Branch reports

• promoting equity of access to electronic information through the implementation of ALIAnet. ALIAnet was initiated by the ACT branch to help members improve their general knowledge of ALIA policies, encourage members' involvement and interaction and to develop efficiencies of cost and time in both communication and information;
• monitoring and providing input to the internship program at the University of Canberra's School of library and information studies; and
• promoting access to government information by inviting the chief government information officer to address members.

NSW: Progressive approach to planning
NSW branch continued its progressive approach to planning during 1995 with programs including administration, communications, professional development, lobbying, local presence and service to remote members. Branch meetings were held monthly and provided a valuable opportunity for regional representatives to attend and have input into the planning and decision-making process. As a result of feedback from divisions at the Inter-sector co-operation meeting at the end of 1994, NSW branch concentrated on improving communication with its many divisions and attempted to 'demystify' its role. Strategies such as attaching more importance to section and regional group reports at branch meetings, adopting a standard agenda and visits to regional groups were adopted and complemented the continued distribution of Trunkline to all NSW members as an insert in inCite. Branch council representatives met with the Riverina regional group and members of the Victorian branch council in Albury to discuss issues of mutual concern. Increased emphasis has been placed on facilitating electronic communication. Following the development of ALIAnet a NSW home page will be initiated next year. Apart of the strategy to improve communication with members, branch council received a grant from General Council which will be used in 1996 to enhance support to isolated members. A number of significant public meetings and conferences were hosted by the branch, including:

• an address by the ALIA president at a public meeting in March;
• an event co-hosted with ACLIS at which Dr Brian Lang, British Library chief executive, was guest speaker;
• a joint ACLIS/ALIA meeting in May;
• a successful Australian Library Week function addressed by Brian Johns, ABC managing director. Because of its success with Australian Library Week over the last two years, the branch was invited to host the inaugural Australian Library Week Oration in 1996;
• the Annual General Meeting was held in June and addressed by Alan Howell and Heather Mansell of the State Library's preservation department;
• a trial workshop on sorting out Association archives;
• a very successful seminar in October on Is your copy right; and
• a Lobby for libraries presentation by the ALIA executive director.

NT: Focusing on regional librarians
Library competency standards continued to be of interest to the Northern Territory branch and the discussion will continue as the standards are incorporated into curriculum and into the workplace. Meetings last year were timed to take place just before General Council meetings and this year meetings were timed to coincide with visits to Darwin of librarians from the regional centres. Staff development is always a high priority for members in the Northern Territory, but for many the costs involved in travelling to attend conferences or staff development activities is still very high. To alleviate this problem, the branch developed guidelines for providing funding assistance for members. The first person to receive funding assistance under this initiative was Lisa Darby from Centralian College in Alice Springs, who attended the Techs at the top conference in Darwin. The branch also provided $500 towards the cost of bringing an Indonesian delegate to Darwin for the conference. Two outstanding students received awards this year. Elizabeth Roberts received the award as outstanding graduate in the Associate Diploma in Library Practice and Lynda Wedding received the award as best-graduating student from the Bachelor of Library and Information Management. The major event for the year was the Techs at the top conference. The conference committee, with some assistance from the Northern Territory University, sponsored five delegates from Jakarta, Iran Jaya, Ujung Pandang, Surabaya and Sulawesi. The close proximity of Darwin to Southeast Asia provided a good opportunity for Australian library technicians to exchange ideas with their Southeast Asian colleagues. On the industrial front, we welcomed the opportunity to meet with Phil Teece (manager, ALIA industrial relations) in June to discuss industrial issues. A particular concern was the salary classification level for library technicians in schools. The library technicians group, with assistance from the Community and Public Sector Union and ALIA finally won a four-year battle in September to have library technicians in schools recognised as library technicians, rather than classified as 'school assistants'.

Qld: New budgetary structure helps divisions
1995 was the first full year of operation of a new budgetary structure, from which two initiatives benefited - a recoupable grant was made to Central region to support the State Conference, and a non-recoupable grant was made to the Northern region to support efforts for library activities in the Australia remembers celebrations held in Townsville. The Branch was also grateful for a grant of funds to help it maintain communication with its remote members. The State Conference was one of the major (and successful) events of the year for the branch, with carriage of its organisation resting with the Central Region committee. The August meeting of branch council was preceded by a planning session. Key issues discussed were: Communication with members - a continued review of the content, format and production of Quill was foreshadowed. Preparations were made to create a branch home page on ALIAnet; Recruitment and retention of members - where a range of strategies were identified; and a Mentoring scheme - a committee was formed to develop a scheme for members. The continuing education co-ordinator had a busy year in 1995. Amongst the events organised:

• A dinner for 'new librarians' was held early in the year, as part of an ongoing effort to make people new to the profession feel welcome in the Association.
• The second Awards night was held during Australian Library Week, and provided the opportunity for branch and divisions to recognise members who have served particularly well.
• Meetings with Kay Poustie, chair of the ALIA Board of Education, and with ALIA president Jan Gaebler were held. At the latter, Maureen Nagle, Institution of Engineers membership secretary, spoke about recruitment and retention of members from another professional association perspective.
• A talk on the new Masters course at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was given by Jeanne Owen.
• A careers seminar to help graduating students or new members was held.

• The ALIA Qld branch prize for the best part-time student in QUT's Graduate Diploma in Librarianship course was increased to include payment for a one-year membership to ALIA in addition to a cash prize.
• Interaction with ACLIS Queensland continued, with a representative from ACLIS attending branch council meetings and vice versa.

SA: Sections play a central role
South Australia had a very strong group of sections, with most running effective and comprehensive programs. As a result of their strength it was difficult to fill branch council positions, and there was no 1995 president, vice-president or secretary in line at the end of 1994. Nonetheless, by General Council's March meeting all positions were in place. The delay in filling positions held up some activities initially. At the March meeting of General Council the withdrawal of Tasmania as the 1998 Biennial Conference contender created an opportunity for South Australia to host the conference. Branch Council immediately set up a bid committee which submitted a successful bid: Adelaide will now host the 1998 ALIA biennial conference, with Di Booker as the chair of the conference committee. Due to vacancies on branch council the branch was unable to co-ordinate a state-wide approach to Australian Library Week. The sections undertook their own activities for the week which were very successful in raising the profile of the profession. Competencies for Library Technicians received considerable interest, especially with TAFE's moving to the granting of degrees in librarianship. Two major conferences were hosted by South Australia. The National RAISS Conference Fantastic futures was chaired by Karen Karykis and opened by Jan Gaebler, ALIA president, in September. The Biennial SA Country Conference Windows of opportunity: Networking with the world was also opened by Jan Gaebler in October, with the plenary paper (along with others) presented by Dr Veronica Lunn, put together principally by Ian McBain, Janice Nitschke and Bill Roache. Both conferences were outstanding successes.

Tas: A year of positive outcomes
1995 was a year of highs and lows for the Tasmanian branch but many positive things took place. One of the major events was the reforming of the Library Technician's section: we now look forward to their continued development through 1996. Activities in the south began with a new members dinner at which Harry Quick, MHR spoke. Five new members signed up on the night. Australian Library Week was a major event in the annual calendar and this year the branch held a variety of activities. Christine Milne, MHA opened Library Week in Tasmania and gave an interesting talk on the Internet and public access to it. We were also pleased to welcome ALIA president, Jan Gaebler to speak to a meeting and to launch the ALIA framework for continuing professional development in Tasmania. The continuing professional development committee held numerous seminars during 1995, speakers included Meg Paul talking on strategies for special libraries; Sue Owen on networking and promotion; Damon Ridley on on-line searching and Gail Cork from CAL. Joy Ellis, editor of Link for the last few years retired at the end of 1995. Her contributions to ALIA over the years, and her commitment to the production of Link, will be sorely missed.

Vic: Planning the key
Working within our business plan the Victorian branch was well-positioned to work towards our goals of providing leadership to enable the development and delivery of quality library and information services, to influence governments, other organisations and the community at large by representing professional interests and to provide an organisational framework to foster individual and mutual professional interests and aspirations. An effective and flexible business plan has proved invaluable to the executive when undertaking planning and activities throughout the year. 1995 will be remembered as the year of competitive compulsory tendering in the public library sector. As a professional association, representing members of the library and information profession, it was vital that we take steps to ensure that high quality, professional services continue to be provided to the Victorian public. The branch council met in its new location, the State Library of Victoria, ten times in 1995. There were three executive meetings during the year. In October members of the executive travelled to Albury for a joint meeting with members of the NSW branch executive to share ideas and discuss issues of concern to both branches. The highlight of the year was the outstanding success of the mentoring scheme. A special grant from ALIA National Office enabled an increase in workshops and special seminars and the development of a database. A strong collaboration has been developed with ACLIS with three well-attended joint seminars being held. In March Dr Brian Lang, British Library director, joined speakers at a panel discussion on Information access and infrastructure. In May representatives of the telecommunications industry joined the library profession for a forum on Public access to the information superhighway and in November a one-day conference was held on Network publishing. Other professional development activities included the launch of the ALIA framework for continuing professional development and the Lobby for libraries seminar presented by ALIA executive director, Virginia Walsh. The television programme Healthy, wealthy and wise gave the profession some excellent free publicity. The positive feedback received in response to the segment on libraries and their value to the community was particularly welcome in a year when libraries, and in particular public libraries, have felt under siege.

WA: Celebration of the strengths of our profession
1995 proved to be a very good year for the WA Branch. The year commenced with a strategic planning exercise to determine branch objectives and strategies for the year. All of the identified strategies were undertaken by branch council and sections, with most strategies being fully-achieved. Biblia was again an excellent means of communication for the branch. As a result of Biblia's effectiveness, branch members have been well-informed of the achievements of sections and members of the branch, as well as the sadness at the passing of some of our colleagues. More significantly, however, there was a marked return to the celebration of the strengths of our profession. As always in the profession there was much debate about our image, and we were all made aware of the latest jargon in terms of skills, and competencies at our annual general meeting, during which Dr Sharr gave us much to think about with his topic Just a librarian. Members of branch council worked hard throughout the year and are also to be congratulated. The enthusiasm and willingness of those involved was an inspiration - demonstrating that involvement in branch council can be a very rewarding experience.