ALIA Board meetings 15 and 16 May 2007: key issues

(15 May)

ALIA e-lists:

• A paper was considered which contained background information for a code of use and responsibilities guide for ALIA members, e-list managers and ALIA National Office as e-list owners. The Board discussion a wide range of policy issues. It was agreed that the Membership and Award Standing Committee would work on an exposure draft of the guidelines to be approved for consultation with members before finalisation. It was agreed that until this policy is finalised no new e-lists would be created.

Financial management:

• The accounts were considered and it was agreed that an External expert (Lesley Piko) should be invited to continue on the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Standing Committee with an honorarium.

Fellowship:

• The Board was delighted to approve the awarding of a Fellowship to Don Schauder.

Governance:

• The Governance Standing Committee has commenced the review of Committees and external representation. Views of all members will be sought through the e-lists and the next issue of inCite. Next on the agenda for the Governance Standing Committee will be the Board Readiness project.

ALIA 70th anniversary planning:

• Groups will continue to be encouraged to assist with the organisation of celebrations to mark ALIA's 70th Anniversary. A national event is being planned for the last quarter in 2007, further planning will continue.

Education:

• The Board discussed the work of the Education, Research and Workforce Planning Standing Committee in regards to the development of a discussion paper and the Education Summit to be held in early 2008.

Committee:

• A call for nominations for the By-laws committee will be made shortly. Patti Manolis was appointed to the ALIA Online Content and Regulation Reference Group. The Board asked that the Public Libraries Reference Group to make a recommendation for the ALIA representative on the PLA Board.

Conferences:

• ALIA Conference guidelines are currently being revised and updated. A review of the PD scheme will occur in the second half of 2007. PD participation currently sits at around 9% of total ALIA members. A qualitative assessment of members needs for training will commence once the results of the surveys on training needs by Dr Gill Hallam (neXus stage 2), CAVAL and AGLIN have been received.

ALIA seminal statements:

• The Board thanked those who have provided comments in the review of statements. The Board agreed that the ALIA Core values statement would be approved without changes. Statements on free access to information and professional conduct will be further amended and circulated to the Board for approval.

ALIA awards:

• After considerable discussion on the nature, scope and benefits of the ALIA Excellence Awards it was agreed to request further advice on this issue from the Membership and Awards Standing Committee.

RFID.

• The Board agreed to further fund and seek further sponsorship for Alan Butters work on the development of an international ISO RFID standard and to attend the next meeting in June 2007 which will be held in Copenhagen.

(16 May)

ALIA Standing Committees

• The Board reviewed the membership and responsibilities of the current ALIA Standing Committees:

• Board members will review the Terms of Reference and elect Chair positions and external representatives at the Standing Committees next meeting before the end of June 2007; staff from National Office will provide support to all Standing Committees.

2007/08 Planning

• The main focus for the Board at the meeting on 16 May was planning, including focus of activities and work for 2007-08, standing committees and responsibilities for the Executive Director.
• The ALIA plan and Balanced Scorecard management reports were reviewed and the reporting will reflect the activities in the 2007 plan.
• The Board identified the following activities as priority for the 2007/08 period:
  1. Advocacy (noting that it is a federal election year and ALIA's 70th Anniversary could provide an opportunity for engaging with Ministers and Shadow Ministers);
  2. Education - particularly the development of discussion paper and the Education Summit;
  3. Supporting ALIA Groups;
  4. Engaging with members (including through National Advisory Congress meetings);
  5. Management of the Association's finances;
  6. Conferences - finalisation of the revised guidelines and working with Committees organising conferences;
  7. Reviewing the use of Web 2.0 in ALIA services, including setting up a wikis and blogs.

National Advisory Congress

• NAC meetings will be held around Australia and a "virtual" NAC meeting will be held in late 2007. This will provide an opportunity to use Web 2.0 technology and engage with ALIA members in new mediums. The focus of the pre-NAC meetings will include a report from the Board, discussion on Education and Workforce Planning and possibly development of potential Board candidates through some form of activity.

Survey/feedback from members

• A survey of members will be held later this year. The Board agreed that interest in a LIS journal package would be sought through the survey.

Publishing

• The Board revisited the Professional Publishing Business plan and agreed for the newly endorsed Research and Publishing Standing Committee to review the Publishing Plan and to make a recommendation at the next Board meeting.

Promotion of LIS as a career

• The Board thanked the Queensland ALIA groups for organising a stand at the Brisbane Careers Expo and for their very thoughtful report. The Board noted a progress report on the Victorian LIS career promotion group and their forthcoming work to develop a website and other materials aimed at promoting LIS to school leavers.

IFLA 2010 Bid

• ALIA has been advised that Brisbane along with Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have been short listed as a suitable location for the 2010 IFLA World Congress
• ALIA will host the World Congress Professional Conference Organiser site visit to Brisbane in June.