7 December 1999

In this aliaNEWS broadcast...

Digital Agenda Bill Report protects library rights

First election of directors

Declaration of results of ballot for vice-president 2000

The latest news on GST

WA scoops Networking the Nation funding

Membership fees reminder

Vital Link Online, phase 2

Feedback

Digital Agenda Bill Report protects library rights
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has recommended to the Commonwealth Government that the definition of 'library' be omitted from the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill. If the recommendation is accepted by government and opposition, libraries in private organisations will not be excluded from the library and fair dealing provisions to which they are presently entitled under the Copyright Act.

This follows strong lobbying by ALIA, the Australian Digital Alliance and the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee, as well as representations from businesses and special library groups. The proposed definition would have effectively excluded business libraries, including private hospital libraries, from participating in interlibrary lending and from timely access to essential information and research.

The recommendation is subject to further consultation with affected parties and consideration of the Copyright Law Review's Committee's report on the Simplification of the Copyright Act 1968. report.

Other recommendations include:

The same right of access to digital as to print information.
The copyright owner to have first right of digitising print information, with some exceptions.
Libraries could digitise material in their collections for the purposes of delivering it electronically to a user in a remote location where postal delivery of a print copy would be unreasonably slow.

The bill will now proceed to debate in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The legislation will be reviewed in three years.

Full text of the Advisory Report [only in PDF format, 35Kb] from http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/digitalagenda/reportfront.pdf

First election of directors
As ALIA moves to incorporation under Corporations Law, nominations are now called for election to the Board of Directors. In this first election, five directors are to be elected: two are to be elected by members, one is to be elected by institutional members, and two are to be elected by the nominated divisional representatives to the National Policy Congress.

Nominations close with the executive director in ALIA National Office at 5.00 pm on 11 February 2000. The call for nominations is also published in the December issue of inCite. Further details about the election process as well as important information for potential candidates is available at http://archive.alia.org.au/governance/elections/2000/.

Declaration of results of ballot for vice-president 2000
Following declaration of the ballot for vice-president (president-elect) each year, General Council formally notes the result. This message constitutes formal notice (on behalf of the executive director) of two motions to be put to a postal ballot of General Council in relation to the ballot for vice-president (president-elect).

The ballot for the position of vice-president 2000 (president-elect) closed on Monday 15 November and was counted on Tuesday 16 November at ALIA House. Following a count of votes received on and before the due date, Alan Bundy was declared the winner, and was duly notified of his appointment to the position of vice-president 2000.

The latest news on GST
ALIA is helping the Government's GST Start-Up Assistance Office to contact all libraries with the first element of the Government's $500 million package of information to help organisations comply with the new tax regime.

WA scoops Networking the Nation funding
Regional, rural and remote Western Australians will benefit immensely from $2.365 million awarded through the latest round of Networking the Nation funding. The program also provides up to $10 000 for development assistance funding to help communities identify their communications needs if they do not have the resources within the community.

Applications for the next round of Networking the Nation funding close 8 March 2000. Applicants should visit the website at http://www.dcita.gov.au/rtif.html or contact the Networking the Nation Secretariat on freecall 1800 674 058. Media release at http://www.dcita.gov.au/cgi-bin/graphics.pl?path=4661.

Membership fees reminder
Please note that we are changing the membership year - primarily to suit the overwhelming desire of Association members, but also to ease the introduction of GST. As you should now be aware from your membership renewal forms, membership fees due at 1 January 2000 will apply through until 30 June 2000 only. In addition, subscriptions to Association journals and magazines (other than to subscription-only members) will apply for this 6-month period only. http://www.alia.org.au/membership.benefits/.

Vital Link Online, phase 2
Improving all of the time, and with more and more data being added and updated, our office-bearer's online database is about to be moved into its next phase - with the gradual roll-out of links from committee pages. ALIA National Office staff listings are now available, and many additions and corrections are being made to better reflect the various committees of the Association.

We are still keen to get feedback about the success (or otherwise) of our efforts. Use the links found on the Vital Link pages to let us know what you think, or send them to Ivan Trundle at updates@alia.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address). http://www.alia.org.au/vital.link.html.

Feedback
We have been thrilled by the response to aliaNEWS from subscribers. It is gratifying to know that we are providing a useful and timely information, and in a format that is easy to read. We now have countless supportive and constructive compliments (but are always eager for more!). As always, though, we would like to know your thoughts on what you would like to see in this broadcast, and how you would like to see it.

Send your comments to Ivan Trundle, manager, communications and publishing (please remove the '.nospam' from address).

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