Search

One aspect of a wider ongoing longitudinal study of "Research and researchers in school librarianship" is discussed here. Research articles and conference papers published in English over the ten-year period 1991 to 2000 in the field of school librarianship were analysed to identify the country of the research, the type of publication in which the research was reported, the research methods used, and the aspects of school librarianship that were investigated. Changes and trends in the research at the international level through the decade are described, and compared to the research related to school librarianship in Australia. The methodology draws on studies that looked at aspects of research in the broader field of library and information science generally, in an international context. (Contains 10 tables.)

The paper describes a recent review of Library and Information Management courses offered by the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University, and the resulting program of curriculum renewal and expansion. This program aimed to address concerns over the long-term sustainability of the courses and respond to an increasingly converging professional landscape. The courses were redesigned in a way that allowed them to maintain their relevance to the School's established librarianship market, while at the same time develop a significant application to other information fields. This was achieved by essentially turning the curriculum on its head. Instead of a library focussed core with electives in other information areas, the new curriculum offers core subjects that cover the information-people-technology nexus in generic fashion and provides a foundation for a wide range of specialisations. This transformation represents what could be described as a move from a traditional Library and Information Studies (LIS) approach to a broader Information Studies (IS) orientation, accommodating advanced areas of study in specific fields, including Librarianship (L). The paper goes on to discuss key issues concerning the implementation of the course redesigns, and the results of their implementation to date.

This paper explores library evaluation in Australia and proposes a return to research fundamentals in which evaluators are asked to consider the centrality of philosophical issues and the role of different research methods. A critique of current evaluation examples demonstrates a system-centred, quantitative, input/output focus which fails to engage with users' experiences or to address service objectives, and provides insufficient information upon which to make decisions about service improvements. This reliance on traditional evaluation is juxtaposed with the emphasis library and information studies places on alternative methodologies. The paper asks why a perspective that has become mainstream in academic research remains peripheral to practice-based evaluation.

At the time of writing the original paper my viewpoint was a personal one, one that focussed on the status within the profession of equally qualified librarians based purely on the perceived status conferred by the type of libraries in which they worked. However, it must now be observed that the world in which public librarians operated then was vastly different from that in which libraries now operate.

Libraries have found themselves overtaken by commercial entities providing open, unmediated information services, causing debate about the future of libraries. It has been argued that in order to stay relevant, libraries must undertake a fundamental shift towards a new focus on engaging with clients. At University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Library we have commenced a number of activities aimed at engaging our clients, but currently only have anecdotal evidence of their effectiveness. This is a conceptual paper which seeks to define engagement and consider how practitioner researchers can provide research-based evidence of the effectiveness of engaging with clients and taking a user-centric approach to service design.

This paper reports on the results of a survey of destinations for students from librarianship and records management courses at Curtin University of Technology for the period 1998-2002. The survey includes the type of work currently being undertaken by graduates, the security of tenure in their position, the level of professionalism in their employment, and their general employment history since completing their qualifying course. Further data records respondents' perceptions of the importance of their qualification in gaining their current employment, the relationship between the skills acquired during the course and their employment, and their general level of satisfaction with the course. The results are compared with similar data previously recorded for the graduating classes of 1988-1992 and 1993-1997. (Contains 20 tables.)

This paper examines the partnership established between Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) through the School of Information Systems and the Careers and Employment Office to provide a mentoring program for students in the Graduate Diploma of Library and Information Studies (GDLIS) course. A range of activities is available, aimed at developing closer relationships between students and information professionals at a personal level, as well as interaction between the university and the information profession at the institutional level. The authors discuss the collaborative research project, which investigates both the teaching and learning outcomes for students and the professional development outcomes for mentors resulting from this unique transitional mentoring program.

The Editor of "ALJ" has invited me to comment on my 2001 article "Losing the quality battle in Australian education for librarianship" (Harvey 2001). The article was prompted by a period I spent as a visiting professor in the Department of Information Studies at UCLA (the University of California Los Angeles) and was written while I was there. Coincidentally, I am writing this commentary while based at another top-ranked LIS school in the U.S, the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston. I have resided outside Australia for almost all of the last four years, teaching and researching at the University of British Columbia, the University of Glasgow, and at Simmons College. I explain this because it has inevitably modified my views and has distanced me from the Australian LIS education scene.

This paper reviews the literature concerning organisation, finding and keeping activities in personal information management (PIM). A brief background to the field of PIM research, which also notes the implications of a better understanding of these activities for librarians, is followed by an analysis of the literature regarding PIM practice that examines various organisational approaches, finding techniques and keeping strategies, and the role that memory and context plays in those activities. The paper concludes with an overview of the research direction in the field, points to long-term issues for the management of digital personal information, and notes the positive relationship between insight into PIM activities and potential for improvement in professional practice for librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Metcalfe of the Public Library of New South Wales played a leading role in founding the Australian Institute of Librarians (AlL) in 1937 and twelve years later in transforming it into a more sustainable and influential body, the Library Association of Australia (LAA). This paper describes some of the work which lay ahead for the new association, including library promotion, expanding membership, professional publications, national and international recognition and a university school of librarianship, in all of which Metcalfe figured significantly. His career after 1949 is outlined and some of his personal preoccupations, fertile ground for further research, are also described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forty-seven year career of Jean Fleming Arnot at the Public Library of New South Wales included eighteen years as Head Cataloguer. Her work in cataloguing provides a case study of the actual historical practice of women's professional work in librarianship in the early to mid-twentieth century. Consideration of the significance of cataloguing as an intellectual and creative act also enables an exploration of issues of power and knowledge in the life of the female librarian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries have found themselves overtaken by commercial entities providing open, unmediated information services, causing debate about the future of libraries. It has been argued that in order to stay relevant, libraries must undertake a fundamental shift towards a new focus on engaging with clients. At University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) Library we have commenced a number of activities aimed at engaging our clients, but currently only have anecdotal evidence of their effectiveness. This is a conceptual paper which seeks to define engagement and consider how practitioner researchers can provide research-based evidence of the effectiveness of engaging with clients and taking a user-centric approach to service design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a newly emerging field of study, KM education is faced with significant challenges which continue to evolve. Informed by wider organisational perspectives, this paper presents the findings of recent research into this field, The first part of the research was in the form of an online survey canvassing the views of the wider LIS community on the responsibility of LIS schools for KM education; the second consisted of a collection of in-depth interviews with LIS academics who were engaged in education for KM. It is clear that the main challenges associated with KM education in the LIS discipline concern people's perceptions of KM and the place of KM in LIS education, Changes need to be made, both to these perceptions and to the ways in which LIS schools market and package their KM offerings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through an analysis of the results of a survey of Australian employers of Library and Information Studies (LIS) graduates, this paper explores the current demand and future need for undergraduate LIS education in Australia. In the context of recent calls for adopting a purely postgraduate level of entry to the profession, the overwhelming majority of respondents to the survey clearly believe that the education provided in LIS programs in Australia does equip graduates with the attributes required of professional librarians in their organisation, and that this does not depend on the level of the qualification. Some further discussion of graduate attributes and curriculum issues indicates that there is a need for reform of LIS education--as well as a requirement to build the number of available graduates as the profession seeks to renew itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nationalism as a force in shaping and understanding historical events, long recognised by historians, has emerged as a rich field of historiological study. Awareness of nationalism has spilled into cultural studies, where the role and history of museums has been investigated in the light of nationalistic influences. Favoured images of a nation's history, culture and people may impact on collecting and curatorial decisions. Library historians have been slower to recognise the impact of nationalism on library collections, although national and state libraries are prone to nationalistic influences. As they purport to collect the documentary heritage of a nation and its people, they engage with questions of national identity, history and geography. This paper maps some of the intersections between nationalism and libraries by considering how changing concepts of nationhood and Australian identity have influenced the formation and development of the National Library of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the results of a survey of destinations for students from librarianship and records management courses at Curtin University of Technology for the period 1998-2002. The survey includes the type of work currently being undertaken by graduates, the security of tenure in their position, the level of professionalism in their employment, and their general employment history since completing their qualifying course. Further data records respondents' perceptions of the importance of their qualification in gaining their current employment, the relationship between the skills acquired during the course and their employment, and their general level of satisfaction with the course. The results are compared with similar data previously recorded for the graduating classes of 1988-1992 and 1993-1997. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author argues that the profession of librarianship is in crisis. She seeks to identify the characteristics and analyse the qualities of this phenomenon in order to draw conclusions about future trends and directions for the profession. It is argued that this crisis is an outward sign of a deeper transformation which is taking place and which affects the discipline as a whole including education and practice. The recent evolution of the profession is traced against the background of the broader transition from the modern to the postmodern era. The object is to reveal how the widespread social, cultural and technological changes of the 21st century are impacting on the library, the librarian, the customer or client and the fundamental nature of information itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint of the article "Losing the Quality Battle in Australian Education for Librarianship" by Ross Harvey from the 2001 volume 50, number one issue of "The Australian Library Journal." The author covers problems facing librarianship education in Australian universities such as difficulty defining librarianship, not promoting the subject as the graduate level, and low problem-solving skills in librarians. Suggestions for improvement include influence from professional associations and developing subject cores and specialisms.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one on an information literacy (IL) project conducted by Leeds University and Loughborough University, one on Australian government librarians' understanding of IL, and one IL within the context of work.

Public and employer perceptions of staff abilities and qualifications deployed in local studies collections may affect their status and influence and not least the funding the local studies facility may receive. The need to promote the service is also prompted by the growing use of local studies collections and the increasing importance of such holdings to the preservation of national heritage. No reflection on the acknowledged abilities and capabilities of library technicians is implied, but the placement of library technicians in local studies roles may have implications for the image and position of this sector, which in terms of educational curricula, clientele and the staff-customer interface, is professional rather than para-professional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comments on a recent Code of Ethics project conducted on behalf of the Australian Computer Society, and proposes a similar project for the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). It reviews the scope and methodology of the project, which developed a comprehensive set of case studies and related them to the ACS Code of Ethics and to specific standards of conduct in the Code. It discusses a small selection of the case studies and suggests that a similar series for ALIA could assist in the provision of useful context for ALIA's Statement on Professional Conduct, material for the profession's continuing professional development (CPD) programs and a stimulus to further ethical debate in the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a selective review of recent publications, focused on the economic value of public and special libraries which are treated separately, since context and organisational objectives differ widely for different types of libraries. Those who wish to further explore this topic will find many studies into the social value of libraries which establish their general 'worth.' A good place to start is Roswitha Poll's examination of ways of assessing economic value, social value, and outcomes for literacy, information retrieval, and academic and professional success (Poll 2003). An extensive bibliography of earlier work is given in Fitch and Warner (1997). Promising methods of evaluating the economic benefits of libraries and expressing them in financial terms are at last emerging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores some of the ethical dimensions of modern librarianship by considering the establishment of the Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) initiative by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). It acknowledges that the extension of traditionally accepted professional boundaries will have significant consequences for the profession. The high regard in which Australian librarianship is held internationally owes much to the work of such leaders as Margaret Trask. It is a client-centered profession which places significant ethical expectations on its members. The adoption of the FAIFE initiative represents a process of professional renewal.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue including conferences on librarianship professional education, a research into website accessibility, and the role of the Australian Book Awards in the library.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Christine Mackenzie on exploring Web 2.0 capabilities in partnership with library users and another by Julie Sloan on workforce planning.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including linked data, the dilemmas of modern librarianship and book reviews.

This article considers the shared role of library and information studies (LIS) educators, practitioners, employing organisations and the professional associations in the development of LIS graduates and new professionals. The application of a passion-based approach to student learning, and the encouragement of ‘scholarly citizenship’ in students, helps to develop graduates who are already engaged with, passionate about and committed to the profession they are about to enter. However, new professionals need to be further enculturated into the profession and practice of LIS and nurtured in order for their passion to be sustained and good professional and organisational ‘citizenship’ developed. Passion and engagement are closely connected with good citizenship in the academy, workplace and profession where citizenship is a willingness to contribute beyond the usual requirements of participation, employment or membership. This article first describes why people enter the information professions and then presents a variety of strategies for academic programs and the information profession to develop the values of passion, engagement and citizenship in new professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to stimulate discussion about whether the current structure of postgraduate library education, largely unchanged for over 60 years, is still the best option, given the ways in which professional library positions increasingly require specialised knowledge and skills. Comparative cases from selected New Zealand professions, including medicine, law, teaching and accounting, are used to identify common characteristics of practice-based professional education, including education for specialisations which typically follow the basic degree. The article suggests that trends affecting library work create an opportunity to consider alternative models, including undergraduate education and advanced specialised qualifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future will hold challenges for everyone working in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector. The application of technologies, many of which are yet to be discovered, will change work patterns and the type of professional employees required. Organisations that support more than one activity in the sector will seek to combine them and have staff who are multi-skilled. This may result in a devaluation of professional qualifications in favour of generalist qualifications supplemented by professional development. Hiring staff with non-traditional qualifications has always occurred and will increase. In future, staff will move more easily across the sector without necessarily having formal qualifications related to their new duties. There will be greater emphasis on structured career-long professional development that is more multidisciplinary than may be currently offered. There is a need to beginning re-imagining what distinguishes a curator, librarian, archivist or other GLAM professional. Is it really necessary to have specialist qualifications to work effectively in the sector? If so, what are those qualifications and how are they best obtained? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education for the information profession in Australia is overdue for a serious debate and discussion about how well we are meeting the needs of the information professionals that we are educating. This article highlights some issues that have evolved as a result of the expanding information landscape, and offers potential opportunities that could be leveraged to provide the information professionals of the future with the breadth and depth of knowledge they will need to successfully operate in the information society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a personal reflection of a new librarian from Sydney, Australia. It is a reflection on her previous lives before her LIS education, and her preparedness upon entering the workforce. The author relates how she learned and developed in the first two years of her library employment, and how she found herself working in an academic library in Hong Kong. The author also shares the results of a brief survey of new librarians working in academic libraries in Hong Kong regarding their experiences of LIS education and first years in the profession. The article concludes with some recommendations for other new librarians entering the workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries are often hailed as the cultural and learning hub of their communities. To deepen community engagement and social inclusion, libraries are adopting new technologies to facilitate a participatory and learning culture. With market saturation of smartphones and tablets and their associated apps, new affordances for content creation, curation and sharing show great potential to enhance participatory culture. The typical smartphone or tablet now incorporates digital technologies such as geo-location, audio, video, photo and web technologies. Bringing these technologies into a single device has enabled the development of apps such as Instagram, HistoryPin and SoundCloud. It has also changed the way users engage with established social networks and photo-sharing sites. Users can now create and share content on an unprecedented scale from any accessible Wi-fi or mobile phone network. Libraries are embracing these technology-rich apps to interact with their customers in many different ways. Examples in this article examine how libraries are taking up opportunities enabled by the convergence of technologies into mobile devices in the participatory culture context – tapping into new communities, engaging with their stakeholders in meaningful ways, enhancing their social impact and transforming their essential roles in today's knowledge society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Libraries are increasingly expected to demonstrate their value to parent organisations and show an ability to be flexible and adaptable in a rapidly changing environment. A change in organisational structure provided the catalyst for student IT support services to be delivered from the Research and Learning Support (RLS) directorate within the Information Services department at the University of Western Australia (UWA). The need for a flexible, adaptive and productive approach to learning and development led to adopting the learning organisation method for the delivery of this new service model. The authors devised a service implementation method that used the development of both people and the organisation, including engagement with all levels of staff, the development and delivery of a training programme, and mentoring. Opportunities for practice and reflection were embedded and included peer-to-peer learning. The integration of student IT support into traditional library inquiry services was an ambitious goal. The integrated approach has provided staff with a much broader skill set and increased interaction with clients. It sets the libraries up as the experts in student IT support on campus and meets the university's strategic aim of an enhanced student experience. Although the method was devised for this particular organisational change it could be applied to other areas of need, particularly as the learning organisation approach has become a more integrated part of the organisational culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for libraries, archives and information services (the Protocols) were written in 1995 and have been updated twice, most recently in 2012. The Protocols are a guide for library and information practitioners in the provision of appropriate services and management of items about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures. Since 1995 there have been significant changes in the information landscape, driven by demand, supply and technological change. The Protocols have been updated to reflect those changes, although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aspirations for the management of the materials about them, access to them and to library services have not changed. Therefore the Protocols are as useful and applicable now as when they were first written. Further, the Protocols offer a path to reconciliation, a guide to community engagement and a means to develop cultural competence. The latter two are gaining importance in library and information science. This article discusses development of the Protocols and provides examples of how they can be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]