Category: Research

Gardens – a piece of heaven on Earth

Published on by Seema Rampersad1 Comment

I have been keen on gardening since a child and remember pulling out weeds and picking flowers for vases when I helped around my home.  There was a time when I didn’t have access of a garden and I guess that made me appreciate it more than ever.  Since the late 1990s I have been keen on buying plants, going to garden centres to buy plants, and getting inspiration for visiting gardens and other wonderful use of plant and floral displays with garden designs.

A few months ago, I joined a library and information visit and tour to RHS Wisley in Woking, Surrey.  It was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss event though it was an early start to get to South of London.  It was great be where gardeners are trained and how one becomes qualified in the facilities there.  The older building still had a functional library but they had recently built a new office area, library, restaurant and engagement area on the ‘hill’.  I was impressed and love the plants, Wisteria arch, nursery, glimpse of the tropical garden and some of the woodlands that I could see in the distance.

The library show and tell was a great experience for showing some of their special collections from 1500s and the development of our interests in gardening.  There reference and borrowing collection were amazing with books, journals and information for members who are interested or studying in depth about gardens.  There was also an area for children to engage with the subject.  There was more to explore such as the herbarium and a section on sustainability for ideas to take back in our daily lives.  It was amazing to see the new office area with beautiful plants (obviously!) and to hear some of the reference enquiries that they receive from garden who want to solve some of the problems they encounter in gardens.  The best part of the visit was when an ex-colleague came to say hello at the end of the tour.  I was so happy to see her! It was definitely a lovely surprise and such a great library to work in.  I didn’t have a long time to stay to chat or wonder more as I had to make my way back to the office for an evening shift, but it was definitely worth the visit.

Talking about going back to the office, The British Library where I work has an exhibition on until August called Unearthed.  It is a great name as it exhibits all the fabulous books and story of gardens, gardening and the importance of plants in our lives.  I attended a webinar this week and had a quick look at the exhibition.  The curators highlighted the early gardens designs from housewife manuals to clergy records.  It was also interesting to see the history of plants recorded and documented as well as the importance of plants for food, medicines and other things we take for granted such as trees.  I particularly like the stories of the European encountering potatoes in Peru and the various types of potatoes that are available.  When potatoes were introduced to Europe, the general popular were actually sceptical about it but soon gained momentum and became a staple in our diets (no pun intended).  Potatoes played an important part on our history as well as the nutrition it provided for the population after they were encourages to plant potatoes in Europe.  I love potatoes and find it very versatile.  I just have never grown it as yet but who knows – maybe I will try to do so one day.

Another aspect of the exhibition I liked is the innovation that has developed over time for gardens – one example is the lawnmower.  There is a great display of an early lawnmower and recently I was looking a vlog were there are those mini mobile lawnmowers that look like a gold cart.  I don’t think I would ever need one but garden equipment and designs are innovating all the time.  I recently met a passionate garden at work who has obtained all her qualifications and does not mind the physical hard work that goes into creating her garden business.

There were images and stories of allotments and community gardens in the exhibition, which reminded me that I should try to find time to help with a community garden we created but now need some weeding and care. I think gardening brings people together but also give you time to find peace and reflection in a place of natural beauty.  I don’t have time for an allotment but it great for people who do have them to spend outdoors and to perhaps grow their own vegetables and plants.  I remember our relatives in Rome had an allotment in a convent garden with amazing tomatoes, vegetables and plants. 

Another way that libraries help with the love of garden and gardening is by providing access to magazines and books on the topic.  I recently renewed my library card at my local library and it gives me access to several electronic magazines which I can access on my own device from home.  I have recently checked out some of the beautiful garden designs in them and it is great to see the many types of gardens across the world. I have some gardening books at home and have not bought some recently but it is nice to have access to the magazines from the library for when I have time to read them.

Every year I gear myself up for gardening in Spring and look forward to tidying my garden after the brutal effect of winter on my plants.  I know it is a cycle of life and care with the climate where I live.  I do remember that it is much easier to grow plants and flowers in Trinidad as the climate is tropical and therefore plants thrive longer.  The seasons are still interesting to observe and I have grown use to spending a little fortune in plants and refreshing my garden every spring and summer.  This is ‘everyday gardening’ that I do but I do look forward to it.

By this point, you should know that gardens and plants are crucial for our wellbeing and helps us to think and practice sustainability. I love small city gardens to large wandering green spaces.  From tropical gardens to those that we find in Europe.  I also love the butterflies, caterpillars and lizards in the garden at home that I remembered as a child.  All of which is important to our mental health and the rich ecosystem that we live in.  I also know that urban development has impacted a little bit on this but I hope we can find ways to improve our environment and surrounding area with the knowledge we have of how important gardens, gardening and plants are for us.  And at this time of year, I wish you many views and exploration in gardens where ever you are in the world.

Girls just wanna have fun – recap of Women’s History Month

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Thinking about what to write is at the back of my mind as I have a few weeks to prepare for my next blog post. As we celebrated Women’s History Month in various serious initiatives, I made a note that I must mention some fun things I did too!

The pop song ‘Girls just wanna have fun’ was such a big hit in the 1983 but it has remained one of those anthems that we still hear in the media and I recently saw Cyndi Lauper on a talk show too and she was even more an idol for feminist for her current activism. She has been credited for empowering girls and women to not only have fun but the words have been changed to Girls just want to have ‘fundamental rights’ with a mission to support efforts that advance the fundamental rights and health of all women and girls. It is with this vibe I wanted to think pay tribute to a great song and artist that has help reflect on what I did this month.

At the beginning of the month I was busy with work related events that included a speed mentoring session with expert advisers who are able to women entrepreneurs with their business ideas. I met quite a few women who were creating businesses and networking to develop their business. There are a high number of women who do start their businesses across libraries in the UK and I have a lot of admiration for those who have created their own companies out of passion, expertise and creativity that they may hold. We also held an evening event for Women of Wealth and it was great to welcome many customers at the event and usually I would stay but it was a day when I had personal commitments and therefore, I didn’t hear the talk but it was great to see everyone at the beginning of the event. I have met with hundreds of entrepreneurial women over the years and they are inspirational as well as motivational. As we meet them at their start up stages – there are always an element of excitement and anticipation for them using their talents for creating their own businesses.

I was also able to meet a few young girls and other women at a speed mentoring session at La Swap Secondary School in Camden. I actually have visited the school in the past as one of the options for my son so I knew it was a good school. I was grateful that our Early Careers team at the British Library invited me to attend a career mentoring session for International Women’s Day at the school. It was impressive that the school organised this with their partners and there were about 75 women who turned up for two hours to speak to young girls on their career and give any advice or information that would be useful for them in their educational and career journeys. I was placed in a Publishing table with a Science Writer and Journalist and a Managing Director of a publisher. We say about 10 young girls in this time but it was a great experience and they in turn were still figuring out what they wanted to do but I tried to tell them that even if they were unsure, they should follow the things they loved and we can also change careers later on if it does not work out. Some wanted to be dancers, artist, models and forensics. Generally we encouraged them to think of research, writing, and working in scientific and creative industries. It was a great experience for helping me reflect on my own career journey and in a sense – how lucky I was to have a fulfilling role that includes creativity, culture and business etc.

Another aspect work I should mention, is that we held a Library and Information Students Career Day and it was great to meet people at the start of their careers.

So that was the more serious side of this month. Bit I did have some fun time with my friends as I was on annual leave for a couple of weeks. This included spending time with my friends in a local pub just chatting and catching up on what we have been doing. My friend has written her first book so it was great to discuss this with her over a few meetings. I was able to dedicate some time in my busy dairy for reading her book and it was great to read a novel written by a friend. It is based in Lincoln and I was able to recall how nice it was the one time visited there. It was good that on a couple of my meetings with my friends locally there were live music – from a big band in the pub… to jazz in two of the pubs. It is reassuring that we can have good catchup time and be serenaded with good music without having to go to a special venue far way!

I did plan a more fun evening with my friends who always invite me to their parties and it was nice to dress up, spend time together, have a nice meal and drink and a little boogie! I was so pleased to get a table in a restaurant a few miles away and for the warm hospitality of the restaurant. Once our meal was over… we were able to have a dance. Again, it was mainly women who were celebrating the night with their friends and family. I am likely to be visiting there with some other friends in Spring for another boogie!

I also spent time with another friend at a garden and a recycling centre. It was interesting to spend time chatting and seeing these two local shops. We had fun looking at old antique or items that were on sale for reuse. I saw some lovely chairs but I didn’t really need them but resisted buying them. I was happy to see that I also take clothes and shoes for recycling at the centre too. I usually take them to a charity shop but part of me was pleased to see that these are being used for a charity somewhere too.

And I am ending Women’s History Month at the OXO Tower Restaurant – one of the best-known restaurants in London. The building was the home of the OXO stock cube manufacturers. I have been before about 9 years ago but it was nice to go again. The view is amazing along the South Bank but it also have delicious cocktails and food. We went for lunch and there was nice background jazz music whilst we ate our gorgeous meal.

I have made a conscious effort to have some fun in the last few weeks and catch up with friends but I know that soon I will busy again with work and other commitments. For me it is great that I can balance my time with hard work but also some good old fashion fun!

Things that make me say… Wow!

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I made a conscious effort to do a few fun things but I still didn’t get around much. 

 So this time, I  going to keep my post here sweet and short!

This month I went out with some friends to see the Medieval Women Exhibition again and to have some lunch. The exhibition was amazing and informative as I mentioned before on here with many inspiring displays of women doing great things in Medieval times. 

Granary Square is busy in summer with lots of activities such as open-air cinema and children’s activities but certainly a bit quieter in colder months. It was good to have a lunch at Dishoom – who specialises in Indian Street Food with good decor. Although I am of Indo-Caribbean heritage, it is still fascinating to try their black dhal, paratha with cheese and fried ochres. I definitely want to try the fried and crunchy ochres at home! The chai was good too, especially on a cold day.

There are great reminders of good old fashion love this time of year.  There was more heart shaped decorations all over London – from St Pancras, flower shops, interior designs and restaurants.  I tried to resist buy something that I did not need but it was nice to see.  There was one shop board with ‘Love is in the Air’ but I didn’t take a photo.  The shops had several heart-shaped items and love mementos for Valentine’s Day! There were some interesting item in local shops and ideas for creativity and sharing with loved ones.  The most interesting is long matches which can be used for ambience with some nice candles. 

One of the most ethically conscious charity shop windows I saw was Crisis – which ran a campaign on waste of fabrics in the everyday shirts.  It was a good display to raise awareness of the issue.  One aspect that I like is that the shop is based in Walthamstow market and very frequently I see ‘out-of-line’ clothes from high street shops being sold in the market.  I do like that these items are given a chance to be used at normally lower costs rather than ending up in some landfill without even being used.

I have been out and about too for work from Bromley to Woolwich.  I’ve only been to Woolwich once about 20 years ago and even so, I drove there for a house party and therefore did not have a walk around the area.  It was good to firstly use the Elizabeth Line underground to that part of London and it was not a bad journey from where I live. As soon as you come out of the underground station, there is a last gate of Woolwich Arsenal which was the historic area for making ammunition in the British wars.  It was also the original home of the football club Arsenal with the cannons or gunners still visible on the gateway. 

It was also good to see some of the local shops and market traders with their chants to entice people to buy from their stalls.

Once inside the library, there was a section on local history and community-based displays and resources.  It Singer sewing machine and HMV music gramophone were both on display in the library. Bromley library also had a great display of historical items from the Romans, Anglo Saxons and local heritage throughout there history.  These displays are great to see, especially as I don’t live locally and I usually have to rush back home or to the office.  This reminds me that I have been too busy to visit my local library but I hope to do so when I have some time later this month.

 Although some of my walks were normal travelling from one place to another, it was good to see some everyday things that still surprises me.  Such as a bus which was repurpose as a Barber Shop! It looked quite cook and it must have been a lot of bureaucracy to get the bus to be permanently based on the local square but certainly a great idea!  Just after seeing the re-purposed bus, I saw a London Taxi car also re-purposed to a mobile café.  They were really interesting and extraordinary. 

My journeys on the underground is a time when I think, prepare mentally for the day ahead and to observe what is going on around me.  This itself is a time to experience the everyday and extraordinary but perhaps for another time to write about my travels on London Transport.  For now, I will continue to admire the places, people, scenes and things that make me think or say – Wow!

Heroes – we all need them

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I have made time for some leisure time the last few weeks and happy to cover some of these here.  I was able get some of the seasonal fun on colder days and nights as well as to see a couple of exhibitions that were easy to access.

Although I was in Bromley for a work-related workshop, I was saw wintry scenes from the German market on the high street and Bromley library ready for the season with a Christmas tree indoors.  The German market has some interesting stalls for beer and sweet lovers but it was early afternoon when I went past, and therefore I didn’t stay to sample some goodies but there were other shoppers checking out the stalls.  Another time when I am not so busy, I would love to travel to another European city to experience their Winter markets.  We are seeing them more in London and I remember seeing on the Southbank about 10 years ago. 

The festive scenes inside the library was wonderful and I like seeing all age groups using the Bromley library.  There were some great local inventions, inspiring quotes and books but also  local heroes displayed around the library.  There was homage to David Bowie – I knew he was born in Brixton but apparently his parents moved to Bromley South where he lived to until 1969.  I like local history and finding out of the people who lived there in the past.  It is amazing that the quote perked my curiosity to find out more about his connection with the area.  I am due to go back to Bromley in the new year and hopefully I will find time to learn something else about the area. 

David Bowie in Bromley (or Bickley, or Beckenham)

I was invited to attend the Precious Awards held by the wonderful Foluke Akinlose.  It was a great night to meet inspirational people of colour.  The venue was in Central London and a short walk  from the tube station.  The reception and networking dinner were amazing to see and meet so many women who are excelling in their choose fields and areas.  Everyone was dressed for the evening and I saw some amazing fashion with some warm greetings from those in attendance. 

The Precious Awards is a great example of showcasing talent and achievements of persons whose stories don’t usually get told, or for women of colour who usually have to work harder to get the recognition they deserve in their areas of expertise. 

Over the three hours, there was some great chat, dinner and acceptance speeches from organisations and women who are creating spaces and pushing forward with progressive work from business, science, arts, academic, etc.  I took some notes on the awardee speeches, such as women – ‘Sitting in a seat at the table, and occupying the space and belonging in it”.   It was a sermon on how to celebrate hard work, sacrifice and to come out as winners on the other side.  Most of the stories spoke of uplifting themselves but also leaving the ladder so that others can be uplifted. Many spoke of the families that have been there to enable to succeed – and the power and energy in the room was warm and real. I was working the next day, so I did not want to stay out too late but I did have a little boogie at the end before I headed back to London Underground at midnight. 

And before I forget, it was good to see the Christmas lights on Oxford Street.  It was a sign that the nights are definitely darker with all the bright lights visible, and that the festive season is just around the corner on one of the busiest streets of the year. I hope I can pop down in December to get some of the festive vibes – I can tell that it is still popular with the number of the users on the Victoria London Underground late at night this time of year.  

It seems appropriate for me to fast forward here to the Medieval Women exhibition at the British Library.  One of the privileges of working for a national library the ability to see most of the exhibitions but also to have staff tours and talks with the curators that bring to life the stories, fact and context of the items on display.  In secondary school in the Caribbean, we studied the Renaissance which was an era of social change, renewal and creativity but we briefly touch on the Medieval times before this period.  It was interesting to see evidence of written literature and scripts that spoke about the lives of women and society at that time.  On the opening night of the exhibition I was heard some beautiful Medieval singing by a life choir.  

Obviously, we have been evolving but it was good to see women being represented from drawing and text from childbearing, self-care, to love, marriage, work and importance from their lives at home and work.  There were displays of scented aromas created by women as they used flowers and herbs for perfume, for helping with well-being and beauty routines.  To them being mentioned in prayers and marriage agreements.  Some of my favourite items I saw are:

  • Well, I smelt the beautiful Italian perfume made of herbs and flowers that will be just as luscious if it was bottled and sold today.
  • The books that displayed graphic symbols of fertility, sexuality and the female form
  • The chest that was created for when a noble woman moved to be with her husband in medieval Italy
  • The jewellery of a queen in the beautiful form of a heart
  • The evidence of nuns working and dedicating their lives to the church
  • A signature of Joan of Arc and her symbol of national significance to France
  • And the amazing scroll that was put together for women who were saying goodbye on the death to Lucy of Hedingham from the 1200s

I hope I can go back to see the exhibition before it closes in February and that I am able to attend some of the talks that usually accompany the exhibition. 

One of the highlights of this month was also our Start-Up Day at the British Library.  It was full day of events to inspire and support business start-ups.  We have been hosting these events for a while and it was great to see the steady flow of attendees who wanted hear from other successful founders and entrepreneurs.  With my colleagues, I like helping customers to navigate our resources and the expertise available.  I also like hearing from successful entrepreneurs who tell how they are applying some of the practical tips we show to our customers, such as business planning, creating value, building brands and the authentic voice and stories they have with the failures and successes that come with building businesses.  I found the speakers to be funny and interesting this time, and it was great to see so many people after the recent years of only online events. 

I have had a few social events this year but today I visited the William Morris Gallery to view their exhibition on ‘William Morris and the Islamic World’.  It was good to see the link with creativity and designs from Islamic traditions link to Morris’s designs.  It was the first time I saw there is a meaning to the Turkish word Isnik. When I went to university, there was a nearby Turkish restaurant with this name which nice tiles décor and it made me realise the link with the word and the name of restaurant.  Their website also mentions the ‘Iznik is not only renowned for its ceramics and history but also for its culinary heritage.  I hope to try it out soon.

As we go into the full festive season, I am likely to be busy with work but also out any about with friends and family.  I hope to write a reflection of 2024 in my next post.  In the meantime all the best for the season and I hope you and yours celebrate with warmth and happiness at this special time of the year. 

Public Libraries – the story continues

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I have not spent a lot of time doing social and fun things since my summer holidays and therefore I have a lot more to say on libraries and the work I have been doing lately.

This month though I have been energised and as enthusiastic as usual. I was invited to attend the Camden Libraries Staff Conference.  The conference had a programme of interesting and motivational work by teams and staff on the work that they do with their various branches across the borough.  The day started with an icebreaking team working game for us to build a structure our of paper cups that would be judged to be the highest. I haven’t been to large team building days recently but it certainly was good as an icebreaker to get to know people better.  We also had Head of Camden Libraries, Fiona Tarn, address staff and guest at the conference on her purpose for the work that she does.  This truly was inspirational to me as I have tried to use the same angle of the ‘why’ are you working in libraries. Sometime you have people who work in libraries because it is a job, for others it is a lifetime of work or purpose for their goals to help as much as we can in our roles in libraries …physical or virtual.  Therefore, I have since mentioned this a few times to my library world contacts and colleagues. 

Another beneficial aspect at this conference was to see all variety of library services and the community outreach that are provided by Camden Libraries.  We heard staff mentioned story times with children, children’s library, launch their reading strategy, start businesses, poetry bus for elderly adults, podcast and radio station, music service and not forgetting their physical spaces, collection and archives. I was again inspired by their story teller on the ‘Libraryverse’ especially from an enquires point of view on the typical questions and answers provided to customers by their staff. We were treated to live Asian music during the lunch break.

We were treated to a tour of their archives at the Swiss Cottage Library. There was also a piano in the main entrance as well as a beautifully built 1960s building in the shape of book ends! I prepared and ran a workshop on collaboration with their staff who were welcoming and great throughout the day.  The library was closed for the training but it was nice to see a lady bringing her young child after school to use the space – it was good to know that on a normal day – this would have been a part of their routine.

And as part of my normal work, I visit other libraries to deliver business and IP workshops with my colleagues.  I have been several times recently to Catford Library which is open planned in a shopping centre. There are always curated books on display and it does make you want to set aside time to read the books showcased. In my business workshop, the Catford Library staff mentioned that their library card gives you access to eBooks, magazines, newspapers, and other resource via their Libby App and Press Reader.  That very night I was excited to look at some of my favourite magazines and newspapers available to view on my own devices.  I haven’t borrowed any eBooks from my local library, who runs the same scheme, but once I get more time – I am looking forward to reading more with new found resources from local public libraries.

I sometime have to get up earlier than usual to visit libraries for work. Last week was my first trip to Putney Library for a business workshop.  It was good to see their layout and customers who were using the space for working too.  There was another Black History Month displace with a safari African theme which beautiful art objects displayed on the wall.  Nowadays, libraries are really multifunctional for meeting places, reading as well as keeping customers informed on important information on topics or community news.  Putney Library also had a café in the main reception area despite being close to other shops on the high street. 

I am likely to be inspired by more libraries in future but everyday there is something about the physical spaces that make me proud to be in this profession.  I recently heard and saw some amazing singing for the opening of the ‘Medieval Women in their own words’ exhibition but I am still to see it and I look forward to the guided tour with the curators.  I also get to go behind the scenes to basement areas to say hello and support staff on Saturdays and some evenings. It was nice to see the seasonal things that happens by our own staff members.  These include puzzle in the staff downtime areas, free library and decorations for day of the dead (it gets better for Christmas!).  We recently met informally to make time to meet each other for a chat and catch up.  I strongly believe in good team spirit and working having worked in good teams in the past.  Although I no longer work with a lot of people – I do appreciate they precious time we spent together as colleagues, and some are also now lifelong friends. 

I thank you for bearing with me whilst I write again about libraries and information professional, but hopefully I will find have some social activities and good old fashion fun to share with you soon.  Who knows, some of this fun may include time at a library or museum.  Public libraries are always at threat of cuts or are sometime misunderstood.  Hopefully you can also find the time to visit your local public library and would be surprise on how they have changed in recent times.  We also need all of you to continue to support libraries and make sure that are users and here to stay.

Celebrating Green Libraries

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In October, libraries will be celebrating Green Libraries Week from 2-8 October with the theme ‘Go Green at the Library’. Awareness and activities for a more sustainable future are more important than ever with the impact on climate change.  There many aspects that we have to remember the impact of good practice will have on our lives, our users live and the work that we do.  

The Green Library Manifesto was launched in 2023 with a partnership of many British organisations, including CILIP and The British Library.  I also attended the first Green Libraries Conference in March 2023, which was great for hearing all the initiatives and excitement of others sharing their activities and ideas for reaching these shared goals. This year CILIP’s Green Libraries Conference will be held at the British Library in November.  

Here are some small ways that I have tried to improve my own carbon footprint or share my knowledge of green libraries and sustainability in the last few months:

Improving our Knowledge and Skills

With entrepreneurs and business who we meet at the Business & IP Centre, we actually have the privilege to meet businesses who try to solve some of the world’s problem with business models or ideas that are sustainable.  Sustainability means many and different things to everyone but here is a quote I have used in the past to discuss sustainability:

WHAT DOES “SUSTAINABILITY” MEAN IN BUSINESS?​

​In business, sustainability refers to doing business without negatively impacting the environment, community, or society as a whole.

Sustainability in business generally addresses two main categories:​

The effect business has on the environment​

The effect business has on society​

Source: HBR Online What is sustainability in business?

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-sustainability-in-business

For businesses, there are a lot of support for encouraging best practice from organisations such as FSB, Gov.UK, the Carbon Trust and other organisation that help with best practice and insights for leaders and organisations to adapt and implement better sustainable businesses. 

Infrastructure and Physical Spaces

Living more environmentally conscious and compliant can only be achieved if our infrastructure and physical spaces are able to adapt and mitigate against damage and devastation to our natural resources and habitat. Although, one of the most annoying aspects of our infrastructure in the city are the pollution and litter that are times too visible for me.  I can’t help picking up some weeds and litter that are frequently left in my neighbourhood.  It is disappointing too that the streets are not cleaned regularly and that small items like 100s of cigarette butts can be found if you took a mile walk around my neighbourhood.  I do blame the council for not having contracts with cleaning companies that truly care about the environment and for doing more to protect our environment.  I recently went to another part of London, and even Boston USA in July, where I felt envy for the clean street they had compared to my own neighbourhood.  I know that buildings and infrastructure are expensive but I hope that we can take steps to make improvements. 

Positive Action and Collaboration  

As with an activism or change, it is actually harder to do on your own.  It is great to see that a new generation of consumers are making choices for their future and there are also people of all ages standing up for environmental issues.  You may recall about 20 years ago when we were protecting our planet by “Think Before you Print” messages in the office.  It did create a shift of mindset for us to not work paper – which eventually saves trees! Likewise, there has been several issues great shifts in our attitude and behaviours for aspects such as plastic pollution and single-use plastics.  Most of the people I know now re-use bags or recycle their plastics.  At work we have also encouraged the use of re-useable cups.  In most public spaces, there are a few bins for our recycling of different materials.  This too was a great shift from about 20 years ago.  I remember I only had one large bin and just a crate for recycling when I first moved to my current home, but now we have four bins for recycling! 

Improving Travel and Accessibility

I am pleased that I use public transport to get to work and I tend to use my car less and less due to restrictions and charges for driving around town.  I do still have a car for longer journeys but also for getting items that are larger than usual for a delivery.  There are issues with rail transport in the United Kingdom as it is really expensive to use the train for traveling further away from city to city, or up and down the country. If I lived on the European continent, I do believe that I would also use the trains more but the cost and time to travel sometimes do not encourage us to do this as often.  Therefore, I know that I use aeroplanes for overseas travel – I do know that I will not be traveling forever but hope to see the countries still on my list and then perhaps slow down to places closer to where I live.  

Accessibility sometimes comes at a cost.  As I make my way on public transport and travel overseas by planes, trains and boats – I do see that there are issues with accessibility if you have a disability or if you are a bit slower. Hopefully there will be better designs as old ways of traveling are replaced with accessibility in mind. 

We have also seen a shift on hybrid services from our workplaces to services being offered online by video conferencing.  The impact has improve journey times, enabled us to be open to the world and to choose some lifestyle changes from the time not traveling. However, Technology also has contributed to vast amounts of carbon emissions for servers and other negative energy effects.

Raise aware for the issues on sustainability

The good news about a topic that is talked about and for those who are still learning about it, is that there are of resources by information professionals or resources that can be used for raising awareness and understanding of the topic.  There are some great articles and current awareness articles for keeping on track on the latest trends and developments on the topic.  As with a living aspect and ecosystem, such as our environment, climate and wellbeing – there has to been a constant conversation and research into new information and evidence of the impact on our lives and the environment around us.  For this October, I have little time to cover everything on this big topic but I hope these personal thoughts will help to Celebrate Green Libraries initiatives and action.

Resources for further reading:

Campus to Cape Cod – a trip to New England

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The SLA Conference 2024 was arranged in the University of Rhode Island as it was the perfect venue for us to find a location on the East coast of the USA to host a conference within our budget and for the right size for this year.  It was also the 115th anniversary of SLA and I was looking forward to attending as a member of the SLA Conference Committee 2024.

I flew into Boston a couple of days before the start as unable to fly directly to Rhode Island. Boston has always been on my consciousness having friends and family there.  It was in a middle of a heatwave when I arrived and it was great to see a very big and modern looking city.  Having spent one night there, I made my way by Amtrack train to the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. I was unsure about booking my tickets initially but it all went smoothly in the end and the cost was very reasonable.  I got a non-stop train and paid $20.00US extra for business class to be sure that was a reservation to get me there in time.  There were several trains and it was not an issue in getting there.

Arriving at the University of Rhode Island was quieter than I have been before – there were some corn fields and forest close by with a campus spread out with several buildings close by.  It was great to see the wildflowers and planting in the grounds as well as the various campus buildings from the Library, Business School, Multicultural Centre, and many more that we were to use for the next few days.  I saw about five groundhogs and deer on my first few hours around the campus.  Obviously, it was very quiet those few days as it is the summer break but it was great to meet SLA staff, friends and colleagues who I have been working with over the last few years.  I also stayed in the dorms for the student experience, vicinity to the conference locations as well as the cost was affordable.

My obligations as Past President for SLA meant that I had a Board Meeting on the first day and I was as enthusiastic and grateful as ever on how far we have come and how we have all worked extra hard with our Association Management Company to get to this point in record time.  I was pleased to see staff and leaders who work behind the scenes and to meet my fellow board members.  I absolutely do not take this for granted! I feel privileged to be given this opportunity for the last three years plus my time with SLA Europe.  I am just basically ecstatic that we are doing much better and we can celebrate with members, partners and guest in this learning environment in such a special location.  Obviously, we did serious work of strategic planning and building better relationships for the best of SLA for us to last hopefully a long time in future.

I was truly proud that we were organised a programme in such a short space of time and it definitely felt like we were on the right track to give our conference delegates some great insights, knowledge, experience and take-aways. The SLA conference opening and closing keynote speaker was Brian Pichman who gave a motivational and informative keynote on Artificial Intelligence for Libraries and information professionals.  Brian was very cool and genuinely highlighted the current landscape, new technologies pros and cons, and the value of our professional role in this paradigm.  It was great to be in the lecture hall and although the seating was very steep – it was nice to see the 300 plus delegates in one space.  For the next three days, I attended several talks on Generative AI, Information Literary, News Gathering, Leadership and Career Development, technical standards (e.g. engineering standards by British Standards Institute).  We were really happy to have a full exhibition hall and for our partners to full up the exhibition spaces.  We have received great feedback from our exhibitors and partners, and we thank them for being with us in 2024!

It was not all work…there were many social moments to meet other international professionals from our dorms meeting, international 115th anniversary reception, a quiet chat in the gardens, a bar trip to the hotel venues, to dinner in the University’s dining halls and the famous SLA Dance Party in the ballroom.  I haven’t lived in the USA but being in this setting was great for my reality check on the many American school ballrooms movies I have seen in the past. Of course, I loved this part of the conference and it made me happy meeting people and the informal conversations we had.  I do feel it is a special time and I will cherish these memories with nice people at the conference. I also have time to meet some British contacts. I look forward to our future endeavours in person or online.

After the conference goodbyes, I was picked up by cousin to spend time with her family just outside Boston.  It was great to see more of the countryside in this region, and to have her as a local guide for all the interesting sights, cultural and local knowledge that she was able to share with me.  I obviously love the New England side houses and gardens – I never got bored of looking at the various designs and flowers, especially at this time of year when everything was in bloom.  We went to Hyannis on Cape Cod where we drove very close to the area where the Kennedy family estates are on the ‘Cape’.  It did make me curious to how they would have spent their time in the beautiful part of the country.  It was interesting to read on why the Kennedy family have homes there and the glamour they brought to the area.  The beaches were also nice – not too built up but relaxing, clean and warm.  I would certainly recommend going to there and it really had a good holiday vibe with shops and restaurants not far from the coast.

The same day, we also drove to Plymouth which has great significance to the early English Puritan settlers to the region.  Ironically, I also learnt about this history when I was in primary school in Trinidad and Tobago (I did go to a private primary school with British and International expats at the time).  I remember the visual images like the ones I have shared her and it is hard not to remember the story of the ship Mayflower which took these settlers to America. Plymouth has a famous rock which residents are proud of (as my Plymouth-Trinidadian secondary classmate point out). The story of the indigenous tribe and their relationship and coming together with the settlers is now one of the most endearing stories of the American story. The food on my visit was really good as most of the time I was a guest and it good for people to recommend things to me.  The region was famous for lobster, chowder and local specialities and they all takes great.  Even the ice cream had nice flavours and as it was so hot – it was good to try them.

Back in Boston, we spent a day in the city and it was a really contrast to the countryside.  There was a lot of modern skyscrapers, but more relatively old and historic buildings for New England.  We walked in the Haymarket Part of the city which had a very European design to the buildings and we also did a Duck tour on the city streets and on the river in Boston.  It was great to have the tour guide and hear about the history of the city and the buildings in Boston – I do recommend it and it was good to for seeing as much as you can if you time is short.

We also went to Cambridge to see MIT and the Harvard Campuses.  I used to order publications from Harvard Business School Press and even now, the Harvard Business Review is popular with British Library users. The campus, history and architecture were truly amazing to see and the area has a general buzz for those visiting even if there were no classes on for the summer. I know you can book official tours if you want to see more but I am certainly pleased to visit the campus – even if it was only once in my life.

On my last day in Boston, it was recommend that I visit Salem, and it was nice of my family to take me there before we went to the airport. I didn’t know much about Salem but it is a residential and tourist area attraction for the story of the Witch allegations and executions on the 1692.  It was a Saturday afternoon and there were lively activities, ghost tours and several museums to visit if you want to do more.  I am still a bit busy but it would be nice to read more about the Salem Witch Trials and the wider history of the new England region.  They certainly have several places with the names of English towns!

I only had a few days in Boston due to work and family commitments but I certainly like Boston and Rhode Island.  Driving around the region was good and perhaps I can visit again another time to spend more time seeing the beautiful architecture, history and gardens in this part of the world.

Getaways – Finding some time for balance

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As I have been busy on all fronts, I try to find time to rest, relax, do some fun things and go to out. The best thing about warmer weather is that it encourages you to go out to explore be it in the city or countryside. There are still parts of England I would like to see and pencilling time to have a break is essential for our wellbeing, enjoyment and peace of mind. I am pleased to say that this exactly what I did.

I went to Wales for an Intellectual Property Masterclass training course which I have been meaning to go to for a number of years.  It was good to visit Newport again, and this time we were based on the waterfront.  The train journey and the views were amazing. I also like that the IPO’s office is in a governmental complex in the same location as the Office of National Statistics (ONS).  These are two great governmental department that I have used many times in my career as an information professional. It was also very nice to meet other partners from other locations in the UK.  I didn’t venture to Cardiff as I did last time but it was good to see some towns (e.g. Bath Spa) in the train journey that I hope to visit another time.

I have planned a more relaxing getaway in a seaside town but it was reliant on good weather. Luckily the weather was okay for a trip at the end of May to Bournemouth. I have been before but it was a cold windy day to be on a beach.  The weather was nice and it was a pleasant time to get out of London – which can be claustrophobic if you stay here all the time.  It took about three hours to get there with clear traffic and I can certainly visit again especially if the weather is guaranteed to be good. Bournemouth had a nice seaside but liveable vibe about it and I liked the sandy beaches.  I obviously made the most of the views and one of their best restaurants down there. I like looking at the homes and the spaces they have and therefore the drive and country roads are also interesting whilst down there.

We were on the Dorset coast and the first time I heard about the region was whilst studying Thomas Hardy’s poems.  So it was interesting being in Hardy country.  Our book actually had an image of the hedgerows and therefore it was truly interesting visit World Heritage site Lulworth Cove (better known as Durdle Door) and Jurassic Coast. The drive was along rural roads to country lanes, and therefore there were some nice sites to see along the way.  Durdle Door was really impressive and one of the best social media attractions in the Covid years and therefore I found out about it when most people were visiting it then.  The coast is amazing to see and I admired the persons doing the cliff walk on such a really windy day.  You really have to be fit and wear the right clothes and gear to do these extraordinary cliff walks.

We stopped for a few hours in Shaftesbury on the way back to London.  I have seen beautiful photos of the town over the years and it known for being the famous location in Gold Hill for a Hovis Bread advert.  Apparently, the advert showed people with a Yorkshire accent but obviously the setting was in Shaftesbury.  The drive to Shaftesbury was interesting and seemed popular with local people for the hilly roads, bends and turns!!  It was nice to take some photos on Gold Hill and have a wander around for a little while.  The Friar’s church was good to see with the views over the rolling hills – which were truly beautiful and picture perfect. 

This was a short break outside of London but closer to work and home – I had some other outings.  I attended a celebration of SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises) at Small Business Research and Enterprise Centre (SBREC) – previously known as the City Business Library.  I have been visiting this library since the 1990s and it is great to see that they are still around.  It is great that they are funded and based in the Corporation of London. In a right reflection to the city, it was a pleasure to spend their celebratory event in an old Roman Amphitheatre whilst networking to jazz music from the London Guildhall School. In my past role and currently, we have supported each other for providing research and business support for users.  Most frequently, we have been cross-referring to SBREC as we navigate our cyber-attack recovery.  It was great to hear about their current strategy for business in the city and best wishes to SBREC and their staff!

The E17 Art Trail was back aging in June, which celebrates and showcases local artist, arts, crafts and designs. I made time to visit some of the locations in my neighbourhood with a friend who was displaying her artwork in a florist and also checked out the art studios and venues in the vicinity.  It was nice to see some of the regenerated areas of Walthamstow and how new businesses are repurposing old and new spaces.  There was an established artist space for an exhibition and newer multifunctional spaces such as an indoor climbing wall – which in itself looked like art with the multicoloured climbing wall.  The venue also had co-working spaces, a gym, café and family activities.  It is great that this has evolved in this area and it was a great use of space as well as building communities around these activities.

I guess you know by now that I like gardens and plants.  It was really good to take some walks around the neighbourhood for longer spells or just for my routine walks.  I was planning on visiting a garden in East Grinstead today but I had to change my plans.  However, I still have so lovely photos here of the community gardening in a local church and some of the nice plants in the front gardens in my neighbourhood. 

A David Gurteen Knowledge Café at Ipsos was another event I made time for recently.  It was in the lovely St Katherine Docks in London.  I held a birthday party there once and it had lovely memories for me.  It was nice to finally attend David’s café and be inspired but the discussions, meeting new people and seeing a venue and host in town.  Ipsos presented some interesting and provocative insights on Demography and Politics in their ‘Ipsos 2024 Generations’ report. The discussion was interesting to hear how the world population figures are being predicted and the impact it may have our own lives and resources.  I also live the concept of the Knowledge Café (having hosted one with David at London City Hall and at the British Library).  I hope we continue to use these café in-person to share our knowledge, insights and make new connections.  Over a decade ago, I met someone at one of these cafés who became a friend who then frequently met me at the British Library, presented a session at City Hall for me and even played in the Notting Hill Carnival with me. This friend passed away about three years ago.  So sometimes something as easily accessible as this can have deeper meanings. 

I am likely to be a bit busy the next couple of months with work, conference and family.  I hope to be able to spend some time balancing all these commitments.  Life is short and therefore we have to do everything in moderation but I will certainly make time for balance.

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

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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

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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.