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Cohesion - the ALIA 2001 National Policy Congress

Summary of achievements, challenges and key professional issues as identified by the by 2001 National Policy Congress

The National Policy Congress identified the key achievements, challenges and professional issues and provided suggestions for addressing these as outlined in the tables below.

Key achievements since the 2000 National Policy Congress

ALIA has succeeded in reinventing itself	Smooth restructure of the Association from its previous structure to self-nominating groups across the country Continued room for consolidation of the finances Greater accountability through activity-based resource allocations Reports from meetings of the Board of Directors
ALIA is moving in the right direction	Increased emphasis on member services Development of partnerships and alliances with other organisations Lobbying activities Review of policies

Key challenges for the Association

Enhance communication with groups and members	Between the Board and groups Between National Office and groups/members Between groups	Noted by BoD and NO Addressed in part by Key Initiative 10
Enhance support for groups and office bearers	Guidelines for funding of groups and management of finances Training for group office bearers Simplify reporting and budgeting requirements Streamline financial transactions for groups Local presence-proactive Support for large groups with geographically widely dispersed membership Greater coordination of approach and effort, in particular relating to lobbying and membership drives	Noted by BoD and NO Addressed in part by Key Initiative 10
Increase membership (institutional and personal)	Market the Association aggressively to potential members and build membership base Ensure business and marketing plans are in place Undertake membership drives in cooperation with groups	Being addressed by Key Initiatives 1, 2, 6, 7 Business and marketing plans to be further developed
Member benefits	Further develop member benefits for institutional and personal members Reserve access to services and assets for members only Ensure equity of access to ALIA services and benefits by remote members	Being addressed by Key Initiatives 1, 2, 3, 6, 7
Continuing professional development	Area of high priority for the profession and members Reach members throughout the country via new technology Include training and marketing in professional development program Promote participation in and compliance with CPD scheme	Being addressed by Key Initiatives 8, 1, 2
Enhance ALIA's profile as key player in the information industry	Greater lobbying and promotion on behalf of profession Further partnership developments Greater promotion of ALIA achievements	Being addressed by Key Initiatives 4 and 5 and Lobbying Strategy
Develop business plan	Evidence based business plans, addressing needs specific for various sectors Building on current ALIA plan for 2002 Include marketing plan Assist communication of strategies, direction and achievements	Noted by BoD

Key professional issues to be addressed by the Association

Ensure continued relevance of the profession in the library and information services industry	Ensure university and TAFE education and graduates are high quality, broadly based and appropriate for range of employer needs-quality of graduates Retain course recognition Ensure library and information professionals have access to skill development for changing careers and roles Strengthen ALIA's role in career-long professional development Encourage workforce and career planning	Being addressed by Key Initiative 8, LISEKA
Enhance the profile and status of the profession in the community and among employing organisations	Marketing and promotion campaigns of profession to achieve more widespread recognition of the role of library professionals in the information industry Strategies to enhance the status of library workers	Being addressed by Key Initiative 4 and ongoing activities
Proactive lobbying and leadership in support of the Association's objects		Being addressed by Lobbying Strategy and indirectly through the key initiatives
Research	About library and information services and their employees About professional concerns and issues	Being addressed by Key Initiative 9
Expanding professional partnerships	For instance with Australian Society of Indexers, Australian Computer Society and the Records Management Association	Ongoing activity
Support for access to electronic information resources	Licence agreements and deals Copyright	Addressed by Key Initiative 3 and ongoing activities
Pay equity for library and information workers		Addressed by ongoing activities
National information policy	Including information rights and information literacy