March 2006

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

Linking people with ideas @ Your Library; Library and Information Week 2006; New research award focuses on disability services; ILL benchmarking survey; Disruption to North Queensland library services; 2006 Community Heritage Grants; ALIA Biennial Conference - call for virtual papers; Directory of Australian Public Libraries new edition; National licensing proposal draft governance framework; Love Libraries campaign; SA memorandum of agreement renewed until 2011; Victorian disability services award; Labor enters the internet filtering debate; WebJunction online community; Library stars forum, 19 September 2006; RAILS 3 - call for papers; ALIA Biennial conference - pictures wanted

Linking people with ideas @ Your Library
ALIA will join the @ Your Library campaign and will begin using it during Australian Library and Information Week 2006, accompanying the theme 'Linking people with ideas'. The 'Linking' theme is derived from ALIA's Core Values Statement: 'We guide, inform and educate the seeker in defining and refining the search, and foster intellectual freedom and all forms of communication.'
http://alia.org.au/advocacy/atyourlibrary/

Library and Information Week 2006
The 2006 Library and Information Week page will be up on the ALIA website in the first week of April. Drop in to see the merchandise, the theme and the activities. Are you conducting an event for Library and Information Week or National Library Technicians Day? Don't forget to submit your event for inclusion in our LIW 2006 Calendar. Watch out for the special issue of 'aliaPUBNEWS' in early April announcing more details of this year's LIW.
http://alia.org.au/liw

New research award focuses on disability services
The ALIA Board has instituted the Twila Ann Janssen Herr Award for Disability Services, to be offered for the first time in 2006 and biennially thereafter. This award has been made possible by a generous donation to the ALIA Research Fund from Twila Herr. The award aims to provide an early career LIS practitioner with the opportunity to research or undertake a project in the area of library and information services for people with a disability. The award honours Twila Herr FALIA, retired Tasmanian librarian and library educator and a much respected member of the Australian library and information services community. Applications for this new award close 1 June 2006. For more information contact Marie Murphy, marie.murphy@alia.org.au.nospam .
http://alia.org.au/awards/herr.disability/

ILL benchmarking survey
The ILL benchmarking study of 2000/2001 was the largest and most comprehensive study into ILL/DD operations in Australia ever undertaken. It is now five years since that study and it is therefore timely to review the impact of the benchmarking study and to consider the next assessment of ILL operations and costs. To assist in this review libraries from all sectors are being asked to complete an online survey. The results of the survey will be prepared for a paper for the 2006 Resource Sharing Forum and posted on the web. For more information please contact Roxanne Missingham [02 6277 7102, Roxanne.Missingham@aph.gov.au.nospam] or Margarita Moreno [02 6262 1229, mmoreno@nla.gov.au.nospam]. The survey closes on 7 April 2006.
http://www.nla.gov.au/dss/illsurvey.html

Disruption to North Queensland library services
The State Library of Queensland has provided this report on the impact of Cyclone Larry on library services in North Queensland. Cyclone Larry’s recent devastation of North Queensland communities has impacted on the continuity of library services in this region. The State Library is working to establish contact with those public libraries affected by the cyclone to determine what assistance can be provided during this difficult period. The Queensland Government is endeavouring to restore essential services as the first priority in a process to bring some normality back to the affected communities. More details about the full impact on public libraries by this natural disaster and the efforts to restore normal library services will become evident over coming weeks. Interstate councils seeking to assist should contact the Local Government Association of Queensland which is co-ordinating the local government response.

2006 Community Heritage Grants
Community Heritage Grants of up to $10 000 are provided to community groups throughout Australia to preserve nationally significant cultural heritage collections. Applications for the 2006 round of grants open on 10 March and close on 9 June 2006.
www.nla.gov.au/chg/

ALIA Biennial Conference - call for virtual papers
The ALIA Biennial Conference Organising Committee invites colleagues to submit a virtual conference paper for the 2006 CLICK 06 conference. This will be the first time the ALIA Biennial Conference has hosted a virtual conference facility. This innovation creates opportunities for global contributions to the conference. Virtual conference papers will be published on the Conference website. Abstracts for virtual conference papers (250 words) will be peer reviewed for academic accreditation. Papers will also receive an ISBN. For more information contact Barbara Combes [b.combes@ecu.edu.au.nospam]. The deadline for submissions is 15 March 2006. To submit an abstract for consideration:
http://conferences.alia.org.au/alia2006/index.html

Directory of Australian Public Libraries new edition
The 2006 seventh edition of the Directory of Australian Public Libraries(DAPL7) is now available. The world's most comprehensive record of a country's public libraries, DAPL is a 230 page mine of information and comparative data on public library resources, new buildings, services, hours, operations, usage, technology, staffing, special features etc...and also some interesting trivia. Which Western Australian library, for example, is the only known ramned earth library in the world? DAPL7 has full location and subject indexes and is $60 plus GST and postage, total $74.80. From Auslib Press [PO Box 622, Blackwood SA 5051, fax 08 8278 4000, info@auslib.com.au.nospam].

National licensing proposal draft governance framework
The National Licensing Proposal (NLP) Reference Group has released a first draft of a governance framework for the proposed consortia for Australia-wide access to full-text services. The Reference Group is seeking comments and suggestions from the sector - please send them through to nlp@nla.gov.au.nospam, or directly to the NLP-L list for all to read.
http://www.nla.gov.au/nlp/Governanceframework.html

Love Libraries campaign
A campaign to transform three English public libraries over the next twelve weeks was launched on 22 March 2006. The Love Libraries campaign aims to explore a new vision of a 21st century reading service by transforming the three libraries into models of a future library service with reading at its heart. The project will involve remodelling the interiors of the library buildings, reviewing opening hours and bookstocks, using technology to make the borrowing experience more personal and convenient, and high profile events to promote reading. The Love Libraries website will track the progress of the transformations. Love Libraries has been created by The Future Libraries Partnership, an alliance of government agencies, the Society of Chief Librarians, publishers and The Reading Agency.
http://www.lovelibraries.co.uk

SA memorandum of agreement renewed until 2011
The South Austrlaian government has renewed a commitment to a five-year funding agreement for public libraries, which will see state funding of $15 million increased by the consumer price index between 2006 and 2011. The government has also agreed to discuss the ageing of the public library book stock and to convene annual discussions between state and local government regarding the role of libraries and key objectives of the SA strategic plan. ['Connect', Public Library Services, State Library of SA, March 2006]
http://www.plain.sa.gov.au

Victorian disability services award
The Pierre Gorman Award is granted bienially by the Library Board of Victoria. It aims to support public library-based initiatives in Victoria which improve access to or delivery of library and information services for people with a disability. Applications must be submitted by close of business on 5 May 2006. For more information please contact Tania Braukamper [taniab@vicnet.net.au.nospam]
http://libraries.vic.gov.au/

Labor enters the internet filtering debate
On 21 March, Kim Beazley, Leader of the Opposition, said that under Labor, all Internet Service Providers would be required to offer a filtered 'clean feed' internet service to all households, and to schools and other public internet points accessible by children. The government has countered that such an approach would result in slowing down the internet for everyone, without effectively protecting children from inappropriate and offensive content. According to research commissioned by NetAlert, the government's internet safety organisation, server-base filtering has been found to have a major adverse impact on network performance. NetAlert's report has not yet been released, but links to it will be added to the ALIA website once the report is available. The Internet Industry Association has also strongly criticised the ALP proposal. For NetAlert's media release see:
http://www.netalert.net.au

WebJunction online community
WebJunction is the online community for public library staff in North America, identifying and embracing appropriate technologies and applying them in libraries. The Learning Center offers online courses. The Community Center offers a range of member services and opportinities to share and contribute. WebJunction has also developed content around major themes and policy issues for libraries ranging from digitisation projects to how libraries demonstrate their value in their communities.
http://www.webjunction.org

Library stars forum, 19 September 2006
The ALIA Public Libraries Reference Group (PLRG) has completed the tough job of working through the many outstanding nominations for presentations at the 'Library stars' forum, to be held in Perth on 19 September 2006, and seven library services are now being approached to give presentations. The PLRG thanks eveyone who submitted a nomination. The nominations provide great evidence of the innovation that is occuring across the Australian public library network. The draft program for 'Library stars' will be available in mid-April - more details in the April issue of 'aliaPUBNEWS'.
http://alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/stars.html

RAILS 3 - call for papers
RAILS 3: Research Applications in Library and Information Studies, Friday 22 September 2006, and New Researcher Consortium Saturday 23 September 2006. Perth, organised by Information Studies, Curtin University with support from the State Library of WA, in conjunction with the ALIA CLICK 06 conference. If you are carrying out research into any aspect of LIS and can link it to practice, you are invited to submit your paper proposal by 15 April 2006. Papers covering research in the broad area of LIS or in a more specialised component of the field are welcomed. The paper proposals will be peer-reviewed and all papers accepted will be refereed. For more information contact Dr Kerry Smith, Convenor, RAILS 3, Information Studies, Faculty of Media, Society & Culture Curtin University of Technology [K.Smith@curtin.edu.au, tel: 08 9266 7217]

ALIA Biennial conference - pictures wanted
The 2006 ALIA Biennial conference is seeking to celebrate Australian libraries in pictures. ALIA 2006 needs pictures that celebrate what libraries mean to the people that use them; pictures that are bold and show the diversity of the library industry. This is a chance to have your library, its services or innovations showcased at the ALIA 2006 conference in Perth. The selected pictures will be on display at the Perth Convention Centre and will be used for other purposes throughout the conference. The library owner of the picture will be acknowledged wherever possible. For more information and details of the requirements to submit pictures please contact Michelle Brennand [tel:08 9383 8998, mbrennand@cambridge.wa.gov.au.nospam]. Pictures will be accepted until 1 May 2006.

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