Aus Library Technician

Catch Up 3

2009-10-05T19:06:00.002+11:00

It hasn’t been a bad couple of weeks if I do say so myself. A couple of weeks ago it was off to Adelaide for Technology, Technique, Unique, the 09 ALIA National Library and Information Technicians Conference. For the LTs unable to make you missed a good conference. It was a sort of busy week for me in addition to just being there, I presented one of my leadership sessions on the Monday. This time assisted by Jennifer Dyer. There were 35 in attendance twice the usual number of previous times. I would like to hope everyone who attended got something out of it. I also presented a paper on www searching techniques. From the statistic section of my webpage I can see the various search phrases people use to access my site. The results are very interesting. I also presented the ALIA National LT Groups Report on the Thursday morning and chaired a session. Don’t forget to look for Kev the floor cushion in the Raeco catalogue.

Also, I found who Mary was. The Mary who wrote the comment a few weeks ago. Her name isn’t Mary. Gee whiz it is a bit confusing. But then I am only a bloke.

I just returned from Darwin and attending the Top End Symposium. The theme was ‘Exploring library spaces from learning and elearning’. I have never been to a Top End Symposium and I found it very informative. Also, I have never been to Darwin and I found it very HUMID. I thought I knew about humidity from a Sydney summer, but that is kid’s stuff as compared to Darwin. As one of my colleagues said, ‘I didn’t need to bring my cardigan with me to Darwin’. He was on the money there.

Now picking up from where I left off from my last post. In early October 2008 the NSW LT Group ran another L4LTs. This time we held it on a Friday and had very good attendance. Later on that month I attended the ALIA LT Educators forum at TAFE in Sydney. This meeting was attended by LT educators from the various TAFE’s, Uni’s and other RTO’s that teach the LT course. In attendance were my colleagues Gail Schmidt and Trish D’Arcy. The object of the meeting was to bring everyone up to speed about the course recognition procedure. After that Gail and I were off to River of Opportunity V in Canberra. It was good to catch up with colleagues from Victoria and the ACT.

One of the last things for 2008 and one of the best was NLS4 in Melbourne. This was an excellent NLS with top-notch speakers and a committee of wonderful people ably lead by convenor Tania Barry. The NLS dinner was held at the MCG. Even a ‘not interested in sport’ type of guy like me was impressed with the location.

The last thing for 2008, library life wise, was the NSW LT Group dinner.

Catch up 2

2009-08-09T12:42:00.004+10:00

As per my diary on Tuesday 8th July 2008 I went off to ALIA’s National Advisory Congress (NAC). There was a good role up. Far better than previous ones. The topics we were tasked to discuss were PD and review of the Education/Workforce Summit. I think the ALIA webpage for reminding what it was we discussed.

When I was at the ALA Conference this year (2009) I attended two membership meetings. During these meetings there were discussions about the operation of libraries in difficult financial times, as well as two resolutions from the ALA membership that would be referred to ALA General Council for consideration. The resolutions were, that ‘ALA supports the right for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender couples to marry’ and that ‘ALA supports the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan’. If these resolutions are accepted they become ALA policy. I look forward to seeing what happens in ALA General Council. Now we are not taking about some government policy protest group adopting these resolutions. We are talking about a library association.

BTW, this year’s NAC topic, us members have been charged to discuss is ‘lobbying and advocacy’.

On Friday 25th July 2008 I ran a ‘Leadership for Library Technicians’ (L4LTs) in Adelaide for the SALT Group. I think there were 12 people in attendance. I thank Martina, Angela and Amanda for their hospitality during my brief stay. It is unfortunate to hear that the SALT Group has ceased operating after 30 years. However, it is not writ anywhere that groups (ALIA or other) have to last forever. They are commenced when the need and support is there and closed, in most cases, when the support is no longer evident and remaining members just can’t do it anymore.

During August and September there would have been a couple of NLS 4 meetings. Tuesday 23rd September I was out at Mt. Druitt TAFE presenting the ALIA prize to the best student. I consider this an important aspect for LT Group committee members to do. Pity the Convenor of the NSW LT Group doesn’t get a look in for the Ultimo TAFE graduations.

The end of September saw me on my way to Brisbane to present L4LTs to students doing the library studies course at Southbank TAFE.

Catch up 1

2009-08-02T15:47:00.003+10:00

Mary ?? made a comment that she has been showing my blog to people and it is sadly out of date. Gee whiz I wouldn’t have thought the machinations of some boofhead LT from the burbs would be of much interest to anyone, let alone it being referred to others.

So in an effort to keep my fan/s happy I have searched high and low and found my 2008 diary to provide me with a factual reference to guide these writings. (Actually, it was on the shelf behind me as I type, but searching high and low just felt a more dramatic thing to say.)

Where did the wacky adventures of Aus LT finish in 2008. I was off to the COLT Conference and ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. I was hoping to write a blog, like I did for Washington DC, but I just ran out of time. (Most of the Washington DC blog was done after I got home). I know many people are able to attend conferences, blog, twit, facebook, sms, etc. all at the same time. However, this bloke can’t and has no intention of trying or learning. There is too much stuff going on at an ALA conference for me to waste my time with some www thingie. (I am quite happy being a 20th Century sort of guy.) For my friends and colleagues, who are interested they will have to wait until I return to find out what happened.

Back to the conferences. The COLT Conference like the previous one I attended was an enjoyable experience. The people are very welcoming and friendly. They also included me in a panel discussion about how technical services staff can also be ‘the face of the library’. It appears when I am in the US I have an accent. Can’t hear it myself. But there you go.

The ALA Conference was also an enjoyable experience with so much going on, between the sessions, exhibition and guest speakers. One of the speakers was Jamie Lee Curtis, she has written a number of children’s books. She was very surprised, that she, someone who didn’t do very well at school and took to easy road of being an actor, would ever be asked to speak to an audience of librarians.

During the conference I came across the globe travelling Gill Hallam and ex-pat Jennefer Nicholson. Jennefer was there because IFLA had a stand at the exhibition. Unfortunately, IFLA did not have a presence at this year’s ALA conference. Not according to my eyesight anyway. Typing of IFLA, many of our US colleagues, at this year’s ALA conference, were disappointed that the IFLA conference had been moved from Brisbane and felt the explanation provided by both IFLA and ALIA were not satisfactory. (My cat's had kittens I wonder if I can blame the GFC for that?) When I got home I discovered that the IFLA elist had gone into meltdown over what happened. There were all sorts of interesting posts, some I reckon were on the money. I would be glad to share the more interesting ones, if asked.

June Jottings 2008

2008-06-23T08:33:00.001+10:00

A couple of things have happened over the past couple of months. I presented a session about Web 2.0 and wikis at PD Day for Teacher/Librarians and Library Assistants at Harrington Park Public School on Tuesday 6th May. Then of course there came LIW (Library & Info Week). Had a couple of activities during the week. Attended Mt Druitt TAFE graduation on the Monday to present the ALIA prize. The A/Director said in his speech that you never really leave Mt Druitt TAFE, which is pretty true in my case as I have been going back there regularly since I graduated. The winner of the ALIA Award was Carmen Green. On Tuesday NSW LT Group had their National LT Day activity at a restaurant in Burwood. Although, the numbers were small it was good to catch up with everyone. All being well, there should be a National LT Day roundup article in the July inCite. Yesterday, Victor Davidson and I ran another Leadership for LTs seminar in Sydney. 15 people attended and it shows LTs and library assistants are anxious to take their first steps on the Leadership ladder. I am currently working on Leadership for LTs – part 2. It should be ready for its first outing later in the year.

A really exciting thing happened this week. The NLS 4 program was published on the website. If you have a few minutes have a look at it. You will see the high standard of keynote and session speakers. There will be news about the other speakers in due course. To think NLS’s are for new librarians is wrong. If you have a look at the program you can see there are sessions to suit other than new librarians and library technicians. I went to NLS06 in Sydney in 2006 and had an excellent experience. So if you are a new or not so new librarian or an LT have a look at the program and seriously consider being a delegate. I am sure it will be a rewarding experience.

It’s that time of year again. The COLT and ALA conferences are being held in the US. This time they are being held in Anaheim, Calif. As I did last year I will be setting up a ‘Aus LT Goes to Anaheim’ blog. Hopefully, I will be able to do regular posts. Unfortunately, last time by the time you go to a conference all day and then out for the evening it doesn’t leave much time to write lengthy posts about the day’s activities. If that happens I may have to do what I did last time and save up my writing and posting until I get home.

2008 so far ... a bit more

2008-04-27T10:09:00.004+10:00

I made a bit of a mistake with the number of votes I got in the election. The official letter was received during the week and I got 198. The bit about lowest number of votes, etc, etc is still applicable.

Also, during the latter part of the week an Interim Report from the ALIA Education and Workforce Planning Summit has been posted on the ALIA Summit webpage.

2008 so far

2008-04-20T14:35:00.002+10:00

I haven’t done a post for a while. I am sure most people who have an interest in things ALIA would be aware that I did not get in as ALIA VP/P (elect). I got 160 odd votes, my lowest in the 4 years I have been standing for the position. It has been obvious over this time that the 14% – 15% of the members who bother to vote don’t want a library technicians holding high office in the Association. But it should be remembered by the 100% of members that they only got to vote, 3 out of the 4 times, cos this LT decided to stand for nomination.

ALIA financials are out I will leave the in depth analysis to another post.

I attended, as Convenor of the National LT Group, the ALIA Education & Workforce Planning Summit in Melbourne on Friday 28th March. There were about 55 – 60 summiteers (I nicked that word from the PM’s Summit) and I think it generated more questions than answers. But then maybe that is what is supposed to happen. The outcomes from the Summit haven’t been put up as yet but keep you’re an eye out for them as I think they might make an interesting read. Anyway, we as members can use them as a benchmark to measure the performance of ALIA management.

I will have to share with you some things from the group I was in at the Summit. It would appear the universities, who are responsible for the educating members of the profession, aren’t talking to the major library and information sector employers about what skills they would like their new graduates to have. I understand there are territorial and ‘political’ issues here, but it did have this boofheaded bloke from the burbs shaking his head. Now, to look at the training of library technicians. Under the VET (Vocational Education Training) scheme employers are actively involved in providing course designers with what they expect from graduates in the workplace. I know professional education and paraprofessional training is different, but ….

Another interesting thing that was said and came across as a ‘light bulb over the head’ moment to some, was that employees have to assess what their own PD requirements are and then go to their manager and see if their employer can assist. It is not about the manager doing all the assessing. Huh! Isn’t that what happens or should happen.

By the way. If any of you thought this was a junket on ALIA. It was self funded. Airfare, other travel costs, accom, meals do the math.

On Saturday 12th April I was in Perth to run a ‘Leadership for Library Technicians’ seminar, with Jean Broomhall, the Convenor of WALT, co-presenting. 16 people attended and I hope it was beneficial for them. Many LTs have leadership skills and abilities and all they need is brought to their attention and the opportunity to display them.

Had a couple of NLS4 meetings this year. I was able to attend one of the meetings when I was in Melbourne for the Summit, which was good. Despite what the skeptics think, many who have never been within co’ee of a conference committee, everything is going along really well. So if there are any new librarians out there reading this they should seriously consider coming along. It will be a top symposium.

ALIA Election 2008 2

2008-02-21T22:23:00.002+11:00

For people who have been trying to access my website from the ALIA candidate info page there has been a little problem. For the last couple of weeks the company that hosts my website have had problems with their servers. They are slowly getting them fixed but of course my one is taking the longest. Lucky I am not trying to run a business from it. Also, I am still paying for the site that no-one can access. I know we are not talking much money here but like a lot of things that is not the point.

Hopefully, it will be back in the not too distant future.

ALIA Election 2008

2008-02-02T15:47:00.000+11:00

For the 4th time I have nominated for the position of Vice President / President Elect of ALIA. You would reckon I might have got the hint by now … nah. Let’s hope it is free of controversy, unlike last year, when there was a massive over-reaction to Trevor W’s, ‘Call of the Candidates’.

Although, there is something a little bit different this year. In additional to the Professional Concerns bit, candidates can, if they so choose, answer the following questions. The answers can be short, long or in between and will be ‘published’ on the candidate's specific webpage.

1. What are your skills and experience in strategic planning planning and leadership?
2. What are your skills and experience in financial management?
3. What other skills do you bring as a potential Board Member?
4. What specific issues interest you, or that you are hoping to address during yuour times as a Board Member?
5. Additional links – (candidates may link to a personal blog or other website).

My fingers are itching to come out with a smart remark but I will remain in control.

Stay tuned for the latest ALIA election gossip, right here.

ALA Conference 2007 Book Cart Drill Teams & Stacks

2008-01-04T09:44:00.000+11:00

Finally, after 6 months I worked out how to copy the video of the book cart drill teams and conference exhibition (stacks) and put them on YouTube. It wasn't that difficult it is just that I am not overly bright sometimes. I know there are a few videos about the conference on YouTube, but these videos are mine. Sorry for the heads but that what happens when you miss read the time it starts and all the seats are taken.

Also, I have put on a couple of short videos of the trade exhibition at the conference, which is called the stacks. I sent a few still photos to Gemma, and she replied that it was just like a car, boat or whatever show but for libraries.

2007 – My Library Life in Review

2008-01-01T10:38:00.001+11:00

The year started off with the National LT Online Chat. There were eleven chats this year. We didn’t have a chat in October as everyone was in Melbourne for the Conference.

Ran for ALIA VP – P (elect) again. Didn’t win but I increased my vote for a two person race. Intend running again in 2008. They will eventually run out of people to put up against me. IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) of which I am a Personal Affiliate member, will be holding their conference in Brisbane in 2010. Wouldn't it be cool if the ALIA P was a LT.

Attended a few meetings during the year these included NSW LT Group, NLS4 in Melbourne and a good one presented by Tony McSean, which I thought was particularly relevant

During May there was Library & Info Week. The highlight, as usual, being National LT Day. Also, on National LT Day, I attended Mt Druitt TAFE graduation and presented the ALIA prize.

Went off to Washington DC to attend the COLT and ALA conference. It was one of the highlights of the year.

Then came the ‘Award That Never Was’. This is a very long story so will keep it to the main points. (Anyone interested in the whole story should contact me.) December 2006, Raeco wanted to sponsor National LT Award for $500. Decided we could have an award in recognition of LT members not doing traditional LT role (there are heaps of them). Spoke to ALIA no objection and Raeco were OK. Went off the boil due to Corporate Express takeover. During May it was back on. Spoke to ALIA no problem. Made a submission to the ALIA BOD. Wanted this to happen quickly so it could be presented at the conference. More bang for Raeco’s buck. Got back a series of ALIA awards 101 questions from the BOD. Time was running out. Why couldn’t they have called. Spat the dummy and wrote a not so polite reply. Best they could come up with was approved for 2007 only and would have to resubmitted in 2008. Decided not to go ahead with the award for the following reasons: If the award was not approved for future years members may think that was a special for the 2007 recipient only; We have to make a commitment to our sponsor, just as they were making a commitment; Felt it was unfair on the new committee to have to have to deal with left over stuff. ALIA was advised of the decision and reasons why. It doesn’t matter how well intention it might be, giving a manager, trainer, educator an award that says they are LT of the Year, some might go, ‘huh’.

The NSW LT Group held its neXt Revisted at Macquarie Uni. in August. The topics covered related to Web 2.0, etc. This was followed in September by Techs on Tour of the Maritime Museum Library. They have a good library and we were shown a lot of cool museum stuff.

Another highlight was the National LT Conference this year held in Melbourne. Haven’t enjoyed a LT conference so much in ages. The last one I was on the committee and my attention was elsewhere and the time before I was too busy checking for good and bad points. Also, continued with Convenor of the ALIA National LT Group.

In November the NSW LT Group held the, ‘Leadership for LTs’ workshop. 16 people attended and the feedback was good. This idea came out of the COLT conference. Also, been asked to participate in leadership activities in ACT, WA and SA in 2008.

That’s about it for 2007. There is one bit library life I don’t mention much, that is work. Well, as I was walking out on my last working day for 2007, said to the boss, ‘see you in 2008’. Her reply was, ‘To start it all over again’. Yep.

October Occurances and November Notings

2007-11-25T15:39:00.000+11:00

LT Conference
Of course the highlight for all LTs in Australia for October was our biennial conference held in Melbourne. I have said this has been the best conference I have been to for ages. The last one was in Sydney and I was on the committee so I was focused on the organising. The one before was in Brisbane and I was looking at the conference with regard to running the one in Sydney. So this was he first one for a while I could kick back and let the whole thing happen around me. Relax to the extent that I presented a session (Books Behind Bars II), introduced a group of speakers and did my bit in National LT Group bit.

I was hoping to write up the sessions like I did for the US conferences. But alas, I ended up missing a lot of sessions due to me talking to people or networking in library speak. Oh well it was the thought that counts.

Leadership for LTs
The Leadership for LTs workshop was held on 17th Nov and from the feedback from the 16 participants was good. Like anything run for the first time there were bits that I was not too happy with and will require a bit of redoing. But that is OK, reflecting upon what you did and implementing improvements is an important part of hte process.

I have spoken to LT convenors in the other states about running the workshop and so far 2 groups have indicated they would like me to do it. So stay tuned ‘Leadership for LTs’ may be coming to a capital city near you in 2008.

The topics covered were:

Leadership Mythbusters
Power
Leadership Styles
Essential Qualities of a Good Leader.
Plus a couple of games thrown in for good measure.

The Librarians Ep 1

2007-11-01T19:52:00.000+11:00

This TV program is about a dysfunctional group of people, with a dysfunctional leader, in an organsation, which is dysfunctional because of the people. It could be located in anywhere but the writers have chosen a library, possibly because it has never been done before. There are already programs about hospitals, offices and a second hand bookshop.

Frances is so stressed at home and about running her library she needs to destress by blowing into a paper bag. A bit like the ad when the woman is doing the same while waiting for her credit card statement. It would appear they are both maxed to the limit. What Frances needs to do is take herself off to an ALIA conference, preferably in another state, kick back, relax, have a few drinks and ….

As for our crim ‘kid lib’ (‘kid lib’ my term for a children’s librarian) who is on bail for trafficking in illegal substances. In a perfect world she should have been held on remand but prison overcrowding is a problem. Here we have a person with no qualifications and no experience getting a job she is not suited because someone used their influence (power) to ensure she got it. Says a lot about the transparent employment process of that LGA. Write about art imitating life. I am sure we can all relate.

I am not sure why the community service bloke did what he did. It may be as simple as a way of advancing the narrative or something more basic.

Then we have the excrement in the returns bin. Library science has come a long way in the last few years and created ways for this to be minimalised. I would think the local Melbourne Raeco rep should make a special visit to address this most serious of issues. Or better still when Frances goes to the ALIA conference we should introduce her to Trevor McCann. I am sure Trevor would be able to fix her up, err I mean sell her the appropriate returns bin.

Here is a possible plot spoiler. Frances says to the young library guy that she intends being his mentor. This is the oldest trick in the book. We know she has already being eyeing him off. So we might be in store for a bit of sexual harassment or library liaison. But instead of the male being the instigator it is more likely to be the female.

Now I would like to assure all people who send their children on scout, guide or youth activities or attend adult PD activities where there might be a flying fox. Flying foxes are very safe and there are very stringent guidelines for their use. None of this ‘trust’ nonsense. The insurance premiums are high enough without worrying about million dollar claims.

The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell

2007-10-28T11:19:00.001+11:00

This is not something that has impacted on my library life, but it is reference question.

I was reviewing the stats of my Parramatta film history website and someone has been looking for the cameraman for the 1916 Australian film, 'The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell'. I am sure the person must have found the information by now. However, just in case he/she are still Googling, and this can pick this up quick enough, here is the answer.

The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell
1916 (released), 44 mins, Silent, B&W.

Production Co: Australian Famous Feature Company
Director: John Gavin & C Post Mason
Screenplay: Agnes Gavin
Cameraman: Lacey Percival
Cast: Vera, Pearce, Harrington Reynolds, C Post Mason, Percy Walshe, John Gavin, Charles Villiers.

Other Lacey Percival Films:
Adventures of Algy, The
Around the Boree Log
Betrayer, The
Birth of White Australia, The
Cupid Camouflaged
Desert Gold
Digger Earl, The
Dingo, The
Dinkum Bloke, The
Dope
Down Under
Face at the Window, The
500 (pounds) Reward
His Convict Bride
Joe
Kingdom of Twilight, The
Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell, The
Mystery of a Handsom Cab, The
Painted Daughters
'Possum Paddock
Prehistoric Hayseeds
Robbery Under Arms
Sealed Room, The
Tall Timber

Sources:
Australian film index: a guide to Australian feature films since 1900 / Sandra Hall (ed.), DW Thorpe, Port Melbourne, 1992.
Australian film 1900-1997: a guide to feature film production (Rev. ed.)/ Andrew Pike & Ross Cooper, Oxford UP, Melbourne, 1998.

Leadership for LTs

2007-10-20T15:23:00.000+10:00

Some may have read on the ALIA LIBTEC e-list NSW LTs are running a ‘Leadership for LTs’ workshop on Saturday 17th Nov.

Collectively LTs can take on all comers. Unfortunately, individually some LTs would be the most vulnerable members of the profession. They consider they have no power, aligning the planets would be easier than them having leadership abilities and they are not empowered. Well, LTs have lots of power, great chunks of leadership potential just waiting to be let loose and they can be so empowered that you don't want to get in their way.

The workshop will be run by Victor Davidson and yours truly.

August August & Stirring September

2007-09-30T16:26:00.000+10:00

It has been a bit quiet on the extra curricular library front for August and September. With the highlights being neXt Revisited, which has its own post and a couple of chats during the months. We had a visitor from NZ in the September chat.

With great anticipation all LTs will be preparing for the ALIA Library & Information Technicians Conference: Inform, Innovate, Initiate and Inspire to be held in Melbourne from 9th - 12th October 2007.

I have set up blog similar to my Washington blog where I will record my experiences of the conference. The title of the blog, and you guessed it, 'Aus LT goes to Melbourne'. The link is in the blog section on the side. I won't be writing until I get back. Looks like there will be no doozing off during sessions this time.

neXt Revisited

2007-08-25T13:23:00.000+10:00

On Saturday 18th August 2007, the ALIA NSW LT Group conducted their neXt Revisted ‘Workshop’ at Macquarie University. About 25 people attended the workshop with sessions run by the members of Group (all of whom were members of the neXt Conference Committee) with a little help from a particular friend.

The workshop was opened by Meredith Martinelli, Convenor of the neXt Conference. Then we had the following sessions:

State Library Perspctive – Mylee Joseph
Blogs – KD
AV – Wendy Palmer
Web 2.0, Wikis, RSS & MP3 – Rob! Thomson
Knowing Stories – Victor Davidson

After the sessions I showed the video I made of the trade exhibition at ALA and Book Cart Drill Teams. Unfortunately, I was only able to show one of the Book Cart Drill Teams as there were issues between my DVD and the PC.

Having this number turn up to a NSW LT event is really good. This and the number of people who came along to the National LT Day Dinner hopefully indicates some engagement with LT members of the profession. There have been times when it has been the usual suspects.

June & July Jottings

2007-08-11T16:55:00.000+10:00

Other than this LT going to Washington LT it was a bit quiet on the extra curricular library front.

Nine people participated in the online chat on Wednesday 13th. The following day there was a NSW LT Group meeting where we put the finishing touches neXt Revisited, Saturday 18th August at Macquarie University.

On the 11th July there was our monthly online chat where we had seven members chatting away. The topic for this month was Leadership. On Saturday 28th I did one of my day visits to Melbourne to attend an NLS 4 meeting.

The topic for the chat gave me a thought that we should try and run a workshop/session on leadership for LTs. So I am working on such a presentation. Stay tuned for ‘Leadership for Library Technicians’.

Online Communication

2007-07-30T19:42:00.000+10:00

This link came on an email today.

http://blogs.educationau.edu.au/myedna2/2007/07/04/managing-your-reputation/

When I had look I immediately thought someone was ‘taking the mick’. Why would we be sent a link to a very ordinary post on some obscure blog?

But as this did take up some of my library life I thought I might as well do a post.

When posts on blogs are based on actual events, supported by hardcopy evidence and diary entries, as in my Monthly Happenings, a person’s reputation remains intact. Blogs are about people expressing their opinions. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and to express it. I disagree with other people’s blog posts but that is just the way it is.

If people think you are of good reputation they should be regarded well. If people think your reputation is lacking you really can’t waste too much time with them, as they will think that way anyway, no matter what you do.

By the way. I stand by all my posts from the very first to the very last, whenever that may be.

My Idea

2007-07-29T16:40:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I went to Melbourne to attend a meeting of the NLS4 committee and it’s PCO (Professional Conference Organiser). Isn’t that what high fullutin financial types do fly to other cities for meetings?

Attending the meeting prompts me write about the idea I suggested to ALIA and written about before, but not in detail. Ok it is time I spilled the beans.

In November 2005 I wrote a letter to the ALIA Board suggesting that ALIA should set up a PCO. ALIA runs four or so conferences over a two year period and pay tens of thousands dollars to PCOs for management expenses. Now don’t get me wrong the PCOs that run our conferences do an excellent job. However, if ALIA was a PCO responsible for running conferences all the money would stay within the organisation.

Also, if we had ALIA was a PCO they should be able to negotiate good trade and sponsorship deals for all the conferences and for the organization. Unlike now where we have each conference PCO contacting the same companies about sponsorship and exhibiting.

I suggested that ALIA would have to form a separate company, as they would have to protect member’s funds, and employ an experienced person. To operate as a PCO requires experienced people and cannot be done by just anyone. All this costs money but from my calculations from the neXt conference and the Perth biennial it was possible.

Last year I mentioned I got a letter from the Board saying it was being referred to one of their Standing Committees. That was the last I heard of it.

On the inside of inCite it says, ‘Do you have a compliment, an idea or a concern about your Association? Contact any Director …’. You can contact any or all directors but from my experience the feedback is practically nonexistent. I have sat through Board meetings, NPCs and NACs and hear the same mantra that the Board and National Office have to provide better communication to the members. Am I that unapproachable?

Something interesting has happened though. Some members of the current conference committees are getting together and discussing ways to work together in approaching potential sponsors. This is not rocket science so I won’t take credit for it. But, gee whiz.

Me thinks my suggestion is just another bit of paper in a file somewhere. I am sure I can be and are critised for many things, but I would like to think not for commitment and passion.

On that note, I have had another issue with ALIA this week. I will spill the beans on that too sometime. Not sure when, next week, next month, but definitely after the LT conference.

The Historian

2007-07-29T11:59:00.000+10:00

One of the books I have finished reading recently was The Historian / Elizabeth Kostova. It is a good read and would recommend it to anyone. However, I have an issue regarding the premise of the book that I feel I should bring to the attention of readers.

Warning: If you haven’t read the book and would like to do so don’t read any further as it will spoil the ending. Don’t say you have not been warned.

Dracula is looking for a resourceful historian to undertake a special job for him. The historians are set a task to actually find his location using ancient sources. One historian does find him and he is given the task. And the task is – to catalogue Dracula’s library collection. HUH! Dracula might be some sort of ‘dark lord’ but it would appear he is not overly bright if he wants a historian to catalogue his library. What about a librarian, Mr Dracula? What would a historian know about DDC / LC or any other classification scheme and the use of subject headings and the use of ‘see’ and ‘see also’ notations. He would be using a card catalogue. There was no power to Dracula’s premises.

Surely Dracula would have known about the skills of librarians. He’s been stomping around the Carpathian mountains for centuries and in the mountains would be monasteries and in the monasteries would be scriptoriums and in the scriptoriums would be librarians.

Talk (or write in this case) about art imitating life. How many libraries are being run by non librarians?

I am currently reading a book about the American Civil War. (Although, I have snuck in reading the latest HP, as well) The reason for this is, when we were driving from Washington DC to Williamsburg, Va., we were driving near areas where the war was fought, like Manassas (Bull Run) and Fredericksburg is near Williamsburg. Also, Richmond Va. was the capital of the Confederacy.

Aus LT Goes to Washington

2007-06-14T13:30:00.000+10:00

As regular readers of this blog would know I am off to the COLT and ALA Conferences in Washington DC. If you would like to follow the exploits of of this LT as he goes off on his adventure you can by going to my new blog titled, you guessed it, Aus LT Goes to Washington DC and it can be found at http://ausltwashingtondc.blogspot.com/ .

Hopefully, I can write some interesting stuff.

Book Cart Drill Teams

2007-06-05T19:31:00.000+10:00

I have been on YouTube again. This time I have 2 videos of book cart drill teams on the right hand side. Youtube have many more so just go for a visit and search, 'book cart drill teams'.

Book Cart Drill Teams at the ALA Annual Conference is on Sunday afternoon. I will be making a extra special effort to get there. Hopefully, I will get some good photos.

May Musings

2007-06-02T14:47:00.000+10:00

So what happened in May. There was a bit more activity than usual.

For the online chat we had 12 participants. I think that was a record. The topic was supposed to be future of LTs or some library functions due to outsourcing. However, we didn’t spend much time talking about it. Instead we mainly chatted about who was from where and the Melbourne LT Conference.

May 21 – 25 was Library and Information Week and National LT Day (NLTD) on 22nd. This year for National LT Day, the NSW Group had dinner at Prego Restaurant in Burwood. Fourteen people attended, another record. Also, on the 22nd I attended the graduation of Library & Information Services students at Mt Druitt TAFE (my old Alma Marta) to present the ALIA Award for Highest Achievement in the Diploma and the winner is … Danielle Suito (hope she doesn’t mind being mentioned here). There was little activity about NLTD on the e-list. I tried to generate a bit of enthusiasm with, ‘Day in the Life of a Library Technician’ stories. I got 3 replies and two of them were managers.

Like most libraries at this time of year we had a TAFE student. On the Monday of LIW, I asked the her what this week was and what Tuesday was. The student didn’t know. This really shows how little the TAFE teachers (NSW at least) engage with what is happening in profession. I would think very few if any TAFE teachers would know about the ALIA e-list, subscribe themselves or encourage their students to subscribe. When I taught a few TAFE classes all those years ago, explaining to them about the e-list was one of the first things I would do. This looks like a job for the new National LT Committee as it is a bit late for the current one.

At work we didn’t do anything for LIW but we did host Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea in the library. It was the most people we have had in the library since … last time we did it. Three people are a crowd at my library.

Also, did a one of those day trips to Melbourne for NLS4 (there is not much traffic around from my place to the airport at 5.30 – 6.00 am). This time it was for PCO (Professional Conference Organiser) interviews. These interviews are an interesting and a learning experience. Another interview is going to take place in a couple of weeks. I will be leaving that one to the other committee members.

Some of you may recall from April that I was to do the job of one of the librarians for 3 weeks. I found the experience far from satisfactory. The work was OK. It was that I could not get my head away from ‘buying books for gaols’. Either, I was doing carry over work from previous weeks that you can’t hand onto someone else or I was picking up things knowing I would be back doing it next week. I will leave it to others in the future.

I am sure many would have heard of Raeco being taken over by Corporate Express. Thus goes the way of corporate life. Raeco was always a strong supporter of LTs and the profession and I always liked reciprocating their support. Corporate Express is a very large and diverse company and not known for their support of the profession. Only time will tell.

YouTube 3

2007-05-19T13:22:00.000+10:00

I was having trouble brining up the YouTube 4 video images when I was accessing the blog. So I put them in the links section just in case this was going to be an ongoing issue. Then as soon as I did that I was then able to get the images up on my blog. Gee Whiz.

Youtube 2

2007-05-08T20:08:00.000+10:00

I would like to thank Boney-girl for helping me out with putting Youtube videos on my blog. As there is more than one video of the same name. I have made a section with links to a couple of videos. Don't forget to go to Youtube and have a look at the others.

Youtube

2007-05-07T18:02:00.000+10:00

There are some good videos on Youtube relating to libraries, library technicians and librarians. I tried to put a couple on my blog but they didn't transfer across. Also, blogger has a video bar where you can have videos from Youtube. However, it is not that blogger friendly. When you enter the video titles you end up getting a number of videos you don't want and they can't be edited out.

So, if I can't bring the videos to you, you will have to go to the videos.

Go to Youtube and search for library, library technicians and librarians.

With library and librarian you get a number of videos, including Mr Bean, Sesame Street and compilation video, Youtube's salute to librarians. For library technician you get a career video of about 20 years old and still on the money. Also, search for a video titled, 'Hollywood Librarians'. This is a trailer of a recently made doco about librarians and libraries.

April Activities

2007-04-28T15:08:00.000+10:00

It was a bit quiet on the library front during April. There was a meeting NSW LT Group Committee. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend as I had an unexpected family situation arise. The committee has come up with a good program for our neXt revisited, so stay tuned to LIBTEC, ALIA webpages and this blog for the latest.

We only had 4 people (including moi) for our online chat this month. Not much was chatted about. A high profile library person who will remain nameless forgot and logged on as we were logging off.

Attended remotely the NLS 4 meeting. Remotely, as the meeting was held in Melbourne. We used Google talk and it worked pretty well. I was able to hear what was going on and have my input.

Updated the LT Wiki by adding a section on awards and newsletters. Still a lot more that can be done. Gemma has uploaded many position descriptions.

Also, went on or is it into Second Life during the month. Wandered around some library buildings got a tee shirt from the Michigan Public Library and also from Kansas State Library. I also joined the Library Association of SL. Not sure about SL it pretty much mirrors my first life.

One of the librarians at work is going on leave for a few weeks so I have been asked to fill in for him. This will provide a bit of a difference to, ‘buying books for gaols’.

ALIA Election Last

2007-04-16T18:11:00.000+10:00

Well, I think this is the last ALIA Election post for 2007.

The votes are in.

VP / President elect
Derek Whitehead – 556
KD – 263

Directors
Kate Watson and Damian Lodge.

As compared to the last time I was in an ALIA VP 2 candidate election (2005) I got about an extra 40 votes this time round.

Congratulations to Derek, Kate and Damian.

As Tony McSean said when he was out here professional associations and in particular library and information professional associations are ‘risk’ adverse by nature. By ‘risk’ he did not mean make ‘risky’ decisions. He meant creative, exciting, take the initiative, push the envelope and go where no VP & BOD has gone before type of risk. However, there is one proviso take the members along with you.

So as a member I look forward to a creative, exciting, initiative laden, envelope pushing couple of years. I would also like to think other members would agree with me.

I would like to thank all the members who voted for me and in particular the ones who gave me their personal support. There is always next year.

neXt Revisited

2007-04-14T11:09:00.000+10:00

On Saturday 18th August, at Macquarie University, between 9 am and 2 pm, the ALIA NSW LT Group will be holding a workshop titled neXt Revisted. Using the name from the successful 'neXT 2005' conference and in preparation for the 'Inform, innovate, initiate and inspire' LT conference in October in Melbourne, this workshop should be an interesting and enjoyable forum.

Stay turned for details of the program. However, in the meantime take a look at the neXt Revisited video at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmLaqGTmF8Q .

By the way, I actually had the video on the blog as a feed from Youtube. It worked really well on mine but didn't do so well on some not so older computers. Hence the link.

ALIA Financials

2007-04-08T13:19:00.000+10:00

As per the BOD report from their last meeting the profit from Association activities for the last financial year (Jan – Dec 06) was $19656. This was down $77,755 from the previous year of $97,411.

There are a couple of items that weren’t mentioned but included in the annual financial reporrt.

In November they moved some excess funds ($2M) into a managed fund account where the funds will generate extra income. This is not rocket science, it is being done by many ‘not for profits’. Anyone with a superannuation fund understands the principle.

Board of Directors/Governance increased by over $46,000 to $266,000 making it the 3rd highest expense category. There was no major expense, such as a National Advisory Congress (NAC), wonder what caused the 20% increase? The accompanying notes provide no detail.

Some of the long standing ALIA members will remember when the Association moved to the corporate structure all section bank accounts were closed with funds being transferred into a Groups account. These funds raised by members past and present were to be used by Groups to fund their activities. Well, they are no longer there (page 14). In the previous financial year there was $400K and last financial year there was zero. The funds (ALIA funds) have probably been transferred to the main account and possibly used in the managed fund. There is still $36K in the Groups account and this will amply cover any expenses by the Groups. Still, it would have been nice to be told.

Work

2007-03-31T12:16:00.000+10:00

Other than a small bit in my Profile I haven’t mentioned much about what keeps me occupied during the working day. I do a bit more than just ‘buy books for the gaols’. However, the gaols do figure prominently in my working library life. During the month the library manager and I made a few trips the Kogarah Public Library (southern suburb of Sydney) to collect about 300 boxes of books they were donating to the department for the gaols. There is nothing very interesting about collecting boxes of books, other than driving the departmental van around the place.

The books are then taken to one of the women’s correctional centres where they will covered. The interesting thing is the necessary procedures you got through to get in and out of the centre. I will have to save that up for another post.

Had a phone call from one of the special units at Long Bay. They want to set up a library. We were able to organise some books for them and Phillip from RAECO was able to visit and work out what shelving they need. This library brings the number of libraries in the system to 48. I would think the only other library system that would have more would be central collection services at TAFE. However, there would be many staff working at TAFE. At DCS there is only moi. The library manager said I can have someone to help me when the number gets to 50. Until then …

March Meanderings

2007-03-31T11:30:00.000+10:00

The month started off with a trip to Melbourne to attend the first NLS 4 meeting. As some of you may recall from my December Dealings post I am the Treasurer of NLS4. Some may ask why is this non new/librarian on a committee for a New Librarians Symposium. Every year a small group of ALIA members spend 2 years working on a committee for an ALIA conference. When it is all over, then what? All this experience is not utilised. Reports are written and made available. Sometimes previous committees members are asked for their advice. But that is pretty much it. I was the Treasurer of the neXt 2005 LT conference and when Tania asked me to participate as treasurer for the NLS, I agreed.

Ten members participated in the monthly Online LT Chat. It took a while to get started but the discussion was mainly about how a newly qualified librarian can get experience needed to get a full time job. Hopefully, the advice has proven helpful. You need experience to get a job and you need a job to get experience. Always a tricky one.

The readers of aliaLIBTEC will be aware the changes to the Dunn & Wilson Scholarship have been accepted and posted on the D & W webpage. The changes were just to bring it in line with what is happening in the workplace.

As per a previous post travel and accommodation has been booked for the COLT & ALA conferences. I have sent off the rego form for the COLT conference. The ALA one will happen soonish. During the month I was contacted by Sue Knoche, President of ALA’s Library Support Staff Interests Round Table. She asked if I would like to attend the reception for their paraprofessional of the year and speak about LATIN and the wiki at one of their meetings. I am very pleased to be invited.

On a non library related matters. As Chairman of the Greater Western Sydney Region of Scouts Australia – NSW and member of the NSW State Executive Committee (Scouts NSW equivalent of a BOD) I had a few other things to do as well. Plus my daughter had a birthday and graduated from uni.

She wrote me a letter

2007-03-28T22:19:00.000+10:00

The title comes from a Joe Cocker song (I am that old).

I received a letter from an ALIA Director today about my proposal of 5 months ago. It has been referred to the appropriate BOD (Board of Directors) standing committee for consideration. Then it has to be referred back to the same standing committee with some other options. Then it may be referred to the full BOD.

Maybe I should be appreciative that I have received a reply after 5 months. But really. Something within what might be considered a reasonable time to respond might have been better. Even a polite, 'thanks but no thanks'.

Just a point of clarification. ALIA has 7 BODians (President, VP and 5 directors) and they have 4 standing committees, comprised of a couple of directors and ED. You would think that 7 people would be able to discuss matters without having committees of 3 for reference. Sounds a bit like parliament. Many a bill has been lost in committee.

I feel an election promise coming on here but I won't say what it is. I am sure you know what it would be.

Wiki 3

2007-03-24T11:30:00.000+11:00

Subscribers to LIBTEC and LATIN will know I did a post about the LT Wiki during the week. So far there have been 17 people become members. There have been a 'good idea' emails as well. If it gives some LT's / paraprofessionals an opportunity to experiment with using a wiki that is all for the good. Let's hope it can generate some active participation.

I have added a job/position description page and an Articles by Library Technicians page. Gemma said she will upload, during the week, the PDs she has collected and I will put mine on there for everyone to see what I am supposed to be doing. Also, I have linked the article by Lothar von Retzlaff's resulting from his research for Dunn & Wilson Scholarship.

COLT / ALA Conference

2007-03-19T20:18:00.000+11:00

My flights and accomodation are booked. In 3 months time I will be off to Washington DC to attend the COLT (Council on Library (amd Media) Technicians Conference and the ALA Conference.

As this is my first trip out of the country it is becoming a real adventure. In addition to the conferences I will be visiting LC, Smithsonians and a couple of other libraries.

Attending the conferences will be great. However, what I want to see is the trade exhibition referred to the stacks. On previous conferences they have had 1,600 exhibitors. I don't think you could get all the way around in the time alloctaed.

I reckon I will be able to dine out on this for months.

ALIA Election 8

2007-03-19T20:03:00.000+11:00

There has been an email going around the candidates, indicating there has been unnecessary criticism of ALIA on some blogs (my words not a direct quote). Gee whiz I wonder what blog is being referred to here.

I said in ALIA Election 5 this blog is not about having a go at ALIA. They can’t be all things to all people.

Blogs (weblogs) are by definition a individual's online diary or journal.

How many times do I have to refer to the subtitle of this blog until people get what it is about? Once more for the people who still don't get it. This blog is about my library life and what impacts upon it. If people have issues with what I write that is something they have to deal with. Even better, DON'T READ IT.

ALIA Election 7

2007-03-17T12:25:00.000+11:00

On the day the majority of ALIA members received their ballot papers (Friday 16th March), my opponent in the ALIA VP election posted the following email, titled ALIA election, to a number of ALIA e-lists:

'Hi everyone

As you may (or may not) know, I am a candidate in the ALIA elections coming up, standing for the position of Vice President.

Because I only get 100 words in Incite, and inspired by the recent Unconference, I've set up an election blog. This is located at http://dereksaliablog.blogspot.com/ and is called, a bit unimaginatively, Derek's ALIA Blog. Feel free to log onto the blog, or email me, or post comments on the blog.

I've also started to demonstrate the difficulty of keeping posts going on a blog, as we are finding out at this library's brand new blog - see http://blogs.swinburne.edu.au/library/ We decided to bring in podcasts and a somewhat new website at the same time.

cheers
Derek'

I will be composing the appropriately worded email to go out to the ALIA e-lists on Monday.

As regular readers of this blog, (commenced in December 2006), would know and as stated in the title. This blog is about the ‘library life of an Australian library technician’ and not specifically about the upcoming ALIA election. It just so happens the ALIA election looms very large in the library life of this Australian library technician at the moment.

I can assure readers/ALIA members, as evidenced from the number of posts, I do have the time to keep my blog current and I do have the time to attend to the duties of ALIA VP - President elect.

For the record, I put the link to Derek’s blog on Thursday 15th March the same day I found out it existed. I can't do much more than that.

Quick Response

2007-03-15T18:26:00.000+11:00

This blogger and few others posted to the LT e-list concerns regarding the deadline provided for members submitting motions for the ALIA AGM to be held in May. The Executive Director was quick on the email advising us the date is similar to previous years. Ok accept that.

It is good to see the ED is on the ball but who would think she has time to monitor the e-lists. Maybe this is a continuation of the activities of as per my ALIA Election 5 post.

Although, we had a quick response on this one. I still haven't got a response from my suggestion of a few months ago refer ALIA Election 6.

Election promise: That members will have ample time in the future to formulate motions they think should be put before all present at the ALIA AGM.

ALIA Election 6

2007-03-14T17:59:00.000+11:00

I had an email from that other blokie LT from the west. He mentioned a month ago he sent an email to ALIA National Office containing a suggestion they might like to consider. To date he has not recieved a reply. This reminds me that I too put a business proposal to the ALIA Board 6 months ago and I haven't received a reply either. Even if my idea is of no merit they should at least get back to me.

Another election promise. If any member contacts ALIA National Office/President/Board of Directors/Executive Director they will receive a reply. There is a catch though. I can't guarantee the answer will be what the member would like. But at least it will be an answer.

Still another election promise. I mentioned this in an email to my mate Cameron a few weeks ago, after the brouhaha (good word) relating the Vic. e-list, and have not had the right post to include it. ALIA will be about members, members and members, everything else and ALIA does some really important work, will follow after the members interests. Because if we don't have members we may as well shut the door and call it quits.

National Library Technicians Day

2007-03-13T18:41:00.000+11:00

National Library Technicians Day is always held on the Tuesday in Library and Information Week. This year National LT Day will be held on Tuesday 22nd May. LT groups are encouraged to put what they are doing on the ALIA webpage

http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/liw/tech.day.html .

Also, our National LT Day has been picked up and mentioned the ALA - APA (American Library Association -Allied Professional Association) February Newsletter. The link for the article is http://www.ala-apa.org/newsletter/vol4no02/support.htm#nltd .

Wiki 2

2007-03-04T13:55:00.000+11:00

During the week I had a request for someone using the name 'hidden_whisperer' to be a member of the LT Wiki. This person (whoever he or she maybe) was rejected. I want to encourage participation in the wiki. So, If you want to participate and have an interesting user name let me know first.

February Fun

2007-03-01T18:43:00.000+11:00

There certainly has been some fun during the months of February. I have written enough about the ALIA election. Although, I have a feeling there is still more to come.

During the months there was the talk by Tony McSean (I refer you to the respective post).

We had the usual National LT online chat on Wednesday 14th. We only had 4 people participate and they were all from Sydney. If we had load voices we could have yelled at each other over the back fence. Not sure why there was only small turnout, could have been the topic (which we didn’t discuss anyway), Valentine’s Day or Library Lovers Day.

The following night we had the NSW LT Group meeting at Holrotd Public Library. We have planned a number of activities. So stay tuned to the LIBTEC list for details.

I advised everyone of the change to the Library Technician of the Year Award. It was only a minor one qualifying the, ‘publication in journals’ bit.

The changes to Dunn & Wilson Scholarship has been sent to the ALIA Board for approval. We await their answer.

ALIA Election 5

2007-02-27T19:03:00.000+11:00

I said to stay tuned.

I never intended for this blog to be about critising ALIA. It is too easy to criticise an organisation like ALIA as it can’t be all things to all people. I have been a personal member for all my library life (a lot longer than some very senior members of the association, if the truth be known), participated actively in it’s groups, conferences and served 2 terms (4 Years) on the Board of Directors.

But there are times when you have to bring to the attention of readers what is happening. By the authority of the ALIA Board the ALIA Vic e-list has been taken off the list owner and is now a moderated list out of ALIA National Office. This means that ALIA National Office censor all posts to the list, thereby stifling all discussion about the upcoming election for members and non members on the Vic list. I have been told that list subscribers are none too happy and I really hope they are making their concerns heard by the ALIA Board and Executive Director.

I have written to the Board expressing my concerns, they have dropped the ball a couple of times recently and this is just another example. I haven’t received an acknowledgement of my emails. They are always saying they want members to contact, as I have done a few times. However, the chance of getting a reply is very small.

As a Vice Presidential candidate and someone who was mentioned in the offending email I consider I have a right of reply and for that reply to be posted on the Vic list. I have written the reply, saying that I was not offended and saying members should heed his advice about voting and not get caught up with his ‘call of the candidates’. This email has been sent off to the list moderator for posting. As at writing this it has not been posted.

I am sure ALIA National Office staff have many demands upon their time.

Another election promise: If I am elected this sort of nonesense will never happen in my presidential year.

ALIA Election 4

2007-02-26T17:52:00.000+11:00

‘Ballot papers are yet to be circulated...but since voting doesn't close until 11th April...plenty of time to hear from the candidates/ask questions...

Congratulations and thanks to all the candidates for standing...shows the interest in the Association and its activities...

Who'll get elected? It's up to the members to decide... The presidential race sees Kevin at the starting line yet again, but the distance has proven difficult in the past, so it'd be hard to go past Derek...

In the 5 way race for the two Board positions, the 'young/energetic/freshness' of Damian and Kate might see them get past the post, though the experience of Margaret might sway some? Graham and Richard...probably will find the going tough...

BUT...tis early days yet...and 'one persons' summary doesn't make it a done deal...it's up to the MEMBERS (ie YOU!!!) to have their say...so....let the race begin!!! And good luck (and thanks again) to those standing to represent us all in the Associations business and activities!!!’

This email was sent to the ALIA Vic. e-list last week by the well known email writer and e-list raconteur, Trevor Wakely. It would appear that either some candidates or their supporters are being a bit too precious about it.

If anyone, of the seven people named in the email, should have an issue with Trevor it should be me. He has said I really don’t have much of a chance. Am I getting upset about it – no way. I took it the way he meant it and had a laugh. It is a shame that others don’t view things the same way I do.

Me thinks we have not heard the last of this. So stay tuned.

ALIA Elections 3

2007-02-19T17:36:00.000+11:00

For the first time since I have been involved in ALIA elections (7 years) all candidates (VP & Directors) have been asked whether they would mind if their email addresses were included on the candidates webpage and on the material accompanying the ballot papers.

The reason for this is to provide an opportunity for members to ask questions and discuss issues with the candidates.

I think it is a great idea. By providing an opportunity for members to interact with candidates by email, will give, both members and candidates, a greater understanding of professional and Association issues.

When an ALIA member nominates to be a candidate for either VP or the Board, all they need to do is provide a CV and statement of professional concerns. The thing is ALIA is a business. A not for profit business that concerns itself with the library and information profession and the many different aspects that impact upon it, e.g. member issues, advocacy, education standards and a very important subject, governance. There is no provision in the nomination form for candidates to bring to the attention of members skills they may have gained elsewhere, e.g. financial, which would be an advantage in running ALIA.

Here is an election promise (I suppose, as ALIA candidates don't usually make election promises). Should I be elected VP (President elect) I will ensure the nomination form includes a section where candidates can list their previous relevant experience, from within and outside the profession, thereby providing members with all the information to help them make their choice.

ALIA Elections 2

2007-02-14T20:17:00.000+11:00

The details of the candidates are available at http://alia.org.au/governance/elections/2007/ .

Ballot paers will be included in March inCite. Ballot papers should be returned to ALIA National Office by Wednesday 11th April.

Library Technician Wiki

2007-02-11T15:31:00.000+11:00

I have just commenced a wiki for library technicians http://librarytechnician.wikispaces.com/ . Although, there are some library and librarian wikis, I think this might be the first one for library technicians.

As I have only just started it, it is pretty lame at the moment but with time and some input from library paraprofessionals this could be a good resource.

Currently, there are pages with links to blogs (this one and SharonU's) and LT associations and groups.

If someone wants to add something you will need to become a member of 'wikispaces' which requires you to provide a user name, password and email address.

ALIA Elections

2007-02-07T18:41:00.000+11:00

The list of candidates for the election of ALIA’s Vice President/President elect and the Directors has been released.

Vice-president/President elect

Kevin Dudeney

Derek Whitehead

Board of Directors

Margaret Allen

Graham Black

Damian Lodge

Richard Sayers

Kate Watson

I don’t really know much about Derek Whitehead and I feel sure he knows a similar amount about me. I just have the feeling we don’t travel in the same ALIA member and professional circles. A quick Google has come up that he is Director, Information Resources at Swinburne. Now I definitely know I we don’t travel in the same circle.

I have been in two previous ALIA Vice Presidential elections and missed out both occasions and I have a funny feeling this one will go the same way. Now before you start say I am being defeatist. I am being a realist. There is absolutely no way a significant number of librarians, the majority of ALIA members, would vote for a library technician and it wouldn’t matter what skills she or he would bring to the organization. There are about 450 library technician members in ALIA and the maximum number of votes I have ever received is about 220. So I don’t even get a majority of library technicians voting for me.

One positive thing is, with me nominating for the position means ALIA will have an election for the position of Vice President/President elect. If I wasn’t running Derek would be declared VP/P elect unopposed, today. This would save some money in printing, distributing and the counting of ballots. However, I feel that having an election even one with an outcome as obvious as this one, is healthy for the soul of any organisation.

So when it come to voting time. Have a look at the candidates and then have a look at my post relating to the presentation by Tony McSean and determine which of the candidates will be able to deliver on the requirements as outlined by Tony.

I do have one question though. Why, when the nominations closed on Friday did it take ALIA National Office three working days to put seven names on an email and send it out? I have no doubt National Office would have an appropriate reason.

Presentation by Tony McSean

2007-02-07T11:44:00.000+11:00

Tony McSean is a Director of Library Relations for Elsevier and a National Councillor for CILIP (Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals).

The title of Tony’s presentation was "Are our professional associations all falling to bits, or am I just a grumpy old man?" His presentation was made on Tuesday 6th February in Sydney.

He said some of the reasons for a decline in membership of library professional associations are:

Changes in society – there is more emphasis on home and social, with less people joining organisations, such as professional associations.
Decline in the regard of the professions and professionalism in general by the community.
Evaporation of large, orderly library hierarchies where it was seen that professional association membership could be an advantage.
Demographics – retiring members.
Organisations that are membership based can be hard to manage, hard to make nimble (respond quickly to new ideas) and radical (innovative) and are often conservative – risk adverse.
Structural factors – having both senior staff and directors with the right expertise.

Tony went through examples of library professional associations that were good, could be better and not so good, indicating what their problems were and how a not so good association turned itself into a good association.

His list of things for a sustainable LIS association is:

Discipline in finance and strategy.
Dedicated elected officers and talented senior staff.
A community of membership.
Imagination, innovation and anticipation of professional changes.
Involvement and commitment of senior library managers.
Opportunities for participation in the early career of members.
Membership ‘offers’ promises for career and social values.
No complacency, what so ever.

I will leave it to you to make your own mind up whether the library and information professional association that you are a member of or could be a member of meets the criteria.

One thing that Tony emphasised a couple of times was to have senior library management in the role of directors of their professional association. Now I don’t necessarily have an issue with this. However, what is happening in Australia, and I am not sure about other countries, is people are entering the profession at a later stage of their life. As this happens they bring skills to the profession that people who have been in the profession all their working lives, might not have.

I wonder how many senior library managers can really understand a commercial balance sheet and profit and loss statement, as compared to a junior member of the profession with a finance and commercial background.

January Jottings

2007-01-27T16:23:00.000+11:00

The review of the LT of the Year award has been finished only a small change, better clarification, of one of the requirements was all that needed to be done for that one. However, there has been a bit of a change to the Dunn & Wilson, for anyone intending to apply the changes won’t affect your application. It has been off to the ALIA Research Committee and their recommendations will be included. The next step is to refer the changes to ALIA National Office. I can’t say what they are. You will have to stayed tuned to this blog, the ALIA LIBTEC e-list or National LT Group webpage.

I sent my nomination in for Vice President / President elect for ALIA on 23rd. It has been known that some candidates leave it under the final day, hours or minutes to lodge their nomination. There is no doubt that some play games like seeing who else has nominated before they send in theirs. Who has time for such nonsense?

On 31st there is an LT discussion at the Information Online Conference at Darling Harbour. The topic for the discussion is, ‘Library Technicians in an Online Environment: service provision or support’. Who ever come to the discussion can get into the cocktail party and trade show opening. To date I think we only have a small number of LTs attending. We would have more LTs to the acre in Sydney than anywhere else in the country. The trade show would have to be the biggest and the best relating to online information resources in the country. What do you have to do to have them engage with what is going on? (Feel free to comment if you know the answer)

Conducted a survey during the month titled, ‘What Work Do I Do”. Using the ALIA worklevel guidelines for, Library Assistants, Technician practitioner stage 1, Technician experienced practitioner, Professional practitioner stage 1 and Experienced professional: practitioner or manager, I asked, via the ALIA LIBTEC e-list, if any library workers to wanted to complete the survey. I had 50 responses and I am working through the responses. You will have to stayed tuned for the results. One thing I will say is that the many LTs are performing some higher order work that according to the worklevel guidelines should be performed by the professional and experienced practitioners. (Refer post Librarians & Library Technicians)

ALIA’s worklevel guidelines can be found at
http://www.alia.org.au/employment/worklevel.guidelines/

The January e-issue of TechNique, the newsletter of the ALIA National LT Group, has been e-published and can be found at http://www.alia.org.au/groups/libtnat/technique/ . Let’s give a round of e-applause for the editor Tania Barry.

Librarians & Library Technicians

2007-01-02T10:23:00.000+11:00

Unfortunately, there has been and always will be some tension between some librarians and library technicians. This tension has been developed around the idea, suggested by these librarians, that library technicians are gaining skills and taking their jobs. I say this idea is that of librarians, as I don’t think library technicians care. For us it is about the work.

Hopefully, in this post, I will highlight just how and by whose hand we have gained these skills.

In Australia, library technicians are educated under the Vocational Education Training (VET) scheme. This scheme is in operation in all Australian TAFEs and other Registered Training Organisations. The underlying principles of vocational education training are that the main content of the courses are determined by the sector’s employers. In the library sector the employers are - librarians.

Libraries, like many organisations, are flattening their structure. Gone are the days when staff at a particular level are responsible for carrying out specific tasks designed for that level within the hierarchy. Organisations are creating multi-skilled teams, comprised of librarians, library technicians and library officers. It is a requirement that members of these teams are able to undertake all the work tasks required of the team and this would require, for some, the acquiring of new skills. The acquisition of these skills, whether it by inhouse or from outside, is an expensive process and commitment on behalf of the organisation in the provision of services. In a library or information service, who are the people responsible for determining the structure of an organisation and which staff gain what skills? Librarians.

A review of some recent employLT posts, by Mathew Griffiths, on the LIBTEC e-list show the following requirements for some Library Technician/Library Officer positions: administration of library systems, conducting library skills training, preparation and monitoring of library budget; assisting [users] with in-depth reference and research, online information researching; answer reference enquiries by academic staff, students …, sound knowledge in the area of current library developments, including web based technologies; competence in the use of information technology and information services, provision of reference and information services to clients. These criteria are from position descriptions prepared for library officers/library technicians positions by - librarians.

Where once the skill requirements for librarians and library technicians were clearly defined. These clear definitions have been blurred over the years and mainly within and because of the workplace. Library technicians want to learn new skills and are most eager when training is provided. The workplace can be just as eager in providing this training, whether it is to provide better service to the users or, as I am reluctant to say, to reduce salary costs, as it is cheaper to employ a library technician, than a librarian.

Librarians who are concerned with this issue should look to the people who perpetuate it for solutions and not complain to library technicians who are just doing the work they have been asked to do.

Subscription Agent Issues

2006-12-23T11:07:00.000+11:00

I thought my last post of a couple of days ago would have been it for 2006. What could happen in the couple of days to go until I called it quits for the year.

This happened the afternoon of Thursday 21st. I was sorting invoices getting them ready for payment in the new year. There was an invoice, for just over $200 from a very large international subscription agent and database vendor. They are part of a diversified multinational company based out of the US and I am sure they would be known to all who read this post. I won’t use their name just in case I get sued. From my experience their sales pitch is to talk about the negatives of their opposition, rather than talk up their own products and services. What they provide is nothing special and is the same as many other similar vendors.

Looking at the invoice it appeared that it was for nothing. Not a subscription for a journal or database. I contacted the company and I was told the invoice is for a 1% charge because we paid an invoice late. Unfortunately, the organisation I work for is an extremely large and sometimes the payment of accounts does not go the way either the staff or our creditors would like.

There was no way I was going to let this pass. So I had a bit of a complain and was referred higher up their food chain. I don’t think the guy has ever been spoken to like this by a library person. We library people should start speaking our minds to people who are selling us products maybe they will have a bit more respect. Nothing was achieved by this conversation, they just trotted out the corporate speak. But it did make me feel a bit better.

I have made my feelings on the matter clear to the librarian, which is stuff ‘em. There are more and better subscription agents and database vendors we can give our custom. Ones that won’t rip us off if we pay a bill late.

Vendors talk about partnerships with the profession and ‘customer focus’. If there was a real partnership they would understand that some accounts do run overtime, nothing deliberate, sometimes it just happens. However, it was not evident in my dealings with this company. This diversified multinational company is just about the $$$’s and all their talk on the web page and elsewhere is just that – talk. Would they have given us a 1% discount if we paid the invoice promptly? I think not. As I said they are just about the $$$’s and stuff the circumstances of the customer.

We could have brought some good books with that $200.

December Dealings

2006-12-18T20:10:00.000+11:00

This was an unusually busy month for library things.

The beginning of the month saw me attend the NLS06 (New Librarians Symposium) held at University of New South Wales on 1st and 2nd December. Some might ask (but I doubt many will) what is a neither new or old librarian attending a NLS. Well, I am the treasurer for NLS 4 to be held in Melbourne in December 2008 and I felt I should go along and check out what happens. I have attended many library technician and some librarian conferences but I found this to be a refreshing experience. I put it down to the program and speakers who were very engaging and a different set of topics that I have never experienced before. I can assure you, the plight of new librarians in something that very rarely, if ever, has entered my consciousness until a few weeks ago. The NLS06 dinner was excellent and topped off a good symposium.

On the Sunday after the NLS I had arranged to collect Trevor McCann (National Sales Manager for Raeco International P/L) from golf. Trevor is based in Melbourne and brought his complete set of golf clubs with him so he could play on Sunday (??). Once collected we went off to Homebush to engage in my sport of preference, archery. Despite Trevor's concerns that he was to be the target of the afternoon shoot, he ended up injury free. From Homebush it was off to Manly where Trevor was staying. It has been a long time since I have traversed the city as I did that day (maybe I should get out more). So stay tuned for more adventures of Trev and Kev (or not).

On Monday 11th I had the privilege of attending this years Library Technician of Year presentation held in Canberra, ACT. The event was organised by the ACT LTs and it was good to see Rebecca Evans receive her award and catch up with colleagues who I very rarely see in between conferences.

The national online chat was held on Wednesday 13th using the ALIA technicians chatroom. Nine people participated which is about usual. Chatters came from NSW, Vic. and WA. There was no specific topic for this chat.

On Thursday 14th we held the NSW LT Group end of year dinner at a restaurant in Parramatta. Once again it was good to catch up with colleagues, although I do see them a bit more frequently as we live in the same city.

Things I have to do in the next couple of months (these are just so you can see whether I am on track) :

As convenor of the National LT Group I think we should have a look at the criteria for the Dunn & Wilson Scholarship and LT of the Year Award. This is not to say they require change but it is healthy to have a looksee occasionally.

Nominate for ALIA Vice President (President elect) for 2007. I have nominated for the last 2 years without success. You never know one year may have my name on it.

ALIA Library Technician Groups

2006-12-18T19:02:00.001+11:00

There are seven library technician groups in the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). A group exists in the following states: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia and the territory of the Australian Capital Territory. There is also an ALIA National Library Technician Group.

The role of the state library technician groups is to provide professional activities for its members. These activities can be workshops, library tours, mentoring and networking activities. The national library technicians group administers two awards, the annual Library Technician of the Year Award and the Dunn & Wilson Scholarship.

Information about the Library Technician of the Year award can be found at http://www.alia.org.au/awards/merit/library.technician/ . The Dunn & Wilson Scholarship is awarded biannually and further information on this scholarship can be found at http://www.alia.org.au/awards/dunn.wilson/ . The current recipient of the Dunn & Wilson has her own blog where she details the trials and tribulations of doing research some of her findings http://dunnandwilson.blogspot.com/ .

Library Technician Conferences

2006-12-17T16:40:00.000+11:00

Library Technician conferences are held every two years. The last one, ‘neXt 2005’: ALIA National Library and Information Conference was held in Sydney on 16th – 19th September 2005. Details of the conference program and papers are available at http://conferences.alia.org.au/libtec2005 .

The next ALIA National Library & Information Technicians Conference 2007 will be held in Melbourne on 9th – 12th October 2007. The themes for the conference are Inform, Innovate, Initiate and Inspire. Details about the conference are available at http://www.alia07.com .

Library Technicians in Australia

2006-12-17T16:06:00.000+11:00

The title library technician is given to paraprofessional employees of the library profession in Australia. The work they do is similar to that done by library paraprofessional in many countries, e.g. circulation desk, reading room duties, acquisitions, inter library loans, processing of material and cataloguing. In some libraries senior library technicians supervise staff.

The qualification required to become a library technician, Diploma of Library and Information Services, is obtained by completing a nationally accredited training course. These courses, two years full time duration, are mainly conducted by the states TAFE Colleges (previously known as Technical and Further Education Colleges). The course, including online, is also available from some private training providers. A number of universities offer an equivalent course.

Once a library technician has gained the appropriate qualification they are entitled to be become Library Technician members of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) http://www.alia.org.au/. Some of the advantages of joining the professional association are: the professional development scheme to keep members current with latest developments within the profession, establishing and maintaining networks (social) and reduced fees for ALIA activities.