Brenda Chawner Retires
Statement from the School of Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka (VUW)
Brenda Chawner of the School of Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka (VUW) retired at the end of November 2019. Brenda joined the Information Studies teaching team at VUW in 1997 and has made a huge contribution to the School, University and wider profession in Aotearoa New Zealand (she even has her own Wikipedia page!). We would like to thank her for her service and acknowledge her significant impact on the development of library and information studies education in New Zealand.
Brenda came to New Zealand in 1986 to a role as a Systems Analyst working on the NZBN database. She held the position of Applications Manager by the time she left the National Library. Brenda’s career in Library and Information Studies teaching began as a sessional lecturer in a community college in her native Canada. In New Zealand, she taught on the Certificate at the School of Library Studies in Wellington College of Education before joining VUW part-time in 1997 and then full-time as a Senior Lecturer from 2001.
Brenda has contributed much to the library and information profession, and its professional association, LIANZA, throughout her academic career. She was a founding member of the LIANZA Research SIG and played an active role in promoting the LIANZA Professional Registration scheme, was a member of the Registration Board, and has continued a research interest in professional development. She was also Editor of New Zealand Library and Information Management Journal for a period from 2011–2016. Brenda was awarded a LIANZA Fellowship 2012 in recognition of her ‘significant role in library and information studies in New Zealand,’ and for the demonstration of ‘sustained leadership in library education and scholarship.’ In addition to these roles, Brenda was the administrator for Nz-libs and Nz-libs-jobs, as well as providing support for many of the other lists serving library communities in New Zealand.
Through her research interests, Brenda maintained close links with the IT community, especially as a member of the FLOSS (Free/libre Open Source
Software) community and the New Zealand Open Source Society, and was instrumental in bringing Richard Stallman (founder of the GNU systems and free software advocate) to New Zealand on more than one occasion in 2009. Her PHD thesis, on Factors Influencing Participant Satisfaction with Free/libre and Open Source Software Projects was a significant contribution to the FLOSS knowledge base.
She is a well-respected and well-loved instructor, demonstrated by being bestowed with the Most Popular Lecturer Award in the Faculty of Commerce & Administration in 2011. Brenda has helped shape the careers of many information professionals in New Zealand, many of whom are now highly influential in the profession. Farewell and good luck to Brenda.
A NOTE FROM BRENDA
Tēnā koutou katoa. I’d like to thank Jennifer, my colleagues, and everyone else who’s been in touch with me for their kind words and good wishes.
Leaving Victoria means that I am handing over the administration of nz-libs family of email discussion lists hosted at Victoria over to Jennifer. These lists play an important role in New Zealand’s library community, and I’m pleased that they’re continuing. They are a good testament to the enduring power of a basic communication technology—despite the proliferation of other social media platforms, email is widely accessible and easy to use. Whenever someone has suggested moving the lists to a different platform, there has always been a strong response to keep them as is.
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about being involved with library education in New Zealand is seeing students become confident information professionals, and watching their careers develop. I have also enjoyed my interactions with staff in different types of libraries, and seeing information services evolve as new technologies are developed. I started teaching when CD-ROM databases were considered to be “the latest and greatest” technology, and the Web was in its infancy. A good illustration of how much has changed since then happened earlier this week. I was trying to track down some information about the early days of the librarianship programme here at Victoria. I knew that what I wanted would be in the Victoria University Calendar, and wondered if the library had copies. I was very pleased to find that digitised copies of old Victoria University calendars were in the library’s research archive. I found what I needed in only a few minutes, without having to leave my office or make a phone call.
I’m looking forward to having a break over the summer, and then seeing what other opportunities come along. I expect to become a more regular user of my local public library, since I’ll now have more time for recreational reading. I’ll also be able to spend more time with Lily the cat, which will make her very happy, as Anne Goulding suggested.
“BRENDA HAS HELPED SHAPE THE CAREERS OF MANY INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS IN NEW ZEALAND, MANY OF WHOM ARE NOW HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL IN THE PROFESSION. FAREWELL AND GOOD LUCK TO BRENDA.”