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Fostering engagement with academic communities of practice: a new role for librarians

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.

Commonwealth government agency libraries review: literature review

Ongoing financial, administrative, and technological changes present significant challenges and opportunities for government libraries in delivering services to their clients. Determining how government library and information services might best confront these challenges and take advantage of new opportunities is crucial for the future of the sector. The Australian Government Libraries Information Network (AGLIN) has commissioned a review of service delivery models in Commonwealth Government libraries. The goals of the Commonwealth Government Agency Libraries Review (CGALR) are to evaluate the libraries’ current service delivery models and to develop an options paper outlining some future models which might better serve needs of clients across government.

This literature review considers a range of current perspectives on library and information services,focusing on the specific issues and challenges facing contemporary government libraries and librarians. The review incorporates four key areas:

  • Directions in government administration
  • National and international trends in government library services
  • Developments in contemporary special libraries
  • Skills and competencies required by special librarians

Making an impact: an innovative solution to strengthen strategic publishing decisions

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

[Peer reviewed] This conference paper explores the capacity of academic librarians to participate in creating an app which brings together key journal information in a userfriendly interface that assists academics with maximising their research impact. The paper discusses how research impact is at the heart of institutional performance and reputation and is increasingly gaining prominence in academic library services. The University of Wollongong (UOW) Library implemented a Research Impact Analysis Service (RIAS) in 2011 to help researchers, research centres and the University strengthen their impact by providing detailed, strategic reports based on citations analysis drawn from numerous datasets. Consideration was given to issues of scalability and capacity to sustain and grow the service. An opportunity for collaboration arose, connecting the Library’s business need with the software development skills of JoindUp, a local start-up company under the umbrella of UOW’s iAccelerate business incubator program. The vision was to introduce efficiencies and innovation in the production of Journal Impact Reports. The project brief was to develop an application that draws journal metrics together to empower academics in their strategic publishing decisions. 

A project team was established and developed the Publish for Impact app which allows researchers to access a range of journal indicators in a user-friendly interface, providing a comparison of relevant titles. The Publish for Impact app has demonstrated the capability of academic libraries to embrace the development of new technologies to bring strategic benefits and add value to Library services. The app enables workload efficiencies, flexibility and assists academics to make informed decisions when choosing where to publish.

Submission in response to the Australian Government Smart Cities Plan, June 2016

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and the Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA) welcome the opportunity to respond to the Australian Government’s Smart Cities Plan, with its three pillars: Smart investment, Smart Policy and Smart Technology.

Public libraries have an important role to play in this vision:

  • Libraries as hubs for urban development
  • Libraries as technology hotspots
  • Libraries supporting business and enterprise
  • Libraries providing lifelong learning opportunities

Enterprise and acumen: real world information skills and employability for business graduates

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

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which reports on an information literacy and employability project undertaken by the University of Western Sydney Library to improve support for the School of Business by reviewing the information literacy programs offered to students, with a view to developing a more relevant curriculum. The project explored which information literacy skills are of practical value to newly graduating students in the work place and of greatest value to their employers. Interviews were conducted with new graduates and employers.

LIS journal publishing for the digital age: a GLAMR dissemination and preservation model

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

This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) accompanies the paper which puts forward the case for a new publishing model for an open access (OA) library and information science (LIS) journal that also encompasses cultural heritage, informatics, and the digital humanities.

New directions and changing perceptions: academic librarians as collaborators, mentors and influencers

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.

HLA News (Summer 2016)

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.

HLA News (Spring 2016)

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.

Stonnington Libraries online literacy and development (SOLID) program

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 (Winter 2016)

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.

Health Libraries Australia Professional Development Day 2016: Innovation for enhancing library value

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.

Research Data Management support: sharing our experiences

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

This paper explores the place of Research Data Management (RDM) support services as an extension of the academic librarian's role. The presenters anticipate that RDM support will become increasingly important in an ever-more data-driven research environment, and share the experiences of three South Australian university libraries in providing RDM, including the skillsets developed and lessons learned.

Fun palace: everyone an artist, everyone a scientist

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.

Fun palace: everyone an artist, everyone a scientist

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.

How to run a successful intern program: a case study from UNSW Australia library

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.

If you build it, they will come: creating a learning organisation in the NSW Parliamentary Library

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. 

Gaps in the descriptive metadata of our national memory: digital engagement with colonial photographs of Indigenous Australians

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.

LIS education handbook 2016

The 2016 edition of the ALIA LIS Education Handbook provides details of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) accredited courses run by higher education and VET providers across Australia. These courses provide newcomers with a gateway to their career and experienced professionals with opportunities for advancement. ALIA accreditation means that courses have passed rigorous assessment by senior leaders from the profession and it acts as a quality assurance for students seeking the best educational outcomes.

Libraries: putting the “Go!” in eGov

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.

HLA News (Autumn 2016)

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.