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Business Information Specialist

Practice Settings
Business information specialists are employed in a variety of settings including both for profit and non-for-profit, including the following: corporations, professional associations, universities, and government agencies.

Primary Responsibilities
Use information to advance the mission of the parent company. This is accomplished through a variety of services and activities: Reference & Research; Collection Development; User Instruction; Organization of and Access to External and Internal Information; Records Management; Competitive Intelligence; Marketing. See Competencies for Information Professionals for a more detailed discussion.

Recommended CLIS Electives
Students should consult with their advisors to select electives that best support individual intellectual interests and career goals. The electives listed here are not meant to represent the complete listing of all relevant courses that a student may take within CLIS, at other units on campus, or as part of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. In addition, the Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) Consortium may offer CLIS-approved courses that are relevant. The URL is http://www.wiseeducation.org/home_p-home.aspx, user name: md-student, password: test.

LBSC
Course Number        Course Title
LBSC 625                  Information Policy
LBSC 735                  Legal Issues in Managing Information
LBSC 680                  Principles of Records and Information Management
LBSC 680                  Management of Electronic Records and Information
LBSC 737                  Seminar in Special Library and Information Center
LBSC 750                  Information Access in Electronic Environments
LBSC 766                  Access to Business Information
LBSC 764                  Access to Legal Information
LBSC 767                  Access to Federal Government Information
LBSC 783                  Seminar in Technical Services
LBSC 772                  Seminar in Organization of Knowledge
LBSC 775                  Construction & Maintenance of Index Language & Thesauri
LBSC 708G               Collection Development
LBSC 793                  Database Design
LBSC 790                  Building the Human-Computer Interface

INFM
Course Number        Course Title
INFM 611                   Principles of Competitive Intelligence
INFM 731                   Environmental Scanning for Information Managers
INFM 713                   Writing RFPs and Evaluating Proposals
INFM 706                   Project Management
INFM 612                   Management of Information Programs & Services
INFM 708A                Seminar in Information for Decision Making
INFM 730                   Information Audits

Professional Associations
SLA – Business and Finance Division
Society for Competitive Intelligence
ALA Business Reference and Services Section

Specialized Scholarships/Interest Free Loans
https://www.sla.org/content/learn/scholarship/index.cfm

Key Geographic Areas for Employment
Business information specialists are employed in organizations throughout the United States and in other countries. See the subject index and geographic designation in the Directory of Special Libraries and Information Centers, Detroit: Gale, annual.

Specialized Placement Services
InfoCurrent
Special Libraries Association – Career Connections