Australian public library alliance achievements 2010-2015

Overview: The ALIA Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA) is the peak body for public libraries in Australia. Our committee comprises the chair of every state-based public library association, a senior representative from the ACT, Northern Territory and Tasmanian library services, and expert members. We represent 94% of all the 1500 public libraries across Australia through membership subscription. APLA (or, as it was previously known, the ALIA Public Libraries Advisory Committee) was formed following a highly successful ALIA Public Libraries Summit in July 2009. At the summit, libraries leaders called for, ‘Australia’s public libraries, united behind common goals and ambitions, sharing best practice, contributing to strong communities, valued by people and government, continuing to provide universal free access to information, knowledge and ideas, and confirming the importance of their role for future generations.’ A national alliance, supported by every state and territory, and Public Libraries Australia, was the primary outcome of the summit and was ratified by the signing of a Memorandum of Collaboration in July 2010

Harnessing the cognitive surplus of the nation: new opportunities for libraries in a time of change. The 2012 Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship Essay.

This essay is the winner of the 2012 Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship. The essay draws on Rose Holley's experience of managing innovative library services that engage crowds such as The Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program and Trove, and her ongoing research into library, archive and museum crowdsourcing projects. This experience and knowledge has been put into the context of Jean Arnot’s values and visions for Australian libraries. Jean Arnot, the distinguished Australian librarian, described her vision for an innovative library service over sixty years ago. Rose suggests how some of her goals are now being achieved through use of the internet and digital technologies, and how we can build on these to ensure that libraries remain valued and relevant by harnessing the cognitive surplus of the nation they serve, and by crowdsourcing

What Munn Missed: The Queensland Schools of Arts

American Librarian Ralph Munn\u27s historic tour of Australian libraries in 1934 is well documented. Along with Ernest Pitt, Chief Librarian of the State Library of Victoria, he spent nearly ten weeks travelling from Sydney and back again, visiting libraries in all the state capitals and many regional towns throughout the country. Munn\u27s trip was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was then, through its Dominions fund, turning attention to philanthropic opportunities in the Antipodes. The resulting report, Australian Libraries: A Survey of Conditions and Suggestions for their Improvement (commonly referred to as the Munn-Pitt Report) is often credited with initiating the public library movement in Australia. [excerpt

Reflections on professional training: A post-Auroran view

Paper presented at Capitalising on Knowledge: Australian Library and Information Association 2000 Conference, 23 – 26 October 2000 Canberra, ACTThis paper looks at the relationship between education for librarianship, professional development and leadership training

Library support for indigenous university students: Moving from the periphery to the mainstream

Abstract Objective – This research project explored the models of Indigenous support programs in Australian academic libraries, and how they align with the needs of the students they support. The research objective was to gather feedback from Indigenous students and obtain evidence of good practice models from Australian academic libraries to inform the development and enhancement of Indigenous support programs. The research presents the viewpoints of both Indigenous students and librarians. Methods – The research methods comprised an online survey using SurveyMonkey and a focus group. The survey was conducted nationally in Australia to gather evidence on the different models of Indigenous support provided by academic libraries. The survey explored the nature of support services such as specialized study spaces and resources, information literacy education, and liaison services for Indigenous students. The survey also asked respondents to comment on the challenges they encountered and improvements they would recommend in providing Indigenous student support. To provide a student perspective, a small cohort of Indigenous students at a small university in South East Queensland was interviewed in a focus group about their library experiences. The focus group explored Indigenous students’ perceptions of the library, their frequency of use and where they go for help with their studies. Results – The survey found that 84% of academic libraries provide some specific support for Indigenous students with 89% of those support services being conducted in a place other than the library. Across the sector, Australian academic libraries have a strong commitment to the success of Indigenous students and considerable engagement with Indigenous issues. The focus group found that Indigenous students’ needs and concerns about using the library were not differentiated by their cultural background. Rather their concerns were similar to issues being raised in the broader student population. Conclusion – The survey results indicated that the main areas in which support for Indigenous students might be improved are greater inter-departmental communication and collaboration within the university, increased training of library staff in Indigenous cultural sensitivity, and the employment of Indigenous library staff members. The focus group was valuable in opening the communication channels between Indigenous students and library staff and highlighted the importance of engaging with students using both formal and informal channels

Progressive reform and the moral mission in Australian public libraries at the beginning of the “Information Age”

Progressive ideas about library economy, emanating from American and British libraries, contributed directly to the development of local procedures in public libraries in Australia in the late nineteenth century. The new consciousness of library professionalism, and scientific approaches to classification and library organization, led to new ideas on library design and functioning in the major Australian public libraries, building upon a consideration of local conditions and requirements. These developments coincided fruitfully with the Federation period, when the separate Australian colonies joined to form the Australian nation. Librarians sought to modernize their institutions in a positively charged climate of national progress, selfawareness, and pride. However, the transition to progressive practices was not uniform across the major Australian libraries. Conflicts between moral and technological values meant that some librarians rejected progressive practice and maintained older approaches, particularly in the area of classification. The Tasmanian Public Library, led by Chief Librarian Alfred J. Taylor, was an example of this. This paper examines Taylor’s approach in the wider context of changing attitudes to professionalism and library economy, his own paternalistic and humanistic approach to library organization, and the specific needs of the Tasmanian community.published or submitted for publicationOpe

Collaboration analysis of World National Library websites via webometric methods

This article aimed to study National Library Websites (NLW) using webometric methods. The in-links and co-links to national library websites were analyzed to study: firstly, the visibility of these National libraries on the web. Secondly, the collaboration on national and international level amongst the studied national libraries websites. This study found that according to the in-link count of 38 national library websites, 3 were extremely popular and we can call them the most visible national library websites as they come below: 1. United States of America (http://www.loc.gov); 2. Australia (http://www.nla.gov.au); 3. United Kingdom (http://www.bl.uk). The results of the study also showed that, there were 5 clusters (2 cross continental and 3 international) in the studied national library websites. On the other hand, the multidimensional scaling map showed 4 major collaboration clusters: 2 cross national (both European) and 2 international (European, Asian, American, Australian). African national library websites were not seen in these clusters. It means that, African national libraries have a little collaboration with others through their websites. However, due to the problems of search engines which are used for data collection in webometric studies, this method needs to be used with cautio

Why Think? Just Do: The Dawn of a New Era in Australia and Implications for Australian LIS Research

Work undertaken by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Research Committee for the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Excellence in Research (ERA initiative revealed a commitment by Australian library and information studies (LiS academics to undertake serious research for the profession in Australia, a necessity in order to survive in the current Australian research and university policy climate. Yet on a world scale, LIS research being undertaken by research academics and students in the Australian LIS context is not extensive. The paper describes the current context of research activity in Australian universities and outlines the ALIA ERA experience, the final outcome of which was, in the eyes of many, unfavourable to Australian LIS research community. It concludes by addressing the question; Is there room for optimism

A National Library for Australian Educational Research.

The Australian Council for Educational Research – www.acer.edu.au – is Australia’s national educational research organisation. Its mission is to “create and promote research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning”. The ultimate goal of ACER’s work is to improve outcomes for learners. We do this through reliable, scientific research and through the development of products and services grounded in dependable research. We create and disseminate research-based knowledge and develop and offer a variety of research-based professional resources and services. The Cunningham Library serves the ACER and as such is Australia’s national library for educational research. It is a unique, comprehensive collection of Australian educational research material dating from the early 1900s to the present day. The vast resources of Cunningham Library offer the researcher an up to date collection to support educational research. ACER is a national research organisation which has a corporate structure – a non-profit company – and is not financially supported by government. The Cunningham Library is not only a national research library, but is funded directly by research activity. A major research library both supports research and disseminates it. This paper demonstrates the role of the Cunningham Library – see www.acer.edu.au/library - in both providing access to information to support research, and playing a major role in disseminating research. The Library is embedded in the learning and research process by having a close alignment of corporate and library goals, and through its development and dissemination of knowledge-based products and services. Examples include databases such as the Library Catalogue, the Australian Thesaurus of Educational Descriptors (ATED) and the Database of International Education (DRIE) which are available for searching free of charge from the Library website; others, such as the Australian Education Index are available through subscription or included in the Library Membership. This paper describes these resources and services, and outlines new approaches being developed, such as online publishing initiatives: for example, the Australasian Education Directory (AED); and online content of international interest: for example, EdResearch Online, the Australian research repository of resources in Australian education, and others