2005 annual report

Key activities held in 2005

PD events and activities:

At the invitation of the IFLA Management of Library Associations meeting held in ALIA House, Canberra from 3-5 February, the Secretary and Convenor attended and presented a report on the activities of the APSIG group to the members.

Travellers tales
8 February, Anna Reid, information access officer South East Asia, ANU Library extended our knowledge of the Malay collections available from libraries around the world. This was followed by Anya Dettman from the Indonesian Unit, Asian Collections of the National Library of Australia who enthralled the audience with a visual and musical presentation of the history of I La Galigo, Indonesia's longest and least known epic poem.

On 19 April, our colleagues who were out and about in the region: Oliver Mann gave a fascinating account of his varied experiences of working for the NLA in Indonesia, Amelia McKenzie on the AAS Conference, Chicago and Kylie Moloney's volunteer work in Vanuatu resulted in the building of a brand new library.

28 September, a small group of APSIG members attended the Spring dinner held at the Asian Mekong Delta Restaurant in Civic. Dr David Sloper, a consultant who has been involved in the Banda Aceh development and planning projects was able to talk to us about the real challenges of rebuilding institutions after the Tsunami devastations.

3 November saw many of us gather at the NLA Conference Room to hear and see a slide presentation by Amelia McKenzie on the book donation program for libraries in Aceh titled After the tsunami: the National Library's books for Aceh project.

Networking and social:
13 December, APSIG Christmas lunch at the Griffith Vietnamese Restaurant provided a relaxed and festive atmosphere for all who attended to chat and simply enjoy the food.

Membership recruitment:
APSIG events are widely advertised and we welcome participation by others.

Group communications

The APSIG newsletter is published three times a year (March, July and November). Timely publication was maintained during the year. It is fulfilling its purpose of disseminating up-to-date information and news on library developments in our region. Articles are regularly received from librarians in other countries or by Australians working or visiting in the region. It is distributed in hardcopy to major library associations and groups in the Asia/Pacific region through the assistance of ALIA with postal costs. It is also mounted on the ALIA website.

The APSIG list server, provided via ALIA, is regularly used to notify members of coming events and important news items. Requests continued to be received for adding to the distribution list. This indicates that it is found to be fulfilling a useful purpose.

Office bearers

Convenor: Deveni Temu
Secretary/newsletter editor: Marie Sexton
Treasurer: Amelia McKenzie
Committee members: Anya Dettman, Christina Flynn, George Miller

Office bearer submitting report

Name: Deveni Temu
Position: Convenor
Date: 9 February 2006

A a