Thursday October 7 2004

As far as “quiet achievers” go the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s librarian, Suzie Davies, is definitive of the term. Her silence, however, was unwillingly broken recently in Hobart when she was elected to chair a major international body in her profession.

*The IODE (International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange) Group of Experts on Marine Information Management is a team of marine librarians selected carefully to form an international network to develop marine libraries and information sources around the globe. The group is funded through the Unesco body, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission which has membership from more than 120 countries.*

Recent priorities for the group have been capacity building in African and South American marine libraries. This involved training of library staff, installation of library computer equipment and development of library support networks web-based services, which assist librarians in developing countries.

The group also develops information management tools, such as Ocean Expert, a world directory of marine expertise. Recently the group has been developing an e-repository for African marine science literature using Open Access Initiative technology, with a view to developing more.

”It's about providing people with easy ways of doing things. We always have to bear in mind the huge technology gap between developing countries and the likes of the US, Europe and Australia. Apart from the technology gap, there is a huge information gap between western and developing nations,” Ms Davies said.

“I believe that information and knowledge offers people more control over their world. I really think it is a good outcome if groups like ours can provide tools and skills, which will allow people to gain access to the world's information. If marine libraries are better able to access current marine information, this should hopefully provide better access to marine information by government agencies across the Pacific, and consequently help them make better decisions with their natural resource management issues. This helps not only those countries, but also the world's environment,” Ms Davies said.