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Executive report

Progress

The year provided a challenging operating environment. In continuing its extensive program for review and development of its activities the Association has made significant progress in building a sound platform for the future and is on track for growth.

Financial performance

The Association's net assets were reduced by $118236 to $3335445. This resulted primarily from a significant drop in revenue from conferences, membership fees, division activities and ILL voucher issues and fund income. While acknowledging that a deficit is an unsatisfactory result the Board believes that the level of expenditure was necessary to continue the revitalisation of the Association. Further, in 2001 the Association continued to absorb the impact on members of the GST on membership fees and kept fees down. The Board of Directors has adopted a forward financial management strategy which emphasises risk-management, income improvement, and focus on Objects.

Areas of key activity

The Board identified areas of key activity and implemented initiatives to achieve greater impact of and support for the Association and its Objects.

Defending the rights of all users to equitable access to information particularly within online content, copyright, intellectual property and licensing regimes. (Objects: 1, 2, 3, 4) Benefit to members: reinforces the role of library and information professionals as responsible agents in providing access to information; develops resources to support members in their practice.
Advocating for public access to information through a structured and informed lobbying and advocacy program. (Objects: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Benefits to members: achieves greater credibility for the sector with governments, funding bodies and community; availability of associated member resources including industry data, a relevant up-to-date suite of policy statements, and lobbying and advocacy kits; encourages greater member involvement in lobbying and advocacy.
Securing strategic partnerships and alliances. (Objects: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Benefits to members: expands range of services and benefits; strengthens representational alliances; widens opportunities for enhancing professional practice; provides discounts for non-ALIA activities.
Setting the agenda for future workforce and practice priorities, career-long professional development, and practice linked research. (Objects: 2, 3, 5) Benefits to members: secures sector-wide agreement on a new framework for career-long education; expands ALIA-initiated professional development opportunities; increases focused research opportunities.
Promoting and celebrating the role and value of library and information services to the community at large. (Objects: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Benefits to members: raises the profile of the profession; increases visibility in the wider community and to governments; celebrates professional achievements through a new awards program; offers a range of targeted promotional events and Library and Information Week.
Targeting services and benefits to most effectively meet the needs of all members, in particular institutions, students and new professionals. (Objects: 2, 3, 4, 5) Benefits to members: focuses services and programs; stronger membership base; specific programs and services for special and public sector institutional members, student/new professional and senior management members.
Implementing a communications and information management strategy to improve communication, service delivery, planning and evaluation. (Objects: 3, 4, 5) Benefit to members: increases opportunities for engagement in activities; more-effective communication; new products, services and facilities designed to match the needs of members.
Continuously improving governance and management practices to maximise financial viability, member participation and benefit, and growth. (Objects: 3, 5) Benefits to members: sound organisational operating base; participation in policy development and planning through the National Policy Congress, sectoral, geographic and issues groups.

The year in review

Our Objects underpin our activities and define our culture.

To promote the free flow of information and ideas in the interest of all Australians and a thriving culture, economy and democracy

The Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy and Advisory Group commenced work on a process for collecting evidence for the review of the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 anticipated for late 2002 or in 2003.
A round table on information literacy was held in Melbourne with thirty invited attendees from public and state libraries, and education, business and community organisations. Outcomes included the formation of a partnership project between ALIA, the National Library of Australia and the National Office of the Information Economy to assess the feasibility of a national coalition for advocacy in information literacy.
The CAUL Information literacy standards were endorsed by the Association and at an ALIA TAFE National Group workshop on information literacy it was agreed that the CAUL Information literacy standards would be adopted by TAFE libraries nationally.

To promote and improve the services provided by all kinds of library and information agencies

The Association adopted the policy statements: Statement on free access to information (replacing the former Statement on free library services to all and the Statement on freedom to read); Statement on professional conduct (replacing the Statement on professional ethics); Statement on copyright and intellectual property; Statement on information literacy for all Australians; Statement on non-standard employment (replacing the Statement on part-time work); Statement on voluntary work in library and information services (replacing Statement on volunteer workers in libraries), amended: Statement on ALIA and international relations; Statement on ALIA's industrial role and services, and withdrew: Statement on non-discrimination in the employment of library staff.
The Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) and ALIA commenced work in December on an appropriate intranet licence for corporate libraries.
Awards and honours conferred: Redmond Barry: Alfred Gans; Fellowship: Neil McLean; ALIA Manager of the Year: Barbara Sullivan-Windle; Library Technician of the Year: Marion Boyd; Dunn & Wilson Scholarship: Kerrie Blyth.
2001 Awards for Innovation were awarded in five categories: Academic libraries: Janine Schmidt, Pauline McLeod, Liz Blumson, Deborah Turnbull, Noela Yates, Warren Ham, UQL Cyberschool; Health libraries: Prue Deacon, Jill Buckley Smith, Stephanie Tow, HealthInsite editorial team, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care; Law libraries: The National Library Team, Blake Dawson Waldron Lawyers; Public libraries: Vivien Achia, Marcia McGinley, Yarra-Melbourne Regional Library; Special libraries: Leanne Cummings, Sergeant Kim Nisbet, Queensland Police Service Library Service.
Knowledge outlook Library and Information Week 1420 May 2001: Australian Library Week emerged in 2001 as Library and Information Week, with a broader scope and specific opportunities for all types of libraries and information services special, public, school, tertiary to profile themselves. The five first days of the week were given themes: 14 May, Information Rights Day; 15 May, National Library Technicians Day; 16 May, Thank-you Day; 17 May, National Simultaneous Storytime (Edward the emu); 18 May, Libraries Online Day; and were supported with promotional materials and an Events kit. The July 2001 issue of inCite provided a stimulating snapshot of the many creative events held by around the country.
The Association's journals Australian Library Journal, Orana, Australian Academic and Research Libraries and the newsmagazine inCite were published. The full-text of the Australian Library Journal and inCite highlights were published online on ALIAnet.

To ensure the high standard of personnel engaged in information provision and foster their professional interests and aspirations

Our industrial relations and employment service experienced continued strong demand throughout the year. Several hundred personal members were assisted with specific individual workplace issues. This ranged from provision of information and guidance on appropriate employment conditions, legal and technical advice and interpretation of awards, agreements and employment laws, assistance in drawing up submissions to their employers and on occasion negotiation or discussion with employers on their behalf. Many employers both institutional members and others sought guidance from the service on establishment of employment contracts, standards for library workers and appropriate pay levels.
A large number of articles, papers and other written material on all aspects of the Australian labour market concerning library and information services was made available to members throughout the year, in both paper and digital formats. Contributions were made to several important conferences, including the 2001 Library Technicians Conference in Hobart, the Third Way Conference in Sydney and the bi-annual Convention of the Australian Industrial Relations Society in Queensland.
The education and training program entered a transition period this year as the Association's focus broadened to encompass career-long education rather than to maintain its former emphasis on entry-level education for the profession. To further this, the Association committed to a major project, Library and Information Science Education for the Knowledge Age (LISEKA). The first stage of the project sought input from important stakeholders employers, educators, library and information bodies and other interest groups within and outside the Association and culminated in the conduct of an Ideas Forum in November 2001. Using the recommendations arising from the Ideas Forum as a base, the LISEKA project will continue in 2002 as it works towards achieving an agreed national framework and approach to provision of effective career-long education and professional development opportunities for library and information workers. The continuing professional development scheme continued, as did a number of mentoring programs.
Recognition of the need to focus on career-long education for the profession saw the incorporation of Board of Education responsibilities into other areas. As a result the Board was abolished although the Association's commitment to professional standards through its course recognition program and its involvement in important professional areas was maintained. Courses in library and information studies offered by Charles Sturt University and Queensland University of Technology (Kelvin Grove) were recognised. Diploma courses in library and information services, based on the Library Industry Training Package, received recognition until the end of 2002 to cover the implementation and review phase for the package. The Courses in library and information studies booklet was published in print and electronic form.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Australian School Library Association and an ALIA; RMAA and ASA memorandum is being negotiated.
Learning for the future, second edition, was co-published with the Australian School Library Association.
Seven conferences were held: Information Online conference, was held in Sydney in January 2001; The National Library Technicians conference An information odyssey was held in Hobart in August; The 9th Special Health and Law Libraries conference: Rivers of knowledge was held in Melbourne in August; Revelling in reference 2001 reference and information services symposium was held in Melbourne in October; 2001 national TAFE libraries conference: Passion power people TAFE libraries leading the way was held in Brisbane in October; The 14th National Cataloguing conference Seachange: cataloguing in a dot com world was held in Geelong in November; The Public libraries national conference 2001: The conference Endless possibilities! was held in Melbourne in November.
Group professional development activities included: PROJECTing the future: project management in libraries and information services a joint seminar with ALIA ARCoM, Information Science (SA) SA Public Libraries and the LEARN Network (TAFE); A Round-table on education for information professionals was co-ordinated by the ALIA Information Specialists Group; Intranetting seminar by the ALIA Schools; Web design, web access and online learning, a web seminar was organised by the ALIA TAFE NSW group; Evidence-based practice skills a workshop for information professionals and educators in the health care industry was held at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane; What do we do next? Initiatives and directions for 2001, a seminar organised by the ALIA Schools Victoria group gave teacher-librarians the opportunity to hear about the changes in the second edition of Learning for the future, the results of research which investigated the characteristics of an information literate person, and the progress of two action-research projects about information literacy; A seminar on Reading: children's literacy and the library connection and a management seminar On the shelf and online: managing 21st century collections for children and youth, were organised by the Children's and Youth Services (NSW) group; Stepping out, a seminar highlighting the talents and careers of library technicians, was held in Western Australia followed by a 'skills audit' workshop which covered career-planning and personal skills assessment; and an extensive program by Pathways to CPD in the Brisbane area.

To represent the interests of members to governments, other organisations and the community
ALIA submissions to inquiries and reviews covered:

The NSW Select Committee on the Classification Amendment Bill (N2) 2001 and the South Australian Legislative Council's consultations on the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill (N2) 2001 cautioning against enacting legislation which is based on a classification system currently under review.
Review of the classification guidelines for films and computer games: ALIA supports the idea of a single consistent set of classifications symbols and categories. A single meaning for each classification category will assist consumer understanding and would make it much easier for consumers to make decisions on suitability of material for minors.
The Review of the NSW Library Act 1939: commending the Library Council on the consultation document Public library services in New South Wales: networking the community in the 21st century, on the intent of the changes proposed to the Library Act, and for its emphasis on the right of the community to access library resources freely, regardless of format.
Copyright collecting societies proposed code of conduct: noting our concerns that to achieve greater public and stakeholder acceptance, the Code of Conduct Committee (at the very minimum) must have at least one copyright owner and one copyright user appointed to it.
Copyright law review: ALIA supports the submission made in response to this inquiry by the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee and the Australian Digital Alliance. The Copyright Law Review Committee (CLRC) published an issues paper for its reference on Copyright and Contract. ALIA was invited to meet with the CLRC and other organisations to discuss and further comment on key matters raised in our submissions. The Committee is to report to the Attorney-General by 30 April 2002.
ICT industry development and corporate citizenship proposals: ALIA supports the ICT Corporate Citizenship initiative and the focus on broader social objectives and recommends that funds be made available for training to support the ICT donations.
Trade negotiations in the World Trade Organisation: raising concerns about the potential for publicly-funded libraries and information services to be subjected to unintended consequences from international trade agreements.
Draft guidelines on the national privacy principles: general acceptance.
Senate Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education References Committee on the capacity of public universities to meet Australia's higher education needs.

Our industrial relations and employment service was directly involved in a number of formal industrial proceedings during the year including:

The NSW Industrial Relations Commission's Pay Equity Test Case, to give effect to recommendations for increased salaries for library workers in that state;
The Queensland Pay Equity Inquiry;
Developments from the NSW Labour Hire Inquiry;
A major discrimination case before the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal;
and several other pay and dispute hearings.

To encourage people to contribute to the improvement of library and information services through support and membership of the Association

A new committee structure was introduced to reflect the Association's priority areas of expertise and advice: ALIA/ASLA issues taskforce; ALIA/ASLA joint policy advisory group; ALIA online content and regulation policy and advisory group; ALIA Copyright and Intellectual Property policy and advisory group; ALIA interlibrary lending expert advisory group; ALIA international relations policy and advisory group; ALIA publishing and editorial reference group.
An informative and comprehensive major research project on Information technology strategy for effective communication with ALIA members and growth of the Association was undertaken by User Insite Pty Ltd.
Significant changes to improve the membership structure and services took effect during 2001. A simplified fee structure for personal members of a three-tiered structure of full fee, reduced fee and student/retired fee replaced the eight-grade structure previously. A direct-debit option was introduced for personal members and the acceptance of payment using American Express was added to the list of payment options for all ALIA members.
On 1 July the new Group self-nominating structure came into place and was taken up with enthusiasm by seventy-four new groups. The group joining fee was dropped. At the end of December 2001 combined group membership stood at 10 544.
Affinity programs with a wide range of organisations were negotiated for members together with discounts with several partner associations.
At 31 December 2001 membership figures were personal members: 4789; institutional members: 921; voucher-only: 231. A targeted membership drive was commenced and will continue in 2002.
ALIAnet services received a boost in 2001 with the retirement of our ISDN connection and the introduction of a new fibre-optic link and with the installation of a new server. This upgrade has provided the capacity for us to offer a range of services via the web. New services will be introduced in 2002 to reflect the User Insite research findings.
At the end of 2001 there were sixty-four e-lists operational on ALIAnet, and more than 14 000 pages on the site. The new ALIA Groups were allocated space on the site, and most groups took full advantage of this facility.
The 2000 Handbook was published and distributed to all institutional members.
The 2nd National Policy Congress was held in Canberra on the 78 December 2001. Sixty-seven group representatives and three observers attended. With the exception of Moyra McAllister who was overseas, all Board directors were present. Distinguished ALIA Fellow Ian McCallum facilitated the Congress with Sherrey Quinn. Delegates took full advantage of this opportunity to provide feedback on a variety of issues, seek clarification of decisions of the Board of Directors, and identify issues needing to be addressed by the Association. The full report was published on ALIAnet.

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