ALIA NAC 2005 Canberra meeting report

Present
Roxanne Missingham (chair), Christina Flynn, Diane Costello, Karna O'Dea, Kathy Stapleton, Catherine Miller, Kate Davis, Sandra Henderson, Mary Teague, Sherrey Quinn, Ian McCallum, Prue Deacon, Elizabeth Dracoulis, Kym Holden, Georgina Dale, Michael Evans.

1. Professional development

Georgina Dale gave a presentation on ALIA's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program. The meeting discussed the benefits of the CDP to members. A number of people commented on the complexity of filling in the forms and the 'invisibility of the forms' on the website. There is obviously a need to further promote the service in order to meet the target of 10 per cent member participation by 2006.

Comments and questions included:

Is the CPD scheme being promoted to new generation librarians? One attendee commented that the scheme (and ALIA membership more generally) was promoted by lecturers throughout her studies in library and information science at the Queensland University of Technology.
It is interesting that there has been such a small take up of the program, given that it was something which members had asked for.
Should CPD participation be compulsory? Roxanne Missingham noted that members had originally wanted the scheme to be voluntary.
Perhaps there could be a tick sheet that members could record their professional development activities on which would stand as an auditable document. This would simplify the process.
Perhaps everybody should be automatically enrolled in the CPD scheme, with the above mentioned tick sheet being sent out to all professional members along with their renewals each year.
Employers could be targeted - many have staff development programs, and perhaps there could be a reminder to employers/employees that development activities could feed into the CPD scheme.
Human resource sections in various institutions throughout Canberra could be targeted to advise them that applicants who are participants in CPD may be of a higher calibre, in terms of their commitment to their own professional development.
Given that it has been five years since the scheme was established, and the take up has been slow, what is the board doing to ensure that the target of ten per cent member participation is met?

2. Celebrating success

The following events were a particular success because they illustrated that the region is focussed on professional development.

Australian Government Libraries Information Network (AGLIN) and ACTive ALIA joint information sharing forums, which were organised at least every two months and brought people together from different areas of the information professions
ALIA/NLA interlending workshop, which had a high attendance.
Digital Amnesia conference.

All events were well attended improved skill sets or identified national issues and highlighted opportunities for further events next year.

3. ALIA stars program

The following nominations highlight and promote success stories of members within and beyond the sector:

Roxanne Missingham appointed as the parliamentary librarian.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), particularly Dennis Trewin and the team that worked on making ABS publications being freely available on the internet.
ACT Public Library for the brand new Kippax Library, which replaced a much smaller library in a 25-year old temporary building.

4. Election of directors

A new model has been proposed for the election of directors which allows for all members, both personal and institutional, to vote. Discussion of this item confirmed that those present did not find the existing model appropriate.

It was noted that item 13.6 in the 2005 General Meeting Motion should read 'alternate years' rather than 'from 2006'.

A number of associated issues and ideas, relating to the governance of ALIA, were raised, including:

Recruiting directors

Directors need to be chosen for what they can contribute, as well as their backgrounds, rather than solely for their willingness to volunteer. In the past, directors have not always possessed much experience on boards.
Introduction of training for directors to allow them to fulfil objectives of the position.
Establishment of an independent search committee comprising of ex-board members could aid in selecting appropriate candidates for board membership.

Presidency

Revision of length of presidency. Some people felt that two year terms would be better. In this case the role of vice-president as president-elect may need be reviewed as the commitment time may be an inhibitor to potential candidates.
Remuneration for presidency as a full time occupation would allow full commitment to ALIA's objectives for the term of the presidency.

Third stream of revenue

A third stream of revenue is needed. Perhaps an expert advisory group is needed to come up with an alternate business model.

Roxanne also mentioned that ALIA board will be reviewing all ALIA publications.

5. Workforce planning and education

AGLIN have been discussing workforce planning, looking at core competencies for government librarians and the potential for collaboration with library and information studies institutions on this issue to produce graduates with suitable skill sets.

There was discussion about mandatory qualifications for library jobs. No consensus was reached on how ALIA should be addressing this issue. Attendees highlighted the need to emphasise to employers the value of recruiting people with library qualifications - or, more specifically, to highlight the potential costs of recruiting people without library qualifications. However, other attendees highlighted the fact that many people without library qualifications are extremely effective in their jobs.

A number of people spoke on the issue of attracting graduates to the profession. Government libraries are not actively using their departments' graduate recruitment programs to recruit graduates with library skills.

ALIA's role in promoting return on investment for libraries was discussed.

The need for further targeted research in the profession was highlighted. There was discussion about the role that the Australian library journal should play in professional development, and the type of articles that should be published. The idea that ALIA research grants could be targeted at specific projects ALIA needs to action was also raised.

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