Allison Muriel Dobbie is a New Zealand librarian recognised for her leadership in library management and education for library professionals in New Zealand and the Oceania region.

Early years

Dobbie was born in Southland, New Zealand, and attended high school in

Waimate Waimate is a town in Canterbury, New Zealand, and the seat of Waimate District. It is situated just inland from the eastern coast of the South Island. The town is reached via a short detour west when travelling on State Highway One, the main N ...

. Dobbie studied history at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, Dobbie completed a postgraduate diploma in library studies in 1974 from the New Zealand Library School and an MA in librarianship from Victoria University in 1988.

Career

During her career Dobbie served as a librarian in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, Dunedin and Parliament, and led

Auckland Libraries Auckland Council Libraries, usually simplified to Auckland Libraries, is the public library system for the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created when the seven separate councils in the Auckland region merged in 2010. It is currently the ...

through the merger of seven library systems with 55 libraries forming the largest public library system in the southern hemisphere. Dobbie led the development and adoption of the first registration scheme for library and information professionals in New Zealand. Dobbie was a member of the Establishment Committee for the INELI-Oceania leadership development programme for emerging library leaders in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands and a member of the Gates Global Libraries Advisory Network from 2009 – 2011.

Works

* ''Co-operation versus competition in the development of e-services in libraries (2002)'' *''Digitizing cultural resources : a practical guide for public libraries'' (2004)

Awards

* 2010 Honorary Life Member of LIANZA * 2019 Member of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

(MNZM) for services to library and information management and the arts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbie, Allison New Zealand librarians New Zealand women librarians Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit University of Otago alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand women historians Year of birth missing (living people) Living people