Presidential Themes
Reports and Presentations
Ian's Blog
Brief Biography
I began my professional career in Redbridge Public Libraries working as an Assistant Librarian, after 18 months I joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as Assistant Librarian: Serials.
I remained in the MAFF Library for seven and a half years, holding a number of posts ending up as Acting Chief Librarian. In 1994 I joined the Department of Health as Head of Library & Information Services. After four years in this role I took the opportunity to transfer out of the library to work on an IT project in the Department.
When this project came to an end in mid-1999 I joined the Royal Society of Medicine as Director of Information Services. In February 2006 I moved to the University of London Research Library Services as Director, Academic Services. I am currently Head of Higher Education at The British Library.
Throughout my career I have been an active member of CILIP and its predecessor bodies, serving on branch and group committees, and both IIS and LA Council. In 2004 I became a Chartered Fellow of CILIP.
Presidential Themes:
During my Presidency I focused on the following areas:
• Governance – working towards establishing a well managed institute which actively reflects the needs of members
• Encouraging members to be active within CILIP
• Professionalism – promoting recognition of the value of our skills and qualifications
• Challenging the perceptions of librarians in the media – by advocating the value and importance of libraries and librarians in Society
• Professional mobility – encouraging the sharing and exchange of skills between sectors
During my term of Office I ran 100K in race conditions (a series of 5 and 10k events) to raise money in support of the