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ACTive ALIAproACTiveNumber 247: November 2004[ UC courses withdrawn | Practical aspects of leadership and management | Professional perspectives lecture | Retirements: Margaret Shaw and Barbara Lewincamp | ALIA National Policy Congress 2004: Celebrating success | Library visits ] UC Graduate Diploma Library and Information Management and Master of Library and Information Management courses withdrawnThe University of Canberra has decided to withdraw the Graduate Diploma Library and Information Management and the Master of Library and Information Management from the courses it offers. There will be no new intake of students into any of our entry-level librarianship courses from 2005 onwards. A similar decision was made about 18 months ago when the university decided that, because of low student numbers, the undergraduate Bachelor of Communication (Information) would cease to take students from the beginning of 2004. At that time academics within the library and information studies area sought, and were given approval, to develop the graduate diploma into an online course in an effort to extend the potential student market beyond the ACT. Academic staff have been working very hard during the past year to ensure that the subjects offered in this new mode of delivery would give students the very best learning experience. However, interest in the course has not been sufficiently high to convince university decision-makers that it had a viable future and the decision to cease offering it to new students was made in late October. It is unfortunate that the course was not allowed to be offered in online mode for a couple of years to test whether it could, indeed, prove viable. UC's is the second oldest course in the country and many UC graduates are now leaders in the profession in Australia and on the international stage. The decision will have significant consequences for the profession in the ACT. There is a greater concentration of libraries and other types of information agencies in Canberra than in any other city in Australia. After the current students graduate, these organisations will be forced to recruit from interstate. For many years now the demand for new graduates has outstripped UC's ability to supply them and UC's graduates had no trouble gaining employment - mostly even before graduation. Sadly, the number of students entering the courses fell below the number that the University considered to be viable. All present students will be given one-on-one course advice sessions to ensure that their study needs are met as effectively as possible. Although students were expecting to move to a fully online mode of delivery in 2005, one change will be that one or two subjects will still be offered in on-campus face-to-face mode, for the last time. The postgraduate program will continue for the time being, although in the longer term as staff retire it will inevitably decline. All of the academics involved in the program very much regret this decision. Edited version of e-mail distributed by Trish Milne and Peter Clayton, School of Information Management and Tourism, University of Canberra, 5 November 2004
Some practical aspects of leadership and managementPresentation by Alan Law, chief operating officer, Department of Health, to ACT library development group on 28 October 2004 A group of ACT librarians formed this year to organise events aimed at improving our careers and development. The Group's third event was a talk by Alan Law, who has extensive experience as a very senior manager in IT and business solutions across the public sector. Alan's talk was on the topic 'Some practical aspects of leadership and management' and he took the opportunity to very seriously challenge us all! He took us through three key challenges:
These were illustrated with stories of his experiences in managing AGPS, CRS and in Health. He emphasised that managers only achieve results through the efforts of others, and that culture cannot be changed by changing processes. Leaders need to coach and mentor, but not 'do'. He reminded us that achieving outcomes required a combination of good leadership and good management. He sounded a word of warning that good managers should not focus on technical expertise, and that expert subject knowledge can indeed be a barrier. Those attending rose to the challenge and asked him about the challenge of keeping a balance and leading in difficult times. Perhaps the best messages I took from Alan's great presentation was to focus on the skills of a leader that you have worked for that you greatly admire, that that he believed his attributes were listening, challenging and clarity. Future events will be posted to e-lists as they are organised by Karna O'Dea and Roxanne Missingham. Roxanne Missingham
Professional perspectives lectureDr Peter Stanley, principal historian at the Australian War Memorial gave a provocative professional perspectives lecture at the University of Canberra in late October. He gave a perspective from the 'other side of the desk' as a professional use of libraries and archives. A very entertaining talk, Peter described his trials and tribulations (and thrills) for working in cultural institutions as a researcher all over the world. He emphasised the importance of having an environment and approach that welcome scholars, be they churners (like Peter) or ones that take a very steady analytic approach. His best experiences has been with the Alexander Turnbull, in the National Library of New Zealand, which had great facilities, great staff, good finding aids, fast delivery, and a good cheap cafe within the building. He recommended it as an ideal model. His worst was on overseas archive with particular challenges in building, equipment and procedures. He has some recommendations for us all: What every archive needs:
What doesn't it need?
ALIA members should keep their eye on the ALIA web site for news of future professional perspectives lectures - they are always stimulating. Thanks to Peter Clayton and the lecturing staff at the University of Canberra for organising the event. Roxanne Missingham
RetirementsTwo very significant librarians who have made enormous contributions to libraries in the ACT have retired recently - Margaret Shaw from the National Gallery of Australia and Barbara Lewincamp from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Margaret Shaw 
Margaret Shaw, who retired at the beginning of November from the National Gallery of Australia, enjoys a truly international profile in art librarianship circles. As many people will attest, it is impossible to attend an art librarian's conference on any continent without having the following conversation not once, but many times: 'Oh, you're from Australia. You must know Margaret Shaw!' Margaret has been an untiring international ambassador for the professionalism and quality of art librarianship in Australia. Even past directors of the NGA have being introduced at international gatherings as colleagues of Margaret! Margaret Shaw was appointed chief librarian at the Australian National Gallery in 1978, when the gallery building was still a half built shell, and the staff were located in less than salubrious accommodations at Fyshwick, with Margaret's new library overlooking the Venus adult shop. From these inauspicious beginnings, Margaret spent the next 26 years transforming a small collection of books and auction catalogues into the largest art museum library in Australia. The National Gallery of Australia's research library can now take its place as a major art library, comparable with overseas collections which are significantly older. Margaret has also been active in the work of a range of professional bodies. She was a keen participant in the Librarians' work value case that ran from 1979-1981, and also assisted in later cases to improve the wages and career structures for librarians in the commonwealth public sector. However what Margaret will be remembered for most is her work in ARLIS/ANZ and the IFLA art section. It is hard to think of a single position in these bodies she has not held. Past positions include chair of ARLIS/ANZ, conference convenor for ARLIS/ANZ (a number of times), 11 years on the standing committee IFLA art libraries section, of which she was chair for 4 years, honorary adviser to the IFLA art libraries section, and committee member for ARLIS/ANZ. Margaret was active in many other areas of professional activity, including the ACT Chapter of ALIA, council member Australian Council of Libraries and Information Services, deputy chariman of the board of Unilinc, and member of the editorial board of Art Bibliographies Modern. She believes that it is essential for an art museum library, particularly an art museum library in Australia, to build and maintain a strong local and international network of contacts. To this end she is a regular delegate to overseas conferences and has presented papers at conferences in a number of countries including five papers at ARLIS/NA meetings. Margaret is leaving for London in December, where she will be volunteering in a small private library. After attending IFLA in OSLO in August 2005, she will return to Canberra to work as a volunteer at the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of Australia Library. Gillian Currie Barbara Lewincamp Barbara will be know to ACT librarians for the contribution she made at the CAA, FACS and AIATSIS libraries. She has been an inspiration to me for her strategic vision of the role libraries can play in building collections of national significance and making resource available in a manner that will support Australian identity and communities. At AIATSIS Barbara was responsible for the implementation of collection management system which, for the first time, enabled Australians to find resources in this wonderful collection through an online catalogue. She has enormous energy and was successful in obtaining additional financial support from external funding to increase the collection and access to it. The energy, expertise, skills of Indigenous staff were also a significant part of all the developments in the library. She supported the development of the library staff in family history unit - mentoring, supporting, developing them to enormously improve this service. She was responsible for digitisation of material from the collection resulting in great online exhibitions. She also led the way for AIATSIS to join the national infrastructure - the NBD, Pandora, RAAM. She managed a library with a diverse work force - librarians, library technicians, subject specialists, archivists, conservators, family history officers, digitisation staff with distinction. She recalls that this was an exciting mix - not the traditional mix as when she started in the profession. One of her most significant achievements was the digitisation of Dawn and New Dawn magazines, which were published between 1952-1975 by the New South Wales Aborigines Welfare Board, with the aim of providing interesting information and an exchange of news and views. The Dawn and New Dawn also served as a way for people to keep in contact. Today the magazines are a valuable source of family history information as they include details of births, deaths, marriages and baptisms, as well as hundreds of photographs. The Dawn and New Dawn also contain articles about the conditions and activities on reserves, stations, homes and schools throughout New South Wales. During its time of publication the magazines were also used to highlight the work of the Aboriginal Welfare Board. These are now on CD ROM, online, enabling family history research across the nation as copies will be sent to all public libraries throughout NSW, all major Indigenous organisations throughout NSW, all tertiary educational libraries throughout NSW and all secondary school libraries throughout NSW Barbara, thank you for your contribution to the profession and may you continue to be a contributor to new activities in your next stage of life! Roxanne Missingham
ALIA National Policy Congress 2004: Celebrating successThe ALIA National Policy Congress 2004 was held at the ALIA House in Canberra on 19 and 20 November. Thirty five delegates participated: 10 regional representatives, 9 invited group delegates, 7 members of the ALIA Board of Directors and 9 observers composed mainly of local liaison officers. On the afternoon of the 19 November, the delegates were welcomed at an afternoon tea party. This was followed by the launch of the ALIA online shop by Imogen Garner. The highlight for me was the five-minute presentations on the success stories from the various groups represented at the congress. It was very encouraging to hear about what our colleagues achieved with so little resources; such as the strong networking groups operating now in Alice Springs, Cairns and Northern Territory. These success stories demonstrated to me the real commitment, enthusiasm and support given by ordinary librarians doing their bit for the library and information profession in Australia. I was fortunate to have been nominated by the ACT groups to represent the region. Our success stories were on:
All delegates were given the opportunity to review and comment on the ALIA 2005 - 2006 plan. Many of the comments were accepted for inclusion in the final draft of the plan. It was a privilege to represent the region and I found the experience very encouraging and professionally rewarding. The fact that I met so many like minded people face-to-face and share in their stories was truly worth half the weekend doing ALIA business. I can certainly recommend being involved in ALIA activities for anyone out there. Deveni Temu APSIG Convenor
Library visitsALIA members and students participated in two visits to libraries in late 2004 - to Old Parliament House library, and the National Museum of Australia library. ACTive ALIA thanks Virginia Anne Lyon of OPH and Julie Philips of NMA for their hospitality and stimulating contribution to our continuing professional development and networking program. Sherrey Quinn
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