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ALIA HLA professional development day, held 13 - 14 July 2017 at Building 410, Medical School, Curtin University, Kent St, Bentley. Featuring presentations:

• Which review is right for you? Scoping the scope of an evidence synthesis.
• A Librarian’s experience searching for evidence for the Western Australian Group for Evidence Informed Healthcare Practice WAGEIHP.
• Creating sustainable and engaging partnerships.
• Systematic support for systematic reviews: supplementing research consultations with workshops and online tools.
• Systematic overflow: a matrix-like toolkit for sustainable support for Systematic and Systematic-Like Reviews.
• Managing Systematic Review Search Results using EndNote.
• HLA/Medical Director Health Informatics Innovation Award.
• ALIA Fellowship award.
• ALIA PD Scheme Health Specialisation: presentation of certificates to Certified Professionals (Health).
• Gold sponsor presentations.
• Defining Scope: More than Bibliometric Measures (filter for integrated care).
• Stretching past our roles, building and developing true partnerships.
• Differences in MeSH mapping between Ovid Medline and Ebsco Medline.
• Using text-mining tools for search filter development and designing search strategies.
• PubMed searching for systematic reviews – advanced concepts.
• Recent changes to PubMed.
• Searching for grey literature.
• Top 10 Medical and Health Research Data Things.

ALIA Information Online 2017 Conference, 13-17 February 2017 Sydney: Data Information Knowledge

The ALIA Information Online Conference has been held since 1990 and attracts over one thousand influential professionals from all sectors of the library industry. The conference gives access to key library and information service professionals from Australia, New Zealand, Asia Pacific, and beyond. The 2017 Conference will be an opportunity to connect over common interests, challenge each other, and engage with some of the most creative and exciting thinkers and innovators from our industry.

ALIA Information Online 2017 Conference, 13-17 February 2017 Sydney: Data Information Knowledge

This conference paper discusses the development of an interactive interface to connect communities with indigenous collections.

Abstract: In 2016, the State Library of NSW launched an exciting new interactive interface, that uses 100 year-old survey data to map the location and meaning of Indigenous Australian place names across the country. The project called Weemala, which means ‘a big lookout’ in the Sydney language, places historic survey information from the State Library’s collection relating to Indigenous Australian communities in a digital landscape.

This paper will discuss the development of Weemala and explore the collaboration that took place build the platform, drawing on expertise from within the Library’s Indigenous team and the Library’s DX Lab. The collaboration drew on a range of skills, including input from Library staff, volunteers, an internship program (UTS Masters of Information Management) as well as engagement with a data specialist. Developer and data enthusiastic Chris McDowall worked with the DX Lab as a ‘Digital Drop In’ to create the test platform for the data using transcribed survey forms and correspondence received by the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia between 1899 and 1903.

In developing Weemala, the Library was able to further expand the work of its Rediscovering Indigenous Languages project, which sought to make available the significant collections of Aboriginal language materials and word lists held within the Library’s collections. Weemala extends this work, using data to create new ways of engagement. The focus of exposing collections, and connecting the wider public to Indigenous Australian people was a core component of the project. As well as the commitment to engage Indigenous Australian communities with the Library’s collections to spark conversation and discussion about the nature and accuracy of the material that was historically collected.

The paper will demonstrate ways in which Libraries can effectively open up their data and build platforms that inspire curiosity, and in this case, connection with Indigenous Australian languages and place name meanings. It will also encourage participants to think about ways in which collections can be made more discoverable to enhance search and discovery of historic collections. It will also inspire others to think about respectful ways of opening up Indigenous Australian collections to deepen our understanding of place and history.

ALIA Information Online 2017 Conference, 13-17 February 2017 Sydney: Data Information Knowledge

This conference paper discusses the implementation of a library data visualisation platform.

Abstract: Singapore Management University (SMU) Libraries embarked on its ‘Culture of Assessment’ journey in 2013, geared towards demonstrating fiscal accountability and driving a higher degree of stakeholder engagement. With more than 80% of library staff trained in the use of Lean Six Sigma for business process improvements, it was only natural that the library started putting in place procedures and systems to continuously assess and improve services. For effective decision making, the challenge lies in the normalisation, consolidation and visualisation of data from the varied library services into a single coherent platform that could be used for making decisions that are timely.

This paper will share SMU Libraries’ experience in implementing a QlikView based dashboard for the visualization of operational data. It will discuss some of the challenges encountered in the following areas:

• Data Scope – Identifying appropriate data sources and designing metrics
• Data Collection – Operationalizing timely information
• Data Quality – Ensuring accurate facts and figures

ALIA Information Online 2017 Conference, 13-17 February 2017 Sydney: Data Information Knowledge

This conference paper explores the development of a new framework to combine Indigenous knowledge systems and linked data to enable greater accessibility and culturally appropriate use of collection items within the GLAM sector.

Abstract: The authors will discuss how incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems and understanding the complexities of linked data is important when classifying, cataloguing, and preserving knowledge for use by various audiences, from Indigenous community members to the general public. Through using case studies from the AIATSIS collection, this paper will also highlight how these systems can be used to better access and gain a deeper understanding of Indigenous knowledge when combined with linked data.

Indigenous peoples have a wealth of intergenerational cultural knowledge passed verbally through the generations. This knowledge manifests in both intangible forms and material culture, including traditional knowledge and cultural expressions, oral traditions, dance, language, medicine, as well as tools and artworks. As a living culture, Indigenous peoples have knowledge systems that provide a greater understanding of their culture.

It is important that Indigenous communities maintain control over their cultural knowledge in order to preserve and share their knowledge in a culturally appropriate way. The GLAM sector would benefit through an arrangement with Indigenous custodians to incorporate Indigenous knowledge systems when determining linked data.  Developing a better understanding of Indigenous knowledge and wider education of these cultures improves accessibility of connected resources to a wide range of audiences, in a culturally appropriate manner.

In addition to providing an overview of Indigenous knowledge systems, this paper also explores the description, retrieval and access to bibliographic and authority data using linked data principles in a GLAM environment. An introduction to linked data and the associated web standards, leads into discussion of the emerging BIBFRAME model. Linked data, with its basis in the semantic web, has the potential to deliver significant advances in discovering and sharing authoritative information to wider communities.

Possible benefits of using linked data for publishing descriptions and resources are explored, such as the ability to retain contextual relationships between items and collections. In addition, Linked data technologies can be used to expose the value added information about resources and their creators, such as bibliographic and authority data, to web search engines.

BIBFRAME is different to USMARC as it will provide a new way for collecting institutions and its users to annotate data by tagging and adding their own content. While online public contribution to content yields powerful results, un-moderated crowdsourcing can have consequences. Cultural protocols and practices, such as the ATSILIRN (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network) protocols and the AIATSIS Guidelines for Ethical Research in Australian Indigenous Studies, are examined as an informed way to work with material with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content. 

HLA News: National News Bulletin of Health Libraries Australia - The national health group of the Australian Library and Information Association

Contents: Who we are: 2014 census finding revealed -- Convenor's focus -- National Simultaneous Storytime at Ballarat Health Services -- Taking it to the next level: reviews of systematic reviews -- HLA/Medical Director Health Informatics Innovation Award winner announced -- HLA and MLA joint poster project -- Book review: Climate change adaptation for health and social services -- HLA Member Survey report -- Competition: Your chance to promote the importance of research in the Australian library and information profession -- HLA Professional Development Day: full program revealed -- Professional development diary dates.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper that describes a project in 2015 at the University of Adelaide Libraries to demonstrate innovative and relevant use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in support of the University's mission. The project aimed to demonstrate opportunities for the University Libraries to utilise emerging technologies. This pilot project existed as part of a greater movement driven by the University’s Technology Services division, and allowed an examination of how established groups could best exploit a technology on the very forefront of change.

ALIA Universities and Research Libraries (URLs) ACT, 8 September 2016 Canberra: data and libraries - harnessing the possibilities

The ALIA URL group provides a networking and information-sharing forum for all levels of library staff interested in issues and trends affecting the development of university and research libraries. 

This seminar presentation (PowerPoint slides) focussed on libraries and data, exploring new directions in data usage and sharing in the academic and government spheres.

HLA News: National News Bulletin of Health Libraries Australia - The national health group of the Australian Library and Information Association

Contents: Adding and finding treasure in Trove -- Convenor's focus -- Driving innovation and excellence: HLA/Medical Director Health Informatics Innovation Award -- EBLIP goes to USA -- HLA scholarship winner announced -- Which drugs work best for nausea and vomiting in the ED? Ask the library! --- Lost opportunity: '85% of biomedical research is wasted' - not to mention librarians -- MLA News -- Ipswich Hospital Library reinvigoration -- National round-up: WA and Queensland -- HLA PD Day, MOOCs and online training -- Professional development diary dates.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

This conference paper discusses how the NSW Parliamentary library went about building a learning organisation. The NSW Parliamentary Library is the oldest specialist library of its kind in Australia. The staff of the library are also specialists, who possess remarkable amounts of knowledge about parliamentary resources and history. Like many libraries today, a great deal of this knowledge is tacit, with vast amounts of corporate knowledge embedded in the memories of comparatively few individuals.

In the 2014/2015 Business Plan, in line with the strategic plan of the Department of Parliamentary Services, the Parliamentary Librarian set a goal-based activity to “Build a learning organisation”. A project team was formed, and an original plan for knowledge-sharing and capacity-building was implemented.   A basic PMBOK (project management body of knowledge) framework was adopted to clearly define the scope, objectives, approach, stakeholders, team composition and risks of the activity. Distinct process groups of Definition, Planning, Implementation and Review were employed and project management templates ensured the project was methodologically sound while still maintaining the ability to quickly achieve results and test the project’s effectiveness. Three surveys were employed to inform implementation and provide a measure of project impact. Qualitative feedback was gathered through regular team meetings, staff forums and informal interactions.   The first round of the project ran over 11 months, with an implementation phase of 7 months, and focussed on creating the foundations for a system of structured knowledge dissemination and management. 

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

This conference paper discusses how in 2015 State Library of Queensland (SLQ) led and facilitated Fun Palace events at libraries across Queensland. Originating in the United Kingdom, Fun Palaces are free, welcoming events combining arts and sciences, made for and with local people held in the first weekend in October. The Fun Palaces campaign is an ongoing movement for culture at the heart of the community. Held at libraries, museums, town halls, theatres and more these family events are as large or small as the organisers want to make them. In 2015 SLQ provided funding to seven public libraries, these were libraries from Gold Coast, Mossman, Beaudesert, Lowood, Longreach, Weipa and Thursday Island. The libraries hosted jugglers, archaeologists, cartoonists and robotics experts and enthusiasts from their local community to celebrate art and science in all its forms. Participants at SLQ could tumble, skip, leap and hoop with Vulcana Kids Circus, meet a giant virus and help it grow, program, control and battle a robot, go air surfing with walk-along gliders, paint a mural with veggies and much more. SLQ also developed a comic maker as our contribution to the global event.

This paper shares what happened, what was learned at the first Fun Palaces and why this program is an important part of SLQ’s commitment to inspiring Queenslanders’ creativity. The future direction of Fun Palaces will be discussed including the aim to incorporate more community led and created activities as part of our commitment to increasing community engagement in libraries. The paper also includes details of the 2016 Fun Palaces programs.

Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Australian School Library Association (ASLA) policy to ensure resource provision is an effective and integral part of curriculum development to support the school's vision and objectives.

Superseded by: ALIA ACSL Statement on School Library Funding and Resource Provision (2024)

Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Australian School Library Association (ASLA) policy describing the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in school libraries and their impact on the delivery and use of information and communication services.

HLA News: National News Bulletin of Health Libraries Australia - The national health group of the Australian Library and Information Association

Contents: Making a day of it: innovation for enhancing library value -- Convenor's focus -- Medline's Australian evolution: from 1976 to 1993 -- Notes from Seville: report from the 15th EAHIL Conference in Spain -- MLA News -- eResource procurement: an ALIA Health elist discussion topic -- Workshop opportunity: advanced search techniques for systematic reviews with Carol Lefebvre -- 2016 HLA Professional Development Day program and link to presentations -- 2016 HLA Professional Development Day: program abstracts -- Professional development diary dates.

HLA News: National News Bulletin of Health Libraries Australia - The national health group of the Australian Library and Information Association

Contents: High value, high visibility: wrapping up the year in Townsville -- Convenor's focus -- Workshop report from WA: advanced search techniques for systematic reviews -- MeSH update -- Call for papers: IFLA World Library and Information Congress -- Improvement fundamentals: free online health and care service improvement course -- Your health, your say: National Digital Health Strategy Consultation -- Open access repository: grey literature -- Call for abstracts: 9th International Clinical Librarian Conference, UK -- Professional development diary dates.

ALIA HLA professional development day, held 18 July 2016 at Kolling Building, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, Sydney. Featuring presentations:

• Captivating your audience: using eLearning software for the creation of learning objects.
• Trello? Can you hear me? Enabling enhanced communication for library staff through a cloud-based application.
• Chimps Dreaming: utilising free email and a web editor to customise eTOC delivery for time-poor clients.
• Hi! I need to find a photo: health libraries and hospital history.
• From Repository to TROVE.
• Putting patrons in the driving seat: implementing e-books at The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.
• There’s a guide for that! Using LibGuides at the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.
• Anne Harrison Award.
• Launch – Health Libraries Australia Archive.
• HLA/Medical Director Health Informatics Innovation Award.
• ALIA PD Scheme Health Specialisation: presentation of certificates to Certified Professionals (Health).
• The tree of collaboration: getting to the roots of conducting a collaborative health research project.
• Common (and curly) questions about sharing health data.

Contents: Staying alive: health science library practice in the 90's by Andrew Rooke and Adam Clark; Medline and more: Sydney's St Vincent Hospital microwave their Medline by Judith Weaver; Wellington: wonderful or woeful? by Jo Marshall; President's column - 8th International Medical Library Congress; Editor's note: Stop thief! - discussion about copyright; National Executive: Ian Stubbin, Virginia Staggs, Toni Silson, Grahame Manns.

Original document held at ALIA House, Canberra.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which discusses incorporating an intern program into the recruitment process at University of New South Wales (UNSW).

As with other complex organisations, having the right mix of staff is always a challenge in libraries. In recruiting staff at UNSW Library we look for particular skills, knowledge and aptitude and we make our decisions based on candidates’ qualifications and relevant experience. If you are new to our profession without the required experience and/or the right qualifications then many doors to a fledgling library career will remain firmly shut. Conversely, library managers think about succession planning and want to encourage new people to the profession. Some managers also want staff to join the “revolving door” by creating opportunities to gain experience in all sorts of library work. So how can library managers open the doors and build revolving ones? One strategy that UNSW Library has used is to run a successful intern program. The program consists of employing four final year/just graduated librarians for twelve months to work in the Client Services Unit.

The paper describes the intern program in detail, including planning, costs, recruitment, training and outcomes. It also explains how implementing an intern program does not have to be complex or time consuming for your library and how its ongoing impact can be extremely beneficial for participants, the organisation and the library profession.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

This report accompanied a conference paper presented at the ALIA National 2016 Conference relating to the introduction of eGov, following an Australian Government committment to providing online services for all high volume federal services by 2017.

The report defines eGovernment, the role of public libraries in facilitating access to eGovernment information, and promotes use of the eGov Ready Library Toolkit to assist public libraries in supporting their community.

This document provides a timeline that covers the milestones in the history of school libraries which became a separate section of the Library Association of Australia, now the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), in 1967. It also highlights significant events in the education and/or government sectors. Data from many of the reports commissioned by ALIA was used for lobbying federal government bodies which resulted in funding for school library buildings and resources. This funding, together with an emphasis on positive learning outcomes for students, has ensured that school libraries are influential within the education and library communities. For fifty years ALIA Schools has supported its members to make a positive difference to student learning outcomes. This support has also ensured that teacher librarians and school library staff are effective professionals.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers should be aware that this paper contains images and names of people who are now deceased.

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which discusses the value, relevance and role of historical images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people along with the decriptive metadata that was recorded at the time of capture.

It examines the challenge of absent and fabricated metadata in these photographs as they are discovered, delivered and published online. It draws on research into the role these collections play in European anthropological museums, including the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University and the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, to consider their transactional provenance. It also explore cultural rights and the value of photographs to Indigenous communities and considers the seminal Ara Irititja and new Indigenous databases and ask how we can best connect with experts in Indigenous communities to fill gaps in the descriptive metadata of our national memory.

Contents: Farewell photograph from 92/93 National Executive - Cheryl Hamill, Elizabeth Hides, Anne Batt, Brigitte Glockner; casemix; report from the 10th National Cataloguing Conference, Fremantle, 4-6 November 1993.

Original document held in ALIA House, Canberra.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which discusses how the NSW Parliamentary library went about building a learning organisation. The NSW Parliamentary Library is the oldest specialist library of its kind in Australia. The staff of the library are also specialists, who possess remarkable amounts of knowledge about parliamentary resources and history. Like many libraries today, a great deal of this knowledge is tacit, with vast amounts of corporate knowledge embedded in the memories of comparatively few individuals.

In the 2014/2015 Business Plan, in line with the strategic plan of the Department of Parliamentary Services, the Parliamentary Librarian set a goal-based activity to “Build a learning organisation”. A project team was formed, and an original plan for knowledge-sharing and capacity-building was implemented. The results have been overwhelmingly positive, promising and even unexpected.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers should be aware that this paper contains images and names of people who are now deceased.

This conference paper discusses the value, relevance and role of historical images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people along with the decriptive metadata that was recorded at the time of capture.

The historical image has never held a more significant place in our online engagement with the cultural record. In the digital environment, the research and publication value of images competes much more closely with the heavy material significance of the object and the traditional pre-eminence of the historical narrative. Colonial photographs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders possess a unique power to both demonstrate European colonial myth-making and corroborate Indigenous experiences that are otherwise unrecorded.

The majority of colonial photographic portraits and tableaus of Indigenous subjects were sent to Europe with family letters or for scholarly exchange. They were produced for scientific, documentary and commercial purposes – to document a ‘dying race’, as visual evidence for theories of evolution and as picturesque representations of the noble savage to feed the commercial taste for the exotic. They were prized for capturing reality, whilst simultaneously peddling myths of the other. Thus, much of the original descriptive metadata is absent or inaccurate, revealing the prejudices of these purposes.

For many Indigenous Australians today, they are also extraordinary family photos of mostly unknown ancestors. Their great value lies in this capacity to so immediately render our national history in terms of these dialectics of engagement.

Our digital delivery services offer great opportunities to restore these photographs within local domestic spheres and to be reconciled with oral family histories. There are, however, many particular discrepancies between the value in increasing access, and various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions surrounding the power and cultural relevance of visual imagery. This is exacerbated dramatically as our institutional pursuit for increased digitisation and online discoverability makes them easily viewable to a mass audience.

This paper examines the challenge of absent and fabricated metadata in these photographs as they are discovered, delivered and published online. It draws on research into the role these collections play in European anthropological museums, including the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University and the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, to consider their transactional provenance. It also explores cultural rights and the value of photographs to Indigenous communities and considers the seminal Ara Irititja and new Indigenous databases and ask how we can best connect with experts in Indigenous communities to fill gaps in the descriptive metadata of our national memory.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which discusses how in 2015 State Library of Queensland (SLQ) led and facilitated Fun Palace events at libraries across Queensland. Originating in the United Kingdom, Fun Palaces are free, welcoming events combining arts and sciences, made for and with local people. The Fun Palaces campaign is an ongoing movement for culture at the heart of the community. Held at libraries, museums, town halls, theatres and more these family events are as large or small as the organisers want to make them. In 2015 SLQ provided funding to seven public libraries, these were libraries from Gold Coast, Mossman, Beaudesert, Lowood, Longreach, Weipa and Thursday Island. The libraries hosted jugglers, archaeologists, cartoonists and robotics experts and enthusiasts from their local community to celebrate art and science in all its forms. Participants at SLQ could tumble, skip, leap and hoop with Vulcana Kids Circus, meet a giant virus and help it grow, program, control and battle a robot, go air surfing with walk-along gliders, paint a mural with veggies and much more. SLQ also developed a comic maker as a contribution to the global event.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

[Peer reviewed] This conference paper discusses gaming as a pastime that encompasses a wide range of activities including video games, board games, pen and paper role playing games, and card games. It evaluate the ways in which an urban public library can assess and meet the varied social and emotional needs of patrons using board and video games and examines issues surrounding gaming in libraries. It considers the role that game playing can have in the creation and building of communities when participation is facilitated by a public library through the provision of games and gaming events.

A survey was used to gather information to present a snapshot of the gaming habits of a community of individuals who utilise the services of an urban public library. The results can inform other organisations when they are creating a game collection or expanding an existing one to help them choose titles which promote shared experiences and foster communication between community members. 

The Reading Hour is one of the most celebrated annual reading initiatives in Australia, and supports individuals, families and communities to discover and rediscover the joy of reading. The Reading Hour emerged from the National Year of Reading 2012, and is an ongoing campaign from Love2Read, funded by the ALIA Australian Public Library Alliance and in partnership with the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Australian School Library Association (ASLA) policy to fulfil a school's teaching and learning goals through a well funded and appropriately resources school library.

Superseded by: ALIA ACSL Statement on School Library Funding and Resource Provision

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

This conference paper describes a project in 2015 at the University of Adelaide Libraries to demonstrate innovative and relevant use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in support of the University's mission. The project aimed to demonstrate opportunities for the University Libraries to utilise emerging technologies. 

The pilot project existed as part of a greater movement driven by the University’s Technology Services division, and allowed an examination of how established groups could best exploit a technology on the very forefront of change. To meet this goal a two phased project was proposed focusing on the rapid acquisition of VR production skills and the creation of a body of resources which could assist staff and students in the creation of content for this new media format. Using the freely available Unreal Engine (UE4) an experience was created which allowed users to view a fictional world which rendered the effects of Boolean searching on a range of objects.

This project existed within, and due to, upheaval within the library industry. The direction of the project and the decision to produce documentation supporting an unreleased product came from the idea of the academic library as a place that creates opportunities for self-directed clients, easing the process of learning and research. The process highlighted the value of documentation designed to lower the initial barrier to entry for this rising technology. Following the pilot project the University Libraries will consider VR as a component of the 'Library of the Future’ and determine how best it may be utilized to meet client needs.

National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: Engage Create Lead.

[Peer reviewed] This conference paper discusses incorporating an intern program into the recruitment process at University of New South Wales (UNSW).

As with other complex organisations, having the right mix of staff is always a challenge in libraries. In recruiting staff at UNSW Library we look for particular skills, knowledge and aptitude and we make our decisions based on candidates’ qualifications and relevant experience. If you are new to our profession without the required experience and/or the right qualifications then many doors to a fledgling library career will remain firmly shut. Conversely, library managers think about succession planning and want to encourage new people to the profession. Some managers also want staff to join the “revolving door” by creating opportunities to gain experience in all sorts of library work. So how can library managers open the doors and build revolving ones? One strategy that UNSW Library has used is to run a successful intern program. The program consists of employing four final year/just graduated librarians for twelve months to work in the Client Services Unit. To date nineteen graduates have participated in the program with all but one gaining permanent work in libraries, including at UNSW Library, either during the internship or immediately after. This is significant as the interns state that prior to this experience, they had never even made it to interview stage. As interns are treated as regular Client Services team members they are paid the same, do the same work and have the same training and professional development opportunities as everyone else. This arrangement is beneficial to both interns and the Library as the interns come to UNSW full of new ideas and enthusiasm, and are hungry to learn as much as they can, which in turn inspires our permanent team members. To date interns have contributed to activities as diverse as working at the Help Zones of the three campus libraries, developing the enquiry management system, participating in a university-wide client services project, user interface testing for web services, and assisting in the Document Services Unit.

This paper describes the intern program in detail, including planning, costs, recruitment, training and outcomes. It also explains how implementing an intern program does not have to be complex or time consuming for your library and how its ongoing impact can be extremely beneficial for participants, the organisation and the library profession.