Mike: The guiding principle of Credo’s product strategy is simple—partner with industry leaders to do what the industry cannot do for itself by providing a platform to promote knowledge building, problem solving and critical thinking skills. In addition to partnering with libraries, consortia and publishers we continually look to join forces with technology companies, discovery service providers, content aggregators and other stakeholders in the educational technology industry to enhance our Literati solution.

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Mike: For our first dozen years, Credo mainly served college and university students and public libraries.  We’ve recently taken what we’ve learned from that experience and expanded our focus to include secondary school students and student athletes as well. What that means is that a wide range of individuals, including librarians, academic advisors and other educators, subscribe to our solutions.  What they all have in common is their focus on giving end users the information skills necessary for lifelong success.

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Mike: We’re unique in that there are quite a few companies that aggregate ebooks or develop platforms to enhance learning or research experiences, but we do it all with an added service layer. Our on-staff team of librarians and educators bring experience and knowledge that help our subscribers extend their limited resources to meet ambitious strategic goals.

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As an example, we recently worked with Columbia University to create instructional videos and tutorials that will help integrate research skill instruction throughout the curricula. While they were inspired to emphasize their value to the university as a whole, they were limited by the amount of time that they had to dedicate to this work and the technology to which they had access for creation of the materials. Working with Credo, they were able to do more with what they have.

The skills learned in traditional and nontraditional educational environments are what prepare individuals for workforce and personal success and therefore ensure collective economic and civic success as well. We’re helping for the sake of the education industry, but we’re helping for the sake of our society as well.

Kathy: What do you think will be the biggest trends in the industry in the next 12-18 months?

Mike: From an educational perspective, I see the industry moving towards greater acceptance of a tumultuous, ever-changing environment and emphasis on strategic partnerships as integral to success in this environment. Librarians in particular are in the eye of this storm, and I think they’ll increasingly find this to be an advantageous position that leads to greater participation in their institutions’ strategic work and a greater emphasis on their value and overall contribution to society as well.

Kathy: Is there any recent news that you’d like to announce?

Mike: We’re always innovating and improving  at Credo! As I mentioned in my recent interview with Information Today, in the first few months of this year we’ve already won a CODiE award, acquired OnlineTutorSolutions.com and partnered with industry leaders to enhance our Literati platforms. We continued this momentum during the second quarter of the year, adding new publishers to our growing list of partners and integrating third party technology, an example being Reference Service Press’ FundingFinder Express, to add value to our Literati platforms.

We’re not slowing up just yet, though, and have big plans for the rest of 2013 as well. Stay tuned!

Kathy: What is the best way to get in contact with Credo? 

Mike: Email learnmore@credoreference.com or tweet us @credoreference. I’m also always happy to talk ed tech, conscious business and all things educational technology and can be tweeted @_mike_sweet.

Twitter Handle: @credoreference

Company URL:  http://corp.credoreference.com