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National Policy Congress 2003Final Report National Policy Congress 200319-20 September, ALIA HouseThe ALIA National Policy Congress is an important mechanism that enables the Board of Directors to consult with members about future directions for the Association. The Congress follows a two-tier model with meetings held in regions with each ALIA group invited to send 1 delegate to the meeting - observers are also welcome to attend. The regional NPC meeting program seeks feedback on issues set by the Board. Each regional meeting then elects one delegate to attend the national meeting. The ALIA National NPC meeting 2003, held at ALIA House on 19-20 September, was opened by Christine Mackenzie, ALIA president, who welcomed delegates including regional meeting representatives, invited representatives from seven groups, Board members, local liaison officers (as observers) and key ALIA National Office staff. In her opening Christine spoke of ALIA's history and the importance of acknowledging this as we also plan for the future. Christine went on to praise recent ALIA achievements including the:
Christine pointed out that many of these initiatives are the result of ideas developed at previous NPCs. The theme of this year's NPC was celebrating success. Delegates started proceedings by presenting success stories from the regional NPC meetings they represented and from the invited groups/committees. The success stories covered a broad spectrum of activities from the past year, ranging from highly successful seminars through to strategic plans and working in partnership with other organisations. These stories will appear in a regular column in inCite. A regional roundup provided the opportunity for delegates to outline the discussions held at the regional meetings they represented and invited groups and committees were able to inform fellow delegate of the policies and issues dealt with by their groups.
The Congress dinner was an animated affair with lots of chatter and networking. The theme of celebrating success continued with presentations of ALIA Silver Pins,
Christine Mackenzie thanked these members for their contribution to ALIA and there were general congratulations by other delegates for their achievement.
Further success was celebrated with the launch of the ALIA Career-long learning user guide
The revised edition of the ALIA Career Development Kit Ivan Trundle reported on major enhancements resulting from the recent redevelopment of the ALIA website. These included:
Ivan also flagged some future developments to the new membership database that will allow office bearers access to mailing lists for both e-mail and mailing label printing and the ability to identify new group members. Ivan also showed delegates how they could make maximum use of their group pages on the ALIA website. Christine Mackenzie led the sessions on ALIA: Towards 2010 and Issues of Critical Importance. The NPC endorsed ALIA: Towards 2010 as an aspirational document which sets out broad directions for the Association in coming years. The approach of the document, along with the content and key themes, was discussed and agreement was reached that more explicit reference would be made to regional and remote members. The feedback from the NPC will be incorporated into the document, which will be endorsed at the November Board of Directors meeting. Delegates to the regional NPC meetings had been asked to identify the issues of critical importance facing the sector, and subsequently ALIA, over the next five years. The critical issues identified were further discussed at the National NPC meeting. Jennefer Nicholson, executive director, commented that the themes raised under issues of critical importance for the LIS sector at the regional meetings matched ALIA's current emphasis and focus on these issues. The national NPC meeting considered the feedback on the issues of critical importance facing the Association, identified the top three issues and provided three strategies to address each:
It was agreed that these points would be included in planning beyond 2003-2004. Deanne Barrett, ALIA Board member, continued the theme of celebrating success by summarising ALIA's achievements against the 2003 - 2004 plan from the Board's point of view. Delegates acknowledged that the initiatives are on track with a high level of achievement against most of the initiatives. One question asked by delegates was how can ALIA bring together the activities and achievements of groups and the initiatives under ALIA plans to bring greater cohesion to the work of the Association? It is expected that this issue will be explored in the review of member engagement and in future planning. The question of access to group newsletters, which are only accessible through the member-only area of the website, was also raised. It was agreed that groups should trial the current arrangement (group newsletters being kept in the members-only area) for 12 months and review it again at the 2004 NPC meeting. It was also agreed that groups should look at different ways to use the group pages on the ALIA website to make information available to group members rather than relying on a newsletter format. The national NPC endorsed a proposal for a review of member engagement and participation. Valuable feedback on the scope and methodology for the review included:
It is anticipated that the review will report to the Board of Directors March 2004. A session on Celebrating success in making and taking opportunities: symposia, workshops and conferences: some opportunities taken reviewed the conference model adopted by the Association in 2001. The broad range of activities held by groups was discussed and delegates noted the success of recent one-day events and ALIA conferences.
A simplified approach to group budgets and the annual planning cycle for groups was outlined for delegates. Group budget guidelines Directors Angela Bridgland and Kevin Dudeney told the congress why every member should consider becoming an ALIA director. Delegates to the regional NPC meetings had an opportunity to raise questions on notice for the national NPC meeting. Written answers were prepared and delegates were given the opportunity to discuss the questions further. Research Exchange and Partnerships (REAP) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) were on the regional NPC program to generate ideas that could be incorporated into their respective initiatives. These two program items were not carried over to the national NPC program. Feedback on the Research Exchange and Partnership (REAP) initiative was sought from the regional NPC meetings to provide ideas for research topics, potential researchers and partners. The extensive and useful feedback included a wide range of suggestions for research topics and some suggestions of possible researchers and partners. The feedback will be incorporated into the REAP initiative. Feedback was also sought from delegates on the priorities for CPD partnerships, what the gaps are between partnerships, ALIA group CPD activities and ALIA conferences and what types of workshops are needed to fill the gaps. Delegates to the regional meetings provided feedback that will be used to further develop a program of training courses for members. At the conclusion of the national NPC meeting delegates filled out an evaluation of the congress. The results of the evaluation indicated that delegates regarded their participation in the NPC as a positive experience. They learnt more about their ALIA and valued the opportunity to participate in the policy making process of the Association.
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to the following ALIA members in recognition of five years service to ALIA as a committee member of ALIA groups:
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