September 2005

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

States and territories
Library website wins international award; NSW public library marketing awards; Public library buildings conference: call for papers; VALA conference 2006; South Australia's Big Book Club wins federal government award; Improving local government websites

Policy and advocacy
Information access plan for digital library services; Forum on public libraries and community building; Broadband takeup in Australia; Libraries bandwidth survey closes 4 October

International
US public libraries and the internet; Report claims UK libraries are failing to deliver; Public library installed at UK's Big Chill festival; Public library buildings database; Study tour of South Australian libraries

News from ALIA
International Evidence-based Librarianship Conference; Dunn and Wilson scholarship winner; ALIA's response to national licensing proposal; New ALIA T-shirts; Employment information for members

States and territories

Library website wins international award
The State Library of NSW's new website, www.atmitchell.com, has been awarded a 'standard of excellence' in the premier global competition for website design and function. The site was entered in the 2005 WebAwards, resulting in the 'standard of excellence' acknowledgement in the government category. www.atmitchell.com is a state-of-the-art website giving access to the State Library of NSW's extensive and unique collections relating to Australia's heritage and culture.
http://www.atmitchell.com

NSW public library marketing awards
Winners of the 2005 marketing awards for NSW public libraries include: Grenfell and District Public Library for its 'Gift packs for babies' project; Tenterfield Public Library's 'Encouraging Tourists, supporing our town' tourism brochure; Cowra Public Library's 'Great big enormous turn-up reading picnic' targeting children up to 12 years of age; and Wagga Wagga City Library's 'Shakespeare Centenary Festival'. The marketing awards are keenly contested and are given annually. For full details of the 2005 winners and the highly commended projects see:
http://www.cpla.asn.au/misc/marketing_winners2005.html

Public library buildings conference: call for papers
'Places and spaces: public library buildings for the 21st century in Australia and New Zealand' conference will be held in Adelaide on 31 March-1 April 2006. Conference themes will include: identifying the roles, needs and spaces of the 21st century public library; financing issues and options; location, design, layout and environmental issues; consulting users; working with consultants, architects and project teams; technology and equipment; and future proofing. Expressions of interest (to be submitted by 15 October 2005) in presenting at the conference are invited from librarians, architects, interior designers, suppliers, consultants, technologists and others with an interest in new public lbiraries and major rebuilds in Australia and New Zealand. For more informatoin and to submit an expression of interest please contact Auslib, PO Box 622, Blackwood SA 5051, info@auslib.com.au.nospam.

VALA conference 2006
The program for the 2006 VALA Conference, Melbourne, 8-10 February 2006, is now available and registration has opened. The theme for the 2006 conference is connecting with users. Papers will cover issues such as new technology, delivering online content, information literacy and the digital divide. The earlybird registraion period ends on 30 November 2005.
http://www.vala.org.au/conf2006.htm

South Australia's Big Book Club wins federal government award
The partnership between The Advertiser and Public Libraries of South Australia for the Big Book Club is one of five South Australian state winners in the 2005 Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships. The awards reward and recognise those businesses and community organisations which come together to generate outcomes that have a long-term benefit for the community. Each month, The Big Book Club committee selects a book that will be promoted and supported by events such as discussion groups on the book and interviews with the author. These events are held in metroplitan and regional areas. The books are chosen from a wide range of genres, styles and local, national and international authors, aimed to encourage reading and access to information and ideas.
http://www.partnerships.gov.au/awards/awards_2005.shtml

Improving local government websites
The IDEA project, a joint Local Government Association of Tasmania and ALGA project to improve local government websites, has won the National Local Government Information Technology Award. The project undertook pilots to identify the most effective ways to improve the discoverability of website and developed guidelines, a metadata tool, and the Local Government Research Gateway. All the reports, guidelines, and links to the metadata tool are included in the Website Toolkit in the Connecting Local Government website.
http://www.lgconnect.gov.au/

Policy and advocacy

Information access plan for digital library services
The Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) has issued a discussion paper that outlines a plan to improve digital library services for the Australian community through improving access to the internet for public libraries, simplifying interfaces, integrating searching and linking digital services. The Information Access Plan has grown from discussions about the need to bring together the Australian library presence on the web to form a more accessible, cohesive and easy-to-navigate service for the community. CASL is seeking comments from the public library community. Comments should be sent to casl@slv.vic.gov.au by 31 October 2005. The paper 'Information access plan: integrating Australian library services on the web' is available at:
http://www.casl.org.au

Forum on public libraries and community building
The Centre for Popular Education, University of Technology, Sydney, will hold a half-day forum on 22 November 2005 on the subject 'Are libraries untapped resources for community building and social action?' The forum organisers have called for expressions of interest in presenting case studies of libraries engaged in community development. Case study presentations should be no more than ten minutes and be supported with a handout. Please submit expressions of interest by 19 October 2005 to Lee Malone [lee.malone@uts.edu.au.nospam].
http://www.cpe.uts.edu.au/forums/libraryforum.html

Broadband takeup in Australia
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a report on the deployment of broadband services, based on data provided by the major broadband carriers. At 30 June 2005, total broadband take-up was 2 183 300 - an increase of more than 100 per cent since June 2004. Growth of DSL-based broadband services continues to outstrip cable and other broadband technologies.
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/693170

Libraries bandwidth survey closes 4 October
There are just a few days left to send in your response to survey of bandwidth availability in Australia's public libraries. Thank you to those libraries who have already participated. For those who have not yet completed the online survey form, please do so and submit your response by close of business Tuesday 4 October. To complete the online survey form please go to the address below. The survey password is 'alia' and the username is 'bwsurvey'. For aliaPUBNEWS subscribers in Tasmania and South Australia, we understand that the State Library of Tasmania and PLAIN, respectively, are preparing consolidated responses for those states. Through this survey ALIA, in association with Vicnet, is seeking accurate and comprehensive information vital for identifying the needs and appropriate mechanisms to improve bandwidth connectivity in public libraries. The data has been requested by the National Broadband Strategy Implementation Group's Digital Content Working Group on which ALIA is represented by Dagmar Schmidmaier, AM, ALIA vice-president (president-elect). Australia's National Broadband Strategy is the policy framework for broadband development in Australia agreed by all levels of government. For more information about the survey please contact Susan Magnay [susan.magnay@alia.org.au.nospam, ph 02 6215 8225].
http://www.vicnet.net.au/alia/

International

US public libraries and the internet
A detailed study of internet services provided by US public libraries has found that almost 99 per cent of libraries provide public access to the internet but that most libraries are struggling to meet demand. High-speed connectivity is not evenly distributed across libraries. While 48 per cent of US public libraries have internet connection speeds of 769kbps or greater, 73 per cent of urban libraries have connection speeds of greater that 769kbps compared to only 34 per cent of rural libraries. The study also finds that most libraries do not have upgrade schedules and plans for their hardware, software or connection speed. 'Public libraries and the internet 2004: survey results and findings', a report issued by the Information Use Management and Policy Institute at Florida State University, Tallahasee and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association.
http://www.ii.fsu.edu/plinternet/

Report claims UK libraries are failing to deliver
A new report from the UK's Libri Trust argues that public libraries in Britain are continuing to decline and that they are failing to deliver what the public wants. 'From university to village hall' tracks developments in the world of public libraries over the year since Libri's controversial 'Who's in charge' report was published in 2004. The Libri Trust believes that the public library will fulfill its social roles if it 'does books properly' by focusing on providing a good modern book stock for reading and reference, convenient opening hours and welcoming premises.
http://www.libri.org.uk

Public library installed at UK's Big Chill festival
The UK's Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) teamed up with the organizers of the Big Chill and Arts Council England to install a public library at the 2005 festival - the only space of its kind at any summer festival. Like in any public library books were available free of charge, professional staff were on hand to advise on a good read, and the space was the host for a range of the festival's reading-related activities.
http://www.mla.gov.uk/news/press_article.asp?articleid=835

Public library buildings database
'Designing Libraries' is a public library buildings database providing: * A database of descriptions and images of recent UK public library building projects. It also accepts entries from outside the UK, and from building projects in progress. * A resource for sharing expertise and experience on library planning and design * Links to a range of web resources useful to anyone involved in planning, designing or building libraries. There are currently 149 libraries in the database, completed between 1990 and 2005. The database is funded by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council, is managed by CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and was designed and developed by the Information Services department of the University of Wales Aberystwyth.
http://www.designinglibraries.org.uk/

Study tour of South Australian libraries
Join John Stanley Associates (JSA) on their second study tour of great practice businesses. An invitation to planners, architects, community leaders and library managers to join the South Australian Library Tour, 3-8 November 2005 to experience some of the best in destination retailing; * Libraries with 90 per cent active borrowers * Winery and gourmet food businesses * Winner of the 'My Restaurant Rules' television show * Living room concepts * 24-hour, 7-day joint-use libraries * RFID Over five days the tour will visit various destinations and will include workshops on the latest in retail techniques and proven winning concepts from other industries. For more information and a tour brochure contact Fiona Emberton [fiona@johnstanley.cc.nospam].

News from ALIA

International Evidence-based Librarianship Conference
The 3rd International EBL Conference is on 16-19 October 2005, Holiday Inn, Brisbane. Speakers from the UK, Canada, USA, and Australia will address the conference theme, 'Global perspectives on linking research with practice' - challenging how we rethink and refine the way in which we work as library and information professionals in the 21st century. Public librarians are ALWAYS being asked to prove their worth. At the EBL 2005 conference you will learn how best to gather the evidence you need to just that. Speakers will be from all sectors including public libraries, academic libraries, library education and health and medical libraries. The application of EBL is considered within a diverse array of topics including information literacy instruction, customer service, web site development, e-learning, marketing and promotion and e-publishing. Further information, including registration brochure and draft program are available from:
http://conferences.alia.org.au/ebl2005/

Dunn and Wilson scholarship winner
Sharon Uthmann was awarded the Dunn and Wilson scholarship at the NeXt national library technicians conference earlier this month. The Dunn and Wilson Scholarship is a biennial award of up to $5000, providing the recipient with an opportunity to investigate and research a particular project relating to the practice of library technicians, thus increasing the recipient's professional occupational experience. Sharon's will research secondment opportunities offered to library technicians nationally, covering all library sectors. The results of this research will enable library technicians to have a readily available resource for reference when identifying career opportunities available through secondments. Sharon presented a paper at neXt titled 'Multi-skill me - secondment opportunities and issues at QUT library'. Sharon is well-qualified to research this topic, having climbed the career ladder through secondment opportunities herself. The inaugural scholarship was awarded in 1991 and is open to practising library technicians who are members of ALIA.
http://alia.org.au/awards/dunn.wilson/recipients.html

ALIA's response to national licensing proposal
ALIA supports the concept of national licences for selected online resources and the objectives for a national licensing initiative as set out in the issues paper by the National Licensing Reference Group, 'Making online information available for all Australians'. The Association believes that co-ordinated and cost-effective purchasing of online resources at a national level has the potential to assist libraries from all sectors to provide quality online information for their users. ALIA's response, which was endorsed by the Board of Directors at its 19 September meeting is now available.
http://alia.org.au/advocacy/submissions/national.license.html

New ALIA T-shirts
ALIA T-shirts are now available for purchase via the ALIA shop. These smart black polycotton polo-shirts feature a red ALIA star logo, and are available in a range of men's and women's sizes.
http://shop.alia.org.au/

Employment information for members
A wealth of useful employment and work-related information covering topics as far-ranging as maternity leave, probation, retirement, outsourcing, absenteeism, moral rights, labour-hire companies, redundancy and sexual harassment is available to members.
http://alia.org.au/members-only/employment/

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