The Australian Library Journal
volume 47 issue 1
[editorial] John Levett
Dietrich Borchardt, scholar-librarian
Harrison Bryan
The growing professionalism of librarianship, particularly in relation to the explosion in information technology and the emphasis on modern theories of management, renders progressively unlikely the continuing existence of the so-called scholar-librarian. Daniel Boorsteins may still be appointed to confer lustre on national research institutions, their success assured by the professional competence of their deputies, and subject specialists will continue to be required for positions in these and other libraries, but the genuine scholar competent also to direct actively an academic or research library must be a threatened species.
Dietrich Borchardt the editor
Peter Clayton
Open any recent issue of Australian Academic & Research Libraries (AARL) and you will see the acknowledgment: Foundation editor, 1970-1984, D H Borchardt. Establishing a journal is no small matter. As any editor knows, even with a well-established journal the copy does not automatically flow in. It has to be hunted - and more often than not, much of the quarry proves elusive. There is also the matter of competition: then, as now, AARL's main competitor was the Australian Library Journal. Dietrich later noted that early attempts to found the journal were 'thwarted by several influential Section members, notably in South Australia and New South Wales, who firmly believed that The Australian Library Journal was all the Library Association of Australia needed and should have.' (Borchardt 1984, p177) Finally, there is the matter of establishing a subscription base sufficient to keep an infant journal alive.
Dietrich Hans Borchardt - an appreciation
Earle Gow
The passing of Dr Dietrich Hans Borchardt on 6 June 1997 marked the end of an era dominated by the contributions of this distinguished librarian, bibliographer and scholar. Arguably the leading Australian contributor to international librarianship in the 1960s and 70s, he established an enviable reputation through his contributions to subject bibliography.
DHB - as seen by an apprentice
John Horacek
It was a long time ago - many years before there was any such thing as a formal mentoring program. I joined the staff of the then still gestating La Trobe University in October 1966, as a very raw librarian-in-the-making (i.e. I had a degree but only bits of my library qualifications). Of course the staff was then still quite small, and even the lowliest and newest knew the boss (how things have changed!). During those first years we all did a variety of things, and I did stints as DHB's personal assistant, and even as La Trobe's first systems librarian (true!).
Borchardt and bibliography
R L Cope
This article reviews aspects of DH Borchardt's practice as bibliographer of official publications and his contribution to the study of the field of bibliography in Australia. A brief discussion of the problems of preparing annotated bibliographies is followed by an analysis of some of the later entries in Borchardt's multi-volume checklists of Australian royal commissions, boards of inquiry and select committees of parliament.
Who watches the watchmen? Internet content rating systems and privatised censorship
Yaman Akdeniz
After much recent publicity concerning the availability of materials [such as racist and Nazi propaganda, pornography, and anarchic information on issues such as disrupting train travel], on the internet and offensive to many people, Internet content rating systems are developing with broad support from government agencies and by the industry but without much public debate over their utility or about their long-term implications. Civil liberties proponents in many countries who have examined content-control proposals have found them to be much more intrusive and restrictive than the supporters of rating systems and filtering software claim. The proposed systems often exceed their makers' claims in the types of content restricted, the number and type of people prevented from reaching content, the technical changes required to public electronic networks, and the burdens on providers of content or internet service providers.
This manuscript was downloaded [with the author's permission] from http://www.anu.edu.au/caul/, February 1988 - This is a refereed article
University-TAFE libraries: a way to the future? A review of relevant literature
Lynne Benton
Surveys literature relevant to the study of University/TAFE joint-use libraries, revealing: recommendations for single line management; full integration of services and resources and the need for broad guidelines for operation; indications of client and economic benefits; and concerns about service compromises. ALIA has called for wide discussion of the issues in relation to its Statement on joint-use libraries.
Manuscript received October 1997
Business information: five key findings of a survey
Sylvia Lauretta Edwards and Barbara Ewers
Reports five key findings from a survey comparing the use of internal and external information services by business persons in the City of Brisbane. The Business information: an investigation of its sources and use survey was undertaken on behalf of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Library's Expert Information Service. The survey aimed to determine where and how business information is currently sourced; how often and why information is sought from any particular source; and any problems people have in finding business information.
Manuscript received November 1997 - This is a refereed article
The road to meta: the implementation of Dublin Core metadata in the State Library of Queensland website
Jenny Thornely
The goal of the State Library of Queensland's Metadata Project is the deployment of metadata using the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set in State Library web pages. The deployment of metadata is expected to improve resource discovery by Internet users, through providing index information (metadata) in State Library web pages which is then available to search engines for indexing. The project is also an initial attempt to set standards for metadata deployment in Queensland libraries web pages.
Manuscript received November 1997
Mirrors and memories: how libraries connect with their communities
Tim Schwager
An architect reflects on the potency of libraries as community assets during the past two thousand years. He traces the preservation of knowledge in ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, and in Islamic libraries, outlines the course of ecclesiastical library development and the relatively recent rise of public and academic libraries. He identifies their connections with their communities through knowledge, truth, wisdom and beauty, and believes that these aspects are just as relevant today, despite service paradigm shifts and rapidly evolving communications. He concludes by describing libraries he has designed at Dapto, Caringbah, Ku-ring-gai, Glebe and Avondale College, which reflect his philosophy whilst serving and mirroring their own communities. This article is based on a talk at the inaugural 'Meet the architect' session held by the Australian Library and Information Association Library Buildings and Equipment Special Interest Group, at the State Library of New South Wales, 26 August 1997.
Manuscript received September 1997
Libraries and information technology: towards the twenty-first century
Mathew Allen and Lothar Retzlaff
The authors envisage a new future for libraries, one in which they assume a very pro-active role pushing as well as pulling information on behalf of their communities, creating and feeding information back into the web in a manner similar to that in which a private electricity producer feeds back surplus power into the grid as well as taking electricity when needed.
Manuscript received November 1997 - This is a refereed article
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