ALIA West

September 2005

Academic and Research Libraries (WA) Leaders' Forum

On Tuesday evening 26 July 2005, the Academic and Research Libraries Group held a Leaders' Forum at Edith Cowan University Library, Mt. Lawley campus. Five speakers from Perth academic libraries and the State Library of WA were invited to talk about their vision on future library trends, and how these trends may impact on service delivery. A panel discussion followed the formal presentations.

This was a very popular topic, as more than fifty people came along to hear our guest speakers, including Margaret Allen CEO and state librarian; Dan Archibald, Edith Cowan University; John Arfield, University of Western Australia; Imogen Garner, Curtin University of Technology; and Margaret Jones from Murdoch University.

Margaret Allen spoke about public library services in Western Australia, and the trend to public library design and site selection that facilitates the development of community hubs, or multi function service points for local councils. In this environment clients are able to access a variety of services including library collections, electronic resources, and bill paying services from their local library building. Other factors impacting on public library services include the demand for 24 x 7 access to information, accessing digitised unique materials, the increasing use of non book formats such as books on CD and MP3, and self service circulation systems.

A further challenge for public library services is the digital divide between seemingly information rich city dwellers, as opposed to information poor library users in rural areas scattered throughout this vast state. Ultimately, finding solutions to the digital divide will result in the creation of informed and empowered communities through the development of public libraries as convenient and comfortable places of learning, relevant to the needs of all library patrons, from those interested in recreational reading and self education, through to students of higher education, and the increasing demand for the provision of electronic resources in remote areas.

John Arfield's talk entitled Re-placing the library concentrated on the changing study habits of students in academic libraries. Where previous generations relied heavily on print resources that could only be found in the library, students of today belong to the Google generation, more likely to use an internet search engine to find information, rather than relying on print resources stored in libraries. This new generation of informed users have new expectations that demand service delivery at the point of need.

The challenge over the next couple of years (and who can predict past this time frame!) will be to provide a student study environment for the next generation of 'net-gen' students that encompasses e-research, or a collaborative research environment that encourages scholarly communication. Some emerging strategic themes for university librarians are to respond to users, integrate information, communicate knowledge, foster collaboration, and thus transform the organisation. John's presentation was illustrated throughout by some highly entertaining and pertinent slides, demonstrating that today's students rely on technology including mobile phones, smart cards, personal digital assistants, and other electronic 'stuff' to satisfy their educational needs. The library building is a comfortable environment to study and communicate with fellow students, but the print collections are no longer as relevant.

Dan Archibald touched a familiar chord for many in the audience, when he spoke about his experience in academic libraries, and the vast changes in technology that have occurred in the last two decades alone. From bygone days of card catalogues, and librarians accessing dial up databases to search for information on the client's behalf, enormous changes in technologies enable far greater access to information, delivered electronically to the end user. From a traditional model of the library as a repository of information, the emphasis has also switched to make the library a repository of online learning, with increasing demand to deliver a wide range of electronic range of resources to students and academic staff whether located on campus, or via remote access. The library has become a learning and social space for students with an emphasis on access, and smaller or non-existent collections.

Hazarding an educated guess at significant factors for the immediate future, Dan cited continued advances in electronic resources and information technology, content and digital rights management, e-repositories and other systems. Other media that may impact on service provision are video, DVD, video streaming, published titles available for download rather than purchase, and RSS feeds. Libraries must be aware of each new step along the way, and keep involved to avoid irrelevance.

In her presentation, Imogen Garner used the acronym for the Click06 ALIA conference to be held in Perth next September CLICK: (create, lead, innovate, connect, knowledge) as the basis of her talk. There is a trend of workplace reform, and we need staff with flexible and creative leadership skills. It is important for library teams to have people able to create new services and see potential (eg SMS, PDAs, blogs).

We need people to lead, not just in management roles, but also among library staff in general. The Aurora Leadership Institute aims to do just this. It is important to realise you don't need to be a manager or supervisor to influence and empower yourself and others. Innovation is not just a bright idea, but where ideas take us as part of a team. We need four characteristics: clarifiers, idealists, developers and implementers in order to make a difference. It's important to look at the spread of skills, develop skills in people, and work out how we get relevant skills into our skill set.

We need to connect with each other by networking with colleagues and make social contacts. Connecting makes us grow and develop, and provides us with a broad view of what's happening in our profession. Finally we need a core set of knowledge skills and attributes. We need to pursue professional development and understand what we mean about librarianship.

Margaret Jones was the final speaker. Her talk on the sustainable community focussed on the ability to make development choices that respects the relationship between the three e's, economy, ecology and equity. All libraries have an intrinsic role in sustaining communities by providing spaces that enable communities of scholars, communities of learners, both in the local, and global communities.

The library as a place in society may not necessarily be bound by the traditional image of the library as a physical building. Higher education libraries may support local communities by redefining the term 'community', and considering how far we should go to reach out to the wider community. The role of regional academic libraries may disseminate relevant research through digital repositories, and become a joint use library through collaboration with the wider community. In this environment, all members of the community share knowledge networks and in turn sustain the wider and therefore sustainable community.

Margaret spoke of her personal experience of using a telecentre/public library service in the south west of Western Australia while enjoying time away at her holiday home. This experience neatly dovetailed with Margaret Allen's talk about the trend towards making better use of public library facilities, transforming them to become welcoming places where all members of the community enjoy a wide range of facilities relevant to information needs.

In summary, the Leader's Forum attracted a lot of interest. It was terrific to have all of Perth's university librarians, and the state librarian together (a major coup) to hear their vision on future trends in library services and how these trends may impact on service delivery. The Academic and Research Libraries Group committee was also pleased to welcome a number of library studies students to this event, as our future leaders will surely come from this next generation of library professionals.

Gaye Sweeney, convenor, Academic and Research Libraries (WA)