ACTive ALIA

proACTive

Number 225: July 2002

ACTive ALIA convenor's column

This month I have a number of exciting events to tell you about: our midwinter dinner, quiz and prize giving, a talk on ALIA's future and another on virtual libraries. We are also continuing to publish entries to the 'Libraries change lives' competition as they have created a lot of interest.

Midwinter dinner and awards night, Friday 9 August
This year's midwinter dinner and awards night will also include a quiz with book prizes donated by the University Co-op bookshop: It will be held at the University of Canberra Staff Club on Friday 9 August. The evening will commence with pre-dinner drinks and nibbles at 7:00pm, followed by dinner at 7:30pm. The dinner will cost $40.00 per person (including pre-dinner drinks and wine). Prizes will be presented to a number of outstanding library and information recipients. The UC Staff Club is located in Building 1, Level A (near the hub).

For directions please see the University map at http://www.canberra.edu.au/uc/about/campmap.html. If you would like to join your friends and colleagues in the celebrations, RSVP Judith Brooker by 6 August (see events for details).

The future for ALIA
Jennefer Nicholson, executive director of ALIA, spoke to an ACTive ALIA meeting on 12 June. She focussed on the future for ALIA: reflecting that the association is in a good position to move forward: rather than dwelling on all that has happened over the past few years, and indicated that ALIA has moved beyond the concept of 'renewal'.

Issues that ALIA is tackling include (and this is just a sample): conferences; research into services for members; communication and promotional issues; research into institutional members; mechanisms for young members and those new to the profession; and the LISEKA project ('Library and Information Science Education for the Knowledge Age').

ALIA is also investigating a new model for the National Policy Congress, one that allows for broader involvement beyond the group structures.

One issue of direct interest to the group was an examination by ALIA of the different prizes awarded by ALIA groups. Jennefer recommended that groups should consider awarding an ALIA membership instead of presenting cash or other goods and services to prize winners.

Jennefer answered a variety of questions: ranging from communication issues (more open, but less certainty for members on who to contact); and how the Board measures itself; to international co-operation, and the inevitable membership issues, eg, make parts of the website available only to members.

The members who were present found it very informative and were very grateful to Jennefer for giving her presentation while clearly not feeling 100 per cent.

Virtual libraries
Amanda Magnussen, the assistant library manager of IP Australia Library, spoke about virtual libraries to a large audience in the McDonald Room of the ANU Menzies Library on 19 June.

Virtual libraries have been coming for a long time, and we all have many more virtual elements in our libraries than we could have imagined a few years ago. But where are we really going?

Amanda has been doing some research on virtual libraries, and spoke to URLs members, Australian Law Librarian Group members and other interested people about what she's been finding out. She has compared Commonwealth Government libraries with earlier studies of university and research libraries by the Council of Australian University Libraries and American Research Libraries. She discussed a model she has developed of what virtual libraries might look like. A lively question and answer session followed. There was considerable discussion of her concept of core activities and optional activities in the virtual library.

Helen Roberts, convenor, ACTive ALIA