Clare Hart on Navigating Transition

Will Bottinick | http://twitter.com/willbottinick

Clare Hart spoke of personal and professional transitions Wednesday, April 15, at the SLA-NY event hosted by Thompson Reuters in lower Manhattan.

The professional focused on the changes taking place in how we obtain and view information, from millennials who share links to news sources on Facebook to baby boomers who are more comfortable using traditional media. In illustrating user media preferences and attitudes, Hart referenced Deloitte’s December 2009 study, "State of the Media Democracy Survey," now in its fourth edition of gauging user media attitudes and preferences.

Hart was also able to provide personal perspective on an all-too-common transition occurring to information professionals these days: the transition that takes place when looking for a new position. In her address, "Transitions – The Market, The Professional and the Personal," Hart gave advice and offered her thoughts on all of these changes.

Hart, who left her role as CEO of Factiva in January and is set to take the same position at Infogroup after the deal of its sale to CCMP Capital Advisors is approved, urged attendees to create a resume that has a story behind every line in the document. Besides creating a stronger online network, Hart also stressed the importance of knowing what you want and don’t want to do as information professional. It is important that job seekers make sure to take advantage of any employer-provided outplacement services. These services will help a job candidate tighten up the way they present themselves externally to prospective employers. Familiarity of social networks and comfort using mobile computing is also vital. If you are not comfortable navigating these worlds then seek guidance from friends or relatives who are more savvy.

To gather information for its study, Deloitte's Media and Entertainment practice commissioned the study across seven international markets. An independent research firm surveyed consumers between the ages of 14 and 75 from September 11 to October 13, 2009. The study examined the types of technology consumers cherish, the impact of online advertising, methods to gather information and adoption of social networking.

Although it is no surprise that Boomers (ages 44-62) and Matures (63-75) read newspaper much more than younger demographic groups, they are also increasing their presence on social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook. The use of text messaging, accessing the Internet and GPS has increased for all respondents since last year. Almost 70% of millennials – ages 14-26 – believe strongly or somewhat strongly that online consumer reviews and ratings play a larger role in their decision making process than any type of online advertising.

Will Bottinick is a Senior Researcher at eMarketer. Prior to joining eMarketer, Will worked in research positions at Converseon, a digital consultancy, and Entertainment Weekly magazine. He earned a Master’s of Science in Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute. You can follow him on Twitter, @willbottinick.