ALIA Top End

July-December 2001 report

Even though it came into being in July 2001, the official launch of LIWNT was not held until September. Then we had approximately 30 members mostly from the NT as you would expect. By the end of October, that number had grown to 70, so we must be doing something right! The three positions of responsibility are held by:

• Ruth Quinn, Director Library Services at NTU as convenor,
• Linda Winzar, Heritage Services Librarian at NTL as secretary,
• Judith Beach, Librarian in Charge at the Department of Natural Resources, Palmerston as treasurer, and
• Barbara Cotton as group support officer

Delays in the appointment of the group support officer accounts for our slow start. 2002 will really reap the benefits of such a position, the first in the NT.

So how have we fared against our purposes? Reasonable, I would say!

LIWNT's reasons for existence are:

• CPD activities for members. No specific activities have been held as yet. Currently considering workshops on mentoring, entrepreneurship or digital preservation for 2002;
• Support for isolated and remote members to attend CPD activities. We have received no requests for support so far this year;
• Acknowledge and promote excellence in the delivery of library and information services in the NT. Planning is currently underway for the awards to be held in Library and Information Week 2002.
• Support for members to attend relevant professional activities. $x allocated to 1 librarian and 3 library technician members to attend conferences interstate.
• Facilitate communication and networking between members. The second newsletter for 2001 is being compiled for distribution in November. While the e-mail discussion list has been maintained and utilised to initiate discussion or advise of upcoming events, there has been very little interaction on the list since the discussion around an NT Tribute Quilt early in 2001;
• To produce a directory of library and information agencies in the NT. Previous edition was produced in 2000 and the next one is planned for 2003.

Review

There have been three events held in the first six months: the LIWNT Launch attended by 25 members and a meeting at Taminmin Community Library with 3 members in attendance. The end-of-year dinner with the current President of ALIA, Alan Bundy as guest speaker, was held on the 22 November, with approx 30 people expected to attend.

Out of the $20 000 allocated to LIWNT for 2001-2002, we have only committed $2395 plus the group support officer salary. This is mainly due to the slow start for the group.

Forward Planning

With the Group Support Officer firmly in place we will be able to progress a lot of the activities outlined above. We will be involved in the Public Libraries in the NT Conference to be held in Darwin in January by providing sponsorship for the quest speaker. We hope to elicit more feedback from members regarding their CPD requirements for the next 12 months. We will progress the idea of a Tribute Quilt for members who have contributed to the profession here in the NT but no longer reside here.

While we have been off to a slow start, we have doubled our membership since September. We will need to ensure we maintain that interest to remain viable in 2002.

Issues for Board of Directors

The old ALIANT has been replaced by two groups: LIWNT and LATTE (Library Assistants and Technicians in the Territory). There is very little interaction between the groups for reasons still to be explored. The issue of who represents ALIA in the NT has arisen and may need to be resolved if the two groups continue to exist so separately.