cats? A luxury we could well do without? An unnecessary burden on the taxpayer? These are some of the questions politicians, the man in the street, columnists and editors have asked about Government Information Services over the years.

Are such questions justified? In an interview with its Director, Mr. Gavin Shorto discusses the purpose of Government Information Services and why it keeps a lower profile than its accusers would apparently like.

*** If you take a minute to really think about it, the name `Government Information Services' is a precise description of what this department is all about.

What is apparently not understood is just how it goes about living up to its name, and the very diverse and important ways in which this is accomplished.

Located in Global House on Church Street, Government Information Services operates with 16 staff and is divided into three sections -- Creative Services, Photographic Services and Public Affairs -- each of which is charged with specific functions, though all interact with each other.

Its broad range of services is available to all Government departments and quangos, and includes everything from speech writing to designing brochures and flyers, personnel training, preparing press conferences and producing all of the photography for the Department of Tourism's advertising campaigns.

Director Mr. Gavin Shorto is as proud of the fact that his department is 100 percent Bermudian as he is of the quality of work they produce.

A closer look at each of the sections reveals an impressive and sophisticated set-up.

Creative Services, staffed by graphic designers Ms. Jackie Harbutt, Mr. Chris Marson and Miss Stephanie Comber, is described by Mr. Shorto as "an interesting group, with graphic design capability and what is called `pre-printing work'.'' In layman's terms, Creative Services might be described as "a souped up art department.'' Working in subdued lighting with modern computer technology at their fingertips, the graphic designers produce a wide range of material for Government and its quangos: booklets, newsletters, brochures, reports, maps, posters, T-shirt motifs for special promotions, Wanted posters for escaped prisoners among them.

"In order to do this kind of work we have an extremely sophisticated computer set-up,'' Mr. Shorto explained. "It is probably the most advanced of its size on the Island. It is a graphics-oriented system and we can do things on it that would amaze you.'' Thanks to the modern technology, Creative Services also saves Government many thousands of dollars a year.

Citing the latest Agricultural Exhibition prospectus as but one example, Mr.

Marson said: "This used to take three months to produce. Now it takes three weeks.'' Being able to produce computer dummies of prospective publications for discussion and then make on-going alterations at the touch of a finger eliminates endless, expensive commercial printer's proofs.

Colour separations -- a process whereby colour photographs are broken down into their constituent colours for printing -- are also done in-house rather than commercially, which also effects huge savings.

Whereas separations can cost as much as $300 an hour to produce commercially, Creative Services can do the work for $40 with its specialised equipment.

Because technology is constantly and rapidly changing, Mr. Marson noted that it is important for Creative Services to keep pace with it in order to produce attractive work in the most cost-effective manner.

This section also works very closely with local printers to ensure that their respective equipment is compatible.

"That is important because the printers have put a huge capital investment into this kind of equipment so we can use it,'' Mr. Marson said.

Photographic Services is led by manager Mr. Roland Skinner, a veteran of 38 years of Government experience in this field. His team includes chief photographer Mr. Gene Ray, photographers Mr. Neville Trott and Mr. Leslie Todd, photo laboratory technician Mrs. Michelle Dismont Fraqzzoni, and librarian Mr.

Al Seymour.

This busy department occupies much of the lower ground level of Global House, with separate rooms allocated to studio photography, colour and black and white developing and printing, and extensive colour slide libraries. The studio area is used for producing portraits of all Government officials, politicians and anyone receiving special honours and awards, as well as indoor photographs for advertising campaigns.

Again, excellent equipment ensures a consistently high-quality product. "We can handle just about anything now, for the first time that I can remember in my career,'' Mr. Skinner said proudly.

Not only does production and maintenance of the extensive slide library require a great deal of work, but duplicate sets must be maintained in the New York offices of Porter, Novelli -- Tourism's public relations consultants -- as well as that department's offices in Toronto, Atlanta and London.

Mr. Skinner is especially proud of the fact that all of Tourism's photographic requirements are now handled by his section. This not only acknowledges the talent and skill of his staff, but also saves Government the huge sums formerly involved in importing photographers and their support staff.

"We don't use non-Bermudian photographers any more,'' he said. "All the pictures are done here. It's an all-Bermudian product, so any time you see a Department of Tourism ad abroad extolling Bermuda's virtues, the photographs came from this section.

"In addition, our work is salaried, so we don't have to pay extra. If you brought in a highly-priced New York photographer, for example, you would have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars for the shoot alone. And that wouldn't include all the ancillary expenses, such as accommodation and transportation.'' Mr. Skinner explained that Photographic Services worked closely with Tourism's advertising agency, DDB Needham, to produce Bermuda's advertising campaigns.

The process began with DDB Needham sending storyboards -- detailed outlines of its proposed campaign -- for Mr. Skinner to work from.

With this, the manager, photographer and the agency's art director scouted locations -- a process so exacting that compasses are used to calculate the precise angle of the sun at the time the shoot should begin.

Once a shoot is completed, photographs are processed the same day so that the photographer and art director can quickly assess the success of their efforts before making final preparations to present a proposed campaign to Tourism officials.

Photographic Services also works closely with Government Archives, producing prints of valuable material for its records, as well as for researchers.

The Personnel Department provides specialised training in a variety of skills needed by Government employees to do their jobs effectively.

Such courses cover everything from senior management skills to "nuts and bolts '' topics such as how to deal with customers, improve writing skills, take minutes of meetings, and write Cabinet papers.

The Public Affairs section, which Mr. Shorto heads, includes assistant Director Mrs. Valerie Pethen and public affairs officers Mrs. Beverly Morfitt, Mrs. Tina Evans Caines and Mr. Mark Trott.

It is here that Government ministers and civil servants may turn for help in dealing with the Press and preparing speeches.

"Any time you see a Press conference held by Government departments or ministers, 99 times out of 100 it has been set up by Government Information Services,'' Mr. Shorto explained. "We also work with the person giving the Press conference as to what he is going to say and how he is going to say it.

"Most contacts by the Press with Government ministers and heads of department have some kind of Information Services element in them.'' Mr. Shorto denied, however, that such activity should be construed as "massaging'' the news -- glossing over the facts or putting out contrived information to make it more palatable to the public.

"We are specialists in communication,'' the Director explained. "Not every minister keeps in his head all the information we are paid to (know) here, and he might miss something.'' Information Services' advice might include which branch(es) of the media would best serve an issue (e.g. print, electronic or both); whether or not a reporter should be taken to a site; how to handle `exclusives'.

"Ours is a business of facilitating,'' Mr. Shorto stated. "We help people in Government, whether they be civil servants or politicians, to put their best foot forward.'' When it came to speech writing, the Director said the amount of service his department provided varied greatly.

"You have to understand that different individuals in Government have different styles. While one will lean very heavily on us in a particular circumstance, another will not need us to do nearly as much for them. It would be untrue to say that all Ministers want their speeches written by Information Services. When they are very busy or don't have the time we will give them a hand.'' Defending his department's contributions to public pronouncements, Mr. Shorto said: "When you decide whether you are going to be a high or low profile organisation you are faced with an essential choice. If you choose to be low profile, the public are going to assume that you do nothing or little. The dilemma is that if you choose to have a high profile, the public will begin to feel that you do too much and that the news is being manipulated in some way.

"I don't think writing people's statements for them comes under the heading of manipulation. As I said, we help people in Government to put their best foot forward.'' PART OF THE TEAM -- Government Information Services Director Mr. Gavin Shorto (centre) heads a 16-strong team of Bermudians capable of providing diversified skills and services to Government departments, ministers, civil servants and quangos. Mr. Shorto is shown here with some of his staff.