Senior Consultant and Project Director Mary Talley

Mary Talley has three decades of library and information management experience, first as a practicing librarian and library director, then as a business owner of a library services firm, and now as a consultant to corporations, law firms, and trade, professional and governmental organizations.

Mary specializes in assessing and evolving information processes, organizational structures, and customer service programs and develops change management strategies for special libraries and information centers of all types. She has helped clients rethink product and service offerings, restructure positions and revitalize processes to meet user needs and align with management expectations. Mary is experienced in using focus groups and surveys as tools to help solve the information-related issues that face her clients.

She has written and lectured on a variety of information and management-related topics, including customer service and focus groups. Ms. Talley holds a Masters degree in library science from the University of Michigan.

Direct Contact Information: mtalley@axelroth.com | 202.363.1056 | Contact Form

LIBRARY MANAGEMENT / SPACE PLANNING & DESIGN / RESOURCE SELECTION

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Embedded Librarians for Project Teams and Communities of Interest, Special Libraries Association, Annual Conference, Toronto, 2005
• Librarians in the Postmodern World, DC Special Libraries Association, Career Transition Day, Washington, D.C., 2004
• Outsourcing of the Future, Association of Legal Administrators, Region 6 Conference, 1996.
• Selecting and Evaluating Outside Consultants, SLA Annual Conference, 1995.
• Starting Over From Scratch, Special Libraries Association, Annual Conference, Nashville, 2004
• The Key to Success: Keeping the Customer Satisfied, Special Libraries Association, San Antonio, 2001. (Co-Presented with Joan Axelroth)
• The Virtual Migration: Moving to a New Web-Based Integrated Library System, SLA 2007 Annual Meeting
• Tools for Strategic Planning: Focus Groups, Computers in Libraries, Washington, D.C., 1999
• Working Up the Food Chain with Competitive Intelligence, Special Libraries Association, Annual Conference, Nashville, 2004

Selected Publications

• Library Service Where It Matters: Discovering True Needs, SLA Legal Division Quarterly, Volume 9, Number 4, Spring 2003.
• Listening to Focus Groups, 23 Legal Times 33 (July 17, 2000).
• Talking About Customer Service, 5 Information Outlook 6, December 2001.
• Making Connections, an occasional column appearing in Chapter Notes (December 2004 - May 2005), DC Special Libraries Association.
      » Connect With . . . a Previously Unrelated Product or Service
      » Connect With . . . a Television Shopping Network’s Sales Approach
      » Connect With . . . the Language of Venture Capitalist Investment
      » Connect With . . . New Media

Professional Activities

• Washington, DC Chapter of the Special Libraries Association
      » Chair, Education Committee, 2006 – 2007; Committee member, 2008 - .
      » Business Manager, Chapter Notes, 1998 - 2001.
      » Chair, Continuing Education, 1998 - 1999.
• Special Libraries Association, Chair, Consultants Section, Library Management Division, 1996 - 1997.
• Southern California Association of Law Libraries, Chair, Education Program: New Technologies, 1994.
• SLA Southern California, Chair, Management Workshop, 1993.