Law Times

LAW TIMES / MAY 26, 2008 FOCUS PAGE 11 Knowledge management fuses with library service T BY DARYL-LYNN CARLSON For Law Times library and knowledge manage- ment at McMillan Binch Men- delsohn LLP, a role in which, as his title denotes, he oversees both library and knowledge manage- ment services for the firm. But most law firms continue to maintain their library and knowledge management op- erations separately, primarily be- cause knowledge management roles are perceived to require a background in law. "Knowledge management, in some cases will require a law degree especially if you're draft- ing content," he says of the functions KM directors have traditionally fulfilled. "I think in that case, you'd need prac- tice experience. But a big part of knowledge management is organizing and managing in- formation, and that's where li- brarians have training and can really contribute. So that's why sometimes I think librarians are under-utilized." ed Tjaden wonders if law librarians are being under- utilized. He is director of Millan Binch hired Tjaden to oversee both library and knowl- edge management services be- cause both positions were open at the same time. They have also since hired another lawyer-librarian, Clare Mauro, to assist with the fusion of the departments. "So that's another reason it made sense that we merge," he admits. "We can work in both areas quite easily." Tjaden notes that most large Tjaden is also a lawyer with calls to the bar in British Colum- bia and Ontario, and has experi- ence working as a research lawyer, a litigator, and as in-house coun- sel in Japan to a large Japanese computer manufacturer. As a mid-sized firm, Mc- "Our department works closely with our IT department to manage the firm's intranet, which is tightly integrated with our firm's document manage- ment system that houses mil- lions of internal documents, ranging from files on client matters to firm model and prec- edents," Tjaden shares. "There is a nice synergy be- tween library services and knowl- edge management that helps us cope with information overload and how to best manage and or- ganize our access to internal and external information." He suggests merging the two operations could be the norm in the future, especially with the prospect of "information overload." "Knowledge management is made easier by technology, but a big problem we have too is in- formation overload," he says. "So there's that balance of getting the right information in and out at the right time. That's why I think you'll see more collaboration of the two departments." to University of Toronto law li- brarian students about document, information, and records manage- ment at law firms, and the role technology plays in knowledge sharing. In discussing the lecture on the Slaw.ca legal blog, he not- ed the lecture included discussion about whether "librarians risk be- ing bottlenecked into traditional library services or undervalued in knowledge management roles." On the blog he continues, Tjaden recently guest-lectured "Some students had noted a sometimes 'cosmetic' move by some traditional special libraries to re-brand themselves as 'knowl- edge centres' when in fact there was no substantive change in role after the name change. that knowledge services was more than a label and that FIS-trained graduates brought skills of or- ganization, classification, evalu- ation, training and synthesis to transform data repositories into value-added information sources that constituted 'knowledge' and knowledge services." "I tried to justify the position His championing of fusing KM and libraries, and making better use of qualified librarians, is shared by fellow blogger and former library manager at Weir- Foulds LLP, Connie Crosby. "Librarians in law firms have always done things that are seen as knowledge management ac- tivities, such as creating data- bases, research memoranda, and putting together the in-house precedents," says Crosby. Librar- ians get to know the culture of the organization in dealing with lawyers and staff. Crosby, who this year launched Crosby Group Con- sulting, writes in her blog about how savvy librarians often evolve into KM roles simply due to the nature of their jobs. She too foresees more firms melding the two departments. "Definitely librarians have a huge overlap in skills with knowledge management, and I think that's where the interest lies," says Crosby, who isn't a lawyer. Lawyers have knowledge to produce legal documents, al- though they still have to learn how to manage the informa- tion, which is what librarians do, she points out. "For a smaller firm thinking about getting into knowledge management might look to the library to facilitate that," she affirms. "It is going to depend on the culture of the firm and how the firm is organized," says Crosby. "There isn't a cookie- cutter solution, they [law firms] all come to it with different cul- tures, and it's all grown organi- cally within each firm. So how knowledge management fits in will differ with each firm." In her new consultancy, Crosby holds educational ses- sions and advises firms and other businesses on utilizing Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, blogs, RSS news feeders, and other inexpensive, easy-to- use networking platforms to facilitate knowledge manage- ment and dissemination. "If you don't need a huge robust system to serve you, there are other solutions." LT firms have separated their depart- ments because of the size of their operations, while at McMillan Binch it was feasible to combine the two synergies by formally merging the two. "There are not a lot of other firms that have done that, and that's primarily because they've been established separately for a long time and they're run by separate leaders," he says. At law firms, knowledge man- agement is the means by which the organization leverages its col- lective wisdom by creating sys- tems and processes to capture, identify, and distribute it, either in-house or to clients. The library operations pro- vide the organization, catego- rization, and indexing — the more logistical aspects of infor- mation management. "Lawyers and law firms are obliged to keep up with the law and industry trends," says Tjaden. "In addition, clients reasonably expect their lawyers to be efficient with the way they manage their internal knowledge and expertise and not reinvent the wheel every time they do a transaction." The two departments at Mc- Millan Binch were combined to maximize efficiencies and create "one-stop shopping," he says. Untitled-3 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 9/25/07 12:53:15 PM Visit the Law Society's online Resource Centre and look in Practice Resources for the Knowledge Tree. The Knowledge Tree is a custom-designed resource for lawyers in Ontario. A comprehensive, online listing of the most common practice management questions that lawyers have asked and the answers to those questions are posted online. In addition to FAQs on more than 18 practice management topics, you'll find links to relevant Rules, by-laws, Law Society articles, guidelines and other useful resources on the Knowledge Tree. The Knowledge Tree continues to grow and branch out to include more topics and more information — look here first for the answer. Remember to turn to Practice Tips, right after the classifieds, in your issue of the Ontario Reports for informative and essential practice management information. Every week, the Law Society publishes articles, questions and answers, tips and more on a variety of topics, including books and records, client service, technology and file management. Visit the Resource Centre at www.lsuc.on.ca or phone 416-947-3315 or 1-800-668-7380 ext 3315

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