Dear Librarian,

I am a qualified librarian currently seeking library work in the Oxford
area.  Nothing has been forthcoming from the job agencies that I am
registered with (including Infomatch). This is probably because I do not
fit the stereotype of a librarian.

However, I am going to try to buck the trend with my dynamic and witty
personality and find a job in this field. Therefore, I am willing to work
voluntarily (without pay) for any library and information that is
interested. I will also consider working for free outside the Oxford area
but for this I will require travel expenses.

Please could you let me know if your library is tempted to take advantage
of this offer of a free temp.

The reason for this request is that demand for librarians is very low at
the moment. I do not want to leave this profession as I have already
invested tens of thousands of pounds in acquiring library and information
skills. I feel that in order to maintain my skills I must keep them well
honed. Refresher courses offered by CILIP are often very expensive costing
several hundreds of pounds. Also with CILIP's new famework of
qualifications I have to keep my professional development in tact.

Please note that I am also able to provide training in a wide range of
library and information skills. This is not only an offer of FREE labour
but also FREE training comes as an optional extra.


Please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to pursue this offer
further. References and a photograph can be supplied on request.

Regards,

Geoff Morgan BSc (Hons) MSc ECON
44 Hill View Road
Oxford OX2 0BZ
01865 727485
Cilip Membership No. 59576
Email: [log in to unmask]

Career Goal: Having successfully completed my MSc in Information
Management and Library Studies at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and
three temporary posts as a Librarian in academic and State-run libraries,
I am now completing my chartership with CILIP through Route B and wish to
broaden my experience through a rewarding post in the Oxford area, to
which I have recently moved.

EDUCATION

MASTERS: 2001: Successful completion, with good overall marks, of a full-
time MSc Econ in Information Management and Library Studies at the
University of Wales, Aberystwyth.  My fees were sponsored by my former
employer, Middlesex University.  My thesis compared and analysed
information provision to distance learning students at Aberystwyth and
Middlesex Universities.  Core courses included Information Retrieval,
Systems Management, Information Sources and Services, Collection
Management.
BSc Honours: 1997: Graduated as a part-time student at Middlesex
University with a class 2.2 degree in Environmental Management.  Course
included units in Historical Geography and Archaeology.
School Education:  Newbridge Grammar School, Gwent, Wales (1973-1978) and
Cross Keys College of Further Education, Gwent (1978-1980). Two ¡§A¡¨
Levels
in Geography and Physics,  5 ¡§O¡¨ Levels in Biology, English, French,
Mathematics, and Physics.

ESSENTIAL LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SKILLS

"h I have extensive cataloguing and indexing skills and am familiar with
the Dewey and Library of Congress classification systems, the Anglo-
American Cataloguing Rules (AACR)  and MARC 21.  I also have extensive
knowledge of
Heritage, Horizon, Unicorn (SIRSI) and Voyager library management systems.
"h I also have extensive experience of using such electronic sources as
BIDS, Butterworths, Dialog, EEBO, Environment Now, Environment Plus, ERIC,
Factiva,
Inside Web (British Library), Justis, Lexis Nexis,, LION, MEDLINE, OCLC,
Oxford Scholarship Online, Parlianet and Technical Indexes, and am
confident at information retrieval, whether using
controlled vocabulary or natural language.
"h I am proficient at providing user education to all library users, from
students to government officials, and also am experienced in staff
training, managing budgets, systems management, marketing, records
management, intranet and internet development and staff supervision.
"h I have experience in training and lecturing on information retrieval,
information sources, data protection and copyright legislation.




LIBRARY AND INFORMATION EXPERIENCE

August 2004 to January 2005: Librarian, Open University, Walton Hall,
Milton Keynes.  Through Instant Library recruitment I was employed by the
Open University library as a Subject Information Specialist for arts,
computing science and mathematics. My duties included: * answering queries
from students and academic staff  * stock selection * management of
electronic databases and journals * managing the web-site * providing user
education to academic staff.

December 2003 to April 2004: Assistant Librarian, Library & Information
Service, Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.  Through
Instant Library Recruitment, I was appointed on a two-week contract that
grew into five months, until the library¡¦s staff shortage was resolved.
My duties included: * managing Readers & References Services, answering
queries from students, fire services (across the UK and abroad), and from
corporations regarding fire hazard, risk assessment and health & safety
*  delivering lectures as part of the students¡¦ courses on data
protection, copyright law and information retrieval, using Microsoft
Powerpoint and an interactive board * indexing and abstracting journals
for the library catalogue (Heritage) * providing a detailed report on the
Library¡¦s web site and making recommendations for improvements.

January 2003 to September 2003:  Assistant Librarian, Highways Agency,
Westminster, London.  Through Instant Library Recruitment, I was appointed
for a three-month contract that was twice renewed, until the library
service was relocated to Manchester.  During this period, duties included:
* modernising the service by introducing more electronic resources and
training staff on their usage and marketing the new aspects of the service
to the Agency at large * providing information on demand to various
departments within the Highways Agency, other government officials and the
general public, using legal, technical and scientific sources * report
writing for the Intranet and internal documents on the library¡¦s changing
services * coordinating the cataloguing of new materials * assisting with
the financial management of the library (approving and processing invoices
etc) * writing business cases and oral presentations to senior staff for
new acquisitions, such as electronic databases and print reference sources
* training staff, including special trips to the Highways Agency
Information Points around the country * developing the inter-library loans
system.

February 2002 to December 2002 and ongoing:  Freelance information
consultant.  I provide a service to businesses and voluntary organisations
in the South East region, to supply their information and internet needs.
Clients include Helmer-Dyer Ltd, Greening the City and the East London
Community Recycling Partnership.  I set up information systems, supply
internet services and staff training on databases and the internet, and
create web sites
for them which are straightforward to maintain.  In 2003, I was a
researcher for International PEN¡¦s global report on censorship.



April 1990 to February 2002: Assistant Librarian, Middlesex University
Information and Learning Resource Services, Middlesex University.
February 1998 to June 2000: Tottenham Campus Library.
"h Main duties included managing inter-library loans, supervision of staff
(from temporary student workers to permanent library assistants), staff
training, dealing with enquiries, collaboration with the humanities
departments.
"h Developed a new system including a specially-adapted database for the
inter-library loan service ¡V its success led the staff at Birkbeck College
to request that I train them in its use.
"h Assisted the History and English librarians in obtaining articles that
would enhance their reference collections, and tracked down useful
documents to aid the academic staff in these departments.

April 1990 to January 1998 and Oct. 2001 to Feb.  2002: Trent Park Campus
Library.
"h Developed a video collection for Latin American Studies, Performing
Arts, Education, Film Studies and History, and catalogued and indexed
same.
"h Explored the Internet and as early as 1995 developed a web page listing
the Spanish and Latin American film titles available for reference use
which enabled me to learn about Internet technology as it broke.

OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE

June 1989 to October 1989: Unye Language School, Unye, Turkey: Teacher of
English to students at the summer school, aged between 10 and 15.
June 1988 to 1990 (with a break in the summer of 1989): Hestair Management
Services Recruitment Clerk.
October 1986 to March 1988: Euston Community Workshops: Project Worker
responsible for music and drama workshops with psychiatric day patients,
and with children with special needs.
October 1981 to August 1984:  Manager of Bicycle Shop, Pontllanfraith,
Gwent, responsible for cash flow, balancing books, sales promotion,
bicycle repairs etc.
September 1980 to September 1981: Dare Electric Ltd, Gwent, trainee
manager.

ADDITIONAL SKILLS
"h Experienced at working cooperatively within a library team
"h Good presentation and excellent communication and interpersonal skills
"h Familiarity with PCs and Apple Macs, proficient with Word and other
major word-processing packages and with spreadsheets and databases
"h HTML-proficient, and a good knowledge of Java-script
"h Fair knowledge of French and German and full and clean driving license

PERSONAL DETAILS AND HOBBIES
I am aged 43, married and British. I play and perform music, my main
instruments being the piano, accordion and guitar, and compose piano music
(mostly jazz-influenced).  I enjoy reading and solving cryptic crosswords.
REFERENCES CAN BE SUPPLIED ON REQUEST