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Cybrarian Interview: Sandra Singh, Suite101.com

© Gillian Davis

Gillian Davis [GD]: Hi Sandra, thanks so much for agreeing to take time out of your busy schedule to share your thoughts with us in this interview. Let's get right to it .....

GD: Please tell us what it is you do on a daily basis, as Cybrarian for Suite101.

Sandra Singh [SS]: It is changing now that Bronwen, the new Cybrarian, has joined our team and since the Directory moved into maintenance mode. When I first started here, a lot of time was spent working with the programmer to design and implement our new system, negotiating licensing agreements with different service providers, cataloguing Topics, setting the information policy, hiring the Indexing/Cataloguing teams, training the cataloguers/indexers, communicating our goals, etc.

Now, daily activities are subject indexing Topic applications (you wouldn't believe how time consuming this can be), responding to ME [Managing Editor] requests for a variety of things from change of area to a list of the areas of their responsibility, supporting Bronwen's activities, helping the Cataloguing/Indexing Team Leaders implement Suite's resource description policies, etc.

I also work on a number of other projects at any given time: for example, I recently edited and proofread the Real People, Real Stories anthology and published the ebook version; I'm helping Jason, our Editor-in-Chief, with the introduction writing project for Barnes and Noble; I'm supporting Bronwen as she co-ordinates the new directory functions (Borrow, Buy, Browse); I'm writing part of a paper for WebNet 2001 that Jason and I will present in October; I worked on the back-end of the Communities of Interest project that was co-ordinated by Dean, the Director of Member Services; and I'm working on a few other projects as well. I also do a lot of writing: proposals, discussion papers, etc.

GD: Can you tell us a bit about your background education, work experience, training, interests?

SS: I have a B.A. in English Literature and my Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia. I started out as a contract cataloguer at Calgary Public Library and then at United Library Services (in Calgary). My husband, who is also a librarian, and I then moved to Texas to work at the Abilene Public Library. That was a great experience and we met a lot of wonderful people. I started in cataloguing and moved to reference. I loved helping fellow community members find the information they needed, introducing them to the online world, and explaining the wonders of the library. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it really was great. After about a year and a half, we returned to Canada and I joined Suite.

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