ALIA ACTive

2005 annual Report

ACTive ALIA's contribution in 2005 focused on opportunities for members to learn and share ideas. This was achieved through collaboration with the Australian Government Librarians Network (AGLIN), with which ACTive ALIA held a number of joint information sharing sessions.

2005 is the second year that this program has been run. It aims to provide opportunities for those attending to:

1. Increase their skills and knowledge and thus help them to develop their careers, and
   
   
2. discuss and become better informed on important professional issues.

The events arose out of discussions by local members about the need to access short informative sessions on current issues, including management , professional and IT areas to keep up with developments in a cost effective way. The program was developed with sessions held at various times of the day - lunchtime, afternoon and evening to enable those in different circumstances to attend.

The program included repeats of Information Online and On Disc papers by Canberra presenters, as it was recognized that many library staff were unable to attend the conference. These presentations were well attended.

In addition to the joint information sharing sessions the group also was fortunate to be addressed in April by Lynne Brindley, CEO of the British Library, and by Dagmar Schmidmaier, ALIA Vice President and President-elect at the Annual Dinner and Prizegiving in September. On this occasion ACTive ALIA Prizes (Memberships of ALIA) were awarded to:

• Pauline Kopp: ACTive ALIA prize for best undergraduate student in 2004 - Bachelor of Information Management, and
  
  
• Megan Taylor: ACTive ALIA prize for best graduate student in 2004 - Grad Dip in Library and Information Management.

The John Balnaves Prize for Information Retrieval for 2004 (sponsored by the University of Canberra) was awarded in absentia to Caitlin Prescott.

Many members of the group attended the one-day Digital Amnesia Seminar, held by ALIA on Thursday 21 April 2005, and sponsored by the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of Australia. This seminar drew over 150 participants from Australian states and territories and New Zealand, and was a forum for discussion of ongoing, long-term online access to Australian government publications. A summary of key issues and presentations is on the ALIA website, together with three papers presented on the day, and an article on the seminar which appeared in The Australian newspaper.

Group events held in 2005 were:

24 February - New initiatives in the Tax Library Network
AGLIN/ALIActive joint information sharing forum, Charu Sood (Australian Taxation Office) National Library of Australia, Conference Room, 4:00pm-5:00pm.

14 April - Recent developments at the British Library
AGLIN/ALIActive joint information sharing forum, Lynne Brindley, (CEO, British Library) A strategic repositioning and modernisation programme has ensured that the British Library provides relevant services to users in the 21st century, and is recognised for its contribution to research, innovation and culture. NLA Theatre 12:30am-1:30pm.

11 May - ALIA/AGLIN meeting with library educators
ALIA/AGLIN information sharing forum a conversation between library workers, industry and educators. Speakers from ALIA, Canberra Institute of Technology, University of Canberra and Charles Sturt University - updates on courses, teaching, directions; discussion. NLA Conference Room, 2:00pm-4:00pm.

26 May - If you could not get to Online
AGLIN/ALIActive information sharing forum,. Online 2005 presenters: David Hawking (CSIRO) - search and metadata; Fran Wilson, Roxanne Missingham (National Library) - Libraries Australia Portal; Alison Carter and Simon Best (Dept of Family and Community Services),- Initiatives at FACS. NLA Theatre, 4:30pm-6:00pm.

29 June - Devising an Information Management Strategic Framework
AGLIN/ALIActive information sharing forum., David Williams (Dept. of Employment & Workplace Relations), and An Information Management Roadmap for Geoscience Australia - Paul Trezise (GeoScience Australia). NLA Conf Room, 3:30pm-5:00pm.

25 August - Language and controlled vocabulary
AGLIN/ALIActive information sharing forum, Sherrey Quinn (Libraries Alive!) - Development of a system to manage the Defence Glossary; Anne Daniels and Pam Garfoot (Centrelink) - Language Management in Centrelink (Online 2005 paper). NLA Conference Room, 4:00-5:30pm.

14 September - ACTive ALIA dinner and prizegiving
Ainslie Function Centre, 7:00pm: Guest speaker: Dagmar Schmidmaier AM, CEO and state librarian, State Library of NSW; vice-president and president-elect, ALIA; Chairman Aurora Foundation. Dagmar spoke about the leadership challenges facing the profession. The annual ACTive ALIA Prizes were awarded to graduate and undergraduate students in information studies at the University of Canberra.

19 October - Information management in the Parliamentary Library
AGLIN/ALIActive information sharing forum, -Online 2005 Encore Moving right along: using RFID for collection management at the Parliamentary Library, Gaik Khong and Shirley White (Parliamentary Library); and Digital media monitoring for Parliament, Catherine Gilbert (Parliamentary Library). NLA, 4th Floor Conf Room, 4:00-5:30pm.

4 November- Jobs and skill gaps: what the market is looking for
AGLIN/ALIActive information sharing forum, Sally Dallas (Zenith), Megan Curlewis (Informed Sources). NLA Conference Room, 4:00pm-5:00pm.

24 November - Risk management: theory and practical application in a library context
AGLIN/ALIActive information sharing forum, Speakers Paul Longley (Dept of Employment and Workplace Relations) and Margerita Moreno (National Library). NLA Conference Room, 12:30-1:30pm.

Summaries of these sessions, with links to text or PowerPoint presentations, were published in proACTive, the group's bi-monthly electronic newsletter.

Approximately 500 people attended the information sharing sessions, and about 50 attended to annual dinner.

The ALIA/AGLIN programme was put together by Karna O'Dea, Roxanne Missingham, Kym Holden and Sherrey Quinn.

An evaluation of activities revealed a preference among attendees for lunchtime or after work events, interest in new programs, a desire to continue discussions of employment and an enthusiasm to tackle the issue of demonstrating our relevance and value. The program for 2006 will include seminars and information sessions. Scheduled Joint Information Sharing Sessions with AGLIN include:

• Emerging technologies: Blogs, wikis, RSS, Flickr : their use in a library context, 22 February 2006.
  
  
• Evaluation methodologies, 22 March 2006.
  
  
• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) visit and presentation on AIATSIS language and place name thesauri, 26 April 2006.
  
  
• Parliamentary committees and their reports, 19 July 2006.
  
  

Other sessions are planned but not yet definitely scheduled. It is expected that the annual dinner and prizegiving will be held again in August, with presentations to the 2005 winners of the ACTive ALIA Awards and the John Balnaves Award.

This report was compiled by Sherrey Quinn, and incorporates notes prepared by Roxanne Missingham, Kym Holden and Karna O'Dea.

10 February 2006.