ALIA NSW

Revitalising ALIA NSW

Meeting 3: 16 March 2005, State Library of New South Wales

The NSW state librarian, Dagmar Schmidmaier AM was pleased to welcome a contingent of students, newer members and ALIA members of long standing to an ALIA networking meeting, held at the State Library of New South Wales in March. The purpose of the meeting was to gauge interest in cross-sectoral networking in the Sydney region.

Members were welcomed by state librarian, Dagmar Schmidmaier AM, who invited them to think about some twenty first century challenges faced by the profession. Questions posed included does the media's role as content producers and content channels make them competitors of libraries? How will libraries effectively demonstrate their worth to funding bodies, their constituents and other stakeholders in this rapidly evolving environment? An entrie of challenging ideas whetted the appetite for the networking part of the evening.

After Dagmar's brief address, participants mingled to meet new faces and catch up with colleagues from a wide range of libraries and information agencies.

Meeting 2: 20 January 2005, State Library of New South Wales

The members present agreed to a tentative schedule of events for 2005, with focus on networking and development opportunities.

Program contacts: Joanne Witt, Michael Olsson, Jennifer Berryman, Anne Doherty.

Web page contacts: Jessamy Hawkins.

Communications contact: Rosemary McLauchlan.

The first event is planned for March 2005.

Meeting 1: 3 November 2004, State Library of New South Wales

The meeting was facilitated by Hilary Yerbury, the ALIA NSW local liaison officer. Twelve members attended, with several more sending apologies and asking to be informed of the outcomes. The key points that were raised in the meeting were as follows:

• There is a perception that little happens in ALIA NSW.
• Communication between groups and members was raised as an important area.
• Professional development activities are a major interest for ALIA members.
• Curiosity about other members' stories.
• Opportunities for networking.
• Need for cross-sectoral involvement.

In discussing these points, many suggestions were made, which included:

• Updating the ALIA NSW website, so that new members have access to contact details and information to foster a sense of belonging.
• Welcoming new members to ALIA and putting them in touch with established groups.
• Re-positioning ALIA NSW list so that it can play a co-ordinating role, giving members information on the activities planned by any group in NSW.
• Encouraging members to sign up to ALIA NSW.
• Using the ALIA NSW list to hold online discussions, such as 'topic of the month'.
• Holding social meetings, with or without a professional development focus.
• Holding workshops/debates/exercises which could have professional development points for the CPD program.
• Piggyback on other conferences and activities to get speakers.
• Provide opportunities for people to tell 'how I did it'.
• Keep meetings small.
• Experiment with online chat, encouraging people outside of Sydney to take part.
• Holding annual function for new members.