October 2007

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

International
Service Calculator; Service Calculator; Those thoroughly modern libraries; British Library books go digital; Oregon county privatises libraries to save money; Montana State Library to close its doors

News from ALIA
Beyond the Hype 2008: Web 2.0 Symposium

Conferences
QPLA Conference 2007 - Podcasts & Papers

Believe it or Not!
Libraries extinct in 2019!

Library Blogs
Leadership; Library Humour; 'The Librarians' blog

National
News from Viclink; Call for papers - Australian Library Journal

States and territories
Local Government & Shires Association of NSW - Conference Decisions

National & State Libraries Australasia

Public Libraries Australia
PLA News; Website Survey

International

Service Calculator
Now here's an interesting idea from Maine State Library USA) where there customers can use an online form to estimate the value of the library services they use each month. Services listed include materials borrowed (books, movies, audio books, museum passes), magazines used in library, interlibrary loan, children's programs attended, computer use, reference questions, and more. Click on the following link to check it out:
http://www.maine.gov/msl/services/calculator.htm

Those thoroughly modern libraries
A quiet place to read in front of a fireplace. Free Wi-Fi. A café selling coffee and other goodies. Used books for sale. Crazy Mocha or Joseph Beth Book Sellers? Neither. Try a public library. Allegheny County’s libraries are striving to keep current with the needs of their communities. That means you’ll find everything from video game competitions and career classes to computer centers and self-checkout kiosks in libraries throughout the county. Libraries are also extending their reach through the Internet, with blogs, downloadable audio and video, as well as the ability to search for and request materials online. Read more at:
http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/libraries0926.aspx

British Library books go digital
More than 100,000 old books previously unavailable to the public will go online thanks to a mass digitisation programme at the British Library. The programme focuses on 19th Century books, many of which are unknown as few were reprinted after first editions. Read more at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7018210.stm

Oregon county privatises libraries to save money
The county has come up with an unusual cost-saving solution: outsourcing its libraries. The county will continue to own the buildings and all the books in them. But the libraries will be managed by a private company. The librarians will no longer be public employees and union members; they will be on the company's payroll. Library patrons might not notice much difference, but the librarians will, because the company plans to get by with a smaller staff and will have a free hand to set salaries and benefits. For years, state and local governments have been privatizing certain functions, such as trash collection, payroll processing and road maintenance. But contracting with an outside company to run a library is a relatively new phenomenon. It has been gaining in popularity as communities look for ways to save money. Most of the 15 or so U.S. municipalities that have outsourced their libraries have signed on with Library Systems, which is the biggest player in the field but is privately held and does not disclose earnings. Jackson County's contract with Library Systems will be worth around $3 million a year; the county also will budget $1.3 million to maintain the buildings. That is about half the $8 million a year the county previously spent on its libraries. However, the libraries will be open only 24 hours a week, compared with 40-plus hours for most branches before the shutdown.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/304401.html

Montana State Library to close its doors
The Montana State Library plans to close its doors at the start of the year and will instead be offering its resources over the Internet. The library has been open since the 1920s and is the main repository for state documents. The library says very little will be lost in the transition, although certain services such as walk-in access to a number of newspapers will be gone. State Librarian Darlene Staffeldt says they decided the library could not offer complete digital access to the library along with offering walk-in service. It decided to focus on digital access. Staffeldt says she expects there may be some critics as word of the decision spreads. http://msl.state.mt.us/default.asp
http://www.kxmb.com/News/170729.asp

News from ALIA

Beyond the Hype 2008: Web 2.0 Symposium
Brisbane 1-2 February 2008 at QUT, Brisbane Does Facebook only have face value? Is Second Life only for people who need to get a first life? Is social bookmarking truly all that del.icio.us? Is Skype just hype? Do RSS feeds mean Really Sexy Syndication? Is Twittering for the birds? Is the future forever in Beta mode or are we all becoming legends on our own laptops? An ALIA symposium aims to go “Beyond the Hype” & explore the reality of new technologies, the challenges and opportunities they pose. It will give library and information professionals the chance to learn more, get skilled up, network and better understand what web 2.0 is about and what it can mean for them. There will be workshops, posters, discussions, talks, drinks and social opportunities, a panel of experts and keynote speakers. Visit the website:
http://beyondthehype.ning.com/

Conferences

QPLA Conference 2007 - Podcasts & Papers
Podcasts and conference papers from the very successful "Building Bridges to Knowledge - Community Engagement, Technology & Public Libraries" QPLA Conference 2007 are now available for download from:
http://qplaconference.wordpress.com/

Believe it or Not!

Libraries extinct in 2019!
Food for thought... Check out the time line at:
http://nowandnext.com/PDF/extinction_timeline.pdf

Library Blogs

Leadership
These are a few nicely synthesised thoughts from Helene Blowers.
http://www.librarybytes.com/labels/Leadership.html

Library Humour
Check out these links: http://www.unshelved.com/ http://shelfcheck.blogspot.com/ http://librarycartoons.blogspot.com/
http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2007/10/library_humour.ht

'The Librarians' blog
Make sure you bookmark this blog:
http://www.alia.org.au/thelibrariansblog/

National

News from Viclink
Viclink held its AGM in late August and a new President and executive were voted in. Members of the Executive are: President: John Murrell Vice President: Karen Ward-Smith Treasurer: Trish Smyth Secretary: Anne Holmes Assistant Secretary: Jenny Ruffy Public Officer Patti Manolis General committee: Joseph Cullen Jenny Mustey Katrina Knox Julie Rae Viclink also voted to further its existing partnership with the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) to employ them to run the Viclink executive office. Advertising for the position of Executive Officer has commenced and should be filled by the end of the year or early 2008. The MAV will employ the EO and this person will be employed for 20 hours per week and will work with the Viclink Executive. Also the Country Public Libraries Group (CPLG) has decided to dissolve and work is beginning on that and should be completed by the end of the financial year.

Call for papers - Australian Library Journal
The Australian Library Journal - Special Issue on COMMUNITY and WORKPLACE INFORMATION LITERACY Guest Editor: The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Information Literacy Forum Contact: Helen Partridge Email: h.partridge@qut.edu.au IMPORTANT DATES: Full papers due: February 15 2008 Authors receive reviews: February 29 2008 Final papers due: April 4 2008 Anticipated publication: May/June 2008 The Australian Library Journal has been published since 1951. Published quarterly, it contains a wide coverage of Australian library issues. It is the acknowledged flagship publication of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). The journal is available through subscription. ISSUE FOCUS This special issue is seeking papers on any aspect of information literacy within community and workplace contexts. Information literacy refers to the ability to access, evaluate and use information from a variety of sources. Whilst information literacy has rapidly become an object of scholarly interest in the education and the library and information science disciplines, the majority of this interest has been confined to educational settings. Little research has been conducted exploring information literacy within the community or workplace setting. According to ALIA, information literacy can contribute to learning for life, personal and professional empowerment, social inclusion, participative citizenship and innovation and enterprise. The Alexandria Proclamation on information literacy and lifelong learning argues that information literacy is a 'basic human right'. This special issue of ALJ will provide a forum to identify, share and develop the issues relevant to information literacy within workplace and community settings. Contributors to the special issue may like to consider the following questions to guide the development of their submissions: * What does information literacy mean within workplace and community settings? * What strategies are needed to ensure that information literacy is relevant within workplace and community? * What are the priorities for establishing information literacy within workplace and community? * Whose responsibility is it to foster information literacy within workplace and community? * How is information literacy experienced within workplace and community? * What should information literacy education/programmes in community and workplace settings consist of? * How do you measure the information literacy success and improvement of people in community or workplace settings? * What are the economic, social and cultural issues and challenges if people in community and workplace settings are not information literate? * What skills and knowledge are needed by librarians and information professionals if they are to successfully meet the challenge of facilitating information literacy within workplace and community? * How can current LIS education help in preparing the library and information professional for facilitating information literacy in community and workplace settings? The questions provided above are merely a guide; submissions that will provide additional or new understanding of the link between information literacy to workplace and community settings are welcome. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Submissions of 3000-5000 words should be emailed in Word format to the special issue editor, Helen Partridge at h.partrdige@qut.edu.au The AGPS Style Manual is used. For further information see - http://alia.org.au/publishing/alj/ Helen Partridge | Senior Lecturer | Course Coordinator Master of Information Management (Acting) Faculty of Information Technology | QUT | 2 George St. Brisbane Q. 4000 h.partridge@qut.edu.au | 07 3138 9047 | 07 3138 1969 (fax) | S840 Gardens Point Campus

States and territories

Local Government & Shires Association of NSW - Conference Decisions
If you are interested in looking at any of the public library resolutions/decisions from this conference download the PDF from the link given below. See especially, pages 4, 81, 103 (for all the support that the library funding situation evoked), and 114-116 (two late motions expressed in full, but covered by the motion on page 4) OR use the search function on your Adobe PDF viewer. The search term 'library' brings up many results.
http://www.lgsa.org.au/resources/documents/2007-lga-conference-record-of-de

National & State Libraries Australasia
Check out the NSLA website. There's plenty of useful information to be found here. For example the discussion papers available from: http://www.nsla.org.au/publications/papers/
http://www.nsla.org.au/

Public Libraries Australia

PLA News
The latest edition of Public Libraries Australia News is now available for download from:
http://www.pla.org.au/

Website Survey
PLA is conducting a survey of members and non-members to inform the re-development of its website. The survey closes 1 November 2007. Click this link to participate:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=jk1UZk8zIFT_2fMOd0GP7oOw_3d_3d

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