ALIA conferences

7th Australasian On-line and On Disc Conference The virtual information experience
21 January-2 February, Sydney, convener: Enid Roberts

8th National Library Technicians Conference Techs at the top
12-14 July, Darwin, convener: Kaye Bartlett

Queensland State Conference
13-14 July, Rockhampton, convener: Grahame Black

6th Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference Synergy in Sydney
27 August-1 September, Sydney, convener: Jan Cree

National Reference and Information Services Conference Fantastic futures: virtual and in the flesh
13-15 September, Adelaide, convener: Karen Karykis

TAFE National Conference TAFE libraries: a quality service?
28-29 September, Brisbane, convener: Robert Burnheim

11th National Cataloguers Conference Reinventing cataloguing
19-20 October, Sydney, convener: Cheryl Grant

National Public Libraries Conference Public libraries: what are they worth?
12-15 November, Sydney, convener: Laurie Urane

Distance Education SIG Conference On the grapevine: making a difference for open and distance learners
27-28 November, Tanunda, convener: Di Booker

ELISS Conference Future challenge, future change
4-5 December, Melbourne, convener: Mary Hoffman

Destination information: libraries celebrate ALW

As a supplement to the exceptional promotional work undertaken by ALIA National Office and divisions, postcards were distributed through Avant Card to cafés throughout Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra to ensure that coverage of Australian Library Week reached beyond the profession. All sectors of the profession took part in Australian Library Week in 1995 and the range of activities was inspiring - reports of just some of the activities appeared in the July issue of inCite. Australian Library Week in 1996 will see a greater level of involvement throughout the planning process from all branches of ALIA.

ALIA publishing

The ALIAnet web site was developed in late 1994 and temporarily located at the National Library of Australia. It migrated across to a web server at National Office in time for an official launch by the Governor General, Bill Hayden in March 1995, and also timed to coincide with a General Council meeting. ALIAnet became the first Association website in Australia, demonstrating the Association's commitment to being at the forefront of information technologies. Through ALIAnet, the Association is recognised as a credible force in the wider electronic community, and an expansion of services and quality of content offered through ALIAnet will increase the stature and recognition of all library and information sector workers, as well as that of the institutions that support them.

inCite revamped and streamlined
Work commenced on revamping inCite in 1995. Full colour covers were introduced in the April 1995 issue to coincide with the launch of ALIAnet, and gave the Association the opportunity to offer full-colour advertising spots to advertisers. This development was quickly taken advantage of by current advertisers - new advertisers were encouraged, also.

Further incremental redesign of inCite took place throughout the year, culminating with a major review of editorial content and work flow at the end of the year evaluating all aspects of the news magazine. Editorial processes were streamlined and plans were made to introduce a number of changes into the first issue of 1996, and to place selected material published in inCite onto the ALIAnet web site. It was decided to investigate further the value of on-line publishing, and to plan for much of inCite to be placed on the web for members-only browsing.

New ALIA publications
1995 was a busy year for ALIA publishing. Apart from the regular material produced and delivered to all ALIA members, a number of new publications were printed. New printing technologies adopted by local printers have allowed the Association's printing costs to remain relatively stable, even considering the extraordinary rise in the cost of paper stock. Published in 1995 were the following major publications:

• Vital link
• Salary scales
• ALIA handbook 1993/4
• The framework for continuing professional development: a practical guide
• ALIA annual report 1994
• Guidelines for the organisation of ALIA division conferences
• National guidelines for hospital libraries (2nd ed)
• Courses in library and information science 1995/96
• Bending without breaking: a step by step guide to the successful negotiation and implementation of an Enterprise Flexibility Agreement under the Federal Industrial Relations Act
• The Australian dictionary of acronyms and abbreviations (4th ed)
• Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander protocols for libraries, archives and information services

Publishing policy committee revamped in 1995
With the demise, by mutual consent, of the ALIA Thorpe imprint, the opportunity was taken to overhaul publishing arrangements. The ALIA publishing policy committee was appointed by General Council to develop and recommend publishing policy. The first meeting was held in June. The committee's terms of reference were discussed; a broad agenda and draft editorial policy for Australian Library Journal was developed; a decision was made to retain the 15 per cent handling fee for divisional publications distributed through ALIA National Office; and a more market-focused approach to ALIA publishing was endorsed.

During the second meeting in October a draft Terms of reference for the committee was prepared and a framework for examining ALIA's publishing program was determined. Draft guidelines for divisional publications were examined and a strategy for the migration of divisional newsletters to ALIAnet was developed. Applications for Australian Library Journal editor were assessed and a short-list for final interviews prepared. A briefing paper for the final candidates was endorsed. John Levett was appointed as editor, replacing Michael Talbot.