20 YEARS ON..

COLLEEN SHIPLEY - ON BEING A SCHOOL LIBRARIAN 20 YEARS AGO

When I was putting together my diary this year the timing coincided with my having worked at the college for 20 years. Though my job title was the same the work is hugely different, and I compiled this snippet that I shared with staff.

On the 20th of May 2002, I began my job as the librarian at Marlborough Girls’ College, but it was incredibly different from the job I have now. To celebrate I thought I’d share with you a little bit of what life was like back then. I apologise to anyone who comes across terminology they don’t understand - just revel in your youth.

FACT 1 The library housed the school’s main computer rooms with others being used for computer classes. It was a busy place but mainly used for typing up assignments. The biggest lesson for students was to save their work in case the computers ‘crashed.’

FACT 2 Research was done using books and encyclopedias the hard copy version alongside Encarta on CD-ROM.

FACT 3 Everything on the internet was true except Wikipedia which was only 16 months old.

FACT 4 Internet Explorer was the go-to search engine and we multitasked while we waited for pages to load.

FACT 5 If we wanted local information, we searched Index New Zealand and ordered articles by sending a fax to the National Library which sent the article back by mail within seven days!

FACT 6 Photocopying was done using purchased $2 photocopy cards on a separate piece of equipment to the printer.

FACT 7 ‘Tomorrow when the war began’ was the most popular series while we waited for Harry Potter's 5th adventure.

FACT 8 Booksellers visited in person, and we got lots of mail.

When people wanted you to do something for them - they came and asked in person. 20 years on - books aren’t completely obsolete as predicted. But my librarians took great delight in reminding me that when I started in this job they weren't even born yet.