Knowledge and Design in the Development of Public Library
Brand Identity and Innovation
Patrick Roughen
University of South Carolina
School of Library & Information Science
1501 Greene Street
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
patroughen@hotmail.com
ABSTRACT
This research is examining the work of brand strategists or
designers, as well as librarians, technical personnel, and
senior library management, at three public libraries, using
the case study method to explore library advocacy in the
specific context of brand-building. This study is also
examining the role of tacit and explicit knowledge in brandbuilding and, in part, how innovation in the form of
Intellectual Property and other forms of knowledge are
produced. In this research, Intellectual Property is
considered to be a type of innovation. Interviews are being
conducted
with
library
management,
branding
professionals, librarians, and other individuals who are
involved in library advocacy. Observations are also being
made at each library, and documents pertinent to the
branding process are being analyzed. Initial findings of the
interviews include that brand-building is associated with
significant tacit, as well as explicit, knowledge and
innovation. For brand designers, some of whom are graphic
artists, tacit or “unspoken knowledge” appears to play an
important role in helping them solve the problem of how to
communicate the meaning and value of the public library to
stakeholders.
INTRODUCTION
Polanyi (1958) provided the classic example of tacit
knowledge as the automatic understanding required to ride
a bicycle. Other examples might be the intuitive know-how
of an experienced cabinet maker or skillful technique of a
master potter. Tacit knowledge can be technically (knowhow) or cognitively (mental model/understandings)
oriented. Explicit knowledge is knowledge that can be
articulated or written down. This conceptualization of tacit
and explicit knowledge is useful in considering those forms
of Intellectual Property associated with branding in any
organization as well as the professional practice of
librarians and other information professionals.
Paul Solomon
University of South Carolina
School of Library & Information Science
1501 Greene Street
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
psolomon@mailbox.sc.edu
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND BRANDING
Of the four major divisions of Intellectual Property, two
(trade secrets and trademarks) can be associated with
substantial tacit knowledge, while the other two (patents
and copyright) represent and protect largely explicit
knowledge (Tether 2005). For example, the law of trade
secrets focuses on knowledge of techniques and processes,
learned by persons at work, and includes know-how, rules
of thumb, and other types of specialized knowledge:
“[t]rade secrets law thus covers tacit knowledge embedded
in an employee, as well as knowledge that has been written
down, articulated, or codified” (Gorga & Halberstam, 2007,
p. 1162). The law in this area has so evolved that even the
knowledge of what does not work is protectable under the
law of trade secrets as long as it provides some kind of
economic or business advantage (Gorga & Halberstam
1162).
Both technical and cognitive forms of tacit knowledge are
demonstrated in the design and development of brand
identities, which are the sets of associations that a brand
designer aspires to attain; according to Aaker (2000), brand
identity represents “what an organization stands for” (p.
63). Ideally, in the instance of the public library, the roots
of its brand identity should be found in such documents as
its mission and vision statements, values, constitution, and
bylaws. The brand strategist uses the information from
these documents as the basis for the library brand, building
form through design.
LIBRARIES AND INNOVATION
There are both challenges and advantages to the
development of innovation in the context of the public
library. The literature on innovation is primarily concerned
with technical innovation (Tether 2005). Moreover, many
forms of innovation involve designs or services which may
not be sufficiently source-identifying (trademarks) or new,
useful, and nonobvious (patents) to merit some type of
Intellectual Property protection. Managers of public
libraries occasionally report that the library is so busy doing
the work of providing basic services to patrons that it
cannot easily expend energy elsewhere. Nonetheless, the
future of the library depends on innovation; an example of
such innovation could be the marriage of content and story
with the promotion of the library and its brand as reported
in the June 6, 2011, issue of The Atlantic, in which the New
York Public Library’s new Biblion iPad app was discussed
by author Alexis Madrigal. As noted on the library’s
website, Biblion provides an “immersive experience” of the
library’s collections related to the 1939-40 New York
World’s Fair. Other popular examples of innovations by
design include the Apple iPod, the mountain bike, and the
Sony Walkman (Teher 2005).
Arguably, in the case of public libraries, the problem of
imitation or piracy of Intellectual Property, which
discourages private innovation, is less significant because
the strategic brand vision of the public library is focused on
sharing and enriching the lives of others. This positions the
library to be an incredible source of opportunity and
innovation in the future. In short, the benefit of brand
design may not be simply limited to building the library’s
credibility and reputation with stakeholders, but perhaps
could even model or act as a catalyst for innovation,
mirroring technology transfer activities found in some
government agencies.
METHODOLOGY
Using the case study method, this research is examining the
efforts of brand strategists and senior library management
in three public libraries to build the public library brand.
This research also explores how both tacit and explicit
knowledge lead to innovation in brand-building in this
instance. A special focus of the interviews is exploring how
certain visual and textual expressions of the library brand,
in particular the logo and name, respectively, are created in
the context of the overall brand-building process.
Interviews are being conducted with library management,
branding professionals, librarians, and other individuals
who are involved in library advocacy. As part of this
research, observations are also being made at each library,
and documents pertaining to the branding process are being
analyzed.
CONCLUSION
Initial findings of the interviews indicate that brandbuilding is associated with significant tacit, as well as
explicit, knowledge and that Intellectual Property and other
forms of knowledge, directly or indirectly related to brandbuilding, can be important sources of innovation for the
public library. Tacit knowledge is highly personal, closely
tied to sense-making, and may be inferred through
statements (Smith 2001). Tacit knowledge of both a
technical and cognitive nature is being identified. For brand
designers, some of whom are graphic artists, tacit or
“unspoken knowledge” appears to play an important role in
helping them solve the problem of how to communicate the
meaning and value of the library to stakeholders. And, in
each library, solutions have taken various forms from
valuable art to significant trademark activity.
REFERENCES
Aaker, D. A. & Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). Brand
Leadership. New York: The Free Press.
Gorga, E. & Halberstam, (2007). Knowledge inputs, legal
institutions and firm structure: Towards a knowledgebased theory of the firm. Northwestern University Law
Review 101(1123).
Madrigal, A. (2011, June 22). What big media can learn
from the New York Public Library. The Atlantic.
Retrieved
June
30,
2011
from
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/DL94/paper/kling.html
Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal knowledge: Towards a postcritical philosophy. Chicago, Il.: University of Chicago
Press.
Smith, E. A. (2001). The role of tacit and explicit
knowledge in the workplace. Journal of knowledge
Management 5(4), 311-321.
(2011). BIBLION: THE BOUNDLESS LIBRARY – an
iPad App from the New York Public Library. The New
York Public Library. Retrieved June 10, 2011 from
http://www.nypl.org/biblion