Thou canst not die. Here thou art more than safe. Where every book is thy epitaph.
In memoriam, Mark D'Arney, Librarian
The New South Wales Parliamentary Library is the oldest of the several parliamentary libraries in Australia. One of the youngest librarians, Mark D’Arney, has guided many parliamentarians and parliamentary researchers through the maze called the Internet...
Catherine Cusack MLC points out in her tribute to Mark that the E-clips service, as it came to be called seemed to be reading my mind as to what I wanted to know. Nothing arrived that was not urgent or interesting or important.
That was precisely the sort of pro-active type of library service that Rob Brian, the chief Parliamentary Librarian, dreamed about the Library to develop and Mark clearly turned the dream into reality. A reality much appreciated by busy Members of Parliament.
We shall miss his cheery face, the mop of tousled black hair, the smile, the mischievous sense of humour, the support he gave to many Members in his role as a delegate on the PSA Workplace Committee, the timely E-clips, his unfailing willingness to assist, his professionalism. May he rest in peace.
DEATH OF MR MARK D'ARNEY, A FORMER MEMBER OF THE PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY STAFF
The Hon. CATHERINE CUSACK [9.46 p.m.]:
I am deeply honoured by this opportunity to reflect upon and give thanks for the contribution made to this Parliament by Mr Mark D'Arney, a highly valued member and colleague of the New South Wales Parliamentary Library. I thank the Government for its courtesy in arranging this opportunity. I feel that this is an occasion to give credit where it is due. I therefore begin by giving credit to Anita Gylseth, a member of the staff of the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, who has initiated and arranged this unusual moment in procedure. It has been a difficult thing to do and it is a credit to her feeling for Mark D'Arney and this Parliament. We are a better place to because of it. I thank the Minister and his office.
This is an all-too-rare moment for all of us as members to reflect soberly and truthfully upon the fact that each of us who stands here stands on the shoulders of others. There are many tall shoulders, but Mark D'Arney stood with the tallest. As a member of the staff of the Parliamentary Library, he and his colleagues chose what I regard, without qualification, as the noblest and most decent profession in our community. Any person who is surprised by such a statement is simply a person who has not thought about it. There are many things I could speak of tonight, but I think it is fair to say that Mark was most famous in the Parliament for three things, the first being his electorate profile research papers which date back to 1996. They were genuinely innovative in their methodology, and nationally acclaimed within his profession. I am sure I am not the only member who has a full set of Mark's papers at home and at work. Indeed, it is a well-travelled collection which has accompanied me and my family on holidays. Individual papers are frequently found on my bedside table.
Mark created the profiles by taking the raw Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] data and cobbling together available technology, such as Microsoft Excel—which was not designed for the purpose, but then nothing ever was designed for such a purpose—to generate electoral comparisons of key demographic areas in his series of library background papers. This work was undertaken with Kate Curr, who I know, together with his colleague Melinda McIntyre, has an intense sense of the loss of Mark tonight. Mark was also famous for running the Australian Football League [AFL] tipping competition. Although I was personally never brave enough to venture my own hand at the competition, I had complete empathy with his choice of code. I know that many people, including the Hon. Jennifer Gardiner, participated and looked forward to it each year. It was one of the too-few levellers in this Parliament in which members and staff across the parties and professions could engage and share a great Australian pastime. The tipping competition will be sorely missed. Its absence will be a keen reminder of Mark's absence.
Many honourable members may not be aware of what I came to realise was Mark's pseudonym—Library Eclips. As a new member, I was fascinated by this service¯an automated email that arrived at all hours of the day and night on really interesting and useful topics. Indeed, it seemed to be reading my mind as to what I wanted to know. Nothing arrived that was not urgent or interesting or important. This was not at all consistent with my experience of the Internet and so I chanced my hand one Sunday afternoon and send a reply email to Library Eclips. I received a speedy response, from Mark D'Arney. He explained the system and my profile, and asked whether he could do anything to improve the service. That was typical of Mark's commitment to service. It was that commitment, combined with his intellect, that made him a potent talent in his chosen profession.
What set Mark apart, however, was the rare ability to set his own standards of professionalism and achievement. His standards, which were set in a futuristic area of library service, were without precedent and without peer. Tragically, Mark was just 36 when he passed away. He was at the forefront of a trailblazing generation. When one thinks about it, our great library tradition is steeped in history; it is an activity in conservation in many respects. Francis Bacon said:
Libraries are as the shrines where all the relics of the ancient saints, full of true virtue, and that without delusion or imposture, are preserved and reposed.
I have also heard it eloquently said, although I regret I cannot attribute it, that When I walk into a library it is as if all history unfolds before me. Mark was a man dedicated to the great tradition of libraries, the custodians of ideas and knowledge and freedom for civilised people throughout the ages. But as a modern man he was a pioneer in his great profession, which is crossing a huge threshold from custodians of knowledge to what he called a new additional role as "online traffic cops". I refer honourable members to a paper Mark wrote in 1999 entitled A Library's Approach to Online Government Information. Fittingly, it can be found on the Internet, and it is an important paper. It shows the sympathy and understanding he had for us, his clients, who I would have speculated might have been rather difficult customers. It did not come across that way at all in the way Mark discussed us.
Mark talks about how the library can now supply access to resources that never have been and never will be physically contained in the library. Mark recognised the new frontier; he embraced it, and we are all deeply in his debt for his achievements in conquering it. I emphasise that Mark was amongst the leading figures in Australia in bridging the tradition, the future, the possible and the practical. Mark was a popular member of the New South Wales parliamentary family for nearly 10 years. Today I heard stories of how he would phone the children of library staff members and pretend to be Santa Claus; it absolutely thrilled and amazed them that Santa Claus knew so much about them individually. Mark had a wry and wonderful sense of humour. Mark was husband to Michelle and father to Valerie Pearl, who turns three in April. The thoughts of all members tonight are particularly with Mark's mother, father and sister. We feel deeply for the staff of the Parliamentary Library; they are at the core of what we do, and we do not thank them enough. Mark's passing is a painful moment, because I fear he may not have realised the extent of our appreciation and sense of loss at his passing. It was once said of a great man who loved his library, Thou canst not die. Here thou art more than safe. Where every book is thy epitaph. Vale, Mark, and thank you from all of us.
· Hon Catherine Cusack: Extract from NSW Legislative Council Hansard [Proof NSW Legislative Council Hansard Article No.46 of 16/03/2004.]
· A Library's Approach to Online Government Information
· With Friends at the Library
· See Also Global Link: Thanks to Librarians at Google
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