Librarians who evolved: A panel discussion organised by the Vic Specials committee, 21 November, the Bailleu Library, University of Melbourne. Presentation by Helen Scott, COTA (Australia)

Librarians who evolved

THE EVOLUTION OF A LIBRARIAN : 21^st CENTURY CASE STUDIES

A panel discussion organised by the Vic Specials committee, 21 November, the Bailleu Library, University of Melbourne

Published as "Librarians who evolved", in Vic Specials, volume 18, number 4, December 2001, p3-5

Helen Scott, Information Manager, Council on the Ageing (Australia)

Helen's experience in special libraries began in 1968 followed by several years as a self employed information consultant from 1989.

My current role as COTA (Australia)'s Information manager for 3 days per week encompasses several roles.

Web designer

This is a logical extension of librarian skills in organising information. The website is not flash but well organised and received a very favourable review from Health Issues, June 2001. As the website is accessed by older people it addresses accessibility issues - in reality all websites must for legal and business reasons. (See www.cota.org.au/ragearticles00.htm; www.w3.org.au.

IT coordinator

This work is an extension of librarians using technology to manage knowledge. When I graduated in the late 1960s there were no computers; in the 80's I cried in the loo faced with PC fatal error messages, but I have since developed "computer courage" and competence. I managed an IT upgrade to an NT network for COTA, which was used by NOIE as a case study and am currently working on a new IT strategy. I share network administration and troubleshooting but rejected the temptation to become a "techie" or MS specialist. A future project is development of an intranet.

Editor and reviewer

ReportAge is COTA's bi-monthly policy bulletin. I volunteered to edit the bulletin because I was already contributing a resources page to the old COTA News. As a result I learnt about design and layout for typesetting, negotiating with printers and illustrators, reader surveys etc. I contribute short book reviews in the Australasian Journal on Ageing, and liaise with publishers for academic reviews. A spin-off of this activity is that the books reviewed are acquired for the library.

Policy analysis

This involves preparing submissions, reports, speeches, representing the organisation in various ways and media contact. The issues that concern COTA for which I have responsibility include:

Information and communications technology (ICT) access - ie digital divide/e-commerce/banking.

Best practice information provision.

Representation eg on the HREOC/ABA Accessible E-commerce forum; Australian Communications Authority Consumer Consultative Forum, Deakin University research project, Australian Bankers' Association Consultative Forum, seminars etc

To see copies of documents go to COTA's website: http://www.cota.org.au/whatsnew.htm

Writer

As an outcome of policy analysis I write newsletter articles, press releases, conference papers, and reports eg Seniors in Cyberspace, one of COTA's Strategic Ageing series

Last but not least – Librarian

Originally I worked as a librarian for 2 days per week but with so many other roles the time is much less. The library holds an excellent social gerontology collection that provides a comprehensive reference and resource for policy processes. COTA publication archives and lists are also maintained.

TIPS

Step outside your comfort zone – talk to people, grab opportunities to extend your skills and profile eg

- website

- tenders: One spin-off from having a good library database was being able to project manage two bibliographies for the Federal Government published by AGPS, using Inmagic software. From that a new edition of our book Housing Choices for older Australians evolved.

- joint projects eg Aged and Community Services Australia/COTA - 2 peak bodies share a database and associated costs;

- consultancy opportunities: eg a report on options for HelpAge Asia's Regional Development Centre, in Chiang Mai, was written following a Policy Workshop

Promote, publicise and share success stories. There are in-house activities to become involved with, such as board agendas, annual reports, media officer etc; and outside via networks, representation, congresses, media, listservs, and the website. A recent example of this was the publication of a seminar paper titled, "Old dogs learning new clicks" which spawned publicity and controversy, starting with The Australian and leading to further internet publicity.

Recycle and extend use of papers or reports. Papers prepared for the media or for journal articles and speeches may be re-written to become longer reports. A paper prepared for the 1999 Hobart Specials conference about information and older people became one of COTA's best selling publications, Seniors in Cyberspace.

Welcome the autonomy and flexibility that can be gained in being responsible for the tasks you accept. In gaining control of website content I provide pages like Reference information on older people, fact sheets and the addition of website favourites in ReportAge

Seize training and professional networking opportunities eg one day seminars, workshops, in-house media training.

Manage stress! Network with others to get feedback from peers outside your organisation.

Downside

Many of the opportunities or initiatives discussed come about through working in a small organisation which cannot afford to employ specialists, but this can also mean there are limited resources and consequent frustration about being too thinly spread. It may not be possible to choose better (more expensive!) options.

Isolation and lack of feedback.

Overwork can be a problem with working part-time. You can get caught in the trap of completing projects and writing papers in unpaid time at home. This situation has the potential for stress.

Loss of skills can occur. Could I still do an efficient online search? Still make DBText works sing and dance? Maybe not, but I do know I could learn it again.

Finally - be passionate about some aspect of your work - it makes it all worthwhile!

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Council on the Ageing (Australia)
Level 2, 3 Bowen Crescent, Melbourne Vic 3004
Tel (03) 9820 2655 Fax (03) 9820 9886
email cota@cota.org.au
www.cota.org.au