Case studies : Information assistant: Amy

Amy has a BA Social Studies with Behavioural Sciences and a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Studies. She works as an information officer for an investment bank.

My interest in information began with my hobby, genealogy. I spent a lot of time at national archives and libraries researching my ancestors’ lives and realised how much I enjoyed the research. I also saw how this was a large part of the job for the librarians and archivists I met. To gain more of an insight I took on some volunteering roles, one with a museum library and another with a language reference library. I then applied to do a one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Information Studies.

Because I didn’t have any prior working experience in a library or information centre, I decided to take on a graduate trainee position and I am currently the information assistant in an investment bank. This role provides good all-round training in an information officer’s core activities, including research, database management and handling requests from enquirers, as well as an understanding of the day-to-day activities of an information service.

My Diploma taught me how to refine my research skills and how to communicate with my enquirer effectively. It also gave me hands-on web experience for, as part of a team, I had to design and build a website. Information roles almost always include some sort of web element and by creating a website I am prepared for anything!

My Diploma covered all types of library and opened my eyes to the different types of employer - medical libraries, school/academic libraries, legal and financial institutions, the armed forces, governmental bodies and, of course, traditional public libraries.

My working day comprises handling requests for items on the library catalogue (both electronic and hard copy), classifying and filing items for the catalogue, answering enquiries from individuals within the firm and sending out daily/weekly current awareness ‘alerts’. I also maintain journal subscriptions, such as setting up new ones, cancelling others or chasing up missing items.

I particularly enjoy the research part of the job - getting to grips with various databases, working with enquirers on tricky requests and getting to the bottom of a difficult problem.

Having never worked in the business world before, one of the most challenging parts of the role for me has been to understand the financial market and how financial information is used. Being accurate is also something I work at - the information we pass on to our enquirers needs to be up to date and correct as important decisions are made based on it.

The next step for me is to take on a role that involves more in-depth research and allows me to increase my subject knowledge. I would also like to become more involved with the maintenance of an intranet site and internal training.

If you’re not sure if this is the job for you I recommend finding a voluntary position with a library service as it’ll give you a good idea of the kind of work involved and you’ll be able to speak to other information professionals.

But if you’re sure it’s the job for you, go for it. It’s a wonderful profession to be in as the job is challenging both daily and in terms of what you can do over the course of your career. It also offers the opportunity to work in almost any sector and all over the world.