Branch reports

1997 provided several examples of these broader activities, especially as they involved liaison with other bodies. Australian Library Week, for instance, was successful as a result of the assistance of the ACT Library Service and the students of the University of Canberra. The ACTLS was also involved in arranging the reception, in November, for commissioner for public libraries, Mary Dempsey, from Chicago.

The most significant issue of the year was the Gardini Review and the resulting decision to merge ACLIS with ALIA. The Branch had a meeting with Robert Gardini in which members contributed to the review process. There was a joint meeting with representatives of ACLIS ACT, and the executives of both bodies have discussed how they will operate together in 1998.

The Branch was also concerned to provide general services for members in the ACT, in the development of its mentoring program and an extension of its dial-in access to ALIAnet.

Various members of Branch Council were involved in preparing submissions to General Council on matters such as marketing and ALIAnet management and to other bodies and, in some cases, were assisted by the employment of a research officer, funded by the Branch's local presence funding.

New South Wales
The Strategic review of library co-ordination and representation dominated 1997. NSW Branch played an active role in eliciting issues for the meeting between interested parties and Robert Gardini, the reviewer. The Branch continues to plan for the incorporation into its meeting regimes and structures of the roles and issues undertaken by NSW ACLIS.

Guest speakers at Branch meetings have provided stimulating discussions on topics such as the future role of library and information service professionals and the implications for representation of our interests; industry training and continuing education; and, from ALIA president Kerry Smith, latest initiatives in the formation of a new peak representative body.

ALIA industrial officer Phil Teece spoke on work in a changing labour market at a function attended by ALIA members, students and members of the Public Sector Union. This event was jointly-funded by the Branch and the NSW TAFE section of ALIA and was intended both as an information service and a recruitment exercise. Other professional development events included a talk by British educator and consultant Sylvia Webb on database development and use and an inspiring speech from Mary Dempsey, commissioner for public libraries on the public library system in Chicago.

Former associate librarian at Macquarie University, Eugenie Grieg, received an ALIA fellowship. The Branch internet webpages were launched during Australian Library Week. The mentoring program is ready for implementation in 1998.

Executive members attended a joint meeting of the Riverina Regional Group, Victorian and NSW Branch Councils in October. The branch president thanks all who have contributed to this exciting year.

Northern Territory
Contribution to the Association, professional development, and library promotion were the major themes for Branch action in 1997, achieved by a dedicated committee and enthusiastic membership.

In response to the Gardini Review recommendation for a single peak council, Northern Territory ALIA and ACLIS have integrated activities and committees from December. Through the year Branch council meetings were held monthly, while executive, subcommittees and working parties met on a needs basis. The Branch provided timely responses to ALIA national office requests for information and advice, and produced three high-quality issues of Interface.

Branch council engaged a professional consultant to help organise the territory's Australian Library Week activities, which included a debate at East Point on the topic, The book is dead, sponsored by Angus and Robertson and Bookworld; a double-page spread in the Northern Territory News; launching of the ALIA/ACLIS Excellence awards; Internet sessions at DPLIS and NTU; celebrity book reviews on radio station 8DDD; and the NTL booksale.

Our promotions program also covered publication of the Information centres of the Northern Territory and an award for the most-outstanding student in the Northern Territory University's Associate Diploma of Library Practice course. Branch provided financial asistance to nine members to attend the Library Technicians's conference in Canberra and one member to attend the PUBRAISS and ATSILIRN conferences in Brisbane and gave funding to the Library Technicians Group competency workshop in August. ALIA Library Technician of the Year was Kaye Bartlett.

Queensland
1997 has been a watershed year. The Branch contributed views to the Strategic Review and to ALIA General Council about the formation of a new peak body and is planning a joint ALIA/ACLIS meeting in 1998 to determine transitional arrangements for Queensland. While there are many issues to be resolved, there has been overwhelming support for a single peak representative body. Generosity of spirit and a strong commitment to change will provide the leadership, respresentation, co-ordination and service to members to meet our needs into the 21st century.

The pilot mentoring program has been so successful that Branch Council has decided to make it a mainstream service to Queensland members. Other professional development activities this year have included sessions with the ALIA executive director on lobbying for libraries and the future nature of information work, an HTML workshop for school librarians, a seminar on copyright, a paper on the electronic library given by Dr Brian Cook, ALIA Fellow, and a talk by ALIA national president on the work of ALIA throughout the year.

The major activity for Australian Library Week was a dinner for 120 people with speaker Dr Dale Spender, hosted jointly by the Branch and the Special Libraries Section (Qld).

A survey of members showed high use and readership levels for the branch newsletter, Quill, whose editor for 1997, Beth Mayo, achieved outstanding Queensland-wide coverage. The North Queensland regional group will edit Quill in 1998.

South Australia
The past year has been one of challenge and achievement for the Branch. The amount that has been achieved for the members and the industry is a credit to the members of Branch Council and the executive.

Lobbying and promotion activities included a continuation of the increased efforts made for Australian Library Week in 1996, with a 1997 program that included some events and a major round of contacts with the media and politicians. We hope that ALW can be further developed in 1998.

The Branch also lobbied the State Government on a number of issues including the redevelopment of the State Library, Internet access in public libraries, and the use of ABN by South Australian libraries. This process continued through the 1997 state election and we were pleased by the support given to our agenda by the government during the election.

The Branch has run fewer professional development activities than it might in most years, because of the commitment to host the 1998 Biennial Conference and the realisation that the conference will be an exciting and economical professional development opportunity for members in South Australia. The Conference Committee, convened by Di Booker, has made excellent progress towards an exciting and rewarding event.

The Branch has lobbied in support of the library studies course at the University of South Australia and, after a period of uncertainty, the future of the school seems assured. A number of branch and section activities have been held to involve students with ALIA activities and we have seen a number of positive outcomes from this process.

An excellent beginning has been made to implementing the ALIA/ACLIS merger through joint executive meetings and the development of a memorandum of understanding.

Tasmania
Change, if not chaos, was the salient impression for 1997, particularly since we lost office space at the University of Tasmania and now run the Branch office from a desk in the State Reference Library. Despite this, Tasmanian branch members were very active in 1997 and Branch Council worked hard and provided unstinting support to the president. Professional development activities included a seminar presented by Meg Paul and ACLIS on the Winning package program and a survey on professional development needs, a session on use of the Internet, a visit from Emma Davis-Bell, inCite editor, and a meeting with ALIA national president Kerry Smith in October, which included a discussion on mentoring.

With the agreement to combine ALIA and ACLIS into one peak body, ALIA hosted a get-together for both organisations in September. Other social activities have been the new members' dinner at the beginning of the year and the Christmas dinner in December.

A hardworking and creative committee concentrated on library services for people with special needs as the theme for Australian Library Week 97. Alderman Mary Guy of the Glenorchy City Council launched ALW97 at the Glenorchy Library. Community groups such as The Deaf Society, Royal Guide Dogs for the Blind, and Hear-a-Book, helped with displays and demonstrations of services for people with disabilities.

The level of activity in the Tasmanian sections within ALIA this year has been very pleasing. TALIATecs has attracted technicians from around the state to its meetings and functions, including a day-long conference and annual general meeting held in Ross in October. Seventeen technicians from Tasmania attended the ALIA Library Technicians national conference in Canberra.

The 12 Tasmanian delegates to the 7th Asian Pacific Specials, Health and Law Librarians Conference in Perth worked hard to promote the eighth conference, to be held in Tasmania in 1999. NARG has maintained an excellent program of activities, including a seminar by Brian Haratsis in Launceston, attended by members from Hobart and the north-west coast. Although we do not have a Public Libraries section, Jane Coatman has represented Tasmanian interests at national meetings.

Victoria
Branch emphasis on co-operation paid dividends this year, with effective cross-sectoral participation in a number of programs. Meetings and activities were held with state sectional and regional groups, as well as with the state ACLIS committee.

Joint ALIA/ACLIS activities began well before the Memorandum of Understanding was signed, with joint attendance at Branch Council and the ACLIS state committee. The Victorian ALIA/ACLIS co-ordinating committee met monthly to foster better relations and promote mutual support.

There was an increased emphasis on support for regional groups. ALIA branch councillors attended a number of regional meetings and a joint meeting of New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victorian branches in Albury in October at which Sylvia Webb from Great Britain spoke on knowledge management whilst Dr Patricia Willard spoke on career prospects outside of libraries.

Awards presented this year included the Redmond Barry Award, presented to Professor Stuart McIntyre, a long-standing member of the Library Board of Victoria and the ALIA Award for Innovation, supported by FLIS, and the Library Manager of the Year Award presented to Craig Anderson. Four merit awards were present to members who have served the Association well for a considerable length of time.

Western Australia
1997 was a year of change for the Western Australian Branch Council. The date of the annual general meeting was changed from March to November so that new officer bearers were in place for the start of the year.

The first event of the year was the Sharr Medal Presentation and new members icebreaker function, organised by the continuing professional development committee. There was some apprehension about the success of the event as it was the first time it had been held separately from the annual general meeting, but it turned out to be a very successful night. It was encouraging to see many new, young faces amongst the old, familiar ones.

ALIA WA Branch Council continued its lobbying campaign on several fronts. The issue of legal deposit was pursued, successfully raising the awareness of the political parties and resulting in a question on the issue being raised in parliament. Branch also lobbied for input to the planning of the new Art 'Super Ministry' and the re-writing of the Library Board Act.

We were successful this year in winning the right to host the Australian Library Week Oration. The difficulty in attracting a high-profile speaker was a disappointment and served to remind us of the tyranny of distance.

How to overcome the dire financial status of Branch was the centre of many debates this year. That, together with the need to get more people involved in Branch Council, was the impetus for a review of the committee structure and workings of Branch. After a planning session by Branch Executive, a draft action plan for a new-look Branch Council was widely-circulated amongst the WA membership. The aim of the action plan was to give members a clearer idea of the purpose and direction of the state body and to encourage members to participate more in its activities. The plan has now been endorsed and is in place for 1998.

Initiatives by the CPD committee resulted in the offer of the research design and methodology course at Curtin University Department of Information Studies. Other professional development activities included a successful webpage creation training session, organised jointly with the Special Libraries section, an electronic information management session, organised with the UCRLs and discussion panels on information packaging and performance indicators.

WA Branch members took part in the discussions with Robert Gardini about the future of ALIA and ACLIS. They welcomed the opportunity to work immediately with ACLIS members on the integration of the two associations. A paper entitled ALIA/ACLIS relationship in WA for 1998 and beyond was adopted as the blueprint for action by Branch Council.