Category: Information

Cyber Security – The British Library’s cyber-attack: disruption and resilience

Published on by Seema RampersadLeave a comment

This article is kindly reproduced here with the permission from SLA’s Information Outlook Magazine, Issue: April 2024 on Information Security. Thank you to Leslie Steele for suggesting this article, and for the Editorial Board for the continuous hard work and time.

Link to full issue: https://www.flipsnack.com/6AF9F9FF8D6/spring-2024-unqt6r4f0g/full-view.html

SLA Website: https://sla.org/

On Saturday, 28th October 2023, I was the Duty Officer managing the services in the Reading Rooms, and therefore made my way to work at the British Library for the start of the day. The night before, I had sent an email from home very late and it would prove to be my last interaction with our technology for several weeks. As I arrived at work there was panic and confusion over a major technology outage, and we were not entirely sure what the full implications were at the time. The previous summer we had experienced some technology issues, and I presumed this incident was related to that problem. I couldn’t even send an email or call colleagues on the telephone using the British Library’s computers.

Thankfully with the help of my colleagues and staff, who knew how to operate without the library’s technology, communicated with me via their smartphones on how we could resume service and open our Reading Rooms despite this challenge. With our website down, we were able to only communicate with our customers and readers verbally or via X (Formerly Twitter). The Wi-Fi was also down so it really was back to basics. The rest of the day passed without a lot of complaints, but I was on edge until we closed as I would have had to deal with any issues without having the answers for the technology problems. At least our readers were physically safe whilst I was on duty. However, I knew this would be an ongoing crisis for my colleagues returning to work on Monday and that we would have to be prepared for the days ahead.

It wasn’t until the third day without technology that we heard from our Gold Leadership Team that this was in fact a ransomware cyber-attack and we were unlikely to get back to normal for not weeks, but months. The initial disruption in hardware and software continued for weeks with no access to the British Library website or intranet. Our personal and customer computers were taken away to be fixed and new software and security updates were installed on our British Library assigned laptops. We had to go into crisis communication mode for those early weeks with staff and teams while still providing service. Some of the most used forms of communication were in-person staff briefings, email communications, and updates in the corporate Knowledge Matters blog.

The website eventually resumed in December with access to our catalogue and essential service points and information. The one most significant aspect I miss is the electronic resources for our end-users, and collection items retrieval from our site in Boston Spa. We are still a long way from pre-cyberattack content, data, and technology ability as we were so integrated; we are still unable to print from our staff profiles and while Wi-Fi access has resumed, it is in a temporary capacity compared to prior to the cyberattack. There seems to be a lot of work-arounds in our workflows and we are still apologising to customers who are unaware of the current situation. In the Business & IP Centre, we have continued to run most user services such as workshops, reference enquiries, one-to-one meetings, training, and projects, but we still miss our end-user access to electronic resources and databases.

As the cyberattack is so large-scale and the impact enormous, there has been a lot of media coverage and articles written on the attack. The media coverage made the general public aware that one of the most regarded national institutions was under threat with a ransomware attack by the group for payment within a deadline to the value of £600000 to be paid in Bitcoin. We were also aware that we had to inform staff, ex-staff, and customers of the threat of a ransomware attack especially with regards to their personal data. There were remedial measures put in place and we increased our awareness of some of the risks for data to be leaked on the dark web. Throughout this time, the British Library has been advised by the National Cyber Security Centre (NSCS) and other cybersecurity staff. In addition to being a national institution, I am sure there has been a thorough investigation and assessment on the steps that are required for recovery from the cyberattack. At the beginning of this year, staff were informed of the plan and programme for recovery as well as given an outline of what to expect in the next 18 months. It was at this briefing that the issues of the legacy systems and technology infrastructure were disclosed and the new opportunities for the library to ‘build back better’ or accelerate some of the new technological developments that were on the cards for our strategy to ‘Modernise the Library’. The Rebuild and Renew Programme was launched with more clarity on some of the work that the library implemented in time to build back better prior to the cyberattack.

The Chief Executive Officer, Roly Keating, has always been very vocal on the impact on our services, access to the collection, discovery, research, and the whole mission for sharing the world’s knowledge held in the British Library. There is a great blog post on the impact entitled Knowledge Under Attack. I also felt annoyed that this attack had impacted one of the most open libraries in the world, and in the sharing of knowledge and information for our many customers, partners and friends! However, it did highlight a couple of our vulnerabilities: lack of infrastructure development, and lack of investing in dedicated professional staff. There are some uncomfortable readings in the review report, several learning points, and other insights on how one can protect their own investments and risk management in these areas. The review highlights “Although the security measures we had in place on 28 October 2023 were extensive and had been accredited and stress-tested, with the benefit of hindsight there is much we wish we had understood better or had prioritised differently. With that in mind, this section identifies a number of early lessons from this attack which may be helpful for others as they consider their own investments and risk management in these areas.”

As an active library and information professional, I have always been aware of information security. I also helped host some information security related events in the past for SLA Europe, and as part of the Workplace Preparedness Council when we created a template for business continuity where our research mentioned cyber security as one of the threats libraries and research organisations may encounter. One of the other review recommendations is: “practice comprehensive continuity plans: Business Continuity Plans for the total outage of all systems need to be practised regularly, in addition to those relating to individual systems and services“.

With this heightened professional upskilling with SLA and my previous employers, I had looked at the time to see if a Business Continuity Plan was public for the British Library. Due to the sensitive nature of the content, the plan is not public. However, this does not prevent local departments and services from having plans for business continuity in place.

Hopefully, more people will see the importance of these plans and workplace preparedness for crisis management. In some aspects, the cyberattack has had its own challenges for our digital access as we continue to have limited access. Compare this to the recent pandemic in 2020-2021 where we could not get to the physical building, but we still had digital access. These recent crises should warn us that we can never predict but we can certainly prepare and plan for emergencies and future online and physical challenges.

At the MLA|SLA Conference 2023, I also attended a session wherein the panellist presented on ‘Cyber-crime and Information Content’ of an attack at their university. The cyber-criminals were after personal databases, unique research, and intellectual property. It did make me sit up and listen as I realised that criminals will try to attack anyone regardless if you are a research organisation or a bank! Much more so a national institution like the British Library as I was soon to find out a few months later. Ideally, I think as information professionals and good citizens, we should try to protect ourselves and our organisations from these inevitable threats as we live digitally. I have since told my friends that this threat can happen to anyone with data breaches or security risks from our local council, national passports, banking systems, retail, etc. It is obviously terrible when these events happen in our normal lives but it should also be an opportunity for us to promote digital literacy, compliance, good information governance, and security. It makes great financial and economic sense to invest in personal and organisational information security and professionals!

Six months on from the cyberattack, we are still not back to ‘normal’ in many aspects as we await the return of hardware, a fully functioning online presence, and the rebuild of legacy infrastructure. The hardest part is having to spend extra time catching up on the things I can’t easily do whilst in the office or going the extra mile to meet with customers to discuss their research needs and how we can give content and information with these challenges. It has been exhausting at times as we are constantly in a state of change or flux and though I am used to change – we are having to implore all our change management strategies and resilience. It seems we were only just beginning to get back from the ripple effect of the pandemic and now we are getting used to new challenges in the office and library. It is not a normal day in the office.

This has brought about high levels of anxiety and new well-being challenges for staff, customers, and stakeholders as with Public Lending Rights payments. We are certainly a research organisation and the cyberattack has prevented us from doing important work and business for academics and entrepreneurs. I have recently hosted tours from three university groups and partner organisations for projects. We are showing users around virtually and in person but we are still restricted on what we can access.

There is an element of regret that this has happened to us at the British Library. I also am personally annoyed that I am slower in fulfilling my tasks, and our users might not have access to the information they require in person near or far. The 18-page review of the Cyber Attacks aims to share our lessons learnt and encourages you to also be aware of the impact that this has on us; hopefully, you too can mitigate against cyber-attack or criminality. I implore you to be conscious and proactive as an information professional in your role as custodians and curators for specialised libraries, collection management, information, research, data, knowledge, insights, and other high-value assets in your organisations. Together we can empower and enlighten each other to face these threats now and in the future. And despite the disruption and challenges with the cyberattack at the British Library there are several new opportunities to learn and grow from this experience. The insights and learning certainly can make us more aware of dangers but we can develop strength and resilience and good old-fashion knowledge from the experience. The old wise adage resonates now…every cloud has a silver lining.

Further References:

Celebration and reflection of 30 years in the library and information industry

Published on by Seema RampersadLeave a comment

Just as the development of the Interstate Highway System led to the creation of McDonald’s hamburgers, Holiday Inn and a thousand other new commercial developments that would have been impossible without the Interstate Highway System, in the same way we will see the emergence of information services on a nationwide basis that will be extremely profitable and nearly ubiquitous. – Al Gore, 1993

It seems only appropriate to recognise how long I have been working in the field of library and information this month as I have a vivid memory of when I started my first ‘proper’ job in the office, library and information centre (whatever you want to call it).  I have great memories of a time when life seems a little bit simpler, and I was lucky-go-happy in my outlook to life. 

The early 1990s was an interesting time to be an information professional as we were on the cusp of developments in technology but we also have traditional collections which still held books, journals, annual reports, newspapers, places to study, work and access to communal computers.  The most interest aspect I still mention to today was that the next-best-things we were expecting were the Internet, World Wide Web and cd-roms. Online searching and database creation were truly skills that were in high demand at the time.  Most organisations may have had online databases but they were the dial-up version that requires a modem for connection to a remote database, probably hosted in another country.  I still tell library users using online resources that we had an ‘online searching room’, which was quiet for staff to do their searches without distractions. 

Looking back now, some of my colleagues did not have a computer on their desk if I recall rightly.  I remember I had a computer on a small desk next to my normal office desk, and I enjoyed was getting used to using WordPerfect having used Wordstar at university. Email (just internal messages) was in the infancy, and the library management system (LMS) on DOS called Soutron (who are still around today). Nowadays, when someone tells me some of our current databases are taking long to load, I have to point out that in the past I had to sometimes run reports overnight in one of our databases in the early 1990s.  Even simple aspects of company accounts had to ordered from Companies Houses, and you may also recall Excel Cards (for company information), had to couriered to the offices if they were needed urgently. I used to put books on a shuttle bus to get from one building to another too. 

I am grateful for the training and ability to use library management systems (LMS) like these which helped me to understand acquisitions, serials (useful for SLA membership information renewals), cataloguing, classifications and metadata, financial management and reporting using for reporting on service levels to my manager.  Some of these basic aspects are still very important in my current role such as reviewing KPIs. I am still mentioned the great manager I had who helped me learn the practicalities of running a library and information service, and great for the training I received then. I was asked to participate in the recruitment of staff at an early stage and this exposure has helped me to this stage in my career.  I have met some amazing people over these years and it is interesting to see how some are still in the industry, but some are doing things that are very different. 

Our challenge is to find ways of using the Internet and World Wide Web as a mechanism for learning for understanding, and as a mechanism for “seeing things,” not just as a highway system for haphazard. – Kimberly Rose, 1995

The sourcing of books was different too as we were frequently sent newspaper articles or journals that mentioned a report or article that we then had to source.  Some customers obviously had reading lists, such as the HMSO daily list, which they read and then sent the information to be sourced from our procuring services in the library.  There were also several telephone calls that I received daily for customers asking to source information, and to order or borrow publications from the information centre. This still helps in my current role for sourcing information in catalogues, other libraries and from publishers.

The reference desk (Quick Enquiry Desk we called it) in the library was one of the most interesting aspects of the information and research work we did at the time.  Having started off in a business information library – we were constantly called for financial information from exchange rates, FT indices, share prices, stock exchange data and other financial queries.  We also had queries to use the collection and other electronic database at the time.  We even had one computer with a modem to access the internet in the library.  I do recall my colleagues going to an internet café after work to check it out!

In the 2000s, the industry was changing rapidly with the internet changing the way information was managed, provided and consumed. There were companies in the Dot.com generation, our information providers also changed.  However, there was a movement to ‘get rid of libraries’, especially physical ones. This was the period when the library’s hard copy budgets began to shrink as more content was available online, but the age of formal contracts for eprocurement.  I remember working with business analysts to understand our workflow for providing library services from enquiry, research to library materials in hand.  In came eBooks used by the Learning and Development team but we also had very expensive business information databases for research. The hardest part was the loss of physical spaces and collection depletion, with the physical library not being as prominent space or a hub as it once was for the organisation.

Although by this time we were having knowledge forum and sharing on collaborative networks such as Lotus Notes, and other communities of practices and forums (I remember reading forums in the 1990s).  It was heart-wrenching at one point but also exciting to harness the adoption and  development of information technology.  If you work in libraries long enough, you get to know the collections and users really well – you can even build communities and break down borders!  But it was also the era in the early 2000s where were had a truly professional global community where we can ask for help, enquiries, share information and knowledge more easily due to technological advancements.

It was also an age for Intranet and Portals with my colleagues worked on projects for introducing the intranet and resources management to the organisation.  I probably would have participated more on this project work but I was on maternity leave when the work started.  Newer roles also developed in the profession with other professionals using ‘Content’ and ‘Web’ in their job titles, but in hindsight it highlighted the skills and specialism that we had in this field.  The word ‘metadata’ and taxonomy were also banished about by others on the bandwagon.  However, even in my role in 2024 we are still using these word in the last week, and even today for a presentation I hosted on Philatelic collections at the library.

The age of a virtual library eventually became a reality in the mid-2000s and whatever hard copy collection was left ended up being a closet from my perspective! I didn’t actually mind because I was still very strong online providing information services, research and answering reference queries from the small collection, digital content and even the people-to-people contacts for expertise that users were looking for then (I still also do this in my current role). 

“Big data is at the foundation of all the megatrends that are happening today, from social to mobile to cloud to gaming.” – Chris Lynch, Vertica Systems

I first heard about blogs in this period and we started to see a great medium for storytelling and showcase expertise in a particular area from a professional capacity to even stories shared by other library and information professionals.  Towards the late 2000s, social media was becoming ubiquitous and popular mainstream in most people’s lives.  I was happy to see technology that was initial being used in an office environment was now becoming normalises in our relationships and everyday lives.  We started using the words digital and data more with ‘Big Data’ being a hot topic brought about with open-source access, data and the development of apps.  Throughout this time we continued to use library management systems and databases.  There were still human interactions and perhaps more so as we were able to connect with people on digital channels and social media. I started hosting events on professional topics such as Web 2.0, knowledge management, business and other areas of interest, such as those for staff women networks with my colleagues.

“Hiding within those mounds of data is knowledge that could change the life of a patient, or change the world.” – Atul Butte, Stanford School of Medicine

Moving on to the 2010s was interesting as I went through a few months of redundancy.  I still recall my now deceased manager trying to convince our decision-makers that we can still play a role in digital literacy, knowledge management, research, evidence-based, training etc. I also researched the role of an information professional at the time for our trade union response to the redundancy proposals.  However, there was still no believe in a future for us then from them.  In hindsight, it was a challenging time winding down a service that was in existence for a long time …but it meant I had a new start. I could have changed my direction and profession then but I was determined to see it through as I believed in what we can do then – and more so now and in the future. Take that!

There last 12 years at the British Library has been a time for belonging in the profession.  I still get inspired by the collection, our users, our stories, events and being in such a great library.  I am still learning something everyday, such as today whilst hosting the Philatelic Collection talk for SLA Europe.  I also have a natural enthusiasm for the profession, for people who use and work in libraries having had several changes in the last 30 years.  I think I use all the skills acquired over this time from acquisition, cataloguing, research, knowledge sharing, marketing etc.  Not forgetting planning, strategic development, management of library and information services.

Obviously, in this time I have grown as a person, especially with my volunteering roles in my community, as well as for my profession. I never anticipated being SLA President in 2023 way back in the late 1990s.  However, every day I learn and love to contribute to my profession and the development of others – and this is what I mentioned only a couple of hours ago to the Executive Director and Presidents of SLA.

“Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine.” 

– Peter Sondergaard, Gartner Research

There are many memories of this time, the changes, places where I have worked and some of my colleagues are my dear friends.  I am not going to give up now but I will look to the future with this enthusiasm and relish on whatever the future holds. I am not going anywhere or changing my course.

Fact to Fantasy – something for everyone in Libraries

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I have been mainly working and therefore my photos are my inspiration that keep me going and they also remind me of what I did. Having looked at them yesterday, I realised my photos were all about libraries.  Therefore I am going to give a brief over view of my activities.

Dipping and rising, moving and settling, the Commons remind one of a flock of birds settling on a stretch of ploughed land. They never alight for more than a few minutes; some are always flying off, others are always settling again. And from the flock rises the gabbling, the cawing, the croaking of a flock of birds, disputing merrily and with occasional vivacity over some seed, worm, or buried grain.

Virginia Woolf, The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life

 I have visited the House of Commons Library before in 2011, but it was great to visit it again for the multiple aspects of Library, Information and Research work they do.  A new member of their team is also my ex-volunteering colleague for SLA.  The day was well-planned with great presentations from the heads of services, and it was really interesting to hear their process for providing information that is very important for our lives and for the policy makers who are meant to have our best interest.  I do recall remembering some similarities for when I work at the Greater London Authority and you would see politicians on the screen and workplace all the time. Coincidently, I saw a politician that I had seen before on this trip.  One of the best aspects of the open day is impartiality as information and research professionals in providing information impartially to the Members of Parliament. Now I use my current employer’s ethos ‘for everyone’.  I also remembered that when I was a trustee in a local charity over 18 years ago, we were reviewing our mission and values – and it was the first time we used the word ‘everyone’ in terms of provision.  It is a great reminder on our role in society and as a democracy – it is for everyone. 

The tour of the physical spaces were great to see – from the modern Portcullis House to the Palace of Westminster with the world-famous Big Ben Tour.  The art work and modern features of Portcullis House is light and airy with atrium, art work of politicians on the wall and functional for events such as the Open Day. I saw a TV presenter sitting around but it is not the type of place where you take photos or go to say ‘hello’. The main Palace of Westminster in contrast is medieval in parts and older as it is was rebuilt due to a fire and it is now a World Heritage site. The hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall was very impressive for the time it was built – considered the largest hall in England and in Europe at the time it was built. Most recently, Queen Elizabeth laid in Westminster Hall on her passing in 2022.  The hall has also been used for foreign dignitaries such as when Barack Obama in 2011, Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, President Nelson Mandela in 1996, President Charles de Gaulle in 1960 and President Albert Lebrun in 1939. 

The House of Common Debating Chamber, Library and lobbies have magnificent history and artwork but we were not allow to take photo to share on digital media, apart from the ones I gained permission to share on here. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, funny and kept the tour very amusing – just as in my first visit.  The library staff and tour was great and I love the work that they do.  The library is quaint and old – there English heritage furniture from the 1950s and they look great – a bit of a time warp.  It does have great views of the river Thames from the windows.  As you may recall, I also visited the House of Lords for another event last summer but I haven’t visited the House of Lords library – perhaps one day. The debating chamber was in recess so it is different when it is empty and it looks much bigger than it actually is in real life.  It was good to see the microphones hanging from the ceilings, the benches also have speakers so that they can heard over the noise.  The items on the table are just as you see it on TV with a few bibles for swearing in.  Last but not least, there are several reasons why you try to visit one day for such a famous building and I understand you can book tours or speak to your local Member of Parliament.  We ended the day with more talks, tours and fun quiz. I am also pleased that I know some of the staff there too. If you need to do some research and/or find out some information – do check out the House of Commons library website and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) link too.

I have been going to outer London for the Kickstart your Business Project such as Catford Library and Orpington Library.  Although these libraries are in London – they are about two hours away.  It is interesting to see local libraries in these areas and to meet their communities who are attending the workshops.  They all see well used and the staff are doing great work in curating events to collections in their local libraries.  It does feel very reassuring to see that local libraries are places of study, learning, literacy, comfort, cultural, creative and business hubs. I am also seeing several news recently about public libraries being cut and it reminds me that there is still so much to advocate to keep libraries where they are still being used. Let’s hope we continue to appreciate them and the value they add to their communities. 

At the end of February, I attended a webinar on Business Archives.  It is interesting how materials from business is used to tell stories on artists of the day as they were the graphic designers at the time.  There were also interesting archives of stainless-steel manufacturers describing how important the invention was at the time due to its durability but also as it can be used for multiple products such as golf sticks.  This too has inspired me for how we can use the business trade literature collection for storytelling by innovations over time.  You never really get bored in archives or research work! 

Vast landscapes, intrepid heroes, mysterious portals, shadowy forces, enchanted woodlands… Fantasy encompass all of these and much more.  

From facts to fantasy… The British Library’s exhibition

‘Fantasy – Realms of Imagination’ also ran in the last few months.  I am so pleased that I was able to visit it despite having a very busy schedule at work.  I was supposed to visit it when I wrote my Anansi story last autumn but it was great to see the connection with storytelling in all cultures from ancient folk tales, fairy tales, supernatural and epic stories.  With the use of film, sounds, costumes, and of course… inspiration from books, some of our most famous stories were inspired from the humble book.  On display the Wizard of Oz, The Game of Thrones, Beowulf, Milton’s Paradise Lost and some news for me such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi on underground Rome.

Although fantasy can be regarded as simple stories for children where ‘everyone lived happily ever after’ – it was highlighted that fantasy are often dark, ambiguous and complex.  Perhaps just as in real life but the genre allows us to explore these in depth.  The creativity of this genre has fascinated us for years and gives us the ability to look beyond the normal world from different perspectives and conventions. I was happy to see the exhibition well attended as lots of fans for this genre and I too am a fan without realising if we reflect back on our childhood of storytelling in the Caribbean.  It really is amazing that the storytelling has the ability to take us to another dimension!

A very special year – a reflection on 2023

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I knew 2023 would be a busy year for me as I took on the role of President of Special Libraries Association (SLA), and it certainly turned out that way.  This was a year for a lot extra hours and hard commitment to get through extra work-load, on top of taking on a new role and responsibilities in my day job at the British Library.  I was fully aware that I needed to be conscious of time for my own wellbeing and my family commitments too for when the going got tough.  I didn’t do as much socialising or partying as I have in the past with my London or Caribbean diaspora communities, but found time to make sure I had some fun along the way, as well as visited new places – Milan, India, Toronto and Detroit.  Therefore, I will give you a run through on some of the highlights of this special year for me.

The first few months of 2023 I spent having clear targets for getting back to as normal as possible after the pandemic years, and this meant that although we had resumed our services by this time, we had to also incorporate the changes and the digital transformation that were gained in the years prior.  I was genuinely excited by having in-person events again and we were able to resume our normally workshops, groups, one-to-one meetings and events.  We also started a new project with London Boroughs, so it was great to outreach our services in areas, especially ones that I have not been to before and even in my own borough.  It was great to see some of the bigger events at the library too as we hosted large meeting with entrepreneurs and celebrated 50 years of the British Library in July with a staff reception.  One of the most popular library events I went to this year was the Fashion Retailing event which hosted Patrick Grant from The Sewing Bee television services as a star speaker –  and he certainly had groupies who came to see him!

I started doing a new role which meant I began going to various subject areas and physical spaces in the library which I won’t normally need to go. It made me see how a large national library like this operates, and how important our staff and processes are to maintain our services.  Sadly and annoyingly, the British Library came under a major ransomware cyber-attack at the end of October, and this has really slowed us down in a year when we were making many gains after the pandemic. Despite this, the lessons learnt in pandemic have enabled us to be more flexible, however it is our users and the sharing of knowledge and information that has paid the highest price.  I hope to learn from this experience too, and intend to resume our mission and purpose for sharing our collections, resources and expertise with our customers to the level that makes us one of the best public libraries in the world. 

In April, it was great to visit Milan for the first time.  I have always wanted to go to see a football game as a fan of Italian football since the 1980s.  It was great to see a game at the San Siro Stadium in Milan and get some of the fan’s atmosphere of the Curva Sud that you see on TV screens.  Ideally, I should have gone in the 1990s when I really was into Italian football but you can’t always do the things you want… when you want to do it.  I am pleased that I was able to tick this off my bucket list.

I also like the modern and residential parts of Milan.  It certainly has an urban feel with green spaces, great metro system and cosmopolitan feel with tourist as well as residents.  The food is always something to look forward to in Italy, and I particularly like that you can walk around easily too.  We also visited Bergamo by train and it was nice to walk around the medieval areas and the nice promenades that are great for a passagiata. I am unlikely to visit Milan again, but my decades of curiosity on what it was like has been fulfilled. 

I literally flew back from Milan to London, and the next day I flew out to Delhi for a conference that I was invited to attend by our SLA Asian Community based in Delhi.  It was great to spend time with dear friends and great professionals such as Debal C Kar, P K Jain and Ravindra Sharma, Parveen Babbar, Meenal Oak, Sushmita Chakrabarty, and so many more in Delhi at the conference held at Galgotias University in Noida.  It was extra special to spend time with Liz Jolly (Chief Librarian at the British Library) and Barbara Lison (President of IFLA 2022-2023), as well as the other Asian and international delegates at the conference.  I was also able see the Museum of India and Rail Transport Museum with special tours with the curators.  Thank you to our hosts for showing us around Delhi, and the special trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra.  Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Santosh Gupta and his colleagues for showing me around Jaipur and letting me stay as their guest at the University of Rajasthan.  The city was also beautiful to see, and the architecture was so distinctive and unique.  I was able to present and speak to various hosts in India, and the trip was truly educational and work-related too.

I haven’t had time to reflect much this year but I know going to India has been on my mind since forever as an Indo-Caribbean whose ancestors were from India – as well as growing up with lots of Bollywood movies in Trinidad and Tobago.  I am also a Hindu, and therefore will always think of India and its’ special link to my heritage and identity. I hope I can see again some of the great people I met in India, and I would happily show them around London as they did for me for India.  May their lives be blessed with happiness, and I am very grateful for their kindness on my visit to India. 

I had a few weeks in Spring to get back to normal but then I was off to Toronto on my way to Detroit for the MLA|SLA Conference.  It made sense to stay a few days in Toronto as I was unable to get a direct flight to Detroit. I haven’t been to Toronto since 2009, so it was good fun to check out the sights again in the lovely Spring weather.  Toronto is very modern compared to Europe, so there is a different vibe.  It was great to see all the Blue Jay fans after the game to bring some vibrant life to the downtown walk.  It was also great to meet a friend I met on work related social media over a decade ago in a pub in Toronto, and I hope we can meet again as I own him lunch! It was also great to see family and spend time with them.

Detroit at the MLA|SLA Conference was a very memorable time for me as I was going as SLA President 2023! I literally worked for five days in Detroit as there was a lot of preparation and meetings whilst I was there. I certainly was very focussed in making sure I covered our board duties, meetings with our old and new association management companies, our joint partners for the conference (who were very welcoming to me) and most of all – all the great people I met at the conference.  The conference educational sessions were more relaxed for me to attend although I was there as president – luckily board business meetings were kept to a minimal, and therefore I was able to get a lot of conference insights and personal development aspects whilst at the conference too.  I am still to contact some of the connections I made as this year as I have been to busy but I hope to have more time soon.  I was also able to check out the some of the social aspects of Detroit at a couple of bars and restaurants, and the Detroit Museum of Arts.  I didn’t get to go the Hitsville Museum for the birth of Motown Soul with its’ proud cultural heritage. I do have some great photos of Detroit and I am proud that SLA were able to meet in 2023, and will cherish these memories for the rest of my career.

Obviously, my work for SLA carried on until the rest of the year and at times, it was inspiring with the many meetings and discussion, and other time it was extremely busy where I had to put in those extra hours into the early hours of the morning.  I know my health, exercise routine and social activities had to be put on hold for a little while this year, but I certainly would not have given up this opportunity to lead and serve and organisation the has been around for 114 years.  I am still very committed to SLA and the profession, and therefore hope that I can continue the great work. Some of the board top level achievements this year are – closed and transition to a new association management company, new infrastructure such as tech and operational (scholarship review, magazine relaunch, new tech etc) and the joint MLA|SLA Conference.  The challenges are still there but hopefully the foundations are firmer, and we can aim for stability and growth.  Wish us luck too! Thank you for putting the SPECIAL in my year.

Apart from this, I did go to the jazz Love Supreme Festival in June, visited some sights such as the Docklands Museum when my brother visited in summer, and I also checked out a few gigs in the autumn such as Mica Millar at the Union Chapel.  I am hoping that 2024 will being some more opportunities to go out socially and get more exercise.  I already have four things lined up for January and February with family and friends. 

As I close 2023 – I wish you all the best for the new year.  I have reflected broadly here on a year when I was awake more than I slept… but I am honoured, learnt a lot, and do realised we achieved somethings, if not a lot in transition. In this personal sense, it was certainly very special.

Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary – from block party to global phenomenon

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Since the turn of the year, I have been seeing great celebrations for hip-hop culture not just coming from the USA where it originated, but from the global phenomenon that had earned its credentials on the world stage.  In recent weeks, I have been learning half-century since the birth of this genre, it is traceable to a house party on 11th August 1973.  The party was in an apartment building on Sedgwick Avenue, New York, where a young Clive Campbell – better known as DJ Kool Herc – used two turntables to loop percussive portions of the same record to create a continuous flow of music as mentioned in this celebratory page ‘It’s Bigger than Hip Hop’ by the BBC. 

  • SONY DSC

Coincidently, I spend a couple of hours last night listening to the BBC’s dedicated show called the ‘For the Love of Hip Hop’, as well as some great live show from regional Leicester.  This just demonstrates how hip-hop has grown organically to a global phenomenon.  I must add a disclaimer that I am not an expert on hip-hop, but I’m still learning some music to new artists (thanks to my son). And when I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago – we knew the big hits, but not necessarily some of the rarer music.  What I do like is being around to see how the genre grew, and evolved to what it is today. 

You can also tell from this timeline that there has been many momentous achievements over the years from the more mainstream song like ‘Rapper’s Delight’ (which even my soul-loving white husband knows), to the first time a hip-hop tune was played on MTV.  Since then there have been many stars and clear timeline of albums, awards, and entrepreneurial explosions in the last 50 years. 

Hip Hop is obscure, and it is not something that only journalists or musicologists care to research. Most people, whether they like music or not, have come into contact with Hip Hop. 

– Nick Siullo in the book ‘Communicating hip-hop: how hip-hop culture shapes popular culture’.

So how can you tell what is hip hop? Like with anything new that has grown so exponentially – it is now a really passion to document this, with hip hop now being looked at from an academic perspective for its’ impact on social change and culture. There is are some great terms mention in the following The Kennedy Center on the key identifiers and features, as well as glossary for the terms used, especially of you want to keep with the flow… or the ‘in crowd’. 

The Kennedy Center states in this article that hip-hop scholars attributes these six elements:

  • DJing – the artistic handling of beats and music
  • MCing, aka rapping – putting spoken word poetry to a beat
  • Breaking – hip hop dance form
  • Writing – the painting of highly stylized graffiti
  • Theatre and Literature – combining hip hop elements and themes in drama, poetry and stories
  • Knowledge of self – the moral, social and spiritual principles that inform and inspire hip-hop ways of being.

Source: The Kennedy Center

It is interesting to see that music and self-expression sits at the heart of the genre.  Hip Hop has had an immense impact on the world, but it was created by youth culture in the first years with roots in inner city urban life with social and economic struggles, with territorial expression on what would have been a multicultural New York. The invention of a culture enabled people to find a self-expression on these struggles with hope, and punching ambition.  In the later years, the genre is blamed for misogyny and for glamourising territorial gang culture, but if this was their reality – it is captured in their lyrics.  It is also a relief to see female artists have since developed as superstars too in the genre, and women have earned their place in hip hop history too.

“I developed these theories that all these elements of our urban culture were beginning to seem like one big thing. This was in 1978.”

— Fab 5 Freddy

Hip hop has influenced other cultures and subcultures too.  Where there was music – there is dance, fashion, and art.  At the same time, New York’s subway trains were public property in the light term for graffiti artists and tags.  Street art has always been around but hip-hop also found expression in graphic art and marking of tags by gangs. The is a reference that graffiti started in this link Black Web America: ‘This creative expression is made up of written words used to spread a specific message, whether it be social, political or something a bit more personal from the inner elements of an aerosol spray can. Hip-Hop’s connection to graffiti dates back to the late 1960s, originating in the predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods of New York City where hip-hop music and street subcultures formulated‘.

Graffiti still exists but street art has exploded in the last decade in our spaces, and now another independent global artform. I am not able to visit the Bronx, but I know that even London has paid tribute and homage to the subcultures and hip-hop artists.  Recently there was also a large paper poster celebrating Notorious B.I.G’s anniversary album ‘Hypnotise’ in my neighbourhood.

In the last 50 years, there has been a plethora of new inventions and innovations on how we consume music. From the mechanical ability and skill to play music in house parties to the technical ability to mix, scratch, bebop, create lyrics – as well as engage and perform.  I love how this grassroot movement started, was very low budget, as well as ‘the technology’ not being as sophisticated as it is now in 2023.  For the future, one thing guaranteed is that the genre and the mechanics will evolve with time and innovations. 

 

There has been a lot of change in technology with the development of listening and playing musical equipment. From the larger record decks to personal devices tape decks, sound and portable music innovations has changed to ultra-modern listening and entertainment equipment. Dr Dre and Jay-Z, amongst others, are now successful entrepreneurs with a lucrative billion-dollar industry.  Dr Dre is known for his production styles as well as creating the headset Beats as well as other innovative products with his company being sold to Apple Inc in 2014.  

As expected, there is a lot of resources available online for researching 50 years of Hip Hop! From references shared on this Wikipedia page, to those provided by research organisation and libraries and digital content.  Such as this link from Albert S Cool Library and University of Memphis Libraries. I am discovering so much more about the genre and how it has grown from a back yard groove to worldwide celebration of the creativity and expression of lives in other languages and countries. It is a good time to recognise the artist and everyday person who has shared their creativity with us and hope that the genre is around in another 50 years for its 100th Birthday! Happy Birthday Hip Hop!

Say goodbye to summer…

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This year I didn’t have a beach holiday that I so love. I had been away in Spring and therefore it would have been expensive to go away in July or August.  I know there are some cheap deals out there but I had work, volunteering and family commitments.  June was apparently one of the hottest months on record and this makes it much more appealing to do things closer to home.  However, July was one of the wettest and it was hard to predict what to do.  It was very peculiar, and it seems we have some warm weather as we now go into September.  It has been sad seeing the severe heatwave in Europe earlier this summer, and the disaster from wildfire from Maui to Rhodes in Greece.  It seems climate change is becoming more evidential in our everyday lives. 

However despite the weather, I had to get on with plans in the last few weeks.  I didn’t go to British beaches and special gardens but I still had some time to do some fun things. 

The first was going to Norfolk for the weekend.  I haven’t been for a couple of years and it was typically very wet weather. It was good to stay very… very… near the Norwich Football City fondly known as Carrow Road, and the team is known as the Canaries. You might guess from the colours of the kit. It was quite special to see the game from a hotel room and it was a bit of sunshine on a sunny day! I remember looking at the tall building near the Lords Cricket Ground and thinking that is a great place to live if you like cricket.  I suppose it just a fun way to have important sporting venues close to you.

The next day, we went for a drive along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast through Great Yarmouth to Southwold.  I haven’t been going to Southwold until recently, but it is known as ‘Hampstead by the Sea’ as a pleasant seaside town. It is nice to visit as there is hardly any stress trying to find parking, and it is very residential as a holiday seaside town. I do recommend that you book a place to eat as it was hard finding a restaurant to eat at lunchtime on one of the few sunny days in the month.  However, the pier was less busy, and we were able to get some fish and chips for lunch.  It was nice to see some of the quaint seaside cottages and gardens.   

Back in London, we were able to get a few sunny days and one of them was when I took a first visit to the Docklands Museum. I wanted to visit after seeing an advert for the Indo-Caribbean exhibition advertised.  Visiting Canary Wharf on such a sunny day was amazing for the photos of the newest buildings, and in the newer financial district in London.  But don’t be deceived… it has a long history of commerce and trade from ancient times.  The Museum is well curated throughout the ages, and to get to the Indo-Caribeean exhibition – ironically, I had to whiz through the various floors and parts that had relevance to how we got to Indo-Caribbeans in the Caribbean.

Although I knew the history of the Caribbean, seeing the visual and curated content were still engaging and educational.  I found out things that even I missed in my Caribbean schooling – such as the slave traders in London, the wealth created by the sugar industry and how the greed for this wealth fuelled the Transatlantic Slave Trade.  There was so much to unpick that I cannot cover it all in this blog post. 

The Indo-Caribbean exhibition was educational and balanced on some of the issues that my ancestors may have experienced on their journey from India to the Caribbean.  It was sad, annoying and true that they were sometimes treated as cargo and the record keeping was not consistent.  If I have to trace my lineage to India – I will need a lot of patience and time to research it.  It is shocking and realistic to know of the journeys Indians made to the Caribbean, and it makes for an appreciation of their struggles, perseverance and resilience. 

This month, I also spent time working but it was interesting to visit some of the regional libraries that we are working with on our ‘Kick Start your Business’ project.  It was a nice pleasure to get a bus to the Library in Leytonstone with definitely felt like an Alfred Hitchcock appreciation day! Well, he is a local hero who had a great impact and career on cinema and film.  The local underground station has lots of mosaics as a dedication to Hitchcock.  It was also nice to see that the workshop room also doubles as a theatre and a cinema.  This library is not that close to me, but if it was closer – I certainly would be visiting it more. 

It was also good to make a trip back to south of the river and to see another local library for our project. It was very wet and it would have been good if I had more time to explore other areas closer to the venue, but when it was so wet… all I wanted to do was to get back home. Apart from this ventures, I spent some time in the garden and local areas. I can’t totally switch off in a city and therefore I like getting out in the countryside or visiting areas that I haven’t been before. This obviously requires good budgeting and planning.

Next year, I hope I go on holiday on a warm beautiful beach town.

Summer Library Celebrations and Sea Changes

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As this year is proving to be very busy due to my volunteering roles – there is a real challenge for me to get some free time to do nothing.  I seem to have lists, upon lists, things to do and therefore I have not been socialising as much this year.  I have been very active in the libraries and information world and therefore I will be writing about my activities from the last few weeks on here. 

I had some special activities this month as usually and one of them is going to Birmingham to for the CILIP Conference.  I didn’t realise that I actually walked through the NEC in Birmingham to get to the conference venue and hotel.  I had my phone stole the day before so it was a bit disconcerting getting a train without a smartphone as I had to ensure I had a tablet and lap top with me so I can send emails and printed tickets for my train journey. Apparently, I am not the only one who is experiencing stolen phones on the London underground or whilst out and about – but it makes you really out of depth with the way our travel and even IT authentication as well communication channels rely on smartphones in this day and age.  Once I got to the Birmingham, I was with a bunch of library and information professionals, so I knew I was in a safe environment and knew people attending there who can assist me if I need help. 

The CILIP Conference was my first visit to their conference and although I am going to conferences more frequently as SLA President 2023, this was not the case and therefore had to be very proactive with my own professional development over the years.  It is CILIP’s 125th Anniversary and I loved how they celebrated their past but also want to shine a light for the next 25 years on future leaders.  I also found the keynote on AI interesting for the way that we can use the technology for the benefit of developing services but the best take-away was making sure that we consider responsible AI. It is good to see ways that the technology can do some of the work for humans in a more efficient way and how we can implement it for research and data processing in knowledge and information management. 

It was also good to see suppliers, other professionals and fellow volunteers at the Conference.  I went to some great talks on professional development and international issues from a session by IFLA.  The CILIP conference gave me an opportunity to see other professionals in the UK and hear what they are doing in their own libraries and subject areas.  I used to feel very dishearten by the lack of other professionals but this was partly because I was not going to these networking events. For the last 17 years or more – I get inspired by other professionals and don’t ever lose passion as they all do amazing work which has real value to their communities and users. I know I am active internationally but I hope I can perhaps present at a future CILIP conference and give back to the UK professional community. 

The next day, I also had to make a trip to a great event in London so got an early morning train.  Our department was hosting the launch of a new research report entitled Democratising Entrepreneurship 2.0 for the impact of central government funding for libraries to provide business support across England and parts of Scotland. This event was held at the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster – which is one of the most iconic buildings in the London.  I was on the terrace and hosted our partners in various libraries in our national network. 

It was good to hear the speeches from our hosts and the board of the British Library as well as to see the views from the river.  At this event we were recognising the work that we have completed in the last three years but also looking at the future at how we can carry on this work.  I have been saying for ages that we need physical spaces like libraries, as well as support and expert staff to assist in knowledge and information sharing.  It was also great to see some of the products on display that have come out of the projects and hear how beneficial it has been to participate in our projects and programmes across the country.

I have visited the Houses of Parliament before for an outreach event about 12 years ago where I was able to see the chambers, staff areas in Portcullis House and the House of Commons library which overlooks the river. I think this must have been before my smartphone days as I don’t have any photos but once I started using a smartphone, I have more photos of library and information visits. The Palace of Westminster Great Hall is nice to see for its history as well as the debating chamber.  The staff who gave the tour then gave us good anecdotes of the prime ministers who had gone in the past and show us some of the unique aspects of the building. 

Our international team at the British Library had a great reception for the cohort for their International Leaders Programme for the 2023. It was great to network with professionals on the programme as well as to see staff.  It was great to feel connected to the 18 countries that were taking part in the programme and to hear from CILIP’s CEO Nick Poole on the why that we as library and information professionals to need to collaborate, share knowledge, best practice and opportunities with each other. I felt really motivated to hear the speeches and to see a great video celebrating the British Library’s 50th Anniversary.

There are few times in my career so far that I was able to celebrate with the whole organisation I work for – this is for example when Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand on 1st July 1998 – we were given special burgundy filing wallets and other branded mementos. I also remember celebrating the milestones of the 2012 London Olympics at City Hall with staff talks and presentations.  And this month, we were able to celebrate 50 years of the British Library.  Although I have only worked for the library for over 10 years – I have known it since I arrive in London as I drove past the construction site on Euston in the early 1990s.  It was in 1994 that I started using the Document Supply Centre and therefore have been a user of their services since then form the other side.  I know my colleagues take pride in working at the library and it an inspiring space.  I have a new role in the library, which keep me busy and there is always something new to do or learn in such a great organisation.  Here’s to the next 50 years!

And last but not least, I popped into my local library this weekend on my walk in my neighbourhood.  It was great to see how the library has recently been refitted and reorganised for the various users of the library.  There has been self-checkout for library materials for a while.  There are still spaces to read, borrow books, study, a children’s library and storytelling space as well as a café and reception area.  There is also a collaboration with the University of Portsmouth with the library for adult learning in what is now known as their London Campus. Even this short walk and a few minutes in my local library made me observe a sea-change on the changes happening in libraries.  Long may it lasts!

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – a hot topic for humans

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It was about seven years ago that I first attended an event by SLA Europe on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and I have been thinking of this recently. Luckily there is a review by my friend Richard recapping our thoughts in 2016 and it is interesting to read how the event predicted that the topic will be around in the next few years, the role for library professionals, and human intelligence. I knew it was important for me to attend, and the new technology should be on my ‘radar’ to know about as library and information professional.  After all the profession is at the top of the value change for information, intelligence, research and insight, just as Richard had mentioned before in his review – it is just that not many people realise this. Fast forward to 2023, I am pleased that we also had a presentation this year on ChatGPT by Mary Dee Ojala, who is excellent at the skills required for searching. 

Like some of the articles, content, conversations and social media that I have read in recent weeks – we are not to fear artificial intelligence but to embrace it like other technological revolutions that have comes in the past. Earlier this year I researched the 5th Industrial revolution for a presentation to SLA Asia.   I know there will be disruptions, as in the past, but it also a time for innovations and for new ways of doing things.  The only striking aspect is the rate of technological changes in the last few years.  Therefore, as this is such a ‘hot topic’ at present, I thought I could explore some of the recent ways it has infiltrated our way of life, and what it means for me as a library and information professional. 

Business is also changing due to generative AI, and now we can ask these system questions just like we started doing on Google(and other search engines) a few years ago.  The global market for AI is predicted to grow to US $1800000million according to Statista, a prediction on how some of these will impact on human related jobs and change our way of doing things.  There is survey conducted in 2021 with some of the jobs that AI should take away – like data processing, answering routine queries such as chatbots, problem solving and intelligence searching for large quantities of structured and unstructured data and content. It is great for us to harness the power of technology for human activity.  On arrival in Toronto Pearson International Airport in May, I recently went through most the immigration control using mainly artificial intelligence and machines such as facial recognition, and the microchip in my passport to match up the data and information that my stored on my electronic passport. Although there were delays caused to flights when the technology failed a few weeks ago at some London airports. However, it was definitely very high-tech and advanced compared to the Immigration Officer who served me in India and Italy, but it does mean that there is a loss of jobs and a reliance on technology. It was ironic that the time I gained going through an automated immigration and borders process in Toronto – the suitcases took ages to come out of the aircraft as there is a shortage of staff to get them to passengers.  Perhaps robots can be used in future to unload them from aircrafts to the baggage reclaim areas. 

Most retailers and marketers are able using it to create content – instead of sourcing and research original pieces of work – you can ask generative AI for some help. There are definitely more self-check outs in my local supermarket and I haven’t been in the large shopping centres recently but I imagine that we will see more use of technology in retail.

The World Economic Forum has this interesting strategic intelligence interactive took by McGill university, which recognises some of the advantages and disadvantages of AI for business and mentions the impact on the loss of jobs in the human workforce. It also has the impact on our social lives, and the way that entrepreneurship can use AI too.

One of my colleagues recently used ChatGBT for a patent query but apparently the results yield were many but the information was partly incorrect.  There are intelligent limits to all the unstructured content that might be there! There are obviously concerns and opportunity for us as library and information professionals to educate and scrutinise the content retrieved for our research and customers.  Disinformation and misinformation are the negative aspects of relying too much on AI, especially that which is not programmed to add value and cite reliable sources.  This is our professional role and an opportunity to enable digital literacy, educate and use ethical procedures.  I had one person mention to me this week that she used AI for her book – I haven’t read it as it is still being written, but I hope the information contained in the book would be able to stand up to scrutiny and evidence, especially if it relates to health and wellbeing.

In the real world, some are taking up the use of generative AI for helping with more routine and mundane tasks.  I saw that for social media and marketing – content and creativity can still be created by AI but marketers (like information professionals) will still have to look at ever evolving changes in format, new platforms, algorithm changes. Generative AI tools can be trained to produce content that is closer to a brand’s voice, but they still need a human touch to ensure guidelines are followed. Whilst generative AI can free up time for brand marketing, brands risk damaging trust by posting content that doesn’t sound like it came from the brand. Does this sound familiar? – “Generative AI can help with inspiration, but it isn’t a good fit for these other cases” – (eMarketer – ChatGPT and Generative AI for Social Media Marketing).  I love how the report actually warns that people already have low trust on social media so they are encouraging people to not pass off AI generated content as their own.  Good advice!

There are many positive initiatives that are being developed for AI, Machine Learning, Chatbots, and other forms of artificial intelligence and data science.  I have the benefit of passing by the Alan Turing Institute (the National Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence) very frequently as it is based in the British Library where I work.  There are always several initiatives with a focus on human-centric research and innovations, especially as the newly released white paper for data science with a focus on helping society after the pandemic and war.  The most recent initiative I saw by the ATI was the use of AI to help with preventing cyberattacks. The best thing about seeing this space and the enigma code machine is that we will always need the best human minds and brains, like Alan Turing, to help us solve some of the world’s biggest problems.  This should be a guiding principle for data science and AI.

Although I use technology for my work and I am attached to my iPhone, I don’t feel threaten by AI.  Not yet anyway.  I know we are talking about it and I have been paying more attention to it.  On the SLA Board we mentioned that we should be programming items on the topic, in my day job I have just been asked to prepare a discussion about it for our information services and I just read a few articles in CILIP’s magazine ‘Information Professional’ which reflects my views and calmness about it.  I do think there will be threats to some jobs but there will also be some opportunities to use it for basic as well as intensive information and intelligence needs.  I will probably revisit this blog post in a few years to see if my calmness was justified.  Perhaps I can use artificial intelligence then to programme my brain to look back too – just like in a sci-fi movie. For now, I will continue to encounter new AI developments one step at a time, and hopefully will understand this burning hot topic a little more each time.

An odyssey with purpose and beyond the normal

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A genuine odyssey is not about piling up experiences. It is a deeply felt, risky, unpredictable tour of the soul.

– Author: Thomas Moore

In my return trip from Milan in April, my husband called me a jet setter as I was flying to India the next day.  This is really unusual for me as I have always had an international remit in my work as an information professional but didn’t need to travel due to the technology and postal services of the day.  However, due to my commitment as President of SLA and work-related meetings – I had been travelling most of April and May. I had three weeks of work between Italy and India with a break to Toronto and Detroit but what is even more relevant – is that I had to work in India, Detroit and Toronto where it didn’t actually feel unnatural.  I just had to make sure I was focussed on the tasks and deadlines I had to deal with on those weeks away.  I am also fully aware of my airmiles, and you will be glad to know that I have no travel plans for the next few months.

Last month I mentioned my trip India – which was so special and I am still taking time to absorb all the implications that comes with travelling to an ancestral land that had great resonance on my family and life.  I know if I never go to India again – it would have been one of my wishes come through, and just being there for under two weeks help me to put some missing pieces in the puzzle.

Earlier in April for the Easter break, I had visited Milan.  Since the 1980s, Milan has also been on my list to visit as I looked at Italian football and a USA fashion show which used to show the fashion runways in Milan, Paris and New York.  I have also spent several hours looking at football with my husband in the 1990s when there was only one television in our home and no internet or digital media to distract me – although I also enjoyed looking at football then too.  My trip to Milan was to see the city but also to go mainly to a football game at the San Siro Stadium before it is knocked down and rebuilt.  The trip on the subway to the stadium was great as I had never used the subway in Italy before, and it was interesting to be travelling in a modern way in an old city.  The build-up to the game was amazing and I was able to take in the atmosphere on a fabulous spring day with the usually stalls, smell of food and souvenir on sale.  It was a good game and the AC Milan fans are renowned for their atmospheric presence and songs.  The Curva Sud was full of flags and tifosi chanting during the game. There was a great family atmosphere with children attending the game at the Easter weekend.  I remember the camera shots of the glamourous Italian fans in the 1990s when women dressed very different to British fans.  With globalisation, most of the football fashion sense where similar to those found in any city now. 

Some of the other attractions around Milan were the new skyscrapers that were built in the financial district, as well as residential areas of the city.  In recent years – I kept seeing the Bosca Verticale on social media, which was coincidentally within walking distance to our hotel.  It was an ultimate green living wall and the design was intended to make a statement as well a ‘best in show’ (pardon the pun) for environmentally sustainable design for an urban residential building.  It was really impressive on the skyline and I will remember how beautiful it was with other homes and a community around it – there was older buildings and parks nearby. 

In contrast, we took a walk to the main central areas of Milan around the famous Duomo and nearby Galleria.  It was a busy Easter Sunday and the piazza was very busy with tourist taking photos and have something to eat.  There seemed to be hardy any local Milanese around at the Easter weekend, but I guess it comes alive in the normal week.  The trams in Milan were also good to see but I didn’t get a chance to try one. Bergamo is not far from Milan and we also wanted to visit it after hearing great stories from family and friends.  We got the train from Milan Central Station, and we were there in less than one hour.  On arrival at Bergamo, the avenue led straight to the hill top Alta Vista which was the medieval part of the old town.  It was good to walk around and see the buildings, shops, street entertainment and enjoy some lunch in the nice restaurants. The town looked very affluent, and I liked spending the day there.  One other part of Milan I didn’t know about until recently was the Canals area of the city.  It is not like Venice but there are several restaurants and a good vibe if you want to spend the time looking at the sunset which reflects beautifully on the canal.

Just across the Atlantic was my next trip for the MLA|SLA Conference in Detroit 23. It was a unique experience going to the conference was SLA President 2023 and one I didn’t expect to happen.  I was immensely proud to be representing SLA and working with Board of Directors this year in bringing a collaborative conference, especially as it was too expensive for us to host on our own this year.  The conference committee provided very complementary content on leadership, management and related topics to educate, empower and enlighten information professionals.  It was great for me too to hear from experienced panellists on the insights, opportunities and issues that are relevant in the sector.  I certainly came away feeling enthused and inspired to carry on this work in my day job, and in the profession. I am also a lot more aware of Medical Sciences Libraries and how important MLA is to its’ community.  They are more academic than perhaps a specialised library and it was great to see how seriously their roles and libraries are for the future of medicine and healthcare professionals.  It was great to be warmly welcomed by their staff and volunteer leaders, and I am pleased that we were able to collaborate successfully this year. 

The sponsors and exhibitors at the conference were great to see, and they remind me how technology-focus our roles are, as well as giving us a real user-based and user-experience format to meet and discuss information provision, research and access at conference.  Realistically we are able to benefit with their support, and they also have an opportunity to speak to us directly or as a group when we meet.  I hope we can continue to build stronger and sustained relationships for the future.

I practiced on the greatest model of storytelling we’ve got, which is “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” I told those stories many, many times.

– Author: Philip Pullman

Detroit itself was an interesting city and is well-known for being a ‘Motor city’ due to the motor industries in the regions.  There was definitely a motor theme as I stayed in the Detroit Marriot which is part of the General Motors complex at the Renaissance Center.  There was also a car display on my first day, and the grand prix is also happening soon.  Motown music is also the other aspect that the city is famous for, and as I was busy the five days I was in Detroit – I was unable to visit the Hitsville museum.  Perhaps next time. 

On arriving in Detroit, I had to get my bearings as the position of the conference on the riverfront in Detroit meant that we can see Canada clearly from the USA and the beautiful turquoise water of Lake Erie between the two countries.  I loved looking at the sunrise in the morning, and figured out the position of the hotel from the sunrise. I thought of freedom fighters like Harriet Tubman who may have made similar freedom passages. It was also great to see the tribute of the city as a passage to freedom in Canada for enslaved people. There was also a statute of an indigenous American with his canoe, and I can easily envision him and his people using the Lake to go to surrounding land, and perhaps to even fish.  At the MLA|SLA Conference – it was recognised that the land around the conference belonged to three tribes including the Anishinaabe tribe.

The final hours in Detroit, I spent with conference delegates (friends) at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and it was great to see a world class collection as well as to be surprised with the artefacts from faraway lands and civilisations. 

The time in Detroit made me more aware of the many new technical and subject areas about my profession, as well as the local area and history.  I look forward to catching up with old and new contacts in the next few weeks, and perhaps seeing some again in the future. 

I actually spent two weekends and a bit in Toronto on my way to and from London as I initially could not find a direct flight to Detroit. It was my second visit in 14 years – it seems I have always been aware of Canada as my auntie would visit us in Trinidad, and we had photos in our family album from her life and family in Canada.  As she mentioned to me in the 1980s – Canada is new, clean and great place to live.  It still looks amazingly clean and modern compared to other parts of the world. 

I mainly spent my time with family and taking trips to downtown or in suburbia in their subway or buses.  It was great to see some of the sights and areas of interest again, such as the financial district, main squares, gardens and lake shore.  There are some impressive mainly new architecture, shops, creativity hubs as well as art centres.  I used to send information and books to King Street West – and it was nice to see it again.  Around the area I stayed, there were a large Asian community with great restaurants.  As with most major cities – the cost of living has increased a lot in the last decade and it seems so too in Toronto. 

My mother (who lived for a while in Canada) and auntie have both passed on and I thought of them often.  It was great to see other relatives and friends.  I was able to see some friends who keep in touch by social media as it is still one of the best ways to let people know what you are doing, where and how you can connect with them.  I didn’t plan to see a baseball game at the Rogers stadium but we saw the fans leaving the game after a win a few weekends ago, and the vibe was really feel-good with the Blue Jays kit looking amazing in the spring sunshine.  I was also able to visit two gardens with my auntie and it was also nice to see other Toronto folks enjoying the beauty and good weather around the lake and downtown.  As I have close family in Toronto – it is likely that I will visit again one day. 

That’s what the American odyssey is really about: Leaving home. Leaving home and coming home, and trying to understand the difference.

– Author: Tom Bodett

Green Workplace Champions – Quick Wins and Small Actions

Published on by Seema RampersadLeave a comment

In the last few months in the news, we have seen Earthquakes devastate parts of Turkey and Syria, floods in the Caribbean and tornadoes in Mississippi in the last week.  These natural disasters are hard to predict but one thing we all know…we have to be prepared for them.  The negative impact on climate change and environmental crisis is having a greater impact on the Earth and us – and is more long-term.  This means we really have to think of strategies and practices that we can inform and empower our workforce, professionals and our communities as we face these challenges together – now and the future.

One of the most interesting and inspiring events this month has been the Green Libraries Conference hosted by The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). It was an opportunity for library and information professionals to come together to share ideas, learn from each other and to get into action of protecting the Earth from climate and environmental crisis – see my photos for some information on the sessions.  

The Green Libraries Manifesto was launched last year in a partnership with CILIP, The Arts Council, The British Library, Julie’s Bicycle and Libraries Connected.  The aims of the partnership was to ‘develop a UK-wide, cross-sector programme focused on the contribution of librarians, information and knowledge professionals to the sustainability agenda’. Sustainability is a topic which is being looked at not only in my profession, but in all ways of life with individuals who are keen to get involved and take positive action.  

On the other side of the Atlantic, the American Libraries Association (ALA), has also launched guidance and resources to support environmentally friendly policies and actions with their motto: “To thrive and evolve into the future, ALA must adopt the ‘triple bottom line’ mindset of sustainability: We must embody practices that are environmentally sound, economically feasible, and socially equitable”.  And it was proposed by ALA’s Task Force on Sustainability to have sustainability included as one of their core competencies for libraries and information professionals.  

As a British Library staff and President of SLA 2023, I am very conscious of how important these issues and actions are for our environment, digital and physical spaces – and ultimately for our customers, patrons and our own lives.  I have also been able to understand more and more the issues and changes required as it also feeds into my work in supporting businesses in their ideas and the growing of their companies.  I was really impressed recently when we held a Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange Day (CAKE) with other libraries across the UK on this very same topic – we were already being driven by the energy (pardon the pun) and the interest from COP26 in 2021 in Glasgow to our local business support in our library partners near and far.  Our BIPC North East partners have a great link for green business and I have since been able to share insights with other customers.

For SLA, we have discussed this issue at SLA Conference in the past – the first time I hear of the term environmental justice and more on Sustainable Development Goals in a library an information context was from the 2020 virtual conference.  I also met Loida Garcia Fedo (past ALA President) for the first time online when she presented a paper on the UN Sustainable Development Goals to a library community in Singapore.  Three years on, and I think we have come along a lot further in our journey as library and information professionals to tackle the issues with climate change and environmental crisis.  

The SLA Workplace Preparedness Subcommittee held an online event this week hosting my British Library colleague Maja Maricevic from the Green Libraries Partnership and Samantha Palladini from the Communities Responding to Emergency Weather (CREW).  It was great to hear the programmes and partnerships in place from both speakers as well as to collaborate on exchanging ideas – such as having local hubs, education and also building grassroots links with local communities from the USA. The Green Libraries Partnership is doing the same here and they were both aligned on the sustainable goals.  There was also a focus on environmental justice and social justice for the communities who are most affected – highlighting disparities with climate change and social inequality. 

After going to the CILIP Conference for half-day (I had to present to Masters in Library and Information Science students at City University), I did feel much better about the whole situation.  I am sharing the learning and action points with you here with you:

Some of these quick wins and small actions shared over the last week were:

  • The circular economy may seem like a big topic to take on but in its’ basic term, it means recycling items we already possess and giving them a makeover or re-purposing them.  This can range from book stacks, trolleys, furniture to the whole building altogether! 
  • Make buildings better. There was some great tips from an architecture who highlighted that instead of demolishing old library and information physical spaces – we can actually give them an upgrade and make them new reinvigorated spaces.  A conference speaker mentioned the Worst 23 Project – which looks at the worst building that need the most improvements!
  • Green is not just the colour for environmental issues generally.  It is a great idea for having plants, gardening and garden spaces in parts of the physical spaces (I know some plants are not recommended for rare books and other delicate areas).  Ideas range from creating small community garden, seeds exchange, or cleaning up areas in the local community. Access to nature is one of great ways we can improve our wellbeing and the environment around us.
  • Using Information and Data can help to paint a picture of where we are at present and where we want to be in the future.  It is best to have a starting point by checking what the current usage levels are for example, in energy levels or ventilations levels. Having this evidence will help make decisions and plans to aim for better sustainable goals.  It was great to hear the term – “Libraries engagement have agency!” which leads to collaboration and connection for partnerships, social justice and inclusion. 
  • Leading by example are the things we can all do regardless of any hierarchical structures in the workplace.  We all can be champions for green initiatives by starting small and having those necessary solutions. These can range from recycling champions to sustainability information for colleagues and our customers.  In my workplace, they have set up a Sustainability network – there are visual examples of best practice with lights going off early, computers switching off not in use and even a newsletter to keep everyone informed and engaged. Printing emails and storing emails are some earlier green champion examples, so too are reuse and refill cups and centres, which are recent initiatives and behaviour changes.
  • Quick wins and local change – although the issues with climate change may impact on all of us.  There is a need for us to stand up and support these more sustainable issues in our own homes, workplaces and local communities.  This can range from using good transport decisions, recycling waste, shopping local or providing information to our customers. We can do little by little which will have a larger impact. For example, we are getting better at plastic pollution.
  • This is new topic and area for all of us, and we are still navigating some of the unknown. We are must create specific library skills and training programmes to empower and inform sustainable actions.  The simple and best way to do this is to come up with a plan, make priorities and …take it from there!

And here, I know I won’t be end to this story.  Hopefully we can continue to share some of the ways we learn from each other now and in the future years to come.