08 | Laura Hurd

My guest on this 9th episode is Cassandra Gorton. Cassandra is my second guest from outside of Queensland, and my first from Victoria. In Australia public health systems, where most hospital libraries reside, are largely run by state governments so the colleagues we become most familiar with tend to be those within our states. This is the only reason for the existing Queensland bias, which I’m sure will lessen over time. Cassandra works for Monash Health in Victoria, so it was fascinating to compare similarities and differences between health services. Cassandra has also come on board as associate editor of the Journal of Health Information and Libraries Australasia, colloquially known as JoHILA, so together we will be trying to grow and improve the journal as an organ of quality scholarly communication about health library practice in this region. 

Laura is librarian at Rockhampton Hospital. Rockhampton is a city of 80000 people in central Queensland, about 8 hours north of Brisbane. This is a fascinating and most enjoyable chat, ranging across a wide array of topics and solving them all. This interview was recorded on 10 June 2022.

Jane is librarian at QEII hospital in Brisbane’s metro south health service. She is well studied, including masters degrees and a phd, and is a wonderful colleague and friend. Her reflections during this conversation are most insightful. This interview was recorded on 21 November 2019.

Jane Orbell-Smith has had a varied professional career, initially training as a special libraries library technician and then qualifying as a special libraries librarian before finding her niche as a Health Librarian. Jane has held library manager positions with Mackay Health Service District and Metro North Hospital and Health Service and is currently sole professional Health Librarian for Redcliffe and Caboolture Hospital Libraries. Jane has a focus on continuing professional development, provision of services to remote clientele, consumer health information and information literacy, plus inter-disciplinary collaboration. This interview was recorded on 26 November 2019.

60minsBronia was formerly director of library services for Townsville Hospital and Health Service, in Queensland, Australia. You can learn more about the library service here. You can read a reflection on Bronia's career in JoHILA vol 1 iss 1, 2020. This episode was originally recorded on 19 August 2019.

80minsAnna is a research fellow with Darling Downs Health, and a senior research fellow with the University of Queensland. You can see a list of 24 articles Anna has authored or co-authored here.   This episode was originally recorded on 6 December 2019.

71minsJuliet was formerly manager of Library and Knowledge Services, Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service. You can learn more about the library service here. Juliet recently wrote a reflective piece about her time in Cairns, which is available in JoHILA vol2 iss 1, 2021.   This episode was originally recorded on 25 November 2019.

80minsCheryl Hamill is Head of department, library and information service, South Metropolitan Health Service, Fiona Stanley and Royal Perth Hospitals. She is based in Perth, Western Australia. You can learn more about the library service here. In 2020 Cheryl was granted the HCL Anderson award, the highest honour that can be bestowed on an associate member for ALIA. It is awarded in recognition of outstanding service to the library and information profession in Australia. You can learn more about why Cheryl received this accolade here. This episode was originally recorded on 11 December 2019.

51mins.Jacky Cribb is a librarian with the University of Queensland Rural Clinical School. She is based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Learn more about the UQ RCS here. Learn more about Jacky here. This episode was originally recorded 1 July 2019, and was the pilot episode for this podcast.