Roxanne Missingham

Guerrilla librarianship: issues for survival for organisations – new roles for librarians and library technicians

Abstract

What are the key issues we face in 2013?  Libraries are closing – government libraries in Queensland have closed, commonwealth government libraries have downsized, yet the information that is needed by policy makers has never been more complex nor so variable.  Information produced by government is disappearing at a rate of knots. Up to 75% of the publications that government produced in 2001 have been lost from the webs.

In this presentation I will argue that it has never been more important for us to embed ourselves and our skillsets within our organisations.  Evidence informed policy and practice must rely on quality information and a new skills set of digital literacy, access to information resources and programs that keep up to date with research are vital.

How can we make our skills and knowledge visible in this change?

I will argue that knowledge management has but partially delivered this goal and that we need to make a new foray based on return on investment and risk management. We need to be hard-nosed and campaign within our organisations on new skills and resources that are based on the knowledge and experience that librarians and library technicians bring to the table.

Examples of failed public policy initiatives will be used to illustrate the propositions put in the paper.

Biography

Roxanne Missingham is University Librarian and Chief Scholarly Information Officer, Australian National University. She was previously Parliamentary Librarian and Assistant Director General, Resource Sharing Division, National Library of Australia.  Roxanne has a long career in libraries and IT, focused on the development of digital delivery and digital services.  Formerly President of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), she is currently convenor of the ALIA Advisory Committee on Public Sector Information.  She has published more than 170 book chapters, journal articles and conference papers.