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TechNique: March 2004

Online acceptable use policies

The rising growth of the internet has allowed for an exponential increase in the amount of resources found online, with some of them being of a questionable nature. The increasing use of these resources means that many libraries must have in place guidelines for the appropriate use of computer networks. These policies are generally called Acceptable Use Policies, or AUP.

In schools, an AUP is a written form of agreement signed by students, parents and teachers which outlines the terms and conditions of internet use, rules of online behaviour and access privileges. This is not as straightforward in public libraries, given the almost impossible scenario of trying to monitor each user. Many libraries have developed a local, online AUP which reflects their own unique circumstances clearly defining what constitutes responsible use of the computer network.

This article provides some links to various online AUPs in public libraries around Australia, with more scheduled for coming editions of TechNique.

SBS Radio Melbourne-an odyssey

Cherrill Magee, Library Manager

SBS Radio Melbourne is part of the Special Broadcasting Service, a National Network, broadcasting in 68 languages on 2 frequencies in both Melbourne and Sydney and also a single frequency in other states.

Radio 3EA, later SBS Radio Melbourne, commenced broadcasting in June 1975. Initially, most broadcasters used their own records to add extra interest to programmes that were essentially a means of informing listeners in their first language about changes to the health system and introduction of Medibank. At first there was no need for a library as such but as funds for programming became available, first records and later a small number of reference books were made available to staff. At first Radio 3EA trialled broadcasting in 8 languages. The trial was very successful and this led to more and more groups requesting time to broadcast in additional languages. You can imagine the difficulties experienced when trying to organise materials without knowing the language. However the broadcasting staff are very helpful when it comes to assistance when adding items to the catalogue and selecting items for purchase.

The collection now includes 50 000 sound recordings, primarily CDs with a small collection of records and cassettes. 75 per cent of these items can be retrieved from a catalogue of albums or by the track listing. The current number of tracks listed is approximately 493 000 and increases on average by 1500 per month. We also have a small print collection of 7000 titles that mostly require original cataloguing and subscribe to 120 periodicals or newspapers in English and broadcast programming languages.

3EA Radio started life in Bank Street, South Melbourne before moving in 1989 to the Australian Ballet School building at Southbank. Not only did SBS share the building with the Ballet School but also the canteen. I always felt better if I stood straight and tall, and tried not to look too hungry. But all this ended on 15 March 2003, when, after years of planning, SBS Radio Melbourne moved to premises, shared with ACMI, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, at Federation Square, Melbourne, in the heart of the CBD. Being situated within such a popular tourist precinct sits comfortably with the diversity of SBS and now if we feel hungry we have many restaurants available to satisfy all our needs.

Working within SBS Radio is like taking a world trip everyday as you deal with materials, people, and events from all around the world. As programmes are language based, staff need to know the countries or areas where that language is spoken, also helpful are other factors including currency, social aspects, and ethnic naming systems. A lot of broadcast groups don't know the staff in other groups as they may attend on different days and work in different areas, but all the broadcasting staff are known to the library team. To the broadcasters, we are a friend, confidante, sounding board, and sometimes pathway to management. In return we share food and functions from many different areas such as the Arabic farewell, Greek dinners, Turkish dips, Korean wedding, Portuguese party and of course French Bastille Day, which is celebrated with an afternoon tea in the library. Library afternoon tea parties are very popular (standing room only) as a chance to interact with other staff.

The library has a team of four - Cherrill Magee, library manager; Joann Keogh, assistant library manager; Nicole Van, serials librarian; Pam Carter, library officer.

We also have two other librarians who work with us when required - Jocelyn Scarr (Projects and Casual) and also Linda Story (Casual), both of whom do a great job. When combined, these team members bring to SBS Radio a total of 50 years expertise and experience. Currency in broadcasting, technology and communications are important factors. Improvements in these areas keep the challenge and interest alive for all concerned.

Library Technician of the Year Award

A reminder that nominations are now open for the 2004 Library Technician of the Year, proudly sponsored by Edith Cowan University. This award promotes the role of library technicians in library and information science, as well as the role and image of the library technician. Nominees must be a personal member of the Library Technicians Group and hold an LT qualification recognised by ALIA. Nominees may be judged on their contribution to the advancement of library technicians, journal publications, conference papers, personal achievement in the development of library and information services or development within the Association.If you wish to nominate someone for this award, use the electronic nomination form.

Previous recipients of the award can also be found on the award pages.

Please note that nominations close on 1 July 2004.

12th ALIA National Library Technicians Conference: Bridging Services Embracing Reality
11-12 September 2003

Sharon Uthmann, Queensland University of Technology

I was fortunate enough to attend the 12th ALIA National Library Technicians Conference held at the Sheraton Hotel in Brisbane.

Following are a few brief highlights of some presentations I attended.

What's in it for me? Mentoring as a bridge to span personal and career development - Dr Gillian Hallam (QUT), Karen Seymour (UQ Gatton), and Chris Gillings (ourbrisbane.com)
Dr Gillian Hallam is the person behind the QUT/ALIA Student Mentoring Program that assists QUT GradDip (Library Science) students.

Karen Seymour is Convenor of the ALIA Qld Mentoring Program and co-ordinator of the Professional Program.
Chris Gillings is Librarian at ourbrisbane.com library, and has been a participant of the ALIA Qld Mentoring Program. The main points of the presentation were:

Mentoring is a form of personal and professional development.
The learning is reciprocal between the mentor and mentee.
The mentor must have a range of knowledge and experience, be able to facilitate learning for the mentee, and be willing to share.
The ALIA Qld Mentoring program has been calling for participants as mentors or mentees since October 2003.
The mentor/mentee sign an agreement which outlines what each would like to gain from the program, when they will meet, etc. They are supported by the ALIA Mentoring Committee who arranges the 'matching' of mentors to mentees, and the initial contact.

This session has prompted me to rejoin ALIA and offer myself as a mentor for the program.

Strengthening the Balance - Frances Duffy (Griffith University)
This was a very interesting session to attend. Frances Duffy provides HR and financial support to Griffith University's Library, IT and Multi-media staff across the five Griffith University Campuses.

Her presentation stemmed from her workshop Achieving Balance in Your Life. She opened the session by asking if everyone was happy with their lives. The program then moved on to how it is important to strike a balance between our home and work-life. To achieve wellness and happiness you need to have mental, emotional, physical and spiritual balance.

The program finished by having each member of the audience find another person (preferably someone they didn't know) and building a bridge, by breathing in, raising their arms above their heads, and joining hands in the shape of a bridge.

Don't Burn Your Bridges: Strategies to Get Ahead in Your Career - Kim Ferrari (Corporate Services, Qld Government)

Kim started the workshop by giving us a brief overview of her career, telling us that sometimes to get into the job we want; we may have to move laterally rather than vertically.

I found this workshop very motivating and helpful. Some of the advice that Kim gave included:

Request to undertake or lead a special project.
Apply for short-term relieving jobs - either at current level or at a higher grade to gain different experiences.
Participate in a job rotation scheme in your organisation.
Take a risk, step out of your comfort zone and look to identify and plan where you want to be and how you are going to get there - and remember - 'Don't burn your bridges'

Assembling the Personal Toolbox: Preparing for Personal Excellence -Naida Tattersall (Gold Coast City Council)

Naida gave a fascinating session on the rivets, nuts, and bolts of a library technician's toolkit.

She uses the toolbox as a metaphor to represent her toolkit, for example skills and knowledge. The session was presented using different photos of Naida's toolbox, and she literally did show us her toolbox!

The Learning Library - Carol Chambers (Centre for Training Materials, Qld Dept. of Employment and Training)

Carol's presentation described the opportunities for designing learning programs that could be integrated into the daily business of the library. The focus was on public libraries offering services for the community. She said that the library could recognise lifelong learning or organisational learning as a role within the library setting, and that the library can be used to facilitate the exchange of information between individuals.

Two examples of libraries that have developed programs of this type can be found at Broward County Library in Florida USA, and Seattle Public Library in the USA.

TAFE Portals - How Useful are They? - Michelle Alcock (OPL, Queensland Medical Laboratory), Jan Galloway (Brisbane North Institute of TAFE), and Prathiba Naran (Brisbane North Institute of TAFE)

You may be wondering what prompted me to attend this session. I was planning on attending another event on Griffith University's Contact Centre, but the program was changed so I decided I would attend Michelle, Jan and Prathiba's excellent briefing on the use of TAFE Portals. They presented the results of a survey they had conducted on how students use the services offered online by Brisbane North Institute of TAFE.

The results are outlined below:

74 per cent of students use the internet (to perform research searches)
71 per cent use books for research
68 per cent use course notes
15 per cent use journals
a small percentage use the databases and catalogue presented on the library webpage

External students are not using the Library website as they are not aware of its existence. As a result of the lack of use, tutors have been asked to encourage students to look further than the internet and course notes to complete assignments.

Are You Being Served? Quality Customer Service in Document Supply for the New Millennium - Margaret Pembroke (Southern Cross University)

Margaret presented a paper discussing how the Southern Cross University Library developed an in house, fully automated, web based document supply system to meet the needs of their patrons.

As a result of the development of the document supply system, inter-library loans increased to 12 364 items for 2002. Although it must be noted that this system is used for inter-campus loans/photocopy requests as well as inter-library loans/photocopy requests, and as a result, are counted in the statistics. 10% of the requests are held electronically within the Library collection.

The system was developed using ORACLE and MS Access running on UNIX. The supply team request the majority of resources through libraries that use ARIEL so desktop delivery is provided using PROSPERO. When the system was implemented in 2000, the Document Supply staff went out on the floor to show clients how to use the new system. The team continually work on ways to improve their work processes, and do this by gathering feedback from their clients.

I found this paper of particular interest, as Queensland University of Technology has just implemented a new Document Delivery System and I was very interested in the fact that Southern Cross University's requests had increased.

The conference was finalised with a sneak peak of the 13th ALIA National Library Technicians Conference to be held in Sydney in 2005, and the farewell address by Yvonne Brock, Conference Convenor.

Tales of a library technician at BlueScope Steel

Rob Thompson, Senior Library Technician

I am the Senior Library Technician at BlueScope Steel (formerly BHP Steel) at Port Kembla near Wollongong. We are the last Library of 9 Libraries that used to exist within BHP and we are situated within the Steel Research Laboratories complex. I am the only Library Technician, and work with two Librarians. We have two physical Libraries and I look after one of them one day a week, the rest of the time I'm at SRL with the two Librarians.

I look after all book purchases for BlueScope Steel, plus all Australian and international standards purchases. I am also responsible for journal acquisitions and circulations and for the maintenance of the Library's web presence. We use Inmagic's DB Textworks for our catalogue and this is available across BlueScope's intranet so staff can access the Library remotely. I also do online research utilising the Internet as well as databases such as Dialog, Factiva and Metaldex, as well as patent searches and looking after the safety video collection. Then there is always filing!

The Library looks after all BlueScope Steel which is principally in Port Kembla, but we have responsibility for Western Port in Victoria as well as our overseas plants in New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. We also do the occasional request from our offices in Japan, South Korea, India and the United States.

I love working in the Library - I began work at BHP (when it was still Australian Iron and Steel) as a accounts clerk, then had a number of years as a commercial clerk before joining the library 12 years ago. I love the thrill of the chase, whether it is to get the best price for a new book, information on a particular standard, tracking down an address of a company in Texas or hunting down information on a particular topic for a client. Whilst sometimes frustrating, it can also be rewarding when you hand over the information to a delighted client.

I also have a head full of useless trivia that comes in handy for those obscure questions you get asked in libraries, such as what is the capital of Liberia? To be able to confidently answer someone with a Phd that it is Monrovia is always good for one's personal satisfaction. As far as I can figure out, working in a library is one of the few places around where I can get to use this stuff in my head! The Library also allows me to use my skills in desktop publishing and website design. I occasionally also get to do some artwork for people (and on rare occasions for the company). I also have a great boss and work with a good team. We are all vitally interested in food and so we are all members of the Curry Club at work. This meets once a fortnight to eat curries cooked by two of the group. Every now and then these meetings are in the Library, yum!

Want a new e-list?

aliaPUBTECH - Management of technology in public libraries

aliaPUBTECH is intended to be a forum for discussion of innovation and new methods of accessing resources in libraries across all sectors. Technology is becoming increasingly important to all practitioners in day-to-day operations as is the increasing use of electronic resources and methods of retrieval. This list attempts, with the help of subscribers, to keep us all better informed about new technologies, innovations, e-resources and their expanding usage.

Subscribers to the list can inform, and be informed, about seminars, talks, resources, corporate initiatives and any other news that may be helpful. By adding to the discussions and the content, we will all benefit as will our profession. An initiative recently introduced is that of RefLink of the Week which provides a useful and informative website to subscribers every Monday.

Take a peak at some previous RefLinks of the Week.

English as a Second Language
A great resource for students of English as a Second Language, teaching English in fun ways with quizzes, anagrams, word games and word puzzles.

Dead or alive?
Search or browse alphabetically, by field or by cause of death among the thousands of famous (and semi-famous) people listed in this comprehensive and easy to navigate site. Other features include Died on This Date, Died in the Last Six Months, and Died Before Age 30.

Internet Public Library
This site provides great library services to internet users. it includes a reference centre, a catalogue of books and publications, subject-based collections, and some good resources for kids and teens.

Currency Converter
This site allows you to perform interactive foreign exchange rate calculations on the Internet, using live, current rates. There is support for more than 180 currencies from over 250 geographical locations.

Google News Alerts
Google News Alerts are sent by e-mail when news articles appear online that match the topics specified. Some handy uses of Google News Alerts include: monitoring a developing news story; keeping current on a competitor or industry; getting the latest on a celebrity or event; and keeping tabs on favourite sports teams.

The new Kerang library

Ruth Barton, Branch Librarian, Cohuna Branch, Gannawarra Library Service

On 15 August 2003, traffic in the northern Victorian town of Kerang came to a standstill for a long crocodile of young children, elderly people in scooters and library supporters of all ages, each clutching a book and a balloon. Hundreds of excited community members were symbolically moving books from Kerang's old library to its magnificent new home.

For Library and Information Science student Ruth Barton and her colleagues at the Gannawarra Library Service, the day was the culmination of two long years of planning since the beginning of Gannawarra Shire's most ambitious building project. The new library is a far cry from the cramped, gloomy building which has housed the Kerang branch for decades. Its exterior, suggesting a collection of open books, is a dazzling mix of glass and textured walls, with contrasts of earthy and primary colours. The building angles around the historic water tower already on the site and overlooks parkland.

Inside, spacious areas are surrounded by a gorgeous array of coloured walls ranging from amethyst and ruby to terracotta and bronze. The building, named after Sir John Gorton in recognition of his service as a shire councillor early in his career, includes a foyer gallery, a well-appointed genealogy research area and separate community meeting room.

The sweeping curve of the circulation desk is made from locally grown acacia wood and many local craftspeople have contributed to the building's striking features. The children's area is a riot of brightly coloured beanbags and cushions, there is a restful area for reading and relaxing, and borrowers in wheelchairs or scooters browse comfortably among the carefully-spaced shelves.

As the smallest public library service in Victoria, with only three full time and two part time staff covering three branches, everyone had input into decisions regarding the layout and décor of the building's interior, in consultation with the architect. It was essential that the whole library could be supervised from either the circulation desk or work area, as there is often only one staff member on duty. It was also necessary to combine functionality with aesthetics, which caused some lively discussions; compromises were made by all involved.

Staff and borrowers in this amazing library are still getting used to the delight of so much space, light and colour. If you would like to see the library for yourself, click the image shown - or come to Kerang and we will be proud to show you around!

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