If a university is like a society in small, then information is its currency. And the Alma Jordan Library is UWI St. Augustine’s treasure trove. For more than a hundred years now, even before UWI was UWI, there has been a repository of knowledge – texts, documents, film, artifacts – for the students of St. Augustine. The students have changed and the library has evolved, but its essential mission has remained the same.
“Our purpose is to provide support for all aspects of the teaching, learning and research of the university community through a range of services and resources,” says Ms. Jennifer Joseph.
As a senior member of the library’s team for 17 years, Campus Librarian at St. Augustine since 2008 and University Librarian (coordinator for The UWI’s entire library system) since 2009, Ms. Joseph is more than an authority on the subject. In her time at the UWI, she has not only assisted thousands within the university community in their acquisition of knowledge, she has also played a major role in the development of the library system.
On the eve of her retirement, Ms. Joseph looks back at her career and the evolution of the library system of the University of the West Indies.
The Librarian
By the time this article is published, the 2015-2016 academic year will be well underway and upward of 4,000 new students will be beginning their courses of study on the St. Augustine Campus. For every last one of them, the Alma Jordan Library will be a vital resource. They will benefit from a library system that has evolved from largely print-based resources to a collection that is more than 80% electronic. Their research will be facilitated by new computer systems, new online resources, a massively expanded repository of Caribbean-specific items and even an overnight reading room. New students will enjoy assets that represent more than 15 years of effort by the staff of the library to meet the demands of the university’s exploding student population.
Ms. Joseph played an integral part in the process:
“It was exciting – for it was the time of transition, when we were just launching fully into the world of technology, moving from print to electronic, changing from the traditional card catalogue to the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC), developing new services and providing staff with training in the use of technology. My predecessor, Professor Margaret Rouse-Jones, who had been appointed as Campus Librarian in 1997, was leading this process and the library had been set on a new path.”
Ms. Joseph joined the staff of the library in 1998. It was still called the Main Library at that point (it would be renamed the Alma Jordan Library in 2011 after Dr. Alma Jordan, who was Campus Librarian from 1960 to 1989). By then Ms. Joseph had already had a successful career in the field.
“I joined the staff at a senior level in the Librarian stream having already had 22 years experience as a professional librarian in the public service (several ministries), the state sector and at an international level (the World Bank),” she explains.
Her first assignment was in the West Indiana and Special Collections Division, the heart of Caribbean-focused information. She then moved relatively quickly to become Liaison Librarian for the Faculty of Social Sciences. It was in 1999, as the library sought to evolve its services by employing a management consulting firm. Out of this initiative a new strategic plan and a Library Senior Management Team was created, which expanded the leadership structure to include unit heads.
“While I was not a ‘head’ I was invited by the Campus Librarian to serve as a member of that team,” Ms. Joseph says. “I was given the Finance portfolio (monitoring our budget and financial procedures) to ensure compliance with UWI procedures and standards. For me it was certainly an opportunity to contribute to the development of the library’s operations and to be part of the team that was shaping the future development of the Campus Libraries Services.”
Her dedication to the advancement of the campus library and her capability in the leadership position spurred further advancement. By December 2000 she attained the position of Deputy Campus Librarian and eight years later she became the Campus Librarian of the Alma Jordan Library.
She shared her guiding vision: “The library plays a most important role in assisting students. We provide the necessary information resources and the systems for locating this information. In doing so, the library must provide a welcoming and comfortable space for users, and competent persons to provide, training, assistance and guidance in accessing resources. The library must also work closely with faculty to ensure that the relevant information is selected and made available in a variety of formats.”
Ms. Joseph has been integral to some of the most important modernisation activities carried out by the Alma Jordan Library and the Campus Libraries System. That work will now be continued by Mr. Frank Soodeen, Head of the library’s Information Technology Services Division, who will take up the post of Campus Librarian on September 1 of this year. With 22 years’ service at the Alma Jordan Library, Mr. Soodeen, like Ms. Joseph, has been a major player in the technological, systems and service provision improvements over the last decade and a half.
But technology and processes aside, what about the human component of library service?
“Students should look forward to guidance and support from a team of dedicated persons who are intimate with the information resources,” Ms. Joseph says, adding that “they should expect to be provided with prompt responses to their questions and a smooth and cordial interaction on all administrative processes.”
Looking back on her life as a librarian, she says, “I feel satisfied. I have had a long and rewarding career in various aspects of library services in Trinidad and Tobago – through the public service, The UWI and the Library Association of Trinidad and Tobago. I feel that I have utilised my training and skills and made a good contribution to the development of library services at the national and the regional level through The University. I have had the privilege of managing the St. Augustine Campus Libraries and leading a team of persons who are dedicated to their task. I have been at the helm at a time of moving from traditional library services to the new age embracing all that technology can offer.”
Retirement does not however mean work stops. The drive and inclination that motivated her in her professional career is guiding her towards community development through her Methodist faith. The keeper of books has embraced a suggestion to write a book of her own – on the Methodist Church in Trinidad and Tobago.
She laughs, “I anticipate that I will be very busy!”
Some of The University Library advances have been:
 Movement from print to digital resources – with more than 280 online databases and thousands of ebooks, students can access the vast majority of information online from anywhere and at any time.
Computer access for students – the library has two spaces: STARRS (the St. Augustine Research and Reference Services) and UEC (USER Education Centre) which give students access to computers for online research.
Cross-campus electronic gateway – Through UWILinC (the UWI Library and Information Connexion), students can access information across all campuses.
Expanded Unique Caribbean Resources – Through the digitisation of many resources within West Indiana and the development of UWISpace (the repository of UWI in-house research), students have greater access to electronic resources unique to the region.
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