Introducing myself
 photo credit M. Russell
A bit of an all-rounder, I have many skills and interests and what I love is to organise — words, people and things.
When my grandfather signed me up as a member of the Victor Harbor Institute Library, a lifelong love of books and words was kindled. After leaving school, I studied to become a Library Technician and learned more about managing information, how to find it and tame it and turn it into knowledge and learning. Well before the World Wide Web came into existence, we library-folk were online, searching databases and sharing information in a text-driven world. I used my library and information skills to survive several career changes, from positions in toy libraries to statewide special libraries, as well as in early childhood literacy programs and providing education and training. I loved the information management and technology components of these roles, so I began a Bachelor of Business Information Systems and moved into the health sector. Spending a lot of time in front of a computer, I managed patient administration systems, pulled reports from databases and developed my first intranet. I discovered a talent for training others in a variety of computer systems and was continually being called upon to answer ‘how do I…’ questions.  photo credit M. Russell
From information management my career turned toward quality and safety — quite a change! The systems approach and attention to detail, required when working with technology and information, made the sideways step to quality and safety easier. I enjoyed the learning curve as I immersed myself in continuous quality improvement, performance monitoring, strategic planning and accreditation systems.
Developing documentation such as policy and procedure, training materials, manuals and instructions became second nature. I am a little ashamed to say I wrote ‘government speak’ and could weasel word with the best. Now one of my pleasures in life is to unpick those words and simplify things. Today’s audience demands information plain and easy to consume not ambiguous and sugar coated. Running a small farm in the Fleurieu, I have resigned from the public service to begin my own business and share my time between weeds and words.
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Fast Facts – Areas of interest
Fast Facts – recent positions
– Accreditation Facilitator
– Corporate Systems Administrator Fast Facts – qualifications & training
Fast Facts – current volunteer work
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