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

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which discusses the issues faced by children with special needs and their families when accessing public libraries. 

The research found there were five common elements that libraries focussed on when addressing issues of accessibility for children with special needs and their families. These elements were: Collections, Programs, Partnerships, Physical barriers (space and equipment), Training. The elements were used to create an inclusive library model. The foundation of this model is supportive management. The inclusive libraries model provides an entry point and structure for public libraries wanting to improve access for children with special needs and their families. 

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.

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Superseded by: ALIA ACSL Statement on School Library Funding and Resource Provision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 presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which explores how academic librarians are under pressure to continually adapt services and resources to meet the changing needs of academic staff and students and respond to the wider availability of unmediated digital information (Jaguszewski & Williams, 2013). Many university libraries are responding by pursuing new methods of client engagement by providing more targeted and personalised library services (Tiffen & England, 2011). This paper presents findings from a small study of the information seeking approaches of 13 academics teaching mathematics in a range of Australian universities. It finds that while academics have direct access to more information than ever before, they are also time poor, face many challenges as teachers and are under increasing pressure to change their approaches to teaching. Findings suggest that communities of practice could be effective in supporting access to information about teaching. Librarians have the opportunity to foster such communities and to support the information gathering and sharing of the communities of practice.

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

This conference presentation supports a report prepared by the eGov Ready Project Team that emerged as part of the State Library of Vicoria and Public Libraries Victoria Network 2015 Shared Leadership Program.  The conference paper discusses how public library staff are reporting increasing demand to help patrons navigate and find online resources relating to eGovernment. Framing this is the federal policy for all high volume government services to be online by 2017, and 80% of all government service interactions to be through digital channels by 2020.

This presentation showcases a diagnostic toolkit to enable public libraries to assess their eGov readiness, which was produced as part of an action learning project sponsored by the State Library of Victoria and Public Libraries Victoria Network’s Shared Leadership Program, with the assistance of Cube Group, offers public libraries a practical and scalable means for evaluating their capacity to provide support, resources and training.

The evidence base underpinning this project draws from the ALIA and Australian Public Library Alliance proposed report, The impact of eGovernment on Australian public libraries (2015).   The questions posed in this document were used to develop online surveys for Victorian public library management and staff to evaluate the impact of eGov on:

• Staff time and skills
• ICT
• Programming and partnerships.

While public libraries are well-equipped and accessible places for eGovernment community access and education, data gathered from over 300 frontline staff shows that despite the fact that over the past 3 years, more than 90% of respondents reported having to spend more time on enabling patron discovery and interactivity with government information, forms, data and records, less than 10% believed that they were adequately prepared and trained for providing effective eGovernment information services.

How do we ensure we understand the broader environment in which we operate and how do we connect with it?

Australian public libraries are valued community hubs, and the largest providers of free internet and Wi-Fi services. The continued rollout of eGovernment will only increase demand on the sector to provide eGov support services to our communities. It is thus imperative that public library services actively seek out ways to effectively engage with our communities in this socio-political agenda. Our eGov Ready Libraries Toolkit offers public libraries a ‘traffic light’ rated diagnostic tool, the results of which link directly to practical ideas for suggested areas of improvement across all platforms: ICT, programs, partnerships, community engagement and staff development.

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.

ALIA National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016, Melbourne: Engage, create, lead

This conference paper details the development of Victorian Public Libraries 2030: Strategic Framework (VPL 2030) a strategic approach to the planning of public library projects in Victoria.  It shows how the framework operates to maintain a consistent approach across the Victoria public library sector and provide updates on statewide public library development projects undertaken collaboratively by Public Library Victoria Network (PLVN) and the State Library of Victoria (SLV).  

The strategic objectives of the VPL 2030 framework address the following social trends: creativity, collaboration, brain health, dynamic learning and community connection. The objectives themselves consist of: storytelling that fosters buy-in to the shared vision; accessing additional revenue and funding schemes; products, services, and programs aligned to community needs and aspirations; facilities and resources that underpin community creativity and learning; and staff with the skills and attributes to enable services into the future. 

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.

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

[Peer reviewed] This conference paper explores how academic librarians are under pressure to continually adapt services and resources to meet the changing needs of academic staff and students and respond to the wider availability of unmediated digital information (Jaguszewski & Williams, 2013). Many university libraries are responding by pursuing new methods of client engagement by providing more targeted and personalised library services (Tiffen & England, 2011). This paper presents findings from a small study of the information seeking approaches of 13 academics teaching mathematics in a range of Australian universities. It finds that while academics have direct access to more information than ever before, they are also time poor, face many challenges as teachers and are under increasing pressure to change their approaches to teaching. Findings suggest that communities of practice could be effective in supporting access to information about teaching. Librarians have the opportunity to foster such communities and to support the information gathering and sharing of the communities of practice.

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

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which reports on a research project that considered the perceptions, expectations, and behaviors of library employers on job negotiations as both employers and as job seekers. A survey was used to collect demographic data, including gender, age, position, and type of library respondents work in, as well as data on respondents’ reasoning of why they did or did not withdraw an offer of employment, their level of comfort in negotiating, and how much flexibility they believe there was for negotiating job offers. The research question was addressed through quantitative analyses of responses to multiple choice questions and qualitative analyses of responses to open ended questions.

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

[Peer reviewed] This conference paper reports on a research project that considered the perceptions, expectations, and behaviors of library employers on job negotiations as both employers and as job seekers. A survey was used to collect demographic data, including gender, age, position, and type of library respondents work in, as well as data on respondents’ reasoning of why they did or did not withdraw an offer of employment, their level of comfort in negotiating, and how much flexibility they believe there was for negotiating job offers. The research question was addressed through quantitative analyses of responses to multiple choice questions and qualitative analyses of responses to open ended questions.

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.

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.

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

[Peer reviewed] This paper analyses changes to the librarian role and outlines how the Discipline Librarian (DL) role has developed over the last two years at Griffith University, moving away from traditional librarian services and towards a more targeted approach that delivers newly created services supporting scholarly impact throughout the research lifecycle. A strategic change in the service model delivery and a review of research support services identified new services and skills sets that would be required by DL’s. An audit of existing research skills identifying potential skill gaps indicated most DL’s would require additional training and development. This paper also discusses the capability framework and maturity model used for skills development. The authors, employed as Discipline Librarians, surveyed their peers to discover individual perceptions around the newly defined role and also to identify challenges or perceived barriers in communicating the new role and services to their community. Survey findings are discussed.

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.

This paper is submitted as feedback to the Productivity Commission’s Issues Paper relating to the National Education Evidence Base. ALIA comes to this from a number of perspectives: as a member of the informal coalition of organisations promoting a national early literacy strategy for Australia; as the peak body for libraries, with members in the school, academic and public library networks; and as an Australian Research Institute supporting deeper knowledge and evidencebased practice in the library and information sector.

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)

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.

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. 

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

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper that analyses changes to the librarian role and outlines how the Discipline Librarian (DL) role has developed over the last two years at Griffith University, moving away from traditional librarian services and towards a more targeted approach that delivers newly created services supporting scholarly impact throughout the research lifecycle. A strategic change in the service model delivery and a review of research support services identified new services and skills sets that would be required by DL’s. An audit of existing research skills identifying potential skill gaps indicated most DL’s would require additional training and development. This paper also discusses the capability framework and maturity model used for skills development. The authors, employed as Discipline Librarians, surveyed their peers to discover individual perceptions around the newly defined role and also to identify challenges or perceived barriers in communicating the new role and services to their community. Survey findings are discussed. 

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

[Peer reviewed] Prison libraries play a pivotal role in serving the educational, recreational and other information needs of prison inmates.  This conference paper discusses the updating of the Mimimum Standard Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners.  

In 2015 the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) established a working group to review and update the Minimum Standard Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners, first published in 1990. The guidelines are designed to assist with the planning of new prison libraries as well as in the evaluation and development of existing services. They are based in part on the third edition of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Guidelines for Library Services to Prisoners (Lehmann & Locke, 2005). This paper describes the activities of the Working Group and the challenges they faced. It examines how Corrective Services New South Wales has responded to the publication of the Guidelines. Other activities relating to prison libraries that are underway or proposed are discussed and opportunities for further research are suggested.

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

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper that 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.

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.

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 paper explores the Stonnington Libraries Online Literacy and Development (SOLID) program developed by Charlotte Aberhart for staff across the Stonnington Library and Information Service. Between 2012 and 2016 Stonnington Library staff found they were increasingly approached by patrons for assistance with mobile devices and online services, in an environment where 'digital first' content was becoming more prevalent. The SOLID program was designed to improve staff confidence in meeting the specific needs of Stonnington Library patrons and encompassed five modules, each allocated 6 weeks for completion: Tablet Basics, eBooks and eAudiobooks, eReference, Social Media, and Online Media.

The paper outlines the structure and content of the SOLID program and discusses the feedback received from participants. In the future the program will run bi-annually at Stonnington Libraries, a choice made to avoid staff fatigue and to allow technological advances to be incorporated. The SOLID program is also available to other libraries through a Creative Commons license (link provided).

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 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.

[Peer reviewed] This conference paper discusses the issues faced by children with special needs and their families when accessing public libraries. 

The research found there were five common elements that libraries focussed on when addressing issues of accessibility for children with special needs and their families. These elements were: Collections, Programs, Partnerships, Physical barriers (space and equipment), Training. The elements were used to create an inclusive library model. The foundation of this model is supportive management. The inclusive libraries model provides an entry point and structure for public libraries wanting to improve access for children with special needs and their families. 

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.

ALIA National 2016 Conference, 29 August-2 September 2016 Adelaide: engage create lead.

A poster paper describing a research project funded in part by the 2014 ALIA Research Grant Award.

This research lies at the emerging field of human information interaction and retrieval (CHIIR), with particular emphasis on user-centred approaches to information retrieval. The project included designing and conducting a user experiment to assess the effect of displayed Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms on gaze and search behaviour.

The results include several kinds of research data that inform the understanding of the relationship between interface, reading patterns, search behaviour and search performance.