical
tools with which your customer is familiar. Keep the report
as simple as possible, and provide a summary of the background
information.
Ask yourself (and your customer) ―What does my customer
really want? What is the end result my customer
needs? How persuasively can I present the information?‖
If you see a gap in the research questions, think of some
piece of information that would make the research more
useful and then find and add that information.
What is the future of the Competitive Intelligence
profession?
Many industries reach maturity in 30 years. CI as a profession
began around 1986 and reached its peak during the
1990s. SCIP membership was at a high in the mideighties
but the organization has always had a very high
membership turnover. People join, pick up a skill set and
then move on to other jobs. As the discipline of CI matures,
it is becoming more of a managerial discipline that
is integrated into a wide variety of professional positions.
At the end of the session, the panelists were asked
for ‘one final piece of advice.”
―Beware of CI‖ was the final word of advice from Ellen
Naylor. ―Don’t get caught only looking at your past and
your customers—be visionary.‖
have completed your research, the analysis and report
writing is the fun part.‖

Incorporating CI into Your Services: Real Life Examples
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1 PAGE 17
Speakers: Tim McAllister, Research Specialist, Kirkland & Ellis; Greg Lambert, Library & Records
Manager, King & Spaulding; J.O. Wallace, Global Research Librarian, Latham & Watkins
By Session Moderator Jill Strand
This panel featured three law firm info pros sharing tips,
tools and technology used in providing actionable competitive
intelligence for their organizations.
Tim McAllister, Research Specialist, Kirkland &
Ellis, Washington, DC
―When we do our jobs well, we give others the mental
space to do their jobs well,‖ said McAllister in describing
what we all try to accomplish when providing competitive
intelligence. In his firm, this translates into a weekly email
alert sent to a wide range of leaders and administrators.
As part of the ―hunting and gathering‖ process, he
culls from magazines, newspapers, blogs, RSS feeds, law
firm press releases and any other resources suggested by
attorneys, administrators or his fellow librarians. Using
LexisNexis® Publisher and the Update Scanner add-on for
Firefox, he monitors sources including AbovetheLaw.com,
The Legal Times, The National Law Journal, Legal-
Week.com, and Law.com. The key topics tracked include
M&A, opening and closing of offices, attorney moves, law
firm marketing trends and finances such as fee structure,
billing rates, and salaries.
For the final product everything is distilled into bullet
points focused only on facts. Never more than three
pages, the weekly e-mail alert includes contact information
for follow-up and is easily readable via Blackberry. In
the beginning it was sent to the firm’s management committee,
but now the distribution list includes senior staff,
office administrators, the Information Services Manager,
Client Services and Business Development staff. Back issues
are stored in the firm’s document management system.
Tracking, gathering, processing, and presenting this
information can take anywhere from 3-5 hours a week,
with delivery on Friday. Tim feels it has been helpful—he
has received good feedback from firm leaders and been
asked to provide further research on some topics. He also
uses the weekly alerts to help prepare an annual CI
benchmarking report.
Greg Lambert, Library & Records Manager, King &
Spaulding, Houston, TX
Just as Greg was getting his CI efforts into gear, the recession
hit and his library lost nearly half its research staff
in February. Like many firms across the country, they had
to decide whether to pursue or drop their CI efforts—they
decided to figure out how to make a CI strategy work with
fewer resources and by streamlining current tasks.
The CI publication that came out of this effort collects articles
and alerts using various sources including the press
and marketing pages of all AmLaw 100 firms. Greg uses
WatchThatPage.com to monitor law firm and other websites,
and information gathered is tagged using a Librarycreated
internal taxonomy based on key topics, firm practice
groups, etc. The entire process takes approximately
two hours a day to produce and his team is constantly
working with the firm’s IT and KM departments to see if
there is a better way to grab information.
Greg also discussed a new resource from Amazon.com his
library has been testing to help with large scale CI projects.
After reading ―Rethink: A Business Manifesto for
Cutting Costs and Boosting Innovation‖ by Ric Merrifield (a
recent book on crowd-sourcing) he turned to Amazon Mechanical
Turk (http://aws.amazon.com/mturk/), a resource
that uses pools of people willing to perform small
repetitive tasks. The pricing model is based on a per-unit
cost so you only pay for each piece of information gathered.
If no information is found, there is no charge.
The Library set out to test it on a few projects, the first of
which involved finding names of general counsels for top
health care companies. A list of companies and instructions
was submitted and Amazon Mechanical Turk workers
signed up to work on the project. They completed it in 6.3
hours for $1.51 an hour with a $.15 surcharge for each
answer gathered. They were able to find answers for 52
of the 80+ companies on the list. In addressing the ethics
of this work model, Greg noted that he spoke with some
of the workers and that most see this not as a full-time or
even part-time job but simply as a way to make some extra
money.
J.O. Wallace, Global Research Librarian, Latham &
Watkins, Washington, DC
J.O. produces a weekly Legal Trends e-mail newsletter
sourced from a variety of legal publications, websites, and
blogs. He uses MS Word as an editor and to maintain a
(Continued on page 18)

PAGE 18
INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
Incorporating CI into Your Services: Real Life Examples
(Continued from page 17)
―newspaper‖ feel, inserts a 3-column table with narrow
margins between each column. A table of contents is included
while a photo or graph is usually inserted at the
top of the center column to add visual interest. It can be
printed or read on a Blackberry because J.O. feels that it
is important to have the minimum number of clicks possible.
―Even a one-click-through link is too much for many
attorneys,‖ he says. The newsletter is sent firm-wide and
usually takes two to three hours a week to complete.
For business development projects, J.O. has created a
―company dossier‖ template and sources everything in it.
Categories include key management, Board of Directors,
competitors and recent analyst reports. While many ven-
Navigating Turbulent Times through Partnerships
dors offer similar reports, compiling the information into
Latham’s own template can be time-consuming. Latham
wanted something very specific that fit their needs.
Another popular area J.O. tracks is securities law and SEC
class actions. By tracking SEC press releases, he can help
his firm to get a foot in the door more quickly to gain potential
new business. E-mails are sent to in-house attorneys
to see if they would like the library to track and do a
work-up on a specific SEC lawsuit, defendant company
and gather information on the audience and underwriters.
All three speakers received high praise from the attendees
at the session with comments ranging from ―these are
tools I can use right away‖ to ―best session at the whole
conference!‖ Many thanks, gentlemen!
Authors: Jill Stover Heinze, Research Analyst—Marketing Department, Affinion Loyalty Group;
Kimberly Kortash, Director—Brand Communications, Affinion Loyalty Group
By Contributed Paper Author Jill Stover Heinze
This year, SLA selected nine contributed paper proposals
to be developed into full papers and presented at the Annual
Conference. I was delighted that my paper was
among those chosen, as it provided an ideal opportunity
to share with competitive intelligence colleagues a strategy
for surviving and thriving in difficult economic circumstances.
As a solo corporate librarian doing CI work, the current
recession has increased demand on limited research services
while our company takes a fresh look at its products
and market positioning. In reassessing our strategy, I
have been called upon to do tasks outside my previous
scope, including writing white papers and industry news
articles. Doing so has improved my internal visibility and
the value I can add to achieving organizational goals, but
I did not accomplish these things without the help of a
key internal partner—our Brand Communications Department.
Brand Communications is the company’s internal creative
agency that represents our brand and those of our clients.
I work within the Department where I can influence our
communications and brand image with marketplace information,
while also benefiting from the team’s expertise.
The Brand Communications professionals possess specialized
skill sets and processes that are not typical of librarians
but that librarians can utilize to improve their own
work. For example, by working closely with the team, I
have improved my creative thinking and brainstorming
process, adopted their time tracking methods, and attained
an improved ability to communicate my research
findings visually, as well as verbally. In turn, by better
understanding the value CI brings, Brand Communications
has helped CI present more polished, professional deliverables
to my internal clients by doing such things as creating
a CI logo and redesigning my newsletter template.
It was my hope that this paper would inspire colleagues to
view the unfortunate economic downturn in terms of the
opportunities it provides to help their clients weather the
financial storm. To do so, it is important to consider finding
partners you can work with who have complementary
skills so that by working together, all partners become
better in their own roles, which in turn generates new
ways to make valuable contributions. This paper presents
an overview of the partnership, what each party gained
from it, and suggestions for creating similar synergies in
your own organization.
The full text of this contributed paper is available at http://www.sla.org/
pdfs/sla2009/navigatingturbulenttimes_heinze.pdf.

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 1 PAGE 19
Federal Government Information Goes Social? Implications for CI
Author: Kim Lyall, Outreach Specialist, NASA Center for AeroSpace Information
By Contributed Paper Author Kim Lyall
Federal government information, spanning such topics as
energy research, financial regulatory data, and demographic
statistics can be useful to the competitive intelligence
professional because of the variety and low cost of
obtaining the information. While the federal government
traditionally made this information available in printed
form, they now produce most of their reports, research,
and statistics online.
Before the Obama administration took office in 2009,
various federal agencies were experimenting with social
technologies such as wikis, blogs, Twitter feeds, and
Flickr images to facilitate internal work and communication
with the public. Some notable examples of these
efforts include the Intelligence Communities' use of the
classified wiki Intellipedia and the GSA's Federal Citizen
Information Center blog, GovGab (http://blog.usa.gov/
roller/govgab/).
The online initiatives undertaken by the Change.gov transition
team as well as the new administration’s information
policies have caused a surge in government interest
in Web 2.0. I would argue that government’s increasing
use of social technologies will have a direct impact on
competitive intelligence research. Two very different Web
2.0 technologies, data.gov and Twitter, illustrate how
new ways of accessing government information can affect
competitive intelligence professionals.
Data.gov (http://www.data.gov/) is an initiative of the
Looking for Events Insights? Member News and Announcements?
See the new CI Division blog, The Intel!
Obama administration to provide free and open access to
raw data feeds produced through government funded
research. Traditionally these data sets were either not
available at all or were locked up in proprietary formats.
As agencies begin to populate data.gov, researchers and
the general public will be able to directly download, analyze
and remix the data. Competitive intelligence professionals
should take note of this new resource as it may
provide valuable research insight.
Twitter, a micro blogging tool, can be used by any individual
or group to broadcast updates, engage in conversation,
and post links to resources using tinyurl technology.
Interestingly, Twitter has been quickly adopted by
members of Congress. The savvy CI researcher could use
Twitter to become apprised of new or pending legislation
relevant to their corporate research. By downloading the
Sunlight Foundations’ Capitol Tweets widget (http://
www.sunlightfoundation.com/capitoltweets/), you can
follow the latest updates from members of Congress in
one convenient place.
Access to federal information is no longer limited by a
trip to your local Federal Depository Library or government
website, but is now available from sources such as
data.gov and Twitter. These social technologies should
prove of value to CI professionals because they are free,
easy to use, and provide real time updates and remixing
of data and content for intelligence research.
The full text of this contributed paper is available at http://
www.sla.org/pdfs/sla2009/FedGovInfoGoesSocial.pdf.
There, you’ll find our Calendar of Events & Learning Opportunities (formerly Events Insights),
as well as other features like blog posts from authors and members, discussions
of current CI topics, and recommended CI resources.
Check it out, bookmark it, and pass it on!
See The Intel blog at http://sla-divisions.typepad.com/dci/.

PAGE 20 INTELLIGENCE INSIGHTS
Competitive Intelligence Division Board
We Want YOU !
One of the most dynamic SLA units, the CI Division offers members exciting and valuable opportunities for your
professional expansion. Join us in shaping the Division and propelling it forward!
Who is the Division leadership? We are intelligence and information professionals of all levels serving in:
Corporate intelligence and information centers.
Academia.
Information industry.
…and more!
Executive Board
Chair
Victor Camlek
The Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters
Chair-Elect
[VACANT]
Past Chair
Scott Brown
Social Information Group
Secretary
Megan Mulherin
Spencer Stuart
Treasurer
Charles H. Frey
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
Membership Chair
Gail Stahl
Boston Consulting Group
Vendor Relations Chair
Paul Century
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
What does getting involved offer? Becoming a Division leader is your opportunity to:
Develop your intelligence awareness and skills.
Help shape Division events and direction.
Build your network, experience, and your professional opportunities!
Advisory Board & Committees
Bulletin Committee
Sandra Stauffer, Editor, Intelligence Insights
Eli Lilly and Company
Jill Stover Heinze, Editor, The Intel Blog
Affinion Loyalty Group
Teresa Wilkins, Subscription Manager
Buck Consultants
Discussion List Manager
Amelia Kassel
Marketing Base
Mentoring Committee
Victor Camlek, Chair
The Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters
Professional Development, New Orleans
Anna Shallenberger, Chair
Shallenberger Intelligence
Web Committee
Shelley Arvin, Webmaster
Indiana State University
John Azzolini
Clifford Chance US LLP
Please contact Victor Camlek, CI Division Chair, at victor.camlek@thomsonreuters.com.