July-December 2001 report

Purpose and Goals of Group:
RAIS SA hopes to continue as the Reference and Information Services group of ALIA in South Australia. It will organise professional development, networking and social opportunities for the South Australian library and information services community. These activities will provide a forum for ALIA members and others to discuss and evaluate trends and developments in reference services as well as share expertise.

Progress:
In the past six months, RAIS has worked well towards these goals. The committee has met regularly, and successfully staged two functions, both of which offered professional development, networking and social opportunities for members.

Group activities:
The first function, 'How to write a conference paper' was well attended and received. Many members looking to broaden their experience think of writing conference papers, but the idea can be daunting for the novice. Philip Keane's excellent advice inspired all, and a summary of this presentation was published in the ALIA SA newsletter, InterALIA.

The second function, 'Who You Gonna Call?' followed a formula that has proven successful for RAIS in previous years. A number of South Australian special libraries were invited to send representatives to this function, along with a few interesting items from their collection. Six libraries attended, while attendance was good and enthusiastic. As this function was more informal, it was an excellent networking and social opportunity. Highlights were also published in InterALIA.

Budget:
There has been little difference between the projection and the result.

Issues for 2002:
Promotion: The committee has relied heavily on e-mail to promote events. It is hoped that in 2002, events will be planned a little more in advance to take advantage of advertising space in InterALIA.
Conference: There is a possibility that the Committee will need to plan the RAIS conference for 2003.

Issues for the Board of Directors or ALIA National Office
None.

A a