BIO

Dr. Alex Pannicottu Oommen is currently working as a Librarian / eResource Coordinator at Health Careers International Pty. Ltd., Australia. He previously served as a Librarian at ECU / Victorian Institute of Technology and has also contributed as a Cultural Heritage Volunteer, specialising in heritage collection digitisation.

Before relocating to Australia, Dr. Oommen worked for over 14 years as a Librarian at Saintgits Group of Institutions, India, and served as a Guest Lecturer in the Department of Studies in Christianity at the University of Mysore. He is an Associate Member of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA – Membership No. 69944).

Dr. Oommen is an ordained Priest of the Syrian Jacobite Christian Church, India. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master of Philosophy (MPhil), and Master’s degree in Christian Studies from the University of Mysore, along with a Bachelor of Theology from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Dehradun, India. He also completed a Bachelor of Library and Information Management from Box Hill Institute, Australia, as a gap-filling qualification. Additionally, he holds postgraduate and undergraduate degrees in Library and Information Science, obtained in India, both of which have been assessed by OQU as comparable to Australian Master’s and Bachelor’s degree levels.

Professionally, Dr. Oommen has extensive experience in library operations, customer service, inquiry desk support, and guiding users in literature searches using databases, print resources, and internet tools. His expertise includes collection development, book selection, acquisition, cataloguing, classification (AACR2 & DDC), data entry, and library database creation. He has successfully reorganised library collections and implemented searchable library systems.

Dr. Oommen is proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Macromedia Fireworks, and library management systems including Ex Libris Alma & Primo, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, SOUL, KOHA, and eHive. He is known for his excellent communication abilities, strong analytical thinking, and assessment skills.