(March 12, 2008) There are a number of converging elements that make up the current inflection point. They include

• The Redefinition of the Sourcing Function


• The Explosion in Information Sources (Blogs, Podcasts and VBlogs))


• The Continued Growth of Job Boards, Niche Job Boards in Particular


• The Emergence of Regional Recruiting Phenomenon


• The Free Fall In The Pricing of Storage, Video and Still Images


• The Rapid Multiplication of Social Software Tools and Environments


• The Generational Power Shift In The Industry (and In the Workplace)

In this series, we're going to look at them all in some detail.

Sourcing used to be a back office function known as search research. It included the development (or theft) of organizational phone books, org charts and inbound direct phone calls. In small third party shops, the recruiter was the sourcer. In larger shops, sourcing became a discretely managed function. HR Departments rarely had sourcing teams.

The internet changed all of that.

First it was job boards and a limited amount of Internet Research. AIRS developed a curriculum