ALIA West

May 2006

ALIAWest Ice Breaker at Midland

The ALIA West 2006 Icebreaker event was held in the WA Department of Land Information's Midland headquarters on Tuesday 21 March. The event was attended by approx.17 librarians from Commonwealth, State, and private sector organisations, members of DLI and other interested parties. The function commenced in the Department's Amenities Room with drinks and nibbles. Guests chatted while browsing a range of publications on display from DLI, the Midland Redevelopment Authority and the Swan Valley Tourist Village.

A brief slide-show featuring images of land and property was a prelude to a PowerPoint presentation by David Daw-Smith (DLI's Librarian) and Paul Karas (DLI's TRIM Administrator): 'TRIM and the Library: A New Way Forward'. The aim of the presentation was to provide an overview of how TRIM came to be implemented in the library to manage its catalogue data and provide the Department with online access to its own library's holdings for the first time. Guests were interested in how DLI is applying a records management system such as TRIM within the library, as opposed to using one of the many database systems designed with libraries in mind, such as DB/TextWorks. Library data was migrated from version 2.1 of DB/TextWorks to TRIM Captura in February 2005.

Roy Watkins, Manager of the Records and Information Services Branch in which the Library resides was among the guests and fielded several challenging questions and issues raised by the audience. David emphasised that it really had been a new way forward for the Library, which until the implementation of TRIM had largely been a stand-alone unit in the organisation, using a system that went largely unsupported by the IT unit. Staff members wishing to learn what was available in the library had little choice but to come in, with any required catalogue search provided by the Librarian. Although this was not necessarily a bad thing at the time, there was both the need and the demand to bring library data online.

David pointed out that established library practices co-existed effectively with TRIM, and that standards were still adhered to for cataloguing and classification. During the implementation period there were some compromises that had to be made in order to move forward. But the goal - to make library data available online to the agency - was kept well in sight and overshadowed the loss of the familiar features of the old system. David says that just over a year into using TRIM, there is still much work to be done in the Library including retrospective barcoding of stock.

The presentation was followed by a visit to the DLI Library where refreshments were served and guests browsed, socialised and gathered around PC workstations while David and Paul demonstrated TRIM's capability with library data.

The Department of Land Information is the oldest Government agency in Western Australia, originating in 1829 as the `Board of Counsel and Audit for the Management of Property within the Settlement', an organisation created by Captain James Stirling, the Governor of the Colony of Western Australia, while the ship 'Parmelia' was still en route to the Colony.

The Board later became the Survey Office, then the Department of Lands & Surveys and from 1986 to 2003 the Department of Land Administration (DOLA).

DLI is on the way to becoming a Statutory Authority with commercial powers, and will then be known another name (as yet unconfirmed).
The Department's head office was located in the Treasury Building in the Perth CBD until 1993 when it moved to brand new headquarters in Midland. The Library is thought to have originated from a collection of documents belonging to the first Surveyor General of Western Australia, John Septimus Roe. The collection is strong in land registration practice, as well as the history of surveying and cartography in Western Australia.

Highlights of the collection include a comprehensive set of the WA Government Gazette dating back to its beginning. Library staff are happy to respond to requests for extracts from the very early editions of the Gazette, some of which are on microfilm reels.

For most of its life, the Library had been a One Person Australian Library (OPAL). There have been only three (3) permanent professional librarians on staff in the Department's history - all serving at different times. Efforts to secure an additional full-time staff member continued until 2002 when Carolyn Leach (who was then a Records Officer) took up an opportunity to assist David in the Library. Carolyn is currently studying part-time for a qualification as a Library Technician. In 2006, a Branch restructure saw the Records Officer position formally transferred to the Library, providing two (2) full-time permanent staff members for the first time in its history: A Librarian (PS Level 2/4) and a Library Assistant (PS Level 1).

How did the DLI Library come to host the event? David attended an ALIA West Committee meeting where the venue for the 2006 Icebreaker was on the agenda. When David suggested having the Icebreaker at DLI, the committee responded enthusiastically. DLI staff members across the agency who were consulted or provided resources for the event were very supportive. David has thoroughly enjoyed his experience in hosting a library industry event. 'Hosting the 2006 ALIA West Icebreaker in DLI was a wonderful opportunity to promote our Library, our information management practices, and what we do here in DLI. In many ways I can see all of our corporate values (Creativity, Sustainability, Growth and Learning, Celebration and Excellence) reflected in this event - but the one that I believe shines most brightly is Celebration. This is because of the way DLI will now hopefully be recognised by the library and information-related professions as one of the very few agencies at the moment using TRIM for its library.'

'I thoroughly enjoyed coordinating and hosting the Icebreaker and would definitely do it again if the opportunity arises'.

David Daw-Smith Librarian, Dept of Land Information.

David with some of the Icebreaker attendees.

Paul and David take a moment to reflect on the success of the Icebreaker.