Proving the Value of the Special Library

On his Stephen's Lighthouse blog, Stephen Abram has written a post about the Value of Special Libraries:

"Having spent many years working in special libraries, I am very aware of their position. You are under constant pressure to justify your services, role and budget in the specialized environment in which you practice."

The post describes various studies that demonstrate the impact of information specialists and special libraries that include entities such as government, courthouse, law firm, medical, scientific libraries.

Earlier Library Boy posts on the same topic include:

• Law Library Branding and Recruitment (February 15, 2006): "Why should libraries care about brands? Because whether it has been given careful thought or not, every institution has a brand. Whether the brand is strong enough to be favorably remembered by clients is another matter. This article will give you the tools to identify your brand and to understand how useful it can be in your marketing efforts."
• Newest Issue of AALL Spectrum: Marketing, Preservation and Katrina (January 30, 2007): "The February 2007 issue of the AALL Spectrum (American Association of Law Libraries) is available online. Among the offerings ...: 'Public Relations: Marketing Inspiration - How to move the law library to the center of your organization’s culture' (...) "
• New Articles on Marketing and Impact of Law Libraries (November 13, 2007): "The November 2007 issue of AALL Spectrum, a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries, contains 2 articles that are related to marketing: 'Public Relations: Selling Law Librarianship' ... 'Perspective: What is Your Impact on Society' (...)"
• Blog Series on How to Increase Your Value in Your Workplace (March 4, 2010): "The SLA Blog has started a series called 'Alignment Steps' that contains advice on how librarians and information professionals can prove and increase their value in their workplace."
• Law Librarians Can Prove Their Value Through Training (March 10, 2010): "(...) the January/February 2010 Law Librarians newsletter put out by legal publisher Westlaw has published an article entitled 'Law Firm Economics and the Librarian—Bring Value Through Training'. The lessons can apply beyond the context of private law firm libraries (...)"