Summers, Lotty

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Lotty is an experienced Library Assistant with a fifteen-year career spanning public, academic and health libraries. She is currently posted at Heartlands Hospital while deepening her knowledge through a Masters in Information and Library Studies at Aberystwyth University. Lotty is enthusiastic about equality and diversity and is a member of the Wessex Classification Oversight Group who do excellent work modernising the scheme and removing outdated and offensive terminology. Other national projects include the testing of new document delivery system INCDocs and regionally the West Midlands Evidence Repository Operational Group where she was involved in shaping standards and policy, while leading the project for her library. Lotty has a keen interest in collection management and recently led a weeding initiative at her library to remove multiple editions of texts. As a champion of innovation, she assisted the implementation of Microsoft 365 by testing new systems and supporting team members with the change.

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    Updating the Wessex classification scheme for UK health libraries : a case study in improving inclusion and diversity in a specialist classification scheme
    (Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust & University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, 2023-09-06) Curtis, Jason; Summers, Lotty; Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust; University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust; Library; Admin and Clerical; Summers, Lotty
    The Wessex Classification Scheme was created by healthcare librarians in the South West of England, and was loosely based on the US National Library of Medicine classification. The scheme is widely used in healthcare libraries across the UK, both inside and outside the NHS. Although the scheme has gone through several revisions, there has been no major update since 2015, so the Wessex Classification Scheme Oversight Group was formed in September 2022 with the support of NHS England. The group aims to bring knowledge and skills from UK health library networks to improve the scheme, and also offers a chance for participants to develop skills in working with classification and subject indexing, and the opportunity to network widely. By forming a working group, it ensures the longevity of the scheme and shares the maintenance work more widely. Initially, members were asked which parts of the scheme they felt needed updating the most and sub-groups were formed for LGBTQ+ issues and gender identity (the Pride sub-group), Ethnicity and Race, and Learning Disability and Neurodiversity (the LDN sub-group) as well as a smaller team working on ‘quick and simple’ updates. The Pride sub-group undertook a review of the terminology and classification of items relating to the LGBTQ+ community, gender identity and gender affirming care and found that there were terms within the Wessex Classification Scheme that were no longer used or could be considered offensive, derogatory, or prejudicial. As a result of the review some terms were proposed to be removed completely (e.g. ‘hermaphroditism’) and other terms to be updated (e.g. ‘gender affirming surgery’ rather than ‘transsexual surgery’) using the Homosaurus as a guide in some cases. As part of the process, it was found that certain psychiatric topics were located within the same section as topics relating to sexual orientation and gender diversity. The sub-group believed this perpetuated a stereotype by linking these topics (e.g. paedophilia and incest) and so these were suggested to move from HQ to WM in the classification system. The Pride sub-group is committed to ensuring that the terms relating to the LGBTQ+ community are relevant and inclusive. Work by the Ethnicity and Race sub-group revealed terms within the Wessex subject index that were either outdated, problematic or more appropriate to a North American context than to a UK one. In addition to terms used to describe ethnic groups, related topics such as immigration, traditional medicine, homelessness and health inequalities were also considered. Appropriate sources of information were identified, and terms discussed, before making recommendations to the oversight group. The Learning Disabilities and Neurodiversity (LDN) sub-group is also looking at the language used in the subject index, and considering some broader changes to the classification schedules to bring together topics that are currently shelved in disparate areas of the classification. Some members of the LDN sub-group have lived experience of neurodiversity and are able to bring their experience to the work of the sub-group.
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    Developing the next generation of librarians: band 4/5 librarian post at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB)
    (University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, 2022-10-14) Parker, Richard; Johnson, Emily; Chakraborty, Semanti; Boddice, Beth; Summers, Lotty; University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust; Library; Admin and Clerical; Parker, Richard; Johnson, Emily; Chakraborty, Semanti; Boddice, Beth; Summers, Lotty
    The rationale behind introducing a development librarian post at UHB and the success stories resulting from it.
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    Updating the Wessex Classification Scheme for UK health libraries : a case study in improving inclusion and diversity in a specialist classification scheme
    (CILIP Metadata & Discovery Group (MDG), 2024-09-02) Curtis, Jason; Summers, Lotty; Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust; University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust; Library; Admin and Clerical; Summers, Lotty
    The Wessex Classification Scheme was created in the early 1980s by healthcare librarians in the former Wessex Regional Health Authority area in the South West of England, with the aim of improving the cataloguing of items relating to UK healthcare practice.