Vicki Whitmell, Principal Consultant
Whitmell & Associates was established in 1990 when Vicki Whitmell was seeking information on establishing and operating fee-based information services in libraries. At the time she was the Manager of the Business Information Centre at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Management (now the Rotman School of Management) which had recently begun offering research services to the local business community. Discovering that there were few sources of information for libraries undertaking such an entrepreneurial role, she began to develop contacts among other libraries in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and South Africa which offered similar services and she asked them for their input into a new journal, Fee for Service, which she began publishing in 1991.

The journal was a success and spawned two Fee for Service Conferences, held in 1995 and 1997, which featured speakers and guests from around the world. Vicki's expertise in fee-based information services allowed her to assist libraries as they sought to develop similar and successful services.

Whitmell & Associates was put on hold from 1998 to 2002 while Vicki served as Executive Director of the Canadian Library Association. The consulting service was expanded in the fall of 2002 to offer services to assist organizations and associations as they seek to develop responses to problems and to design and establish priorities and strategies to face their future. A new company was formed, Finding Our Future Conferences, which develops and presents conferences of interest to the broader library and association communities and provides customized programming and retreats to organizations and groups.

Vicki's strength as a consultant and an advisor to various groups is her indepth understanding of the challenges facing information management organizations, libraries and associations. She works with her clients to ensure that decisions and plans are based on reality, are informed by analysis and real world situations and that those affected by decisions and plans are involved in their development. Vicki is a trained facilitator and group leader who uses the Technology of ParticipationTM in her work with groups and organizations.

A big picture thinker, Vicki is creative, entrepreneurial, well-organized, diligent and thoughtful in her work. In her past management positions she has demonstrated an excellent ability to understand the impact of issues and decisions, to recognize internal and external politics and realities and she has proven a strong advocate on behalf of the individual organization and the library profession.

As leader of Canada's national library association Vicki brought a great deal of needed and visionary change to the association in a short period of time. She led a 2-year strategic planning exercise which resulted in a change of focus in the association and developed a new advocacy programme which lead to an increased recognition among government and the media of the importance and role of libraries and information in our communities. She also undertook a large number of structural changes at the association which resulted in a stronger financial picture, reduced expenditures and increased revenues.