Molecular Diagnostics & the
Solo Librarian
by Patrick Clapp
June 14th, 2010
Molecular Diagnostics:
• IVD companies sell lab instrumentation and consumables (including
tests) to clinical (medical) and research labs.
• IVD-market segments include clinical chemistry, immunoassay,
microbiology, hematology, coagulation, cytogenetics, cytology,
histology, molecular diagnostics and blood banking.
• A diagnostic test is a procedure which gives a rapid, convenient
and/or inexpensive indication of whether a patient has a certain
disease
• An assay is a procedure in molecular biology for testing or
measuring the activity of a drug or biochemical in an organism or
organic sample.
IVD Market Cap: $43B; Molecular Diagnostics subset: $4B
An Example of a Solo in a Molecular Diagnostic Company:
Miscellany – 10%
Defense – 15%
Library Services – 10%
Knowledge
Management – 60%
Competitive
Research – 5%
QIAGEN, Gaithersburg Inc. Specifics:
Alignment:
Senior VP of R&D (North Am.)  Manager of Technical Pubs. & Knowledge Mgt  The Solo
Budget:
~$35,000 / yr (Literature, Standards, Conferences, Books, Subscriptions, & Tools)
Clients:
~300 Scientists, Engineers, Managers, Marketers, & Operations people in Maryland and California
Critical Keys to Success: Agility, Versatility, & Indispensability
Library Services Resources:
• Library Services:
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Citation Tracking
Document Delivery
Copyright Clearance
Managing Lab Notebooks
Managing Standards
• Resources:
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PubMed
Infotrieve
Copyright Clearance Center
Techstreet
“Only” 15% - But Highly Visible and Valued by Non-Management
Other tools in the (small budget) MDx Solo Toolkit:
• Resources:
– Citation Database
• Pubmed
– In House Reference Database
• Reference Manager
– Content Management System
• LiveLink (now Open Text)
Documentum
– Critical Software
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Adobe Professional
Excel
Word
Snag It
Notepad  absolutely serious
– Modern Amenities
• Sharepoint Wiki
• Google Alerts / Gmail
KM & CI Tools Need to be Fast, Functional, and Close to Free
Playing Defense:
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Become Needed
Defend Your Territory
Find a Champion
Find Another Champion
Make Your Manager Look Good
Fill Your Plate with Visible Wins
Educate Your Clients
Listen, Listen, Listen
Respond to Client Needs with Overwhelming Value
Miscellany:
Regardless of how you identify yourself:
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Librarian
Information Professional
Researcher
Knowledge Specialist
You possess a set of unique skills and abilities that
have the power to stun and amaze your clients.
The life of the Solo is filled with examples of handling
odd requests, filling gaps, and tackling things when
no one knows who to ask.
“I don’t know how to do it, but you should ask Patrick. He might.”