Member interview with Naomi Lees

Naomi Lees is currently a Data Resources & Licensing Manager in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Could you tell us about your background and how you became involved in the information profession?

I have worked in the information profession for 30+ years (scary!) in a number of roles. How did I become involved? I always loved research and organising things, so decided to take a degree in Library and Information Studies. The degree included two work placements – one was at Christie Hospital in Manchester, in the cancer research library (which turned into a summer job), and the other was at the BBC in Manchester in the research library – so that’s where my career began!

Where have you worked and in what sorts of roles?

After doing my placement at the BBC, I was offered a part time job as a library assistant. I continued in media libraries and moved to London to be a picture librarian for Time Out Magazine. I did that for 6+ years before deciding to embark on a Masters in Information Systems and Technology. I thought I would get a job in IT, but it was 2001 (dot com bubble burst and 9/11) so the only place hiring was government! I got a temp role in DWP working on their intranet and found myself still there 6 years later! I took a career break, went back to DWP and did a variety of things including a doomed Sharepoint project, a doomed enterprise search project, and doomed knowledge management project, before finding my way to the library and working as the E-Resources Librarian for a few years. From there I moved to Defra, where I manage geospatial data resources.

What is your experience from volunteering for the CILIP Government Information Group?

It’s early days, but so far, I have been involved in evaluating the nominees for the GIG Awards, which has given me an insight into the amazing work of information professionals and teams across government 😊

What are you mostly excited about in our profession? Are there any challenges or success stories you would like to share with us?

I’m most excited by the vast array of roles out there! Challenges – the GKIM profession can be a bit moribund at times, more needs to be done to raise our profile and celebrate our successes.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career as a librarian/information professional?

Do what you are interested in. Pick up skills. Think about what you want to learn next. You can do these in any order.

What are your (personal/professional) plans and expectations for the future?

Looks like I will be moving into another government information role but waiting for it to be finalised!