ALIA education

Aimée Herridge

General reference librarian, United Nations Office at Geneva Library, Switzerland

I have to admit that I fell into librarianship. I was undecided about what I wanted to do when I finished school so I completed a Bachelor of Arts (double major History and Sociology) degree at University of New South Wales. I really enjoyed this degree but, like many arts students, realised that I had to specialise in something to get a job. So, with some prompting from my mother, I completed a Graduate Diploma in Information at University of Technology, Sydney in 1999.

Even though I became a librarian by default, I am really glad that I did. Apart from enjoying library work, being a librarian has given me the opportunity to travel the world.

I began working in council libraries and also had a brief stint in a corporate library before I got a job at UNSW Library. I spent two years at UNSW Library in a range of positions ranging from the Aboriginal Research and Resource Centre (now Nura Gili Resource Centre) librarian to the acting circulations librarian.

In 2003 I started feeling restless and scoured the internet for overseas library work ...

I moved to Hanoi, Vietnam in September 2003 as an Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development volunteer. My assignment involved reviewing technical services (cataloguing, acquisitions and end processing) at the Hanoi University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) Library and developing a training program for local librarians. HUFS Library was undergoing a major (ongoing) transformation from a closed access, manual library to an open-access, fully automated library. I worked at HUFS Library until June 2004 when I rushed back to Australia and re-packed my bags for Switzerland.

I am currently working in the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) Library as a reference librarian. My role here is to answer reference enquiries from UNOG staff, diplomatic staff and researchers, manage the general reference collection, run library information sessions and index relevant journal articles. I was recruited through the United Nations National Competitive Recruitment Exams and will stay in Geneva for a two-year posting, before being reassigned to another position or another duty station.

I am eternally grateful for both overseas positions. Living and working overseas exposes you not only to different library practices, but also different cultures and experiences.

I joined ALIA in 2004 soon after arriving in Switzerland. Although we attend Association of International Librarians and Information Specialists seminars and International Federation of Library Associations events, I wanted to stay in touch with developments in Australian librarianship. I look forward to receiving inCite and pass it on to the librarians here, who all regard Australian libraries as very advanced. And I have recently received all the information about ALIA's professional development scheme. Now it's just a matter of getting the time to read through it ...