January-December 2004

Annual report to the ALIA Board of Directors

From ALIA Schools Victoria, December 2004.

Purpose and goals as stated in ALIA group application:

To encourage collegiality among its members
To promote the interests of school libraries and teacher-librarians
To provide opportunities for professional development for personnel in school libraries
To lobby for school libraries with state and local groups
To liaise with other professional groups in the field, for example SLAV
To identify and analyse current trends in teacher-librarianship
To maintain the profile of teacher-librarians within the ALIA structure
To hold regular meetings and to disseminate information in print and electronic format

Activities from January to December 2004

Activites include an evaluation of the achievement of the group in relation to the purpose and goals.

On 13 March, ALIA Schools Victoria conducted a professional development session titled Note well! Notemaking in the electronic age. This seminar focused on the use of electronic notetaking and strategies for assisting students to understand the nature of plagiarism. The participants were fully engaged during the day and appreciated the hands on and practical nature of the seminar. This activity fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
May 8 and June 12 were the dates for the spaced learning module on evidence based practice. This was a repeat of the module that had been run successfully in 2002 and 2003. Although the number of participants was less than in previous years, those members that attended were grateful for the collegiality and support generated by the sessions. This activity fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7.
Between October 18 and 29 the group's first online forum was held. Joy McGregor from Charles Sturt University was invited to prepare a discussion paper on her research into students' perceptions of plagiarism. Kris Johnstone liaised with Joy and ALIA and she also moderated the discussion. The direct posts to the forum were mainly from the committee, however, more members did join the list-serve as a result of the forum. This activity fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8.
In late 2003, Barbara Bugg and Sandra Ryan met with Garry McLean from the Catholic Education Office in Melbourne. Following this meeting, Anne Girolami and Sandra Ryan initiated dialogue with a network of Victorian Catholic Primary Library Zone personnel. As a result, the network group met in conjunction with ALIA Schools Victoria Group on 14 August and 13 November. There are plans to publish a manual of procedures which will be of great assistance to untrained library personnel. In addition, ALIA Schools Victoria Group will support the group so that it can offer professional development for members of the network. This initiative fulfilled the following goals: 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
To celebrate International School Libraries Day on 25 October, the joint SLAV and ALIA dinner was held with Kate Burridge as the guest speaker. The dinner, which is an annual event, demonstrates the co-operation between the two organisations. This activity fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2 and 5.
The group has held scheduled meetings on 7 February, 13 March, 8 May, and 12 June, 17 July, 14 August, 23 October and 13 November. At the meetings on 7 February, 13 March and 14 August mail outs to members were collated. Each of these mail outs contained a newsletter and a flyer inviting participation in the scheduled professional development sessions. These meetings and mail outs fulfilled the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
ALIA is represented on the joint ALIA/ASLA Policy Advisory Group by three members of ALIA Schools Victoria. Anne Girolami is the chairperson of the group with Kris Johnstone and Sandra Ryan as committee members. Regular teleconferences have been held and reports have been submitted from the committee. One of the major activities of the joint committee has been to develop standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. By representing ALIA on this joint committee, ALIA Schools Victoria is fulfilling the following goals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Anne Girolami represented school libraries on the Australian Library Week Committee. Anne has participated in regular meetings and she will continue as a member of this committee. By representing school libraries on this broadly based committee Anne has enabled ALIA Schools Victoria to fulfill the following goals: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Conclusion

ALIA Schools, Victoria has successfully continued to meet its purpose and goals. The group has been active in promoting both ALIA and the interests of teacher librarians. It continues to offer a valuable service to its members.

Sandra Ryan and Barbara Bugg, co-convenors, ALIA Schools Victoria

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