September 2004

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

News from ALIA
LIS sector watch; ALIA's New Graduates Group; Volunteers in Local Studies seminar; New mentoring group for NSW; Children and youth services awards; neXt 2005; Next issue - a special conference issue

States and territories
Learning shopfront at Flemington (Vic); Marketing information services workshop; 'Libraries for All' communication aids; MPLA conference focuses on youth culture; NT legal deposit legislation

Policy and advocacy
What is Australia's favourite book?; National heritage system; National peak body for the collections industry; Diversity among older Australians in capital cities

International
UK survey of children's use of the internet; Library futures quarterly

News from ALIA

LIS sector watch
A new regular column in inCite aims to keep you up-to-date with reports and legislation relating to the library and information services sector. The September 2004 'LIS sector watch' column covered, for example, the latest ABS report on Australian social trends, new age-discrimination legislation, a report on public administration of the future, a survey of literary reading in America and more. (inCite, September 2004, p37)

ALIA's New Graduates Group
The New Graduates Group has added exciting new content to its web pages covering mentoring, career development, how to get the most out of your ALIA membership and conference attendance, links to informative, interesting and humorous websites and not to forget the social pages.
http://alia.org.au/members-only/groups/newgrad/

Volunteers in Local Studies seminar
The latest issue of Biblia, the newsletter of ALIA West, carries a report of the ALIA Local Studies (WA) Group seminar on volunteers in local studies held on 3 August 2004. The seminar addressed the questions - why employ volunteers, how to do this with best practice principles and what kind of work would volunteers do in local studies? (Biblia, September 2004, p1)
http://alia.org.au/members-only/groups/aliawest/biblia/

New mentoring group for NSW
ALIA Mentoring NSW aims to bring together new professionals with those who have had substantial experience working in the information industry to provide a supportive and informative environment for those new to the profession; an opportunity to network across all sectors and levels of the profession; a forum for discussion of current interest issues; and a mechanism for professional development of our future leaders.
http://alia.org.au/members-only/groups/mentoringnsw/

Children and youth services awards
Two children and youth services awards were announced on 23 September at the ALIA Biennial Conference. Joanne Oliver from the Camden Library Service is the winner of the 2004 Marjorie Cotton Award. Joanne is vital in providing library services to children and youth in the rapidly-growing Camden (NSW) area and has worked co-operatively with the Children's Book Council, Department of Community Services and other community organisations to bring programs and training to her local community. The 'Blue Cat Cafe', Salisbury Library Service (SA), is the winner of the Bess Thomas Award. The Blue Cat Cafe is an acoustic music and entertainment event where young people have the opportunity to showcase their talents before a live audience. The Bess Thomas and Marjorie Cotton Awards are presented by ALIA's NSW Children and Youth Services Group (cysnsw).

neXt 2005
The ALIA National Library and Information Technicians Conference, neXt 2005, will be held next year at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, from 6-9 September 2005. With the themes 'eXperiences', 'eXcellence', eXpectations', the conference promises an opportunity to listen, learn, participate and have fun. The call for papers closes on 31 October 2004.
http://conferences.alia.org.au/libtec2005/index.html

Next issue - a special conference issue
The 2004 ALIA Biennial Conference is just over and we are planning a special conference issue of aliaPUBNEWS for October. We will aim to cover the papers, posters and other aspects of the conference of special interest for public libraries. If you were at the conference and would like to write a brief piece (about 100 words) to share your thoughts and impressions with fellow aliaPUBNEWS subscribers, please contact Susan Magnay by 15 October 2004, susan.magnay@alia.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address).

States and territories

Learning shopfront at Flemington (Vic)
A Learning Shopfront will be set up next to the Flemington Library as a classroom for youth. The shop will be used by the Flemington Reading and Writing Program as part of the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Learning on Track program. The Learning Shopfront will be linked to the Flemington Library and its resources, making the library easily accessible for the VCAL students. The establishment of the shopfront is supported by a grant from the Victorian government's Public Libraries Initiative Grants program designed to enhance the community role of libraries and the ways they can work with other organisations in the community.
http://www.mvcc.vic.gov.au

Marketing information services workshop
This one-day course focuses on development of marketing strategies and a marketing plan specifically-related to information services. It will provide participants with a set of simple, practical marketing planning tools and templates to capitalise on future opportunities. The course, presented by CAVAL, will be run in capital cities in Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2004. For more information contact training@caval.edu.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address).
http://www.caval.edu.au

'Libraries for All' communication aids
Communication aids for use by people who cannot talk or who have speech that is difficult to understand are now available in public libraries in Victoria. The three aids: an alphabet board, a word board and a picture board have been developed by the Libraries for All project. This is a joint project of the Communication Resource Centre (Scope), the Victorian Department of Human Services and the Victorian State Library network. For more information contact the Communication Resource Centre, 830 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill 3128, ph 03 9843 2000, crc@scopevic.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address).
http://www.scopevic.org.au/therapy_crc_lfa.html

MPLA conference focuses on youth culture
The 2004 conference of the Metropolitan Public Libraries Association (NSW) will explore the nexus of youth culture and libraries. Young people will discuss their priorities and needs. Library programs for disadvantaged youth, successful youth-focussed marketing, new strategies to revitalise youth services and youth-driven technology will be discussed and explored. 'Filthy - youth culture and libraries' MPLA conference, Wollongong, 25-26 November 2004.
http://www.mplansw.asn.au/confer/2k4/index.html

NT legal deposit legislation
Legal deposit legislation has been introduced in the Northern Territory. The Publications (Legal Deposit) Bill 2004 was passed in the NT Legislative Assembly on 25 August 2004. Under the legislation the Northern Territory Library can now assume an obligation to collect, store, preserve and provide access to all materials lodged from NT authors, printers and publishers. This will assist in developing a comprehensive collection of NT publications and will provide improved and more extensive means for research into all aspects on territory life and culture. The Act will commence on 1 March 2005.
http://www.dcdsca.nt.gov.au

Policy and advocacy

What is Australia's favourite book?
Until 22 October 2004, the ABC is inviting Australians to vote for their favourite book in the ABC's 'My favourite book' campaign. In the hunt for the book that Australians love best, people can vote for any book published in English, be it fiction, non-fiction, a children's book, an anthology of poems, essays or short stories or a translation. The results wil be published in early December. The web pages for 'My favourite book' include a weekly quiz, the latest bestsellers lists, reading suggestions and celebrity favourites.
http://www.abc.net.au/myfavouritebook/

National heritage system
Under Australia's new national heritage system anyone can nominate a place to one of two new heritage lists - the National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritage List. They will become lists of places with outstanding cultural, natural and indigenous heritage value to the nation. A national heritage advice unit co-hosted by the National Trust, WWF Australia and the Tasmanian Conservation Trust has been established to provide free and independent information about the new heritage system. The unit offers a monthly e-bulletin to keep subscribers in touch with the development of the heritage lists. To subscribe to the bulletin send an e-mail titled SUBSCRIBE to heritage@wwf.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address). For more information contact Tracey Rich, ph 02 6257 4010, trich@wwf.org.au.nospam (please remove the '.nospam' from address).

National peak body for the collections industry
A 12-member board of the Collections Council of Australia (CCA) has been announced. The CCA has been established by the Cultural Ministers Council as a high-level, independent forum to represent the shared interests of archives, galleries, libraries and museums and to address issues strategially across the sector. Dr Edward Tweddell is the inaugural chair of the CCA. Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, chair of the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) represents CASL.
http://www.dcita.gov.au

Diversity among older Australians in capital cities
A new bulletin from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare focuses on the changing geographic distribution up to the year 2011 of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds among Australians aged 65 and older. Identifying the changing distribution of this older population is important because location plays such a significant role in understanding and planning for services for this group, most of whom live in metropolitan areas. 'Diversity among older Australians in capital cities 1996-2011'.
http://www.apo.org.au/

International

UK survey of children's use of the internet
'UK Children Go Online: surveying the experiences of young people and their parents' investigates the use of the internet by young people from nine to nineteen years old, based on a survey of children and parents across the UK in early 2004. This wide-ranging survey covers access and inequality, education, learning and literacy, communication and participation, risks to children, and parents' and childrens' views of the internet. The report finds that no longer is there a divide between those with and those without access; rather a new divide is opening up centred on the quality of use. The report suggests that a balanced approach to internet regulation is needed 'if society is to steer a course between the twin risks of exposing children to danger or harm and of undermining children's opportunities to participate, enjoy and express themselves fully'. The report is accessible through the UK Children Go Online website.
http://www.children-go-online.net

Library futures quarterly
'Library futures quarterly' is a print newsletter for public library administrators and managers focused on the potential futures of public libraries. It includes reports on topics affecting the future of libraries such as forecasting methods, demography, social/cultural evolution, trends, marketing and cutting-edge technology. It has developed futures tools and tutorials to assist in identifying important trends in the world of information. The subscription is US$98.00 per year.
http://libraryfutures.com/

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