Well, this one is a few months old … this student stipend was given out by the SLA Business & Finance Division in March to attend the 2011 SLA Annual Conference in Philly, which I truly enjoyed. So, after everything is said and done, here is the essay that seemed to have impressed the scholarship committee

What skills must the new information professional possess?
Aileen Marshall, 2011

After graduating in May this year, it is my goal to work in the field of business/competitive intelligence. It is thanks to Dr. Kendra Albright, instructor for business librarianship at USC, that I became interested in this field. Since taking her class she has become my mentor, and I enjoy discussing current and future issues of business librarianship with her. This semester I am helping her develop her next class, which will focus on competitive intelligence and business research. The class will not only introduce appropriate research methods and resources but will also discuss the skills that a business librarian should possess in order to excel in their work and be an asset to any company or organization.
There are, of course, the obvious skills: ability to conduct reference interviews, to choose the most appropriate resource and search strategy, to compile the information into the end-result. a
But I think that there is a skill set that, especially in light of the budget cuts, is becoming more and more important to be Future Ready: Customer service, and everything that this term incorporates. Information professionals are service providers, no matter what environment they work in. It is important to be approachable: smile at your clients, and give them the feeling that they and their needs are important. They have to be comfortable in order to open up and ask for information, and more importantly give enough details for you to understand what they really want. During the reference interview make sure that you listen well and not simply assume you know what the client wants. Engage him or her, make them part of the search process, if they are waiting for a result. If you are working on a more complex research task, it is important not only to consult the usual sources (company web sites, databases, government agencies such as the SEC) but also more non-traditional sources such as open-source information and social media. The latter has become more and more important for company research, and used properly it can be a valuable tool. I mention this because of the most important skills information professionals can and should possess is open-mindedness. Don’t get stuck in your ways. Value trusted sources but don’t be afraid to branch out: Be creative!
Another skill I believe to be one of the most important ones is the ability and willingness to advocate for our profession. Don’t let anybody take you for granted, or worse, tell you that librarians and information professionals are obsolete and that everything can be googled nowadays. By involving your clients in your research they will learn that what we do is not nearly as simple as some people make it out to be. Make it your mission to teach something every day, whether it is telling a client about a great resource, about the internet and the difference between what they see and the deep web, or about the astronomical amount of information that is out there. Let them know that you are the person that sifts through, compiles, indexes, and makes it available to staff and clients in a clean, concise format.
Show passion for what you do. It is easy if you love what you do and if you are proud to be an information professional, a librarian. I know I certainly am.