Jill Barber  

Biography - Jill Barber is Heritage Services Manager for Hertfordshire, and on the Local Studies Group committee. She was previously County Local Studies Librarian for Hertfordshire. Jill is a contributor to Local Studies Collection Management (2002), and the author of two books in the Step-up History series: Children in Victorian Times and How did your Locality change in Victorian Times? Following a PhD on sources for local and family history she has been closely involved with a distance learning module on local studies at the Department of Information Studies, Aberystwyth, and training remains a high priority for her.

Abstract - The way forward for training of local studies librarians: Do we need webbed feet?

Is there a future for local studies? This session will look at how local studies is evolving and the impact of developments such as digitisation, regionalisation and cross-sectoral partnerships. Why do we need training? What are our priorities? How do we compare with archives and museums? Come along and share some ideas and footprints for the future.