The Australian Library Journal
volume 49 issue 1
John Levett
Opening address
8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference Hobart 23 August 1999
The Honourable Sir Guy Green AC KBE, Governor of Tasmania
I would like to add my welcome to you all to this conference. I add a special welcome to all our visitors from interstate and overseas. We are delighted to see you. Your particular areas of endeavour which involve focusing upon the specialist
requirements of health or legal professionals or the organisations of which your special libraries are a part, fall into a most interesting category of library work. And that is reflected in the fascinating variety of topics which will be covered at this
conference. But of course as well as the demands of your own specialist areas you also face the wider challenges which confront the entire profession and it's about some of those that I would like to say something this morning.
Foremost amongst those challenges are those which have been created by three revolutionary changes which have been taking place at an accelerating rate during the second half of this century. The most influential, the most obvious and the one which is
unique to our age has of course been the advent of computers and information technology. That technology has given us a capacity to create, manipulate and communicate information on a scale never before imagined. The word revolutionary is often misused but
it can properly be used to describe these developments, they having started a process which will have at least as great an impact on human history as did Gutenberg's invention of printing by moveable type.
If it isn't broken ... break it!
Mickie A Voges
'A fixed image of the future is in the worst sense ahistorical.'
Juliet Mitchell (b. 1940), New Zealand author. 'Women - the longest revolution,' in New Left Review (London, Nov/Dec 1966).
Below is a list (not exclusive) of the 'progress' of information storage and retrieval devices throughout the past several millennia. These represent the improvements, the changes, and the additions to the choices that may be made regarding the appropriate
device/medium for a specific purpose. Some of these devices have not survived at all for one or another reason. Many are used in a variety of incarnations. The electronic (magnetic disk) devices are used only in conjunction with specific electronic
formatting requirements and intermediate software. Of course, the commonality is that they are all devices by which information is transferred from one mind to another. All of them transport content from one place to another, from one person to another,
from one time to another.
This paper was delivered to a plenary session at the 8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference, Hobart, 22-26 August 1999
The shifting information landscape: re-inventing the wheel or a whole new frontier for librarians
Grace Cheng
The explosive growth and overwhelming use of World Wide web resources have led to the often misguided, but understandable belief that one can find any information on the web. In business, direct marketing on the web has produced big success stories in
sales and marketing which have led to the conclusion that the long-foreshadowed process of 'dis-intermediation' has begun.
This paper was delivered to a plenary session at the 8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference, Hobart, 22-26 August 1999
Change, change, change: libraries and the future
Karen Coyle
Not too long ago, the New York Times ran an article about a lawyer who had chosen to go into the field of 'cyber-law.' When asked why she had chosen to enter an area that many people found to be nearly impossible to understand, she replied that what
she liked about the field was that it let her get back to the basic concepts of her profession. It was like being able to re-discover the ideas of the field of law.
We can say the same thing about our field. We often voice concerns about our future in terms like: will there be libraries in the future? Will there even be books? But we can easily turn those questions into an opportunity to think about the basic concepts
of our profession. We have begun by asking what it means to contemplate the future of libraries: are we asking if there will be buildings with shelves and books? I hope we are asking something more profound, something more like: what does it mean to be a
library in the future? What aspects of the present library do we need to transport into that future time in order to meet the goals of librarianship?
I don't have ready answers to those questions, but I have found some areas that I think are worth contemplating, and I want to share these with you.
This paper was delivered to a plenary session at the 8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference, Hobart, 22-26 August 1999
Knowledge management - if only you knew what you knew
Yvonne Butler
Knowledge management (KM) is becoming a hot topic for many organisations in the public and private sector in Australia, yet there is no generally accepted industry-wide definition, making it a difficult concept to grasp. Knowledge comes in many shapes
and sizes. It can be stored in databases, printed on paper, integrated into an organisation's policies, procedures and reports, or contained within an employee's memory. Generally, knowledge management is a discipline that promotes an integrated approach
to identifying, managing and sharing all of an organisation's information assets, regardless of how or where they are located. It is strategic in nature and involves the careful interaction of people, process and technology. This paper examines the nature
of knowledge management and provides a framework for definition, using client examples to illustrate the issues.
The drivers that have led to its increasingly rapid adoption are discussed, specifically addressing the three key issues: environmental (globalisation of business and the mobility of our workforce), organisational (the result of downsizing) and technical
(the convergence of technologies). The process of developing a knowledge management strategy is then examined in detail, outlining the nature of the knowledge audit, the identification of information and knowledge hot spots and the identification of 'quick
wins' as part of the knowledge road map. The paper then addresses the very difficult issue of measuring the return on investment of a KM strategy and outlines the short- and long-term strategies for assessing knowledge management. Finally, the critical
role that information professionals can play in knowledge management is outlined, and the paper concludes by encouraging special librarians to play a much more active role in this area or else run the risk of being marginalised.
This paper was presented at the 8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference, Hobart, 22-26 August 1999
A repository of change: the re-development of the Australian War Memorial's Research Centre
Janette Condon and Elizabeth Brown
The repository at the Research Centre at the Australian War Memorial was completely refurbished in 1998. The authors were closely involved in this project from early in 1997. The refurbishment has been part of the major redevelopment of the Memorial's
galleries.
This paper was presented at the 8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference, Hobart, 22-26 August 1999
Library website management guidelines: what you need to know
Jo Golding, Alison Carter, and Cathie Koina
Why develop your own website management guidelines? How do you address issues such as the details of services offered, type of access, contact details, and what will appear on each page if you do not have documentation in the form of website management
guidelines? They document the reasons behind the creation of the website and address client needs by way of a needs analysis. Design and layout are clearly explained and policies addressed in your guidelines; they are there for library staff and clients as
a reference. Not only do these guidelines allow for continued maintenance of the website, but they keep you on track, give you clear direction on the type of information you are placing on your website now, as well as in the future, and will help you
assign your resources.
Website management guidelines will consist of:
- executive summary;
- needs analysis;
- design and modified design;
- maintenance plan; and
- future developments.
A focus paper presented at the 8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference, Hobart, 22-26 August 1999
How deep is the legal information service? Developing a public law collection and reference service at the State Library of Victoria
Vicki Nelson and Steven Kafkarisos
An account of how State Library of Victoria is creating a specialist law service to assist the public to search for law and government information using electronic and traditional resources. The State Library of Victoria has extensive collections of
Australian and overseas government and law publications. These significant current and historical collections in law were not being promoted to the general public, usage was low and the value of the collection to the public was being questioned. Remedial
work was needed.
This paper was presented at the 8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference, Hobart, 22-26 August 1999
'Head in the clouds ... feet on the ground': the Lesle Symes Memorial Lecture 1999
Kathy Saurine
The author asserts that library professionals need a realistic vision to clarify their role and to identify and market their skills to take advantage of employment opportunities in today's information society.
This paper was delivered to a plenary session at the 8th Asia-Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference, Hobart, 22-26 August 1999
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