ALIA Board Blog

This week and next are again full of important government hearings - where ALIA and it’s members will be represented.

I will be representing the Safer Internet Group at the 8th July Melbourne Hearing of the Joint Select Committee on Cybersafety.
And then at the 12th July Adelaide Hearing of the Inquiry into School Libraries and Teacher Librarians, I will be making the final presentation on behalf of ALIA    (with thanks to the staff and members who have assisted with all the preparations for these important sessions).

We also await the call of the Federal Election 2010.    Hope you have all updated your details with the AEC.   (on a lighter note, this Getup video is a unique way to encourage young voters) 

ALIA is preparing election materials for members and these will be available shortly.  If you have not attended one of the Every Member an Advocate seminars (free for ALIA members) there are still some places available.

Even if you can’t be there in person this week at one of the hearings, or listen online, know that as a member of ALIA you are a part of this vital work.  You can always read the transcripts from the websites later.  Our previous submissions also go up on the ALIA website here as we receive permission from each committee to do so.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

ALIA continues to be a leading partner in the Safer Internet Group on moving the cybersafety debate back to what really works - education and policing as our top priorities (see our Core Principles documents).   If you have been following the media this last week, there was the flip ‘Rudd retreats on internet filter’, then the backflip ‘Govt committed to internet filter’, and now we wait for the next move ’Internet censorship part of Conroys agenda’ and news that the legislation may be tabled in parliament next month.  There has been lots of media identifying the gaps in the filter proposals - just one is ‘Relax: conroys filter can safely be ignored’.

We will be watching with interest the Four Corners  ’Access Denied’  piece on ABCTV Monday night 10th May  [ALIA’s stance is also clearly stated through our Library and Information Week theme this year - ‘Access All Areas’]  as well as the Q & A following Four Corners. 

And then there’s just abit of fun … with the Cleanternet Youtube  (surprising how satire seems so much like the real thing)

Send us your comments after you watch Four Corners and Q&A, and join us as an ALIA member in setting the debate on actions and initiatives that are going to make an impact to improve cybersafety, rather than us moving towards censorship.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

It’s been a busy few weeks on the ALIA advocacy front ….

ALIA continues to work with the Safer Internet Group  to lobby for a more effective and efficient suite of methods to provide Australian children with a safer experience online - rather than spending tax-payer dollars on mandatory ISP filtering of URL’s.  There has been a variety of media again in the last few days  [ selection here : Google vs Australia : new net censorship battle   & Google and Yahoo criticise ‘heavy handed’ internet plans  ] of our partners telling their stories to the world. 

The Inquiry into School Libraries and Teacher Librarians was called and submissions are due in a very quick timeframe - ALIA will need to finalise it’s submission by Thursday 15th April.   You can send your comments relating to the Terms of Reference to advocacy@alia.org.au . This is an incredibly significant opportunity for all within the Australian library sector - Why? some of you may ask (especially if you don’t work in a school library).  Here are just a few reasons (from my perspective) :

1.  This is the first library-focussed House of Representatives Inquiry in a very long time  2.  School libraries are often the most memorable experiences that many young Australians have of libraries  - we all remember our school librarian - and this is our opportunity to suggest how the school library experience can be improved 3.  Qualified Teacher Librarians are becoming scarcer these days - we need more of them  4.  Teacher Librarians contribute to the literacy levels of young Australians and assist with teaching information literacy and digital literacy skills which are going to be so important in our future digital economy  5.  The Australian Government has spent millions on building new libraries as part of the B.E.R - but we know that a room full of books and chairs does not facilitate what a library really is, and should be   6.  Those in public libraries work with school children for their educational and recreational reading and information needs and while many public libraries work closely with their local school library staff - collections and services could be better co-ordinated and utilised   7.  Those working in TAFE and University Libraries see the next phase of the learner life-cycle (and the influences that teacher librarians during school have on students)    8.  Those working in special libraries see the results of teacher librarians doing a great job by teaching young people how to use libraries effectively and become information literate workers

So, school libraries and teacher librarians have a great influence on our profession.  It’s time to make your comments, contribute and get involved  (that’s what advocating is about).  ALIA and ASLA (the Australian School Library Association) are working together but on separate submissions.  I am also pleased to hear that a number of the State Public Library Associations will be putting in submissions.  Individuals and other organisations connected with school libraries are also planning to meet the 16th April deadline to submit their thoughts, suggestions and ideas.   Following the submissions we will be preparing (in quick time again) for public hearings in each state and the presentation to the committee by the Library Associations in Canberra in May.   More information will be posted to this page over the coming months - http://www.alia.org.au/schoollibraries

There has also been lots of news around the budget cuts to Western Australian library funding  : Big Cuts put Local Libraries at risk - 29 March 2010  & Reverse Library budget cuts - Opposition - 30 March 2010    and  ABC WA Blog - and links .    This issue does not end with a few media reports last week - we will be posting further suggestions on advocating for improved funding to this page shortly  - http://www.alia.org.au/publiclibraries .

Remember -  every member can be an advocate - and we thank you for your support and your input to these important national issues.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

Today ALIA joined with another not-for-profit organisation, the Inspire Foundation, as well as internet giants Google Australia and Yahoo! Australia to release a joint statement of Core Principles to further engage in the community debate against proposed mandatory ISP internet filtering.  We have been working with these organisations to encourage the government to make amendments to their proposed legislation, being tabled at the Autumn session.   Read the ALIA media release and the Core Principles statement at  http://www.alia.org.au/internetfiltering

ALIA has been lobbying on this issue for decades, but really it goes back to the core values of libraries and library staff -  the two key points that relate to this issue  from the ALIA Constitutional Objects and our Core Values  are :

“To promote the free flow of information and ideas in the interest of all Australians and a thriving culture, economy and democracy”   and  “Promotion of the free flow of information and ideas through open access to recorded knowledge, information, and creative works.”   

We are concerned that URL filtering is only one very small part of removing illegal material that assists in child protection.  We know that most of the activity relating to child pornography and child abuse occurs with direct contact, chat rooms and peer-to-peer networking  - that’s why we want a greater increase in funding for the expertly trained AFP Child Protection unit.

ALIA will continue to work with ACMA on educating library staff, children, parents, carers and the community on safer internet surfing.   The http://www.cybersmart.org.au website should be high on all of our Favourites list and spread amongst our networks.  The videos for library staff are a great professional development activity.  We know that parents and carers want more information and sessions to update their knowledge to assist children with creating a safer environment in the digital economy.  As the Education Revolution laptops roll out to each school, a comprehensive national education program on cybersafety should be joining them.  This means additional government funding to internet safety education.

For an excellent summary of the proposed filtering and RC Classication, and what other countries do to reduce illegal internet material,  take a look through Untangling the Net.

We recently asked our members to submit feedback to the RC Classification submission, and members can continue to take the opportunity to comment through our advocacy@alia.org.au email.  Look out for the notifications of forthcoming submissions during the year.  We also thank our partner library associations who joined with us for this submission.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

The weekend is often for catching up - on the housework, back to school organising, the online and other reading, and some fresh air - in preparation for the week ahead.   Some of my online reading this weekend included prep for meetings with ministerial officers this coming week, expressing our opposition to mandatory filtering and pulling together case studies and comments for the ALIA submission.  Also catching up on Parliament too - and the positive and supportive comments by Senator Trood regarding the National Library of Australia and  ‘Indeed, it is a national treasure.’  Other parliamentary-related reading included Kevin Rudd’s new book ‘Jasper & Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle’.  We are hoping that Kevin (and Rhys Muldoon and Carla Zapel) might like to get involved in National Simultaneous Storytime this year on 26th May, as our chosen book has an animal theme as well, being ‘Little White Dogs Can’t Jump’.

This coming week marks ALIA’s first time (or first time in a long time) at the VALA Trade Exhibition - visit Kate, Steph, Judy, Margie, Jeannine and myself at Booth #43.    Either side of VALA, two of our key Advisory Committees are meeting face-to-face.  The first in-person gathering of the ALIA TAFE Libraries Advisory Committee and another important meeting of the ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee.   #ALIANational will be part of the #VALA2010 twittering as well.

It is the anniversary of the Victorian Bushfires - a message is on the ALIA Disaster Recovery webpage - and there is a Blue Shield Australia gathering this week too.

This week also marks Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 9th February.   You can download the video and/or add the logo to your site/facebook/twitter links.  It is an opportunity for library staff in all types of libraries to highlight the importance of cybersafety education.  In the meetings that I will be in with other IT industry stakeholders visiting ministerial advisors at parliament house in the next few days we will be reminding the government about our objection to censorship and to filtering legitimate material, as part of maintaining a democratic society.

And of course - Library Lovers Day (with or without the apostrophe) - to be celebrated at the end of the week ahead.  Most libraries are planning LLD events on Friday or next Monday the 15th.     Jan’s post below reminds us that we can all do something simple to remind our clients and friends to love Australian libraries.  I hope that many public librarians are using The Little Book of Public Libraries as an LLD ‘gift’ for their decision makers and champions, and for other sectors there are some great ideas on the website at http://www.librarylovers.org.au/ 

but wherever you are this week - may it be a good one.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

Now why would I be writing a blog post on the Australia Day public holiday?  Besides the fact that I have a little more time to think and write today, it’s because I am celebrating being an Australian - in a free and democratic country.  But what of the near future in regards to our internet…. yes, the NBN is a nation-building activity, but what of the proposed mandatory ISP filtering.  It seems to go against not only the general Aussie way of things, but the core values of ALIA members.

Senator, we welcome the opportunity to comment and to be part of the debate and we absolutely agree that the issue of child abuse and pornography is abhorant and needs addressing.  But the Blacklist is just one form of the internet - the blacklist covers URL’s only, it does not protect children against pornographic activities in the areas of peer-to-peer networking, instant messaging, direct emails and chat rooms.  A significant shift of the cost of the proposed mandatory filtering into additional government funding for the AFP Child Protection initiatives would go a long way here.   Library staff should be aware that anyone can report illegal internet material at anytime by lodging a complaint to ACMA via this webpage.   It is a concern that filtering can give a false sense of security.

Last week I met with a few other like-minded organisational partners to forward the debate on ISP filtering and how ALIA on behalf of it’s members can contribute to this.  We will also be requesting discussion time at the next CWG meeting about the proposals and drafted legislation.

You will note on the ALIA e-lists and ALIATwitter in the coming days a reminder of the ALIA submission to the RC Classification.

We believe that Cybersafety Education should be mandatory, not filtering.   Every Australian should not be treated like a child - adults have the right to look after their children, to educate themselves on how to protect their children, to have greater access to resources and experts to assist with this education, and adults do have the right to view material that is not illegal on the internet  –  in a free and democratic society where freedom of information is regarded as a right of it’s citizens. 

Topics that are sensitive - including euthanasia, terrorism, sexual persuasion and suicide  - might not be long conversations around the Australia Day BBQ, but every Australian still has the right to access information about these issues.

ALIA members and friends, I encourage you to take the time to update youself on the current ISP filtering issues - this recent report is a great summary  “Untangling the Net : The scope of content caught by mandatory internet filtering”.   There are also more questions from the IIA that you will find of interest.

ALIA will be completing our submission to the RC Classification review and be writing to the minister again with questions and comments.  What can you do?

1.  Contribute to the ALIA Submission :  Email your comments, example case studies of how filtering impedes access to information and topics of common interest to advocacy@alia.org.au .  If you belong to another Australian Library Association/Organisation, then encourage your executive to contact the ALIA Executive Director to join in the combined submission executive.director@alia.org.au .   Please note that the 5 main questions to respond to for this submission

2.  Individuals may also make a submission directly to the RC Classification review by 12th February 2010, or write to the Minister at any time

3.  Support ALIA through your membership contribution to ensure that we can continue our advocacy work in this and other important areas.

4.  Update your knowledge on the issues, and the specifics of the proposed internet filtering.  Take a few minutes to view Cybersmart resources for library staff and send this link to your colleagues. 

5.  Use Safer Internet Day on 9th February 2010 to highlight online safety messages and cybersafety resources to your customers, networks and friends.  Check out the ‘Think before you post’ downloadable poster, tips and YouTube.

Happy Australia Day.  Lets continue to live in a truly democratic society where censorship will be rejected.

Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director

 The team behind my earlier performance were particularly keen on a re-run; believe me we created a monster during that exercise when a borrowed video recorder and a whiteboard on wheels masquerading as an autocue created a sense of ‘Cecil B DeMille’ amongst my colleagues. Luckily fate in the form of the pre-Christmas rush put such silliness to rest and my on-line Yuletide presence is limited to this blog.  

We all have “must read” blogs in our lives. One of mine (apart from this one!) is written by Kathy Doughty from Material Obsession. Last week she captured my mood when she wrote:

I always find this time of year very reflective.  The calendar mind map is always interesting as the year stretches out ahead and then, as if by magic, it is so many pages turned.  I can’t help but stop and sit for a minute and review all the wonder of the past year.   

2009 has been a huge year for ALIA. I will remember it as the year in which we:

• Integrated the results of the member survey into our planning and as a result focused on your # 1 priority, lobbying and advocacy, at the National Advisory Congress

• Weathered the global financial crisis

• Contributed to the discussion on issues affecting our industry; the National Broadband Network, Parallel Importation and internet filtering (to name a few)

• Enhanced the range of PD opportunities including access to online resources and current awareness services

• Worked with fire devastated Victorian communities in the Rebuilding with Books project

• Hosted the first Australian Public Libraries Summit which has led to the development of a Vision and National Framework for the sector

• Delivered Library and Information Week, Summer Reading Club and National Simultaneous Storytime

• Collaborated with other library and information associations

• Held a stand out Library Technician’s Conference in Adelaide

• Worked with LIS educators to accredit courses

• Supported IFLA in their decision to relocate the 2010 Congress to Gothenburg

• Embraced Library 2.0 technologies

And they’re just the things I was able to come up with on a hot December afternoon following a lunch time of shopping.

None of this would have been possible without our:

• fabulous ALIA National Office staff

• Local Liaison Officers

• dedicated Board of Directors

• committed volunteers

• and you our loyal members.

To you all a huge thank you.

As we count down the final days of 2009 I would like to send you all my very warmest wishes for the festive season. It has been a great pleasure to meet, work and reconnect with many of you during the year and I look forward to more of the same in 2010.

Jan

Jan Richards, ALIA President

There is growing opposition to the plans of the Government to censor the internet. Almost twelve months ago, following a statement by the Minister for Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, ALIA issued a press release. It was headed ALIA’s Ten questions on censorship for Senator Stephen Conroy. But we still don’t know the answers to ANY of the questions.

Senator Conroy said in a recent interview on Radio National’s The Media Report (30 October) that the government will first determine what kind of filtering or blocking of internet content is feasible, and then decide what will be blocked. He said “. . . a whole range of people have said, ‘Hey, lets expand this’, That’s a debate that we will come to. What we’re trying to establish at the moment, we’re no further than establishing at the moment, whether it’s technically feasible.” So we don’t know what the government plans to censor, and neither yet do they.

In the meantime, a number of organisations have taken up the issue. The No Clean Feed website and blog is organised by Electronic Frontiers Australia, which also covers internet censorship on its own site. Another site is the blog Somebody Think of the Children: discussing censorship and moral panic in Australia, and another very thorough personal site is Irene Graham’s long-established site. Australians Against Internet Censorship, a Facebook group, is planning a nationwide protest on 13 December. There is also a Getup! campaign on this issue, and 89,000 people have signed their petition. Getup! has an interactive widget you can embed on your web page or in your blog. So there is a lot of action.

ALIA is a player in this, and we have an online content site. Let me know what you think ALIA should be doing. This is an issue which is very important to us, because libraries have always taken a strong stand in opposition to censorship.

We have just made available, on the ALIA web site, the responses of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Coalition, to the questions we asked them. There is good news and bad news, and this is a personal approach to just one aspect of the statements, and some other recent policy statements - the free flow of information, the heart of who we are.

The ALP has said two things about the free flow of information. On one hand, on 26 October the ALP made what looks like a very strong commitment to open government. As reported in The Australian under the heading “Free Speech”, Labor has promised to

• abolish conclusive cerificates (by which a minister may avoid release of information by declaring that it is not in the public interest)
• appoint an Information Commissioner, which would be an independent statutory office
• provide better protection to journalists who refuse to name their sources
• abolish the fee for appealing a decision of government
• reform whistleblowers’ legislation
• work with the states to prevent court suppression orders being abused

The policy was praised by the Right to Know coalition, which represents Australia’s large media organisations and is campaigning on issues of freedom of the press and the public’s access to information.

On the other hand, the ALP has a very strong pro-filtering stance, and its statement on the ALIA website demonstrates this. In a reply to a question by ALIA about their position on Internet filtering and libraries, the ALP said “ISP filtering under a Rudd Labor government will be applied to all households (unless they choose to opt-out), schools and public internet points accessible by children, such as libraries.”

What will ISPs (internet service providers) be obliged to filter? It does appear from Kim Beazley’s original statement in March 2006 that ISPs will be obliged to filter out some material which it is legal to view, and it appears that they will take instructions on what to filter from ACMA (the Australian Communications and Media Authority). There are other problems with the policy, too, and many are highlighted in the interesting 36-page critique by EFA (Electronic Frontiers Australia).

What does the Coalition say on these issues? In response to the ALIA questionnaire, they pointed to the Prime Minister’s announcement on 20 August 2007 of the $189 million Protecting Australian Families Online initiative. The statement on filtering in libraries was much more nuanced. At this stage the Coalition is not in favour of ISP-level filtering, and it is suggested that “The use of filters in libraries needs to be tailored to the circumstances and client profiles of different libraries . . .” Moreover, while libraries are encouraged to work with the Government to install PC-based filters, it is recognised that “legislating the use of content filters by librarians would be a blunt approach that would not be effective, particularly as the regulation of public libraries is generally a matter for state, territory and local governments.”

On the issue of media freedom and the free flow of information, we await a formal statement from the Coalition. There was an interesting piece in Crikey.com on the topic, pointing out some indications of reforms which may possibly be proposed by the Coalition as the election campaign unfolds. Or not, as the case may be.

There is lots more in the statements of the two parties, and others will no doubt take them up in this blog.

On Friday 10th August 2007 Minister Coonan and the PM launched the NetAlert - Protecting Australian Families Online program . ALIA released a media statement last Friday to clarify some of the statements made in Minister Coonan’s release . Public Libraries Australia have also issued a media statement. This will continue to be a very important issue for ALIA. Members are encouraged to become familiar with the ALIA reports located at the ALIA Internet Filtering website.