June 2007

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

International
State of American Libraries Report; Libraries that Matter; Dial-a-Story

States and territories
Mobile Muster 20-22 July 2007; Local Government Cultural Awards

At the Movies
The Hollywood Librarian

National
Internet Copyright; National Library to digitise newspapers; Electronic Resources Australia (ERA)

Policy and advocacy
Women in Local Government; Online Filtering

Conference report
Auslib Conference 2008; Community Buildings; Public Libraries Australia Biennial Conference

News from ALIA
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID); ALIA's 2007 Internet Filtering Survey Report

Message from the Editor

International

State of American Libraries Report
The American Library Association (ALA) releases a ‘State of American Libraries’ report April 16, 2007. Ten years after some experts predicted the demise of the nation's system of libraries as a result of the Internet explosion, the most current national data on library use shows that the exact opposite has happened. Data released today by the American Library Association (ALA) indicates that the number of visits to public libraries in the United States increased 61 percent between 1994 and 2004. A full copy of the 2007 State of America's Libraries is available at www.ala.org/2007State
www.ala.org/2007State

Libraries that Matter
Libraries That Matter - Want to turn your library into a great community destination? Reaching beyond the buzz of high design, libraries are redefining themselves, as community centres for the 21st Century Libraries are perhaps our most enduring public institutions--priceless repositories of history, language, and culture. The dawn of the "information superhighway" threatened to make them less relevant, even obsolete. Yet now, these institutions are as prominent as ever, with a wave of innovation as the next generation of libraries extend their mission well beyond the storage of knowledge.
http://www.pps.org/info/newsletter/april2007/libraries_that_matter

Dial-a-Story
Now here’s an interesting idea! ‘Library dials up stories’ Finding a children's story is as easy as dialling a telephone. The Campbell County Public Library has added a phone line featuring pre-recorded "Touch Tone Tales" that operates 24 hours a day. "It's like having a librarian on call 24 hours a day to tell a story,"
http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070523/LIFE/705

States and territories

Mobile Muster 20-22 July 2007
Mobile Muster at Bermagui NSW on the 20-22 July 2007 Details and registration forms are available on the mobile library website at:http://www.mobilelibraries.com.au/Conf2007.htm Earlybird registration closes 30th May 2007 Don’t forget to get your nomination in for the Mobile Library Operator of the Year. Forms available at: http://www.mobilelibraries.com.au/Conf07NSW/NextMong.htm
http://www.mobilelibraries.com.au/Conf2007.htm

Local Government Cultural Awards
The Local Government Cultural Awards winners were announced at the beginning of May 2007. In the Library and Information Services category the winners were Division A Broken Hill (Historian in Residence) and runner up Oberon (Oberon Readeo) Division B Griffith (Sensational Seniors) Division C Shoroc (On a Shoestring) Full list of winners at http://www.lgsa.org.au/resources/documents/cultural-award-winners-2007_040507.pdf
http://www.lgsa.org.au/resources/documents/cultural-award-winners-2007_0405

At the Movies

The Hollywood Librarian
World Premiere of "The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians Through Film" Friday, June 22, 2007 at the ALA 2007 Annual Conference in Washington The Hollywood Librarian is the first full-length film to focus on the work and lives of librarians in the entertaining and appealing context of American movies. American film contains hundreds of examples of librarians and libraries on screen -- some positive, some negative, some laughable and some dead wrong. Dozens of interviews of real librarians will be interwoven with movie clips of cinematic librarians and serve as transitions between the themes of censorship, intellectual freedom, children and librarians, pay equity and funding issues, and the value of reading. Join us for the premiere of this film! Click here to view the film's trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8kd4fC1bwo

National

Internet Copyright
On 26 April 2007, the Australian Government announced that it was acceding to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet Copyright Treaties ¬ the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty. The government has previously announced on a number of occasions that it intended to accede, and accession is required by the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement and by the Australia-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. Once the accession is accepted by WIPO, and gazetted by the Australian Government, the provisions relating to performers 9 moral rights in the US Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act 2004 will come into operation. These provisions are currently set out in Note 2 at the end of the current printed and online versions of the Copyright Act 1968. We understand that they will come into effect some time in July.
http://www.copyright.org.au/u27462

National Library to digitise newspapers
The National Library of Australia, in collaboration with each Australian state and territory library, has embarked on a plan to digitise out of copyright newspapers. The aim is to build a service that will provide free online access from the first Australian newspaper published in 1803 through to 1954 newspapers.
www.nla.gov.au

Electronic Resources Australia (ERA)
A new era dawns for electronic resources in Australia Australians everywhere will benefit from a new library consortium called Electronic Resources Australia (ERA). The recently formed consortium offers libraries an opportunity to provide free public access to quality online information in the areas of health, general reference, news and business. The true value of the consortium will be realised with widespread Australian library participation. The NLA is interested in promoting ERA as widely as possible to Australian libraries so that they can consider the subscription offers put by participating vendors for the panel of nine electronic resources (http://era.nla.gov.au/product_list/ <http://era.nla.gov.au/product_list/> ) by 31 July 2007. Australian libraries that are interested in ERA subscriptions are most welcome to join the National Library's ERAlibraries-L list and register their interest in specific products via the ERA Product Poll <http://era.nla.gov.au/product_list/productpolls.html> To join the ERAlibraries-L list: 1. Go to: http://listserver.nla.gov.au/wws/subrequest/eralibraries-l 2. Enter your email address 3. Click submit to subscribe!
http://era.nla.gov.au/

Policy and advocacy

Women in Local Government
The Way Forward for women The National Framework for Women in Local Government review The Way Forward - has been presented to the Minister for Education, Science and Training and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues, Julie Bishop by the National President of the Australian Local Government Women's Association, Kaele Way. The Review of the 2001 National Framework for Women in Local Government was undertaken by the Australian Local Government Women's Association (ALGWA) to identify issues affecting the low participation rate of women in Local Government both in the elected and employed areas. The framework will be available on the national website at www.algwa.net.au
www.algwa.net.au

Online Filtering
ALIA and PLA representatives met with a Senior IT Advisor to Minister Helen Coonan, and representatives from DCITA on Thursday 24 May 2007, regarding the proposed free web filter for Australian families and public libraries. ALIA and PLA maintained and reiterated on behalf of public libraries their continued opposition to filtering. The strong record of public library cooperation to achieve and maintain high levels of protection for children using public libraries was also restated. It was noted that the web-filtering product would not be compulsory. For more information on this matter please contact ALIA. See also: Senator Coonan Media Release: http://www.minister.dcita.gov.au/media/media_releases/protecting_our_children_online_-_a_responsibility_for_every_australian Senator Coonan’s Speech to the Cyberspace Symposium Thursday 17 May 2007: http://www.minister.dcita.gov.au/media/speeches/speech_to_the_cyberspace_symposium
http://alia.org.au/advocacy/internet.access/

Conference report

Auslib Conference 2008
Reading Critical - Auslib Conference 2008 Call for Papers Reading critical: developing readers in Australia and New Zealand When: Friday 11 April - Saturday 12 April 2008 Where State Library of Victoria conference centre, Melbourne This third annual Auslib conference will be of special interest to public librarians, publishers, booksellers and literary groups.
http://www.auslib.com.au/Call for papers 2008.pdf

Community Buildings
Community building: Critical voices, Alternative Strategies Call for Participation National Symposium: Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre, Melbourne Tuesday 19 June 2007 Program is available from http://www.civilsociety.org.au/CommunityBuildingProgram.htm This conference aims to gather community leaders, activists, researchers, policy makers, social entrepreneurs and workers in community agencies who are interested in authentic community building, critiques of government sponsored community building programs and models, and alternative community building strategies which have a stronger emphasis on empowerment, devolution, subsidiarity and self-determination. Abstracts of papers and workshops should be forwarded by email or hard copy and not exceed 300 words to: Vern Hughes Symposium Convenor vern@civilsociety.org.au PO Box 159 Yarraville Vic 3013 Tel: 0425 722 890
http://www.civilsociety.org.au/CommunityBuildingProgram.htm

Public Libraries Australia Biennial Conference
***REMINDER*** Public Libraries Australia Biennial Conference 5-7 August 2007 at the Adelaide Convention Centre, North Terrace, Adelaide PLEASE NOTE: earlybird registrations close - 17 July 2007 Public Libraries Australia (PLA) is delighted to extend an invitation to all Australian public library sector stakeholders to attend the 2007 Public Libraries Australia Conference to be held in Adelaide from 5-7 August 2007. The 2007 PLA Conference, Public Libraries Building Balance, is being presented by Public Libraries South Australia in conjunction with Public Libraries Australia, and supported by ALIA—a major PLA partner. The conference will be held in Adelaide at the Adelaide Convention Centre—an excellent venue— and will feature a program that looks at current and emerging issues for the public library sector. The program will focus on strategies and skills for achieving balance in all aspects of library management and leadership to ensure we provide a workplace and development opportunities for our staff, and that we understand community needs in order to provide relevant public library service and program development. The first keynote speaker to be confirmed is Rivkah Sass, Director – Omaha Public Library in the US. In naming Rivkah as the Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year 2006, Editor-in-Chief John N. Berry described her as being "a risk taker, change agent, library true believer". There is a great deal of enquiry already forthcoming and early indications are that the conference will attract attendees from all states of Australia. We hope that you will be one of them!
http://www.pla.org.au/Conf2007/Conf07.htm

News from ALIA

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems are now employed in over a dozen Australian libraries and many more are intending to introduce the technology. With careful planning and implementation, the introduction RFID has the potential to provide libraries with productivity benefits, new collection management tools and improved customer service. Unfortunately, international standards have not kept pace with the progress of RFID in the library community and, as a result, interoperability between RFID equipped library services is very limited. For more information click on the link below to see the ALIA ISO RFID Data Model project
http://www.alia.org.au/rfidproject/

ALIA's 2007 Internet Filtering Survey Report
The results of the May 2007 survey of internet filtering software in Australian public libraries will be released this week and available on the ALIA website at http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/internet.access/ . Thanks to the many public libraries that contributed to the survey.
www.alia.org.au/advocacy/internet.access/

Message from the Editor
Hello everyone This is my first time editing the aliaPUBNEWS. It's an interesting job and I'm sure I'll get better at it with each edition :-) Please email me any comments, suggestions or interesting bits of news etc so the next edition will be even better! Cheers,Roger ---- Roger Henshaw PLA/ALIA Partnership Officer Email: roger@rhcs.com.au Tel: 0414 190 133 ---------------------------------
www.rhcs.com.au

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