My role

I’m here until mid-August in a Project role helping to move 3 key projects along.  The  projects are related to Open Access and improving the way we manage projects. There are two Open Access projects; the first one is focused on what actions CONZUL (Council of NZ University Librarians) can take.  It includes writing a paper  on Open Access issues for the Vice-Chancellor’s meeting in June. The second major deliverable is a workshop to  plan  actions on Open Access initiatives scheduled for the June/July term break.  The second project is closely related and will be focused upon actions for CU to publish 80% of research using open access by 2023.

The third project on Project Management is the furthest along.  The project team is Te Paea Paringatai, Sara Roberts, Brian McElwaine, Nick Ford and Nerissa Octavio.  There will be a workshop with a general invitation for Library staff who want to share their experiences of being involved with projects.   The project goals include reviewing and categorising all the projects under way or completed within the 2016-2020 Library Strategic Plan.

My work experience

I’ve been a Library Manager for most of my working life, mostly in special libraries, including 12 years at Parliament.  I then fulfilled a life-long dream of working overseas when I worked in Myanmar’s Parliament for 3 years and in a number of other developing countries for short term assignments.  It was a great experience to work in such a different culture and I learnt a lot about leadership there.

Celebrating International Day of Democracy	Yes, I did meet Aung San Suu Kyi!	Presenting to the Speaker of the Parliament

Working at Unitec

When I returned to NZ in 2016, I worked as Library Director at Unitec because I wanted to learn more about biculturalism and multiculturalism.   More than half of Unitec’s students speak English as their second language.  The Library staff were the most diverse group I’ve led.  This group of Unitec Library staff includes Kiwis who were born in Fiji, Malaysia, Samoa, China, India, USA, Christchurch and Auckland.