Curriculum vitae of participants

Current at the time of this study

John
John had worked in libraries since 1974. Firstly at CSIRO central library and then in 1976 to the State College of Victoria which became Melbourne College of Advanced Education and later amalgamated with the University of Melbourne to become the Institute of Education. He gained experience as a store person at CSIRO, and within the College/University Library in various library areas: accessions, interlibrary loans, serials, lending services and acquisitions. The main aspects of his history relevant to this study are the following:

Policy and planning
In his supervisory positions, John had contributed to the policy and planning process. Planning included procedural, work flow and service developments and special projects.

Organising and operating
His position as supervisor of the lending services unit had provided John with experience in the organisation of staff and the allocation of tasks and priorities. He monitored client requirements and organised the security and maintenance of the library collections, equipment and buildings. He worked at the information desk and within the user education program.

Personnel and organisation
John had taken on a primary role in training lending services staff and had been involved in a performance management programme of annual appraisals. He had experience in the selection of new staff and in the various aspects of human resource management including career guidance.

Interaction
John's work history demonstrated his commitment to communication with staff and clients, to team work and to the importance of their contribution to the provision of relevant and efficient service.

Project management
John had been involved in a number of successful projects aimed at weeding a collection, integrating collections, rationalising a storage area, clearing a compactus, moving a collection, co-ordinating the installation of hardware to update the computer system in the division.

Committee work
John had been a member of numerous committees related to staffing matters, buildings and environment, policy advice, systems and signs; he had also been the convenor of the signs committee.

Continuing professional development
John had participated in a number of training activities. He trained as a trainer for the implementation of the GEAC system and the MARC based LIBS 100 catalogue. He had attended workshops/seminars on the topics of recruitment and selection, supervision, management, productivity in times of change, basic computer maintenance and computer literacy.

John graduated from the associate diploma of social sciences (library and information studies) in 1989.

Sandra
Sandra's work in the serials section of the University of Melbourne Library began in 1984 when she was appointed as a Junior Library Assistant and her duties included accessions, claims, and inquiries. Sandra progressed to junior library assistant grade two when she also had responsibility for training less experienced staff and undertook supervisory duties when senior staff were absent. She was appointed to the library officer position in 1988 and was responsible for: the day-to-day running of the section; supporting the serials librarian; staff appraisal and development; problem solving in relation to branch library titles; and orders. Sandra was the acting serials librarian for over two years and her experience in that position contributed to her appointment at HEW7 level in 1992. In addition to managing the daily operations of the section, Sandra had monitored procedures and equipment, established a strategic plan, selected and liaised with vendors, performed all aspects of human resources management, reported to the divisional head, compiled reports, liaised with other departments on collection development and maintenance matters, contributed to library-wide planning and policy making, and provided input to students/vendors/new employees as required.

Sandra had been a member of numerous committees related to staffing matters, and work redesign. She had also been involved in project work for the conversion of circulation records and for shelf reading. Her computer skills were extensive and she was proficient in the use of the local system, word processing, e-mail, the Apollo-Moon library binding preparation system, and supplier databases, as well as having a knowledge of various networks such as ABN and AARNET and some CD-ROM products.

Continuing professional development
From 1988, when Sandra attained the library officer position, she attended many seminars/courses covering management topics: interactive and change management, supervision and counselling, recruitment and selection, structural efficiency, performance appraisal and job evaluation. She also attended courses/workshops on customer service, occupational health and safety including manual handling and first aid, conservation and disaster management, cross cultural communication, and on the job training.

Sandra graduated from the associate diploma of social sciences (library and information studies) in 1989.

Wilma
Wilma's curriculum vitae plus the documentation in regard to the job evaluation mentioned below provided the information on which the following description is based.

Wilma worked in Sutherland Shire Libraries and information service from 1984 to 1988. Her experience included being library assistant on the circulation desk and library officer in the childrens and the reference departments. Wilma then moved to Campbelltown City Library for one year as a library technician working in information services, circulation, audiovisual collection, and childrens services.

In 1989, Wilma gained employment as a library technician in the cataloguing department at the University of Western Sydney, Macarthur Library where her duties included copy cataloguing and bibliographic searching plus staffing the information desk. In 1990 she was asked to take on the position of acting interlibrary loans co-ordinator and she was appointed to that position at HEW5 in 1991. Wilma developed the position and it was converted to HEW6 in 1994. That conversion was the result of a job evaluation which was carried out as part of a University-wide award restructuring programme.

Prior to that reclassification, Wilma had been responsible for the co-ordination, supervision and direct provision of interlibrary loans services. She had provided training to staff and cooperated with external organisations in the delivery of information. Thereby she had supported the teaching and research programmes of the University. In order to achieve the primary functions of the position, Wilma had been required to: ensure adequate staffing; maintain an understanding of electronic networks and databases; identify needs and establish appropriate computer resources; monitor and direct work flows to accommodate shifting demands; ensure an efficient and effective service; and be involved in human resource management strategies of supervision, staff recruitment and appraisal, and training and development which included career guidance. Wilma had also worked at the information desk.

Wilma had accessed and used information and data effectively: to set up filing systems and the dbase system; to make judgements; and to analyse and evaluate information particularly in relation to changing needs and advancing technology in order to solve problems, provide interlibrary loans, and develop new techniques and procedures. Wilma had also effectively used her interpersonal skills, including oral communication, to enhance her dealings with others to resolve problems, in team building, reader education and information desk activities, and to facilitate cooperation with other institutions.

Wilma's advanced knowledge of software packages was evidenced in the interlibrary loans management system, which facilitated the ordering and tracking of requests, and in her ability to advise and train staff to use the system. Wilma had participated in project work when she designed office furniture and layout. Her supervisory role had required the allocation and scheduling and monitoring of tasks and the training of all staff in all procedures. Wilma had also been responsible for: maintenance of all equipment in the unit; ordering of consumables; negotiating with courier services; making recommendations on computer resource needs; and designing Interlibrary loans stationery.

The job evaluation process also revealed that Wilma had:

numerical skills in order to provide statistics and compare percentages, and to understand the dewey decimal classification system;
an in-depth knowledge of the procedures, policies and functions of the Interlibrary Loans Unit to enable the efficient co-ordination and function of the unit, and the proper training and guidance of staff;
the ability to be innovative and creative which she demonstrated in her development of the dbase system and in her approach to service delivery;
decision making skills which were evidenced in her changes to procedures and staffing duties based on existing policies;
planning and organisational skills related to staff allocation and work flows, service delivery and setting objectives; and
the ability to keep up with developing technology in order to inform her manager of service requirements.

Wilma graduated from the library practice associate diploma in 1990.

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