END OF SESSION MEANS WORK FOR ANNOTATORS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30277, 1 November 1963, Page 2

END OF SESSION MEANS WORK FOR ANNOTATORS

The closing of a session of Parliament is the signal for relaxation for many persons connected with politics, but it means the reverse for a team of women who follow the not widely known profession of annotators.

Every legislative amendment is incorporated in sets of statutes and regulations belonging to Government departments solicitors, local bodies, libraries, and newspapers throughout the country. These annotations are done by a staff of 10 employed by a’ Wellington firm, the only one in New Zealand specialising in this work. Armed with pack upon pack of inset slips, gum, rubber stamps, and red pens, they bring all their clients’ books up to date each year. Christchurch Visit Two women who have been doing this work for some years are Miss Olwyn Williams, of Christchurch, and Miss Elizabeth Dempsey, of Gisborne, who are working their way through offices in Christchurch. They will be here for about two months and a half, before moving on to the next town. They spend seven or eight months travelling each year. In the library of “The Press" yesterday they laid out their equipment, reached for the first of a shelf of books, and set to work with a speed and dexterity that was almost hypnotic. No teller could count bank-notes any faster than their flying fingers riffled through book pages, pausing briefly only where amendments were required.

Each inset slip bears the page number of the volume it must be placed in, and a reference letter. The slips are fixed with a dab of gum, the corresponding letter stamped on the page, and necessary deletions or alterations made with the red pen, all in a matter of seconds.

There did seem to be a fascination in their work, for onlookers, they agreed. They did not mind being openly watched, so much, but persons peering over their shoulders, or going to obvious pains to pretend they were not staring, were disturbing.

A job that involves so much travelling has its drawbacks and its compensations. It limited one in the sports,

clubs, and regular activities one could join, Miss Dempsey said. There was always enough luggage to carry as it was, without such things as bags of golf clubs. Miss Williams agreed. If one spent some time in one place so many extra things seemed to be acquired that it was difficult to get everything back into suitcases again. But the travelling had a real appeal. It was much more interesting work in many different places, and being able to see so much of the country. It was a job which gave one "itchy feet,” said Miss Williams. Both women do a great deal of walking, both in their work and in sight-seeing, and are keen photographers. As their work has taken them practically everywhere in the country,* including Queenstown, Waitomo, and Whataroa, from where they visited the glaciers, their collections of slides are becoming very comprehensive. And, though they handle countless volumes in their working hours, they both still like books, and enjoy reading in their leisure time.