Bella is the newly appointed Website/IT Committee Chair. She is a Librarian from NTU Library’s Advisory and Consultation Team. She works closely with faculty and students from the School of Social Sciences, as well as the School of Art, Design, and Media as the liaison librarian for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.
__________________________
What is your vision/aspiration for LAS as Website/IT Committee Chair for 2019-2021?
Essentially my goal is to create a good technological foundation for LAS. I envisioned that this foundation will help LAS to expand further and advance the information profession in Singapore.
Is there a piece of professional or life advice you’ve gotten that has always stuck with you? What is it?
There are three, actually. They are advice given to me by my former boss, current boss, and mentor:
- When trying to advance your career: It’s true that your success may depend on luck. Remember that sometimes, you have to make your own luck.
- About working with other people: Always give people a chance to do their job and to prove themselves
- About working in a team: The important thing is not that the work is done perfectly, but that it’s done together, as a team.
What genre of books do you like to read for leisure and who are your favourite authors?
I love detective fiction! Although I’m quite terrible at deducing who is the culprit by the end of the book, I still find it an enjoyable exercise for the mind. I love to read works by authors who are active during the golden age of detective fiction, but my favourite would be Agatha Christie. If you are keen on this genre, I suggest starting off with Christie’s “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” and “And Then There Were None”, as well as Dorothy L. Sayers’ “Whose Body?”.
What international community collaborations would you like to see LAS involved in?
UNESCO! Especially considering that they are highly supportive of information literacy.
Have you seen another library or library association do anything recently that made you think, “I wish we’d done that?”
ALA and ALIA have great websites! It’s our IT committee’s goal to revamp our association’s website and also to build a membership management system, complete with email reminders, payment gateway, member-only area, etc.
_____________________________________
Interview questions prepared by Edward Lim. He is the Reference and Research Services Librarian for Business at New York University Shanghai and a member of the LAS Training and Development Committee.