23 October 2003

In this aliaNEWS broadcast:

Senate Inquiry into the Role of Libraries in the Online Environment

Library and Information Week 2004

NSCF Round Table Workshop 31 October 2003

RSS newsfeed for ALIAnet

CIPS: the ALIA co-operative information purchasing service

CPD - good or bad?

ALIA submission to Digital Agenda Review

Australian Interlibrary Resource Sharing Code

Call for nominations

Retiree tax concessions

Reminder of ALIA National Office change of address

Feedback

Senate Inquiry into the Role of Libraries in the Online Environment
The Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Committee tabled their report on libraries in the online environment (in PDF format) on 16 October. Over 150 submissions were made from across the LIS sector, including a submission made by ALIA in August 2002. Committee transcripts of the public hearings are also available. The report's conclusions and recommendations will be summarised in the next aliaPUBNEWS e-list broadcast due next week.
http://alia.org.au/advocacy/inquiries/detail.php?ID=19

Library and Information Week 2004
Get ready for next year with the news that LIW2004 will be held in the last week in May, from Monday 24 May to Sunday 30 May 2004. More information on activities and themes to come soon.
http://alia.org.au/advocacy/alw/

NSCF Round Table Workshop 31 October 2003
The National Scholarly Communications Forum invites us to take up the broadband challenge and attend Strictly Broadband, a roundtable workshop to be held in Melbourne on the opportunities presented by broadband communication networks for scholars in the humanities, social sciences and creative arts. Strictly Broadband will showcase broadband technology and its relevance to teaching and research practice. A registration fee of $120.00, which includes all catering, will secure your place at the Round Table. Places are strictly limited and the deadline for registrations is 25 October 2003.
http://www.humanities.org.au/nscf/strictbband/broadband.htm

RSS newsfeed for ALIAnet
RSS is an XML-document format intended to describe, summarise, and distribute the contents of a website as a 'channel' - or multiple channels - and all made available for access via an RSS reader. The first Library Association to offer this service, ALIAnet now delivers the latest information direct from our website, in aggregated form. Check the most recent additions to the home page, what's new, vacancies, inquiry watch, media releases, and now, aliaNEWS too!
http://alia.org.au/rss/

CIPS: the ALIA co-operative information purchasing service
ALIA CIPS, a new value-added service for institutional members, provides enhanced and cost-effective access to electronic information resources through establishing co-operative buying groups among its members and negotiating pricing and licensing for these co-operative groups. Co-operative purchasing offers now available for ALIA CIPS members include: From RMIT Publishing: Australian Medical Index database. From Thomson Gale: Gale Virtual Reference Library with over 85 eBooks available from 30 October 2003. More offers are under negotiation. ALIA CIPS is provided in partnership with ALDIS Associated Pty Ltd.
http://alia.org.au/members-only/cips.html

CPD - good or bad?
Barrie Brennan, an honorary fellow at University of New England, is undertaking a research project into 'bad' experiences with CPD activities and welcomes input from ALIA members. When has a CPD activity 'not delivered the goods' because of poor presenters or notes or technology that did not work? When has the environment or the lack of time to socialise with other participants prevented you from making more from an activity? The reasons are probably as numerous as the people concerned. Let Barrie know at bbrennan@pobox.une.edu.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address). For those who are yet to discover the ALIA CPD tracking service for members, follow this link:
http://alia.org.au/members-only/education/cpd/tracking/

ALIA submission to Digital Agenda Review
ALIA supports the retention of the s.18 definition of the Copyright Act which applies the library copying provisions to all non-profit libraries. Contracts which exclude or modify copyright exceptions should not be enforceable. As a member of the Australian Libraries' Copyright Committee, ALIA supports all of the points made in the ALCC submission. Our response to the Review complements the ALCC submission. Read the entire submission through our Advocacy pages.
http://alia.org.au/advocacy/submissions/digital.agenda.review.html

Australian Interlibrary Resource Sharing Code
ALIA is seeking your feedback on changes to the prices recommended in the Australian Interlibrary Resource Sharing Code. Comment by all libraries, members and groups should be sent to susan.magnay@alia.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address) by 30 October. It is proposed to commence the new charges on 1 January 2004. The changes are relatively minor and are based on today's direct costs. They will make the recommended prices in the ILRS Code simpler to interpret. The changes are endorsed by the National Resource Sharing Working Group. The recommended prices in the ILRS Code were last changed in 1999.
http://alia.org.au/interlibrary.lending/ilrsc.changes.html

Call for nominations
Nominations are called for ALIA vice-president (president-elect) and three positions on the ALIA Board of Directors as incorporated under Corporations Law. Nominees should be personal members of the Association and will represent the interests of the organisation as a whole rather than those of a particular constituency. The elected vice-president and directors will assume office immediately following the 2004 Annual General Meeting. Nomination forms are available from ALIA National Office, or via ALIAnet. Nominations close at 5:00pm AEDT 2 February 2004. Nomination forms and information will be available in the next few weeks.
http://alia.org.au/governance/elections/2004/

Retiree tax concessions
From the Australian retirees taxpack 2003: 'You can claim up to $42 per annum in respect of each subscription that you make for membership of a trade, business or professional association that is not directly related to the earning of your assessable income.' And both retirees and other taxpayers can claim as a deduction the full payment if it is directly related to the earning of assessable income.

Reminder of ALIA National Office change of address
ALIA National Office's postal address is now PO Box 6335 Kingston 2604 (and is no longer PO Box E441, although mail will continue to reach us at this address). Note also that ALIA National Office's main phone number is 02 6215 8222. The members-only Freecall number is still 1800 020 071 and the fax number is still 02 6282 2249. All office staff now have direct-call phone numbers.
http://alia.org.au/vital.link.html

Feedback
The response to aliaNEWS is still very positive, more so now that we offer it in a multitude of formats (e-mail, html, xml, rss). 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.
http://alia.org.au/alianet/e-lists/alianews/

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