Looking for a career change, Alicia undertook studies in Library Science at the University of California (Berkeley) and received her Master's degree in 1966. Her first job was at Stanford University Libraries as a cataloguer in political science and education. A desire for a change in climate led her to work as serials cataloguer at Boston's MIT Libraries in the Engineering and Science faculties in 1970. "I was tired of sunny blue skies. Snow appealed to me," she says.
Alicia's parents retired and moved to Canada in 1973. She decided to join them and accepted a position as Head of Serials at the University of Winnipeg. Even though she made good friends there, she regretted the move to such a cold city and in 1978 moved to Ottawa as Head of Technical Services at the Geological Survey of Canada.
In 1980, she accepted a promotion as Head of Technical Services for the National Museums of Canada (NMC) Libraries. NMC Libraries had five branches, of which the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) was one. When NMC was dissolved in October 1987, the libraries were divided among the national museums and two national programs, CCI and the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN). The staff was also dispersed to these agencies.
Alicia chose to join CCI. "I knew a bit about the Institute, liked the easygoing people and preferred to work with a small research staff. I knew that resources were a problem for this library, but I preferred that battle," proclaims Alicia.
Alicia faced many challenges in developing the CCI library. At the time of her arrival, the library was tucked away in a small space on the second floor and there were only two part-time staff — Vicki Davis (reference librarian) and Maureen Clark (library technician). Soon after that CCI negotiated for and received the NMC Libraries museology collection, and Alicia faced the challenge of moving the library to a larger space on the first floor and integrating the conservation and museology collections.
Although the CCI library had previously depended on a centralized service for administration, acquisition of books and serials, and cataloguing, at this time it chose to become independent rather than becoming a branch of the Department of Communications library. Because there were no positions for the cataloguing and acquisitions functions, Alicia hired contractors and eventually term personnel for the next 8 years. It was not until 1995 that both positions were staffed by permanent employees. "It was a struggle to constantly train new people," admits Alicia.
When reviewing her career, Alicia says "I consider transforming the library from a branch to a self-sufficient library my biggest achievement." But the change from manual to automated systems has also been significant. With the help of Raymond Lafontaine, Director of Information Services and Marketing, the library catalogue was placed on the CCI Web site in 1999 and has proven very popular with external users.
One of the most exciting times during Alicia's work at CCI was when the library received a significant increase in resources to support the museology collection in the early 1990s. The New Museum Policy funds helped Alicia guide the development of a bibliographic database on museology, something that had been planned by NMC. In developing the BMUSE database, Alicia worked first with CHIN and eventually with the ICOM Information Centre and the Direction des Musées de France. BMUSE indexes international museology books and journals, mostly in English and French. It has been available through CHIN (http://www.chin.gc.ca) since 1994.
Alicia has enjoyed working at CCI, particularly with her own staff. "In my last job, I have had the best staff," she claims. "We have had mutual respect." She has also enjoyed learning about conservation and talking to people about their projects. "They are dedicated and talented people."
For her retirement, Alicia plans to move to Vancouver. After 23 years in Ottawa, snow has lost its appeal. She would like to explore the British Columbia coast and mountains, visit friends and relatives in eight countries, and volunteer teaching children. She may even return to the academic library scene. "You teach in academic libraries," she says. "In special libraries such as CCI, you serve. I prefer the teaching aspect." Alicia will also continue her 40-year hobby as an amateur photographer and hopes to travel to Namibia and photograph the sand dunes.
We will miss her gentle smile and her calm and common-sense approach. Enjoy your new adventures, Alicia!
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