4 July 2001

In this aliaNEWS broadcast...

Membership renewals

New ALIA groups makes 70 in all

More ALIA groups proposed

Alf Gans awarded the Redmond Barry Award

Dulcie Stretton

ALIAnet services, and bandwidth

ALIA conferences in 2001

NSCF Round Tables

Seeking aliaCYBRARIANS

Vital Link is still vital

National Policy Congress 2001

Call for nominations, ALIA committees

Free Dialog training!

GST rollback on books

Feedback

Membership renewals
Christmas in July? It feels like it every morning now when the mail arrives at ALIA House, with the bags full of membership renewals. Thank you, members, for you continued support. If you have not received your renewal form, please contact the membership office on 1800 020 071 or membership@alia.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address). Personal membership renewals are due by 20 July, and institutional membership renewals by 31 July. If you are a participant in the Continuing Professional Development Scheme, please return with your membership renewal a signed copy of your CPD record for the period 1 January to 30 June 2001.
http://www.alia.org.au/membership.benefits/

New ALIA groups makes 70 in all
The following new groups have been endorsed by the ALIA Board of Directors, and details of each can be found via the website. For more information please contact the group conveners. ALIA Central West NSW, ALIA Children's and Youth Services (Qld), ALIA South Australian Library Technicians, ALIA National OPALs, ALIA Special Libraries (Vic) and ALIA TAFE (NSW). If you wish to join any of the new groups (free to ALIA members) please complete the online form at:
http://www.alia.org.au/groups.html

More ALIA groups proposed
At present, there are five further groups 'on the table' and awaiting member interest before being submitted to the Board for approval. Please contact the group proposer for more information.

Alf Gans awarded the Redmond Barry Award
The Board of Directors conferred the Redmond Barry Award on Alf Gans at its June meeting. The Board commends Alf Gans for his consistent and thoughtful contribution to the profession through the introduction of services which target sector needs, his involvement with the founding of and continuing support for the Australian Serials Special Interest Group, and his publishing activities. His record in the industry is an excellent example of co-operation between vendors and the general library community. The presentation of the Award is yet to be arranged.
http://www.alia.org.au/awards/

Dulcie Stretton
The Board of Directors notes with sadness the recent death of Dulcie Stretton. A recipient of the Association's Redmond Barry Award in 1980, Dulcie Stretton had a long and vital involvement with the Association and the sector.

ALIAnet services, and bandwidth
Following the endorsement of 70 groups, the website has grown significantly: to just over 10 000 pages. One of the major tasks that the web development team must now pursue is to migrate as much as possible into the new group structure, and to make room for a range of new initiatives. This will take time, and we ask members to bear with us in the interim. As part of the expansion program, a new server is about to be ordered and installed before the end of the year, and our bandwidth will be quadrupled too. Stay tuned, or contact Ivan Trundle if you would like more information.

The agenda has been published in the April issue of inCite and is also available online.
http://www.alia.org.au/governance/meetings/

ALIA conferences in 2001
It's building up into a busy year for conferences, with something for everyone across the sector. Here is a summary:

11th National Library Technicians Conference, 21-24 August, Hobart
9th Special Health and Law Libraries Conference, 26-29 August, Melbourne
ALIA RAISS 2001 Symposium, 12-14 October, Melbourne
2001 National TAFE Libraries Conference, 21-23 October, Brisbane
14th ALIA National Cataloguing Conference, 7-9 November, Geelong
ALIA Public Libraries Conference, 12-15 November, Melbourne

Registrations are now open for these conferences and opportunities still exist for sponsorship.
http://www.alia.org.au/conferences/2000-2001.html

NSCF Round Tables
Round Table 12, Wednesday 8 August, National Library of Australia. Grounds of Inquiry: the structures of scholarly communication in Australia. Registration fee: $110. Round Table 13, Thursday 9 August, Humanities Research Centre, ANU. Australia: a knowledge culture? Registration fee: $160; or register for both Round Tables for only $250.
http://www.alia.org.au/conferences/other.html..

Seeking aliaCYBRARIANS
As one of the many new e-lists on ALIAnet this year, aliaCYBRARIANS is for Australian cyber-librarians of all skill levels working on the internet. Its aim is to build up web and general internet skills, promote courses and events and network. Areas of interest include: portals, metadata, search engines and information design. For more information, contact list owner Dwight Walker 02 9637 1649 or 0412 405 727 or dwight@wwwalker.com.au. Check out the full ALIAnet e-lists list at:
http://www.alia.org.au/alianet/e-lists/.

Vital Link is still vital
Our online ALIA office-bearers database, Vital Link Online, is undergoing radical reworking in order to accommodate the new structure of the organisation. In addition, it is taking some time to add all of the new group representatives during what is a very busy (renewal) period for our membership staff. It is rather bare at present, but we hope to begin fleshing out the entries by mid-July, especially once ALIA Groups are underway.
http://www.alia.org.au/vital.link.html.

National Policy Congress 2001
We have now set the location and venue for the ALIA National Policy Congress 2001. We invite a representative from each ALIA Group to attend (travel costs will be paid for by the Association - and drawn from the NPC budget, not from group budgets). Mark in your diaries 7-8 December 2001, at the Rydges Lakeside in Canberra. Detailed information will be available on ALIAnet within the next few weeks.

Call for nominations, ALIA committees
The Board of Directors is seeking nominations for the following committees:

ALIA online content and regulation reference group - up to four positions for terms of up to two years. Derek Whitehead is the convener.
ALIA publishing and editorial reference group - up to five positions for terms of up to two years.
ALIA By-laws advisory group - up to three positions for terms of up to two years.
ALIA/ASLA joint policy advisory group - up to three positions for terms of up to two years to be appointed by ALIA.
ALIA/ASLA joint issues taskforce - up to three positions for one year to be appointed by ALIA. Membership will include at least one member from the ALIA/ASLA joint policy advisory group to ensure co-ordination between the two bodies.

Terms of reference and other pertinent information can be found at http://www.alia.org.au/governance/committees/ [follow the links into each committee web page]. Please send your CV and no more than 100 words on how you can contribute to the group's or taskforce's brief to the executive director [jennefer.nicholson@alia.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address), or fax 02 6282 2249]. Nominations close 26 July 2001. Appointments will be decided at the Board of Directors meeting on 10 August 2001. The by-law governing committees is at http://www.alia.org.au/governance/by-laws/8.html.

Free Dialog training!
Dialog is offering free registration for ALIA members who are also Dialog customers for the 2001 courses, 'Introduction to Dialog' and 'Dialog, Beyond the Basics', to be held in every state capital at least twice over the next six months. Registration is on a 'first-come, first-served' basis, and proof of ALIA membership is required. A cancellation fee of $435 applies for those who have booked but do not turn up. Contact kc_australia@dialog.com.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address) for course dates and a booking form.

GST rollback on books
A once-only opportunity exists now - in the lead-up to the next federal election - to gain a commitment from one or more of the key political parties for the removal of GST from books. The Australian Booksellers Association is seeking support to undertake a 'grass-roots' campaign to gain public support for this campaign. The ABA will supply postcards (to be signed by library users) and supporting materials to participants urging the federal parliament to remove GST from books. If your library wishes to participate, please contact enquiry@@alia.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address) with an approximation of how many postcards you would like, so that we can arrange for the ABA to order and deliver materials to you directly after the closing date of 16 July.

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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