Friday, June 25, 2004

About Me

Updated info will be posted at the About Me page.

The below is an archive. Last updated: 1 Apr 2010.

I tell people I love to read, though what I really love are the ideas I get from reading. Tend to favour War stories, Sci Fi and Fantasy -- a combination if possible.

In June of 2004, I started this blog (ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com) after a blogger took issue with my remarks that "blogs were platforms for verbal diarrhea". I decided I didn'’t know what I was talking about. I plunged into the Blogosphere to educate myself.

It proved to be so (my ignorance; not about blogging).

My other blogs/ podcast/ etc:

Now I have six nine blogs (um, you count them yourself), one podcast and a bunch of other stuff. In March 2007, I started a social experiment to understand how wikis work.

At 10, I told a teacher my life's ambition was to become an artist. At 19, I got friends to teach me the guitar, so that I could impress the girls. During National Service, I played rhythm and lead guitar in an amateur band. The girls still weren't impressed.

My guitars were collecting dust and the paints were drying out -- until I discovered blogs and the Mac. I taught myself to play the piano after being amazed at my wife's playing. I'm a self-proclaimed amateur poet. I maintain an online amateur poetry circle.

A librarian by training (job title says "Senior Manager"). I've a MSc. (Information Studies) from NTU. My dissertation is titled Public library services for wheelchair-bound young people in Singapore (see also, DLIST reference). I was thinking of doing a PhD. but plans are put on hold indefinitely. A "Dr" title would be really nice, but it would be for the wrong reason.

Some people ask my why I became a librarian. Long story (but quite an uncomplicated one) -- you might want to read my posts here and here (I've also compiled an FAQ on "Being A Librarian").

I've been employed by the National Library Board since 1996. My passion is in Public Librarianship. Main professional interest is in library services for People with Disabilities (here's our advocacy blog).

I started out as a librarian in a public library, back in the days when we still stamped on books to issue and return them. An auto-return bookdrop was something you read only in SciFi (today, we can't do without them).

Along the way, I've worked on digital library projects, then assigned to manage a public library in a shopping mall, and then a standalone library, and later a regional library.

From 2005 to 2009, I was given the opportunity to serve as the Information Officer in the IFLA Standing Committee for Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section. I took on the role, not quite knowing what to expect. By the end of it all, I was glad and humbled by the experience. I learned a few things about putting an international newsletter together, working with librarians from different countries and backgrounds. And most of all, some became real friends.

My current job is to manage and develop the Children, Adults & Young People services, looking into collection, programmes and services.

Since that first post in 2004, I'm even more convinced that blog’s and online social media can promote and advance librarianship. I try to share what I know, like how to start a new blog (I'm by no means the expert, and that's the beauty of it -- we don't always have to be experts to share what we know). Librarians now how have more ways to connect people to people through conversations and ideas. We just have to try them out.

I love to read because I love learning about new ideas. And old ones as well. Thanks to blogs, I'm reading and learning a whole lot more.

I can be contacted at ramblinglibrarian@gmail.com.
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