About Paula

Published at: 06:02 pm - Tuesday February 10 2009

I am a freelance editor, journalist and book reviewer with a background in Information Management-Librarianship.

My formal qualifications include:

  • Graduate Certificate in Journalism (University of Technology Sydney, 2008) Online Journalism, Investigative Journalism, Research & Reporting
  • Diploma Book Editing and Publishing (Macleay College)
  • Diploma Information Management-Librarianship (University of New South Wales)
  • MA in languages/ literature (University Sydney – Germanic Studies)  My thesis was a comparative study of Franz Kafka and Charles Dickens.
  • BA (University of Sydney - English, German, French, Modern Greek)
  • Internet Trainer - Train Small Groups (Internet Training Institute). I gained this qualification in 2000 and used it to teach over-55’s at Waverley public library to use email and the Internet.

Mac/PC friendly, I use the following:

In Design, Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver and basic HTML coding, updates using Content Management Systems, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, FilemakerPro, DbTextworks, Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook, Twitter.

In 2008 I completed post-graduate studies in Journalism. Areas of research for my course included: Culture Jamming, Citizenship testing in Australia, Homelessness, Deaths in Custody and the Political Donations system in New South Wales. I was also working as Deputy Editor of Good Reading magazine, a publication dedicated to books and reading.  Since then I’ve been freelancing in book publishing and have continued writing and reviewing for magazines.

As Publishers’ Manager for the Benjamin Andrew Footpath Library, I liaise with publishers, book supporters and other book donors to ensure we have a regular supply of books to supply to homeless and disadvantaged people living on the streets and in refuges and hostels.

From 1997-2007 I managed SBS Radio Sydney’s multimedia library. It was a fabulous musical and cultural education to oversee and develop an eclectic music collection encompassing over 60 languages and a myriad of genres.

I also enjoyed building specialist book collections for broadcasters and journalists including News and Current Affairs titles and fiction by writers from multicultural backgrounds.

Whilst in this role, I received an award for Change Management for a complete redesign, restructure and relocation of library services. Working for a national broadcaster gave me good exposure to emerging technologies such as digital archiving of audiovisual materials and a good knowledge of copyright.

For five years I managed the multimedia resources of the Language Centre at the University of Sydney.

After gaining my BA I worked at Eastern Suburbs Newspapers (Wentworth Courier, Southern Courier, Western Suburbs Courier) starting out as a copy and features writer and then going into ad sales and eventually becoming the ‘Dining and Entertainment’ rep. This involved selling ad features and reviewing restaurants. I liked the eating part but sales has a fast burnout rate!

Professional memberships include:

My work has been published in various publications.