ACTive ALIA

proACTive

Number 262: June 2007

[ Rethinking Resource Sharing Consultation? | National Library of Australia's Director General | Interested in personal and professional development? | ALIA Board meeting - 15 and 16 May 2007: Key Issues | ACTive ALIA Awards ]

Rethinking Resource Sharing Consultation?

Over the past three weeks there have been three highly significant meetings convened by the National Library of Australia - Rethinking Resource Sharing Consultation Forum on 20 April, Peak Bodies Forum on 7 May and National Licensing Forum 9 May.

The first selected products for a national opt in licence arrangement were announced at the National Licensing Forum. It is a major breakthrough and will be particularly beneficial to libraries that have not been able to belong to a consortium, resulting in more cost effective solutions for libraries currently in consortia (or at least at their current price). There is considerable scope for public libraries in particular to provide almost universal access to quality resources. The announcement is available online at http://era.nla.gov.au/

The Rethinking Resource Sharing Consultation Forum discussed developments to enable Australians to more easily access loans form Australian libraries, improvements achieved from implementing the outcomes of the 2002 ILL benchmarking study and ALIA's work on developing an ILL manual on a wiki. It was agreed that further work would be undertaken on business and technical issues with the aim of producing a proposal for a small number of libraries and select group of their users to test the concept. The proposal will be taken to National State Libraries Australasia (previously known as CASL).

The Sixth Peak Bodies' meeting included representatives of key library organisations and was convened by the National Library of Australia. The purpose of the meetings was to identify significant issues facing the Australian library sector and to develop a national plan of action to address those issues that participants agree can be successfully managed at a national level. Issues discussed included the National Site Licence, public libraries, Collections Council and national digital agenda, digitisation and digital access, online content regulation and filtering, censorship/restrictions on access, copyright, education, workforce planning and cataloguing (including RDA).

Full reports will appear shortly on the National Library's web site.

National Library of Australia's Director General

Congratulations to Jan Fullerton on her reappointment as Director General of the National Library for a further 5 year term. Jan has been an outstanding Director General and her reappointment will benefit not only the National Library but also all Australian libraries who benefit from her vision, drive and wonderful relationships across all Australian library sectors. Congratulations Jan!

Interested in personal and professional development?

ALIAActive together with AGLIN has run a number of events in recent years to help library and information staff develop their skills and knowledge. An area where we haven't run much yet is personal development.

Geraldine Barkworth has two workshops which are highly recommended by those who have attended them elsewhere in Australia which she would be happy to offer in Canberra if there are enough takers - the workshops are:

1. How To Be A Relaxed Overachiever (work/life balance) - limit of 24.
2. Speak & Expand (confidence in public speaking - a series of up to 4 workshops) - limit of 8.

For further information or a brochure about the workshops contact:

Roxanne Missingham
Parliamentary Librarian
Parliament House
PO Box 6000
Canberra ACT 2600

Telephone: (61) 02 6277 7102
Fax: (61) 02 6277 2403
Email: Roxanne.Missingham@aph.gov.au.nospam

If you are interested in the workshops please let me know and we'll see if we can put a group together for one to be run in Canberra later in the year.

ALIA Board meeting - 15 and 16 May 2007: Key Issues

The ALIA Board met on 15 and 16 May and considered a wide range of issues. A report on the Board meetings will be available at http://www.alia.org.au/governance/board/reports/

Some of the key issues considered were:

ALIA e-lists: A paper was considered which contained background information for a code of use and responsibilities guide for ALIA members, e-list managers and ALIA National Office as e-list owners. The Board discussed a wide range of policy issues. It was agreed that the Membership and Award Standing Committee would work on an exposure draft of the guidelines to be approved for consultation with members before finalisation. It was agreed that until this policy is finalised no new e-lists would be created.

ALIA 70th anniversary planning: Groups will continue to be encouraged to assist with the organisation of celebrations to mark ALIA's 70th Anniversary. A national event is being planned for the last quarter in 2007, further planning will continue.

Promotion of LIS as a career: The Board thanked the Queensland ALIA groups for organising a stand at the Brisbane Careers Expo and for their very thoughtful report. The Board noted a progress report on the Victorian LIS career promotion group and their forthcoming work to develop a website and other materials aimed at promoting LIS to school leavers.

IFLA 2010 Bid: ALIA has been advised that Brisbane along with Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have been short listed as a suitable location for the 2010 IFLA World Congress. ALIA will host the World Congress Professional Conference Organiser during their site visit to Brisbane in late June.

2007/08 Planning

• The main focus for the Board at the meeting on 16 May was planning, including focus of activities and work for 2007-08, standing committees and responsibilities for the Executive Director.
• The ALIA plan and Balanced Scorecard management reports were reviewed and the reporting will reflect the activities in the 2007 plan.
• The Board identified the following activities as priority for the 2007/08 period:
  • Advocacy (noting that it is a federal election year and ALIA's 70th Anniversary could provide an opportunity for engaging with Ministers and Shadow Ministers);
  • Education - particularly the development of discussion paper and the Education Summit;
  • Supporting ALIA Groups;
  • Engaging with members (including through National Advisory Congress meetings);
  • . Management of the Association's finances
  • Conferences - finalisation of the revised guidelines and working with Committees organising conferences;

ACTive ALIA Awards

The purpose of the ACTive ALIA Awards is to recognise and promote the work of members of the association. The awards are open to personal financial members of ALIA.

Two awards are available:

• Outstanding contribution award
• Initiative award

The criteria for the awards are:

Outstanding contribution award

1. The member has provided a sustained contribution to members of ALIA in the ACT.
2. The member has provided inspiration and leadership to ACT library staff.
3. The member may have contributed to a single committee, group or activity or a range of ALIA committees and groups.
4. The member has a sustained personal commitment and contribution to ALIA.

Initiative award

1. The member has contributed to activities of ALIA in the ACT.
2. The member has provided energy and enthusiasm in contributing to the development of ACT library staff.
3. The member may have contributed to a single committee, group or activity or a range of ALIA committees and groups.
4. The member has made a personal commitment and contribution to ALIA.

ALIA members who wish to be considered for the award, or who wish to nominate another member must follow the procedures below: ÿ Submit a nomination to the Convenor, ACTive ALIA group including a supporting statement (application for follows - to be put up on ALIA web site) ÿ Indicate in the nomination which award the nomination is for.

Applications for the awards will open on 1 July and close on 30 July each year, T The ACTive ALIA section committee will make a recommendation to a meeting of the ACTive ALIA committee in the calendar year of application.

The awards will be presented at the ACTive ALIA midwinter dinner or another event of ACT-wide significance.

The successful recipient (s) of the award will be required to:

1. Attend the presentation
2. It appropriate, write an article for ProACTive on their experience as an ALIA member.

The successful recipient (s) of the award will receive:

1. A citation and award certificate
2. listing on the web site
3. A book voucher or other token of appreciation of approximately $50.

To download the ACTive ALIA Awards form click here [PDF 28KB].