AARL

Conference Reports

Information Online 2001

Digital Dancing: New Steps, New Partners

What are the steps and who are the partners in this digital dance? A recent graduate and new recruit to an academic library waltzes her way across the dance floor.

The Portal Boogie

The new dance craze sweeping organisations is known as the 'portal'. Aficionados of the style take their lead from e-commerce companies such as Amazon.com and Virgin.com in creating a web interface that identifies and profiles the client and offers value-added services. The portal is performed thus: an interface that can be personalised and customised, contains links related to the theme of the portal, provides a search facility, incorporates communication facilities such as email and bulletin boards and uses elements of push technology.

Clare Hart (Factiva) and Sally-Anne Leigh (ANU) described the portal as a component of a knowledge management strategy, while Edward Lim (Monash University) included a variant in a search engine that can pirouette across protocols and include web, database and catalogue resources in one search. He also emphasised that a 'one size fits all' model is no longer relevant and that seamless access to services including student administration and the library should be presented without the client needing to know the structure of the university.

Search Engine High Kicks

How do search engines jive their way across the web? Web search guru Greg Notess described the continuous jostle for space on the dance floor performed by the changing fortunes of search engines.

Some search engines have commenced charging commercial sites for submission and others charge to spider more frequently and to be placed higher in results. Notess also announced that Google have introduced the OR operator (which must be in capitals). Alistair Smith's research found that Australian and New Zealand search engines do not provide as much local content as the larger search engines and that confining a search to the .au or .nz domain for local material sometimes misses relevant resources that may reside in other domains.

Philosophical Cha Cha

How can the librarian tango their way to being 'knowledge therapists' and treat 'info-glut' and 'info-guilt'? Mary-Ellen Bates encouraged librarians to define their role in this complex dance by looking at what we know, not what we do. As we are 'sourcerers' and 'informationists', we should focus on what we can do that others can't by being 'information counsellors'. She also directed us to use commerce strategies of marketing, analysing competitors and thinking like entrepreneurs. Richard R Rowe outlined the three digital revolutions: computers, communications and convenience, and the shift from manual to mental work. He described a vision for a 'new knowledge world' where e-commerce leads and where there will be a convergence of learning, information and entertainment. Steve Harnard described his vision of a free and sanctioned exchange of research literature, while a wag in the audience commented that if researchers set their papers to music, they could use the Napster service!

Technical Ballet

Technical issues relating to cataloguing, access and retrieval included the implementation of XML, metadata, and formatting and interface design using Cascading Style Sheets. Observing the steps of these performances reinforced how the movements and cohesion of the corps de ballet can contribute to a unified visual image and how the development of standards in XML and metadata will lead to accurate retrieval of information.

Satellite Workshop Samba

A variety of satellite workshops complemented the main performance. I attended a pre-conference workshop that dealt with libraries responding to the challenges of online, web-based learning. Many of the presenters had experienced the challenge of providing services and support for off-campus students. Des Stewart and Janet Fletcher (SCU) facilitated small group discussions using a number of scenarios suggesting library involvement in offering new services and defining a new role within the institution. Madeleine McPherson (USQ) spoke of the process in developing an institution-wide coordinated approach to providing flexible delivery of courses and services. Different courseware options for online learning were presented, including WebCT and Learning Space.

Katie Wilson (Innovative Interfaces) facilitated a post-conference workshop that recognised the role that librarians play in designing learning programs. Topics covered included strategies in designing online learning, principles of adult learning, educational technology design and hands-on web page construction.

Information Literacy Street Funk

The satellite workshops and conference papers that covered teaching, delivering, training and assessing information literacy were the essential dance classes for this beginner. Information literacy programs are regarded as an excellent way to build partnerships between library and academic staff and to raise the profile of the library and of library staff. Merrilee Albatis described the LITE program - the information literacy component of Murdoch's foundation units delivered via Web CT. Sarah Bishop (CSU) and Trevor Unwin (UniLinc) presented the WebEzy online information literacy tutorial and described the process of implementing the program at CSU. Debbie Orr (CQU) developed this theme in looking at the response of students to the design and content of Pilot, eGO and LRT online tutorials. Julie Bager and Susan Roberts (Swinburne) confronted the complex issue of assessment of student achievement in information literacy programs.

The issues to come out of the papers and workshops were the balance of generic and course specific information literacy education and the validity and practicality of assessing learning outcomes. Methods of delivery such as combinations of face-to-face and online have been explored in many universities, especially those with a distance education focus. Technical and practical issues such as hardware and software were also raised.

Stepping Out

From the belly-dancer of the conference cocktail party, to the crowd disco dancing at the conference dinner, I had many opportunities to met new partners - librarians from the chorus line who are involved in developing information literacy. We have agreed that by rehearsing and choreographing together we are able to invent new steps and reinforce the old favourites in this dance of change.

Conference Papers: http://www.csu.edu.au/special/online2001/papers/index.htm

Mandy Lupton, Australian National University

Association of Technological University Libraries (IATUL) Conference: Virtual Libraries, Virtual Communities

Brisbane 3-7 July 2000

Brisbane provided a warm and pleasant venue for this conference, which attracted world class Australian and International speakers. It created a valuable opportunity to review the challenges for library services in the 21st century, with an emphasis on the new roles of academic libraries in developing information literacy as a part of core skills for the students, academic staff and researchers.

So what is IATUL? International Association of Technological University Libraries membership covers libraries of academic institutions and research libraries which offer courses in engineering, natural science or technology to doctoral level. They have a truly international membership, with an interest in library services including digital information, co-operative projects and scholarly communication.

The theme of information literacy and the knowledge nation was established early in the conference through the opening address of Joyce Kirk. She described the indicators developed by the National Office of the Information Economy as keys in measuring our progress, commenting on the role of libraries both in accessing information and developing knowledge skills. Professor Ted Brown, who took up the challenge of demonstrating that scientific research is truly internationally collaborative, reinforced the need for academic libraries to think laterally. Ross Todd gave a very thoughtful paper on information literacy summarising the key aspects from a range of theorists and practitioners.

Jim Neal, Dean of University Libraries, John Hopkins University, challenged us to address the theme of libraries as a part of a new pedagogy. His talk provided excellent examples of the need for a library perspective to contribute to developments in university publishing, research ad teaching. One analogy that captured the essence of libraries move into digital services was that of water boiling. The temperature continues to rise without visible effect (as do libraries in continuing to build digital resources and services) however when the water boils the effects are visible to all. In libraries our challenge is to make digital developments visible both as an exciting development and as one that contributes to the services of universities, including the needs for greater cost effectiveness. He described a new value of libraries not in resource allocation (or budget) but in resource attraction (grants and special programs as well as regular budget), with value of libraries based on quality and traffic.

Internet based learning using information literacy skills was the most repeated theme. The concept of libraries being actively involved in teaching was demonstrated in presentations from Brisbane Institute of TAFE, Deakin University, University of Queensland and Griffith University. The move to a 24-hour help desk and service via email and web for remote clients has emerged not as a new theme but as an established basis of service.

Sue McKnight was the most outstanding Australian presenter at the conference. She gave a very strong paper on the linking of information services to strategy. The strength of Deakin University Library's success was their focus on customers and a commitment to extensive research. The GAELS project is also underpinned by extensive research on the information needs of staff and students. A sign of success is a desire to listen to clients, rather than to make assumptions based on traditional library approaches. With an increasing number of students not setting foot on university campuses, up to 45% of undergraduates and over 50% of post graduates at Johns Hopkins, the new research is a combination of traditional market research, and blue skies research through Delphi and focus groups as well as analysis of patterns of information use.

Mike Johnson (Eduserv) commented that libraries were lighthouses instead of storehouses. Publishers represented in a panel discussion supported this concept. They emphasised the new role of libraries in demanding more for their clients, with publishers taking on some of the roles previously undertaken by suppliers in promoting services. Alan Bundy's presentation of findings from a survey of library developments strongly supported this view, demonstrating that practice is following research. Communication emerged as an essential ingredient for the new library. A paper covering change management at the University of Waterloo Library by Murray Shepherd is well worth reading. In creating a new work environment he found there was a need for much more internal communication with library staff to sustain the changes.

The GAELS project from Scotland has produced many interesting conclusions from their extensive research, including one that ILL or traditional document supply was not sustainable in the 21st century library. Consortia purchasing of information (full text and databases) was seen as essential and the alternative to traditional inter-library loan services. Challenging libraries to create new 'e-mental' spaces, the emphasis on increasing some traditional services was a new theme.

Finally two of the most outstanding presentations were on information literacy by Patricia Breivik and Penny Carmody. Dr Breivik presented the US case based on three parts of the triangle - universal access, an information literate citizenry and quality information. She took the audience through the concept of information literacy as an outcome rather than a process and advised library directors to take positive actions to build information literacy programs with high quality assessment and evaluation. Penny Carmody described the success of the New Zealand Library Association in lobbying for new funding for information access policy based on knowledge access, knowledge resources and knowledge equity.

Overall this was a very stimulating conference, with many more presentations than can be described in this report. Papers will be made available on the website http://wwwlib.qut.edu.au/IATUL/.

Roxanne Missingham, National Library of Australia