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ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

the first part of this conference presentation focuses on the broader national education agenda and industry engagement. Across Australia and internationally, universities are collaborating with business and industry to ensure their graduates develop the knowledge, skills and qualities that are relevant to the workplace. In this context,

The second part focuses specifically on the University of South Australia’s industry partnership with the State Library of South Australia in delivering the the Library and Information Management and Archives and Records Management (LIM/ARM) Program. This partnership provides an opportunity for the students to learn from university lecturers as well as from active practitioners who are at the forefront of practical application.

This report, commissioned by the Australian Digital Alliance, discusses the Australian Government proposed amendments to the Copyright Act 1968 which seek to broaden the circumstances in which an organisation or individual may be liable for someone else’s copyright infringement. Although the Government’s proposed amendment appears to be squarely aimed at ISPs, the amendments would apply with equal force to any other person who provides goods or services which may be put to infringing use. This includes all organisations which provide internet access to the public (including government bodies, libraries, schools and universities), online platforms which enable users to upload and display images and videos (such as eBay, Facebook and YouTube), providers of remote or ‘cloud’ storage (including commercial businesses like Dropbox, Microsoft and Google, as well as schools and universities), organisations which loan out or make available copyrighted content (libraries and video stores) and businesses which make and sell everyday consumer technologies like CDs, CD/DVD burners, USB keys, hard drives, digital video recorders and photocopiers.

The report sets out the existing law in its historical and global contexts, and, on the basis of extensive consultations with representatives from universities, schools, libraries and the technology sector, explores the legal and practical implications of the proposed changes for Australian intermediaries. It finds that:

• the proposed expansion of liability would potentially have significant deleterious effects for Australian institutions;
• the existing Australian law is already as broad as or broader than those of its counterparts overseas (and fully compliant with its international obligations);
• the proposal would use a ‘one size’ fits all approach contrary to a century of authority emphasising the necessity of determining liability with reference to all of the facts of each case;
• it would give copyright owners considerably broader rights against Australian individuals and institutions than those suffering economic loss because of torts committed in other contexts (without any justification of why they should receive such special treatment);
• the proposed amendments would likely result in persistent rightholder lobbying for new regulations that go further and do more, perpetuating uncertainty about the scope of intermediaries’ obligations and liability;
• it would oblige greater reliance on ‘safe harbours’, driving increased account terminations;
• the increased costs and uncertainty would make Australia less competitive and a less attractive place for investment; and
• there has been no clear analysis about the benefits likely to be obtained in exchange for these costs.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference papeer explains how the Dual Sector Partnership (DSP) Project was set up to deliver HE programs to regional students through their own local TAFE Institutes. The model of blended delivery allowed the students to study online but keep a local connection with lecturers and support staff based at their home institutes. Many students articulated into the degree programs from TAFE diplomas.

For the smaller regional TAFEs having to provide Information Literacy to HE students is a new thing, but not only are they HE, this cohort is mature age, not based on campus and come into the program with significant gaps in their academic literacies and technological skills. As a result each TAFE Institute library has responded locally in customising their delivery to suit the DSP cohort.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation explains how the Dual Sector Partnership (DSP) Project was set up to deliver HE programs to regional students through their own local TAFE Institutes. The model of blended delivery allowed the students to study online but keep a local connection with lecturers and support staff based at their home institutes. Many students articulated into the degree programs from TAFE diplomas.

For the smaller regional TAFEs having to provide Information Literacy to HE students is a new thing, but not only are they HE, this cohort is mature age, not based on campus and come into the program with significant gaps in their academic literacies and technological skills. As a result each TAFE Institute library has responded locally in customising their delivery to suit the DSP cohort.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference paper discusses how the Clearinghouse has been developed by partners including sports libraries, State departments of sport and recreation, State institutes and academies of sport, National sporting organisations and peak sporting bodies. The purpose is to collect and disseminate audience-appropriate information relevant to the Australian sport sector. Clients include sport practitioners (i.e., coaches, physical educators, scientists, administrators, volunteers, officials and athletes), Australian governments and the wider community. It provides current awareness alerts and services, video and document archives, access to databases, information searches and document delivery, the Catalogue of Australian Sport Sector Library Collections and sector-specific information portfolios.

It is a requirement for all universities in Australia to have a university library service, and institutions take pride in their facilities, often seeing them as a symbol of the university’s investment in 21st century learning.

University libraries serve students and faculty on campus, and provide access to resources for the rapidly increasing number who study remotely.

This document, prepared in a joint partnership by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Schools and the Victorian Catholic Teacher Librarians (VCTL), aims to support schools in their self reflection. The information gathered would contribute to a self reflection report. In addition, the document provides a valuable strategy to use in the ongoing monitoring of the school’s improvement plans.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Schools Australia 2012 report stated the number of Australian government schools (6,697), Catholic schools (1,713) and independent schools (1,017), giving a total of 9,427 primary and secondary schools.

Almost all schools have a library of some description, but they vary enormously in terms of staffing, facilities and resources. At the lower end, there are schools with a few shelves of books and a member of staff whose responsibility it is to look after them, as part of a much wider teaching or administration role. At the high end, there are flagship library and IT hubs, with more than a dozen members of staff. Several of the team will be qualified teacher librarians. They will have a growing collection of print and ebooks and provide a range of services to students, including safer online experiences, group learning and study spaces, and more electronic resources.

In this project, ALIA set out to investigate the big questions. Heading towards 2025: How will libraries remain relevant for users? What changes will institutions and individuals in the sector experience? Will ‘library and information professional’ continue to be a necessary and desirable occupation? We were looking for bold thinking and we received challenging, insightful, inspiring responses to our request for feedback, through submissions from individuals and groups; participants at our Future of the LIS Profession discussions around Australia; senior library leaders, who gathered at our Summit; and the heads of other associations in the sector, who attended our sector roundtable. All these events were held between May and October 2013. Conversations initially focused on the current issues facing library and information professionals, before projecting forward into how we saw the landscape developing by 2025.

The Australian Library and Information Association's submission in response to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) Higher Education Standards Panel call for comment.

Australian Library and Information Association is responding to the Early Childhood Learning element of the Productivity Commission Issues Paper, with the aim of: securing explicit acknowledgement of the role of Australian public libraries in early childhood development in the final report to Government (31 October 2014), and encouraging discussion to identify further opportunities for the national network of 1500 public libraries to be used by federal, state and local government to support early childhood learning provision.

National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

ALIA National Conference provides the platform as a meeting point for all Library and Information professionals, from all sectors and all areas of Australia and the international community. 

ALIA responded to the Inquiry into the role of Technical and Further Education system and its operation, with the aim of: (1) encouraging acknowledgement of the important role of Australian TAFE libraries in supporting VET students, and (2) explaining the importance of a VET entry point for library and information professionals.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation explores the role of grey literature in public policy and practice in Australia based on the results of the Grey Literature Strategies research project, an ARC Linkage project being undertaken by Swinburne University and Victoria University in partnership with the National Library of Australia, the National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA), the Australian Council for Educational Research and the Eidos Institute.

The presentation presents the findings from three online surveys conducted in 2013 of users, producers and collectors of research and information as well as interviews conducted with librarians, researchers and producing organisations. The paper will focus on the data from collecting organisations and other relevant results for the library community and will discuss the way in which libraries are both succeeding and still struggling in their approach to digital content. Topics that will be discussed include: the content users and collecting organisations consider most important; how users find and access content; views on copyright reform; strategies for dealing with deadlinks; selection and evaluation of digital content; contingent valuation and cost benefit analysis of grey literature.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation explains how driven by a need to reduce its operating budget, the State Library of New South Wales embarked on a Review Program to capitalise on its investment in technology, and position itself to tackle future needs and challenges – particularly in the digital environment.

Rather than 'tweaking' the current structure, the collection management function [CMF] review provided an opportunity to consider the management of our collections from a life cycle approach and align our branch structure to that cycle. It has considered the skills and knowledge required to undertake key activities, and reimagined that capability into a new structure supported by new governance and revised policies and procedures.

In reality, the CMF has achieved transformational change in how we manage our collections and represents the most significant realignment of staff ever undertaken within the SLNSW. The new structure has 23 roles: no role remains the same. And, this review has been undertaken in the context of an organisation undergoing broad change and implementing new enterprise systems.

This presentation outlines how one major Australian research library has responded to the challenges encountered by the sector. It will explain the review process undertaken to achieve the new structure, the outcomes and the way forward.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation discusses the purpose of a Deakin University project which was to examine the copyright and licensing knowledge gap of academic staff to identify their current understanding of, and attitudes towards, copyright, licensing and the open access movement in relation to the content they use, create, and share in their teaching and research practice.

The motivation behind this study was to gather information to assist the Library in creating and providing effective information resources and training for academic staff.

Results were largely consistent with other similar studies conducted around these topics. There is a clear role for librarians to continue providing such training and resources as the push for Open Access resources, publishing, and data only gains momentum.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference paper discusses the future of library studies courses in the Northern Territory (NT).In 2008 the lifespan of the Library Studies course in the NT was said to be very short. Sources reported it would be discontinued due to the low enrolment numbers. This posed a huge disadvantage for the local industry if students were no longer trained at a paraprofessional level.

The strategy was to visit libraries, introduce the course (over many cups of coffee) to gain industry trust and support! Employers were strongly encouraged to provide input into assessment and training strategies. This proved to be a huge success for work placement and delivery in the workplace. A strong Course Advisory Committee (CAC) was formed and as staff numbers for delivery were limited flexible learning was introduced. Each semester students were encouraged to visit and tour a variety of libraries and the Museum and were always greeted enthusiastically.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation exploring the implementation of the eSmart Libraries program is integral to the conference theme of ‘Public Libraries Supporting Communities’, as it will not only showcase innovations in community engagement and education, but it will provide participants with an explanation of how the framework itself is practical, well supported and evidence-based.

Also, eSmart Libraries program itself has an online community that draws together best practice in digital citizenship and provides professional discourse on matters of how to best engage staff and users in sustaining the smart, safe and responsible use of digital technologies.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference paper reviews the role faculty librarians in the Health Sciences Team have played in responding to this new agenda, with participation in workshops, planning consultations with researchers, whilst simultaneously aligning and redeveloping services to meet this emerging need.

The services include research consultations; researcher training (includes literature searching, bibliometrics, social media and more) the new customised search service (provides customised literature searching to support grant proposals and funded projects), and the research impact advisory service.

Another important aspect that has impacted on service provision has been the interdisciplinary nature of the University’s research agenda.  Faculty librarians are required to work across all disciplines in collaboration within Learning and Research Services in the Library and with researchers in the Faculties. Within each Research Focus Area, there are multiple rounds of funding allocated and the customised search service has been heavily utilized.  This paper reviews how librarians from the Health Team have become involved in quite complex negotiations with researchers as they scope out the requirements of each request, work within the team to ensure timely delivery of often quite multifaceted search requests. Evaluation of this response to La Trobe University’s research agenda will be reviewed and results analysed to ensure continuing sustainability and excellence in practice.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation reviews the role faculty librarians in the Health Sciences Team have played in responding to this new agenda, with participation in workshops, planning consultations with researchers, whilst simultaneously aligning and redeveloping services to meet this emerging need.

The services include research consultations; researcher training (includes literature searching, bibliometrics, social media and more) the new customised search service (provides customised literature searching to support grant proposals and funded projects), and the research impact advisory service.

Another important aspect that has impacted on service provision has been the interdisciplinary nature of the University’s research agenda.  Faculty librarians are required to work across all disciplines in collaboration within Learning and Research Services in the Library and with researchers in the Faculties.  Within each Research Focus Area, there are multiple rounds of funding allocated and the customised search service has been heavily utilized.  This presentation reviews how librarians from the Health Team have become involved in quite complex negotiations with researchers as they scope out the requirements of each request, work within the team to ensure timely delivery of often quite multifaceted search requests.  Evaluation of this response to La Trobe University’s research agenda will be reviewed and results analysed to ensure continuing sustainability and excellence in practice.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation describes the work of the Australian Drug Foundation (ADF) which has historically provided an information service, including a traditional library service, to internal and external clients, but shifting environmental factors within the library and broader information provision fields stimulated the service to look beyond its traditional functions to define its place within a new paradigm.

This case study demonstrates the way the Australian Drug Foundation library changed its model of service and redefined itself within a broader information unit, diversified operations and promoting increased collaboration between library staff, internal clients and external stakeholders.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation discusses a training needs analysis conducted by the State Library of Queensland (State Library) for Public Libraries of Queensland in 2013-2014.  This presentation explores the findings of the training needs analysis and the development of the Vision 2017 Learning Strategy for public libraries’ staff in Queensland.  The Next Horizon Vision 2017 for Queensland public libraries is a collaborative vision with State Library, Queensland Public Library Association (QPLA) and Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ).

Four key themes are outlined in Vision 2017: Creative Community spaces, Connectors – physical and virtual, Technology trendsetters, incubators of ideas, learning and innovation.

For Queensland public libraries to deliver on this vision we explored the skills sets, management and leadership competencies required with key stakeholders across local government, library industry education sector, public library staff, ALIA, and QPLA. Key barriers to library staff becoming confident learners were found to be a culture of permission required to learn, a risk averse culture within local government, and that library staff in Queensland are disengaged from the debate about the profession.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This confernce paper looks at how the growth of the evidence based practice movement has demanded a response from health librarians at Curtin University Library. This paper outlines how a collaborative approach to building librarians’ skills from shaky beginnings to firm foundations has facilitated a level of Faculty research support that is recognized, utilized and appreciated.

Working collaboratively within our own team, with the Faculty and with other health librarians has been highly effective in our growth to date and we are keen to seek out further opportunities for engagement as we continue on this exciting journey.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation looks at how the growth of the evidence based practice movement has demanded a response from health librarians at Curtin University Library. This paper outlines how a collaborative approach to building librarians’ skills from shaky beginnings to firm foundations has facilitated a level of Faculty research support that is recognized, utilized and appreciated.

Working collaboratively within our own team, with the Faculty and with other health librarians has been highly effective in our growth to date and we are keen to seek out further opportunities for engagement as we continue on this exciting journey.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation discusses how most futurists will tell you that it is important to look at the trends, and develop various scenarios to assist in determining your future directions. However spotting trends may be more difficult than you first think, trends come and go and which ones will stick and have an influence on your everyday.

Take the humble ebook, first introduced in the late 90s but soon disappeared only to now make a significant impact on readers, authors, libraries and publishers some 20 years later. This illustrates that trends may take some time before they become embedded into our everyday.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation discusses the IFLA Trend Report which is research by IFLA used as a foundation for advocacy and policy, and for use by our members which looks across society and access to the digital information environment to identify high level trends which will affect our future information environment and brings together the ideas of a range of experts from different disciplines (social scientists, economists, education specialists, lawyers and technologists).

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation discusses how NSLA (National and State Libraries of Australasia) has identified digital preservation as a priority. Over the last 2 years, the NSLA Digital Preservation Group has responded to this by undertaking a series of related projects.

These include identifying ways to measure our existing digital preservation capability, developing partnerships and opportunities for collaboration to develop skills and knowledge in the area, and looking into the abyss at difficult digital preservation problems and seeing what research we can undertake to help solve one of them.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference presentation explores how the role of libraries have long been custodians of ‘more than just books’. For NSLA libraries, the personal stories collected in our diaries, correspondence, photographs, artworks and realia are some of our most precious items. The rapid increase in digitally-created material has posed many problems, but also offered many opportunities, for libraries.

The traditional linear structure of item-donor-library is now a more complex structure, where everyone is a potential creator and curator. In recent years, libraries have been grappling to find the best and most efficient way of acquiring and preserving these new materials, from these new creators. Serena Coates will give a summary of the recent efforts by NSLA (National and State Libraries Australasia) to address the issues associated with digital collecting, and Sarah Slade will provide a summary of the efforts of NSLA’s Digital Preservation Project.

ALIA National 2014 Conference, 15-19 September 2014 Melbourne : together we are stronger

This conference paper discusses how the purpose of a Deakin University project was to examine the copyright and licensing knowledge gap of academic staff to identify their current understanding of, and attitudes towards, copyright, licensing and the open access movement in relation to the content they use, create, and share in their teaching and research practice.

The motivation behind this study was to gather information to assist the Library in creating and providing effective information resources and training for academic staff.

Results were largely consistent with other similar studies conducted around these topics. There is a clear role for librarians to continue providing such training and resources as the push for Open Access resources, publishing, and data only gains momentum.

Special libraries comprise government, association, health, law, corporate, consulting firm, ICT, engineering, religious, science and technology, art, museum, agriculture, media and other libraries that serve departments, institutions, not-for-profits, charities and businesses. The word library doesn’t always appear in the title, instead some are called information services or research units, terms which also describe their main purpose and function.