Enid Caton Clement

My career involves two main interests which have fashioned the person who I am today - teaching and studies in library science both balanced by my familial duties which had an important influence in determining the outcome.

I am a native of Trinidad and Tobago where I completed the Cambridge School certificate and Cambridge Higher Certificate with exemptions from the London University Matriculation and Cambridge University Intermediate Arts certificates. I started my teaching career having obtained a teacher's diploma from the Government of Trinidad Teacher Training College.

After teaching for a few years I, with my husband and brother-in-law came ta Montreal to attend Sir George Williams College Cnow Concordia University). I opted for the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree majoring in sociology, and in 1958 the three of us Clements graduated together, I making the Dean's list. One of the local newspapers had an item about our success, mistakenly noting that two brothers and a sister had graduated.

I set about immediately to pursue my career in library science by entering the McGill Library School and obtaining the Bachelor of Library Science <BLS) degree which gave me professionalism as a librarian.

My first professional job was at the University of Toronto where I was hired as a cataloguer. I was one of twenty-two staff hired to change the classification system <Reclassification) to that of the United States Library of Congress. Thus began my career in reclassification. There was a demand for my expertise now and I became head of the cataloguing department 􀀏t Loyola College <now Concordia University). Also, in my position as Assistant Librarian, I organized the reclassification of the Loyola book collection. I stayed at Loyola for about six and a hal f years then opted to stay at home because by then my parents included four young children who are now adults and employed in various occupations. I also have three grandchildren.

Within a year, I got a call from McGill and I started as Assistant Head Cataloguer in charge of the McGill Reclassification to Library of Congress project. In the mean time, I acquired the Master of Library Science <MLS) degree from McGill Graduate School of Library Science. I was then asked by the Director of the school to join the faculty as a professer teaching courses in cataloguing, classification and reclassification. This was a wonderful experience which combined my training in teaching with my expertise in library science. My memberships in several local, national and international library organizations as well as attendances at seminars, conferences, etc. kept me in touch with new developments in Library Science. I had now completed the cycle in teaching all grade levels Cexcept undergraduate) from kindergarten to graduate school.

When I left McGill, I set about to fulfill a promise which I had made to myself earlier, I returned to Concordia University where I obtained the Master of Arts CMA) degree in 1996. My thesis is entitled "Women's Resistance to Paternalism".

I could not accomplish this without the help of my husband, my children and my brother-in-law and his family. We came to Montreal not knowing anyone and if we did succeed, it was because we were always there to look out for one another. This closeness continues today between the two families. We share holidays and events Ceven the local carnival) during the year. It is either our house or theirs. Our children look forward to these events with great anticipation.

My guiding principle may be summed up as a deep respect for knowledge and learning.