January 2006

In this aliaPUBNEWS broadcast:

Library stars forum: call for nominations; Workplace relations changes: overview for ALIA members; CAVAL training discounts for ALIA members; inCite now has RSS feed; Nominations for ALIA Board; National Library Technicians Group mentoring program; Appointment to Visions of Australia Committee; IT training for indigenous people in the NT; Jean Arnot Fellowship; PLAIN changes its name; Collections Council e-bulletin; Filtering in libraries; Information policy workshops; OCLC magazine and community website; Library visits in England continuing to increase; Library services to schools and children in the UK; ALIA Board election results

Library stars forum: call for nominations
The deadline for nominations for presenations at the forum is approaching fast. We have decided to extend the closing date for nominations to Tuesday 28 February 2006. 'Library stars: best of the best' will showcase public libraries, their projects, and successes to inspire and recognise public library practitioners. This one-day forum will be held in Perth on 19 September 2006 as a satellite event for the ALIA 2006 Biennial Conference. From the nominations received, the ALIA Public Libraries Reference Group will select up to seven presentations that reflect the best of the best across Australia's diverse public library services. There will be a 'delegates' choice award' at the forum for the best project or story presented on the day. For more information plese contact Susan Magnay (susan.magnay@alia.org.au.nospam). Details about how to submit your nomination are at:
http://alia.org.au/governance/committees/public.libraries/stars.html

Workplace relations changes: overview for ALIA members
The much-publicised Workplace Relations Amendment Act has now passed through both Houses of Parliament. It overturns more than a century of Australian industrial relations law and practice. Its central feature is use of constitutional corporations powers to bypass state regulation of most working conditions and industrial disputation. How much of the Act becomes law will be decided by the result of a High Court challenge to its constitutionality lodged by the states. ALIA will provide guidance to members on the new system when its final shape is clear. A preliminary analysis is now available.
http://alia.org.au/members-only/employment/workplace.html

CAVAL training discounts for ALIA members
CAVAL Training is offering ten per cent discounts for ALIA members for all courses and workshops in 2006. Student members, new graduates (in the first two years post-qualification), and unemployed colleagues qualify for an even better fifty per cent discount. Some conditions apply. NEW in 2006: ALIA institutional members are eligible for a five per cent discount on all in-house training provided by CAVAL. All courses run by CAVAL qualify for ALIA PD scheme points.
http://alia.org.au/education/pd/services.html

inCite now has RSS feed
From January 2006, inCite will be delivered in full to ALIA members (as always) and subscribers; can be found on the ALIAnet website (select articles); is available as a PDF download in the ALIA members-only section; and is also available (again, select articles) as an RSS feed for those with RSS readers. In future, articles that are either too long to fit comfortably in the printed edition, or which arrive too late to appear in the next edition (yet which are suitable for distribution immediately), will be compiled and published as a webpage, and as part of our inCite RSS feed. Articles will be published as close as possible to our regular publication schedule - but the advantage of RSS is that your RSS reader will pick up new stories as they are published.
http://alia.org.au/publishing/incite/2006/01-02/print.html?ID=11

Nominations for ALIA Board
The nomination deadline for ALIA vice-president and three director positions is 3 February 2006. Full details of the nomination procedure were printed in the December issue of inCite and are online, including nomination forms.
http://alia.org.au/governance/elections/2006/

National Library Technicians Group mentoring program
The ALIA National Library Technicians Group is implementing a new mentoring program for regional and remote members in January 2006. Through the use of technology, mainly e-mail, it is hoped that members will be able to assist other members in dealing with issues, whether it be professional, skills based, career planning, study help or just another person to communicate with. To start the mentoring program the group is establishing a skills register to enable the mentoring program co-ordinator, Tania Barry, to match the requirements of the proteges to an appropriately skilled mentor. If you are interested in joining the program as a mentor or protege or both please contact Tania (taniabarry@optusnet.com.au.nospam). Although this is a National LT Group initiative, the program is open to all ALIA members.

Appointment to Visions of Australia Committee
Meg Larkin, Cultural and Community Services Manager with the Tamworth Regional Council (NSW), has been appointed to the Visions of Australia Committee. The committee guides the work of the Federal government's Visions of Australia program which supports the development and touring of arts and cultural exhibitions around Australia. The committee assesses and makes recommendation on funding applications for touring exhibitions of cultural material.
http://www.dcita.gov.au/visions

IT training for indigenous people in the NT
Senator Helen Coonan, Minister for Communciations, Information Technology and the Arts, has announced that the Federal government will commit more than $1.2 million to provide IT training to around 1500 indigenous people in the Northern Territory. The Local Government Association of the NT will receive the funding to help build the IT skills and capacity of indigenous people living in 32 very remote communities north of Tennant Creek. The project will extend work undertaken as part of the Networking the Nation program where the Local Government Association worked closely with Indigenous Community Councils in the NT to establish online services and facilities. The new program will now provide basic IT training and technical support to the 32 communities and complements previous funding of other organisations to provide similar services to support remote communities south of Tennant Creek.
http://www.dcita.gov.au

Jean Arnot Fellowship
The Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship is awarded annually to a female librarian or student of librarianship from any part of Australia for an outstanding paper of approximately 5000 words, on any aspect of librarianship. The award - of $1000 - is presented at a luncheon in Sydney. Winners have represented many different aspects of librarianship and have worked in public, school, university and government libraries from all over the country. Further information, including application forms and conditions, and information about previous winners, is available. Applications close on 31 March 2006.
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/

PLAIN changes its name
From 1 January 2006, South Australia's PLAIN Central Services will be known as Public Library Services. The new name more accurately reflects the service's role in supporting the delivery of public library services throughout SA and its status as a business unit of the State Library of SA. The change is also part of the state government's direction to minimise the number of logos across government. The address, telephone and fax numbers and email addresses have not changed.
http://www.plain.sa.gov.au/

Collections Council e-bulletin
The Collections Council of Australia, launched in 2005, has announced that it will soon be launching an e-bulletin. If you are interested in receiving updates on the Collections Council's projects and activities you can subscribe to the e-bulletin at the link below.
http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/News/eBulletin/tabid/68/Default.aspx

Filtering in libraries
As reported in the last aliaPUBNEWS, ALIA wrote to the Tasmanian Minister for Education in December urging her to reverse her decision announced on 10 December 2005 to use filtering software in public libraries and Online Access Centres in Tasmania. ALIA has also written to the federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts in support of the federal government's policy position on internet filtering and education for safe and informed use of the internet. The letters have now been published on the ALIA website.
http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/internet.access/tasmania.html

Information policy workshops
CAVAL and ALIA welcome UK academic and consultant Professor Nick Moore to Australia. Professor Moore has just completed for Unesco a review of the national information and communication policies in the Asia Pacific Region. In February and March Professor Moore will present two half-day workshops, 'Information policy: implications for Australia' and 'Designing and managing research projects'. Perth: 24 February; Melbourne: 27 February; Canberra: 2 March; Sydney: 6 March; Brisbane: 8 March. ALIA members are eligible for 20 per cent discount. The special ALIA price is $227.04 (inc GST) per workshop.
http://alia.org.au/events/

OCLC magazine and community website
OCLC's new magazine 'NextSpace' will aim to analyse industry trends and technology developments, as well as featuring news about OCLC. In the first issue the leading article covers branding and its relevance to libraries. OCLC's new community web page brings together in one area of the OCLC web site activities that OCLC undertakes on behalf of, or alongside, the library community, such as standards development, advocacy, advertising and member reports. The page also provides a forum for librarians to comment on OCLC initiatives and general industry issues.
http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/

Library visits in England continuing to increase
For the third year in a row there has been a rise in the number of people visiting public libraries in England. Statistics from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy show that in 2004-05 visits to public libraries increased by over three million. The figures also show that 42 per cent of England's public libraries are achieving seven or more of the ten Public Library Service Standards. The UK government's Framework for the Future program is investing 9 million pounds in supporting reading and literacy initiatives, improving leadership and management, challenging under-performance and on a major campaign to attract a new generation of public library staff.
http://www.mla.gov.uk/

Library services to schools and children in the UK
The sixteenth annual report on the provision and use of library services to schools and children in the UK shows that while more than half of the nation's children are thought to be public library members, only around one-third actively use the library to borrow books. There is a diverse range of activities and services being developed by public libraries to cater for children and children's satisfaction with their local library is high. The report expresses concern over the longer term management and strategic planning of both school library services and public library services for children. The report summarises trends over the past five years, examines the roles and numbers of staff working with children and considers service provision, resources, and expenditure. [Claire Creaser and Sally Maynard, 'A survey of library services to schools and children in the UK 2004-05'. LISU, Loughborough University, December 2005. ISBN 1901786943]
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dis/lisu/pages/publications/sch-chil05.h

ALIA Board election results
The results for the 2006 ALIA Board of Directors election are in. The new vice-president is Roxanne Missingham. She will serve as vice-president from the AGM 2006 to the AGM 2007, and president from the AGM 2007 to the AGM 2008. The two new directors elected by the membership at large are Helen Partridge and Michelle Brennand, to serve until the AGM 2008. The director elected by the institutional members is Philip Keane, who will serve until the AGM 2008. Congratulations to the new Board members and to those directors leaving the Board our thanks for their hard work.

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