ACTive ALIA

proACTive

Number 220: February 2002

ALIA National Policy Congress | One merged conference? | Effective ILL and document delivery | Did you have your photo taken at the Christmas Function?

ALIA National Policy Congress
As the ACTive ALIA representative, I attended the 2nd Annual National Policy Congress (NPC) in Canberra on 7-8 December. Sixty-seven group representatives and three observers attended as well as staff from ALIA National Office and all Board Directors, except Moyra McAllister who was overseas.

There isn't room here for more than a taste of the issues addressed at the NPC, where delegates responded to many papers and presentations, but you can find a full report and associated documents on ALIAnet at: http://www.alia.org.au/governance/nac/2001/.

The agenda for the NPC included:

• the Objectives for the 2001 NPC - the Board of Directors sought advice on how ALIA is progressing in relation to the transformation of the Association;
• what challenges remain to be addressed by ALIA to meet the objectives set by the inaugural National Policy Congress in 2000;
• what policy focus and priorities should ALIA have in 2002 and beyond;
• how we achieve connection and cohesion, within the membership and within the profession);
• a review of progress from the previous NPC - most recommendations had been acted on and implemented;
• issues of significance for the 2001 NPC - ten groups presented their view of achievements and challenges and key professional issues. The presentations turned out to be very consistent and were agreed with by NPC delegates;
• ALIA's action plan for 2002 - current strategic intent and key initiatives to implement this;
• recommendations from the 2001 NPC - the NPC noted the reasons given for introducing a new conference model. As anticipated, there was a very lively discussion on this issue, which also highlighted issues to do with communication and decision making between the Board of Directors and the membership. The Board has been asked to publish its rationale for the new conference model. Conferences that have already been endorsed will go ahead but organisers have been asked whether they can incorporate some elements of the new conference model into their plans.

The structure of the NPC was also discussed and the NPC noted the need to review this. Another issue that concerned many delegates was the lack of guidance available to office-bearers and support mechanisms for groups.

Education and continuing professional development were identified as high priority issues, with NPC delegates recommending that the CPD scheme be simplified and promoted widely to members and employers.

The type and level of support available to groups was also canvassed, with several recommendations made on assistance to office-bearers, local support and other issues. For other recommendations, please see the full report on ALIAnet.

Other papers presented were:

• Career-long education for the knowledge age - Naida Tattersall provided a report on the LISEKA project. Models for a framework for this issue will be prepared and comments sought from the membership.
• ALIA's awards framework - five new categories of award have been created within the framework (Premier, Excellence, Research grant; Merit and Student.)
• Core values statement - ALIA president, Alan Bundy introduced a draft Core Values statement to complement the ALIA statements on access to information and on professional conduct.
• Vision statement - at the conclusion of the NPC, the conference facilitator, Ian McCallum, outlined a possible new vision statement 'Inform, Innovate, Inspire', which was supported as an interim statement.

To sum up, it was good to see just how much progress has been made in the past year (it's easy to forget just how much the Association has changed) and to see the energy and commitment to ALIA's future displayed by those at the NPC sessions. I am happy to be contacted if members have specific questions about issues raised at the NPC - or wish to see some of the documentation circulated prior to and during the NPC!

Jan Gordon
j.gordon@adfa.edu.au

One merged conference?
Jill Buckley Smith and Prue Deacon from the ALIA ACT and District Health Forum have asked some questions that we could all consider on the controversial issue of one merged conference.

Prue Deacon, who attended the National Policy Conference for ACT and District Health Forum, writes, "Conferences were the main topic of discussion and disagreement. It appeared that the Board had decided to merge all the smaller biennial conferences into a single venue with streams for the major groups or activities (specials/health/law, library technicians, cataloguers etc).

The main ALIA conferences, with their greater policy emphasis, would still be held in the in-between years. The merged conferences would result in less financial risk for ALIA and better opportunities for networking and would allow for ALIA National Office to give greater assistance to conference organisers. There were no details about how the merged conference model would work and nothing about possible negative effects. In discussion there was considerable resentment from the specials/health/law representatives about the taking over of their 2003 Adelaide conference to become the first merged conference. As a result, it is now more likely that the first merged conference will be held in 2005.

The ALIA plan for a merged conference offers some benefits in getting administrative assistance from ALIA. However, I can see some drawbacks: a merged conference is likely to be in a bigger, more expensive venue than some of the current biennial conferences - so the registration fees are likely to be higher; in a small library, it may be difficult to select who will attend (would library technicians get a chance?); networking can be harder in a big conference than a small one; people who have multiple professional interests will have trouble getting to all the sessions they want to attend.

What do you think? How would it affect your attendance? How would it affect conference attendance by other members of your staff"?

Prue Deacon

Effective ILL and document delivery
Tom Ruthven, director, Interlending Services, National Library of Australia, will speak to ALIA members in the ACT on Wednesday 13 February (see Events) about a report released recently by the National Resource Sharing Working Group. The report examines the critical factors for maximising the performance of interlibrary loan/document delivery (ILL/DD) operations.

The Working Groupfound that the most efficient libraries streamlined their workflows, introduced automated systems, had well-trained staff, added and maintained up-to-date holdings information about their collection on a union catalogue and utilised co-operative agreements with their ILL/DD partners. There is great potential for libraries to improve and expand ILL/DD services to their patrons without increasing costs.

The report is the result of nearly two years work by the Working Group. More than 90 participating libraries from around Australia provided detailed information about their ILL/DD operations. The results of the Study will be used to develop training and seminars on ILL/DD issues. Libraries can also use the performance data included in the report to benchmark the performance of their own ILL/DD operations.

The Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Benchmarking Study can be downloaded from the National Library of Australia's website at http://www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/nrswg/benchmarking.html.

For further information contact Tom Ruthven, ph 02 6262 1265, truthven@nla.gov.au

Did you have your photo taken at the Christmas Function?
It was good for me as your new ACT local presence officer to meet many of you and take some photos of you enjoying the Christmas function. The photos will be available for viewing and copies can be ordered at the next ACTive ALIA meeting on 13 February at 5:30pm. If you remember your photo being taken and you cannot come to the meeting, please contact me.

Judith Brooker
ACT local presence officer
judith.brooker@alianet.alia.org.au