September 2006

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

Policy and advocacy
National Simultaneous Storytime 2006: what a great day!; Copyright Amendment Bill 2006; Collections Council regional hubs project; Libraries and baby boomers; Cultural funding by government

News from ALIA
Information Online 2007; NLS2006 update; Alice Springs Public Library wins ‘Library stars’ award; LIS workforce research project

States and territories
Web accessibility workshops; East Gippsland (Vic) wins 2006 Pierre Gorman award; Environmentally friendly library for Surry Hills; NetAlert partnership in South Australia; Public Libraries SA at the Royal Adelaide Show

International
IFLA guidelines on information literacy; Mobile library conference in New Zealand; New reports from Museum, Libraries and Archives Council; Public libraries and internet access in the US

Policy and advocacy

National Simultaneous Storytime 2006: what a great day!
Your feedback will make National Simultaneous Storytime even better in 2007. If your library participated in NSS 2006 would you please fill out the feedback form, now linked from the NSS site. Suggest a book for 2007!
http://alia.org.au/advocacy/storytime/2006/feedback.form.html

Copyright Amendment Bill 2006
The federal Attorney-General has announced that the Copyright Amendment Bill 2006 will be introduced into the Parliament in October 2006. The Bill will contain amendments to implement the outcome of various reviews including the ‘Fair Use and Other Copyright Exceptions Review’, the review of the 2001 Digital Agenda reforms, the subscription broadcast review and the harmonisation of criminal law provisions with the Criminal Code Act 1995 and Australian Government criminal law policy. It will contain amendments to implement Australia’s remaining obligations under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement in relation to technological protection measures (TPMs). Exposure drafts of various parts of the Bill have been released to enable more time for interested persons to consider the proposed amendments. Following its introduction in Parliament, the Bill will be referred to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs for consideration. ALIA is monitoring the progress of the Bill and will contribute to submissions by the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee.
http://www.ag.gov.au

Collections Council regional hubs project
The Collections Council of Australia is currently conducting consultations around Australia on a proposed system to support Australia's regional cultural collections. The regional hubs project proposes a network of Regional Collections Advisers to co-ordinate targeted support for archival, gallery, library and museum collections. The Collections Council has released an overview of the project and a discussion paper and invites people working with cultural collections to engage in the discussion about possible future directions.
http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au

Libraries and baby boomers
A pilot project has investigated the likely impact of the retirement of baby boomers on the public library. This large group of the population is better educated, more technolgically literate and generally wealthier that any previous generation. A key finding of the project was the differences in the perspectives of those who believe they will be finanically comfortable in the future and those who thought that they would have minimal resources. [Williamson, Kirty and others, 'When I'm 64: the public library after the retirement of the baby boomers' Research Applications in Information and Library Studies Seminar (RAILS 2), Canberra, 16-17 September 2005. Charles Sturt University, Centre for Information Management]
http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/sciagr/sis/CIS/epubs/RAILS2.htm

Cultural funding by government
More than $5 billion was spent by the public sector in Australia on cultural activities in 2004-05, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics report on cultural funding by government. Governments in Australia gave the largest proportion of their total cultural funding to broadcasting and film ($1.2 billion) in 2004-05, followed by nature parks and reserves ($1.0 billion), libraries and archives ($515 million) and other museums ($483 million). The federal government outlaid $1.8 billion for cultural activities, an increase of 4 per cent from 2003-04. [Australian Bureau of Statistics. Cultural Funding by Government, Australia, 2004-05. Cat. No. 4183.0, August 2006.]
http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/4183.0?OpenDocument

News from ALIA

Information Online 2007
The Information Online 2007 registration brochure will be ready shortly, but in the meantime, registration details are available at the link below. Early Bird registrations close on 17 November 2006.
http://www.information-online.com.au/index.php?pagename=Registration Info

NLS2006 update
Early Bird registration for the New Librarians' Symposium [Sydney, 1-2 December 2006] closes soon, on 6 October. The full program for NLS is now available.
http://conferences.alia.org.au/newlibrarian2006/news.php#sep7

Alice Springs Public Library wins ‘Library stars’ award
Alice Springs Public Library was voted the delegates’ choice at the ‘Library stars: best of the best’ forum in Perth on 19 September, for its indigenous local knowledge program, Akaltye Antheme. 'Library stars' was showcase for outstanding and innovative programs in the public library sector. From 39 high quality nominations from all States and Territories just seven were selected for the ‘Library stars' forum. An inspiring and challenging keynote address was delivered by Rolf Hapel from Aarhus Public Libraries in Denmark. The forum presentations will soon be available on the ALIA website and we are also planning further 'Library stars' events to showcase and celebrate the achievements of Australia's public libraries.
http://alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/stars.html

LIS workforce research project
You can contribute to this important research project by taking part in the NeXus Census. The Census will develop a demographic, educational and employment picture of today's LIS workforce in Australia. To access the NeXus Census Survey and to find out more about this collaborative ALIA, QUT, CAVAL research project being undertaken by past ALIA president, Gill Hallam visit:
http://alia.org.au/employment/workforce/

States and territories

Web accessibility workshops
Vision Australia is running a web and online accessiblity workshop in Canberra on 14 November 2006. This one-day workshop will provide an overview of accessibility issues and how to address them. It will explore the issues confronting users with particular needs, including people with disabilities and older people. Workshop paerticipants will be able to see and hear how different sites appear to people using assistive technology. Vision Australia offers these workshop around Australia. For more informatoin on the Canberra workshop and the program of future workshops see:
http://www.visionaustralia.org.au

East Gippsland (Vic) wins 2006 Pierre Gorman award
The East Gippsland Shire Library Service has won the Pierre Gorman award for its use of Boardmaker software to produce communication boards and signs using various pictures and symbols. The Pierre Gorman award, valued at $15,000 is presented every two years by the Library Board of Victoria to a public library for the improvement of services to people with disabilities. East Gippsland Shire Library Service will use the award to make the Boardmaker software available to the public in the Shire. It will also provide training and support for the use of the software.
http://www.egipps.vic.gov.au/page/page.asp?page_Id=851&h=0

Environmentally friendly library for Surry Hills
Construction of Sydney's most environmentally friendly community centre, incorporating a library and childcare centre, will commence in November 2006. Environmental initiatives in the building will include an internal bio-filtration atrium where specially selected plants will filter the air, a green roof to help cool the building in summer and keep it warm in the winter, photovoltaic solar cells for power, rainwater tanks and use of recycled materials. The library will span two levels and will feature an expanded collection and dedicated children's and local studies areas.
http://www.sydneymedia.com.au/html/custom/2258-all-releases.asp

NetAlert partnership in South Australia
State Library of South Australia Public Library Services have entered into a partnership with NetAlert to offer programs to the public libraries of South Australia. NetAlert will offer its expertise relating to public access internet services, especial relating to the issues of public education and children's use of the internet. [State Library Public Library Services, 'Connect', September 2006, p.2]
http://www.plain.sa.gov.au/pcs_newsletter.htm

Public Libraries SA at the Royal Adelaide Show
Public Libraries SA's stand at the 2006 Royal Adelaide Show had the theme 'Read @ your library'. As well as featuring The Big Book Club, the Little Big Book Club and the Premier's Reading Challenge, storytelling was conducted at the stand, including a National Simultaneous Storytime session on 1 September. [State Library Public Library Services 'Connect', September 2006, p.5]
http://www.plain.sa.gov.au/pcs_newsletter.htm

International

IFLA guidelines on information literacy
The IFLA Section on Information Literacy has released Guidelines on Information Literacy for Lifelong Learning. The guidelines aim to provide a framework for starting an information literacy program. They will aid information professionals engaged in educational programs in schools and higher education institutions, but the concepts, principles and procedures can be readily adapted to any library setting.
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s42/index.htm

Mobile library conference in New Zealand
The NZ Mobile Library Conference will be held in Taupo, New Zealand on 27-29 January 2007. The conference will be an opportunity for those involved in outreach and mobile library services to come together and network with others from around New Zealand and overseas. The conference has a line up of speakers from Australia, USA and the UK as well as New Zealand. The knowledge and expertise gained about mobile library and outreach services and developing trends, will assist in improving current operations in line with leading edge technology. Early bird registration closes on 27 October 2006.
http://www.shorelibraries.govt.nz/MobileConference2007.php

New reports from Museum, Libraries and Archives Council
Three new reports from England's Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) relate to public library issues and services: * 'Public Libraries in the knowledge economy' was commissioned by MLA from The Local Futures Group. The report finds that public libraries play a central part in communities' economic viability by providing services to local businesses and by providing learning programs in areas such as ICT. * The Libary Buildings Survey found that 70 per cent of England's public library buildings are fit for purpose and meet health and safety standards. It estimates that it will the cost 760 million pounds to bring the remining 30 per cent of library buildings up to standard. * 'Review and evaluation of WiFi in public libraries' found that 23 per cent of England's public libraries are offering some form of WiFi (wireless technology) services, with 42 per cent of libraries planning to offer WiFi in the next financial year.
http://www.mla.gov.uk

Public libraries and internet access in the US
Since 1994, there have been eight studies tracking the level of involvement, key issues, trends and other aspects of public library internet use in the United States. The report of the 2006 survey is now available. Key finding include that public libraries continue to provide important public access computing and internet access in their communities, with 98.9 per cent of public library branches connected to the internet. Bandwidth continues to increase, with 63.3 per cent of public library branches having connection speeds of greater than 769kbps in 2006, compared to 47.4 per cent in 2004. However, nearly half of libraries have experienced reductions in funding. At the same time, demand for libraries to supply public access computing is increasing, for example to support federal, state and local e-government services. The 2006 study also includes case studies which explore successfully networked public libraries - libraries that provide high quality traditional library services as well as networked services.
http://www.ii.fsu.edu/plinternet_reports.cfm

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