Main gate at the Ministry of Defence, London.
Similarities and differences My fellow speakers presented a wide range of topics including global issues they are facing in all manner of different settings. It showed me that we still share similar issues, just on different scales. After speaking, similar questions were raised as had been in the webinar. This made me reflect on what it really is like to work in Government and whether even I share that to its fullest myself sometimes. One question that stood out was about whether there were libraries in the Minis- try of Defence. It’s a question I get asked a lot and yes, we have lots! What made me stop and think however was that they are not as easily ‘categorised’ as a group as other sectors. The morning of the event in Birmingham we discussed issues for public libraries, the conservation sector, working in academia and tools and tech- nology changes and how they are im- pacting specific sectors. But on reflection Ministry of Defence libraries deal with all of those issues at scale.
I was also able to share what it was like working in information and knowledge management in government and what that really means in terms of roles, skills and issues across departments. There are often very similar scenarios between the information sector in Government and wider library issues like funding and budget constraints or having to ‘prove’ the
36 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
worth of physical spaces and information professionals in an increasingly digital landscape. This is a landscape where there is often a belief that digital tools alone will somehow make everything ok. There is a lot of synergy between the information profession and the library profession with the core skillsets being very similar. But information management is often seen as IT related, so it was great to be able to share some insights into larger scale issues that resonated with a broad audience.
Key takeaways
The biggest insight that lingers in my mind from both events is the extent to which people across the profession put themselves in boxes in terms of career development. Skills can transfer and skills can be developed. The principles of organ- ising information, supporting information retrieval, understanding information seeking behaviours, understanding people and dealing with all kinds of customers and stakeholders are practices that run throughout. You can move across dif- ferent library sectors, you can explore information management and there is a plethora of government roles that you can explore if you so choose. Career paths are no longer linear and there is a lot more in common across our professional areas than we think.
My experience at Members’ Fest this
year reminded me that despite many crazy days and sleepless nights, I really do enjoy working in government. It is truly a totally unique experience and that feeling only strengthens when I hear the story of others and what they’re involved in across departments. There are still gaps in sup- porting entry routes into information and knowledge management or branching out from more well-established career paths in libraries but there is a lot of hard work behind the scenes to change that. There are also lots of people you can reach out to about what other worlds your career jour- ney could take you and the government will have all of those roles and beyond. And yes, there are a multitude of libraries across government!
More information and resources CILIP Government Information Group Blog: CILIP Government Information Group
https://cilipgig.blogspot.com
Government Knowledge and Information Profession: Working in Knowledge and Information Management. Civil Service Careers
www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/profes- sions/working-in-knowledge-and-information-man- agement/
CILIP Knowledge Management Chartership: Professional Registration Chartership for Knowledge Management - CILIP: the library and information association.
www.cilip.org.uk/ page/ProfessionalRegistrationChartershipKM IP
April-May 2026
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