Peak Bodies Forum 2004
Papers
10 December 2004
Council Room, National Library of
Australia
Agenda
1. Review of action items from 2003
3. National Site Licensing Forum, 8 December 2004: agreed actions
4. National Resource Sharing Working Group: outcomes of final forum and future activities
6. Collections Council of Australia: update
7. Visual Arts Forum 7 May 2004: update on actions arising
10. Public Libraries Australia: strategic directions and key priorities
11. Report from CASL Information Access Forum
12. Education for Librarianship (including closure of University of Canberra course)
15. Other business
***********************************
Agenda Item 1
Action Items from 2003 meeting.
- That the National Library and CAUL ensure communication
about the DEST projects reaches the wider library community, to assist in the
integration of results into other library sectors.
The NLA has spoken about the DEST projects at several meetings (eg, Subject Gateways Forum, Kinetica AUM), has has included items about the projects in the Gateways newsletter. - The National Library will convene a Roundtable on the issue
of consortia licensing of electronic resources in the second half of 2004.
Done - The National Library, CAUL and CASL will undertake research
into current licensing principles and practices, and into the feasibility of
determining a basic set of national electronic resources.
This issue was included in deliberations for the Site Licensing Forum on Dec 8. - The National Library and CAUL will examine the issues around evaluation of e-resources, and particularly the use of COUNTER to measure the use of such resources.
- ALIA will host a Round Table on access to government publications during 2004. The National Library will assist. Scheduled for 2005
- The National Library will distribute a scoping paper on national newspaper digitisation.
- The National Library will prepare a simple information
package on the management of publications for long-term access.
The NLA has published Recommended Practices for Digital Preservation as the newest title in its brochure series (also available online at http://www.nla.gov.au/preserve/digipres/digiprespractices.html ) During 2004 the NLA has also produced an information kit for community groups interested in preservation of documentary heritage collections. This is online at http://www.nla.gov.au/services/starterkitcommunity.pdf Information specific to multicultural resources was addressed in a similar kit for groups in that sector (http://www.nla.gov.au/multicultural/kit//) - The National Library, CAUL and CASL should seek to be
involved in the NSCF meeting to be held in early 2004.
The meeting (http://www.humanities.org.au/nscf/current.htm)was held in June 2004. There were no presentations by CAUL members or the NLA, but some NLA staff and CAUL members attended. - All Peak Bodies representatives to urge their organisations and members to contact State and Federal parliamentary members to express support for the recommendations of the report, and to urge a timely response from the Federal Government.
- Public Libraries Australia members should promote the recommendations[of the Senate Committee report on the Role of Libraries in the Online Environment] to local and state governments.
- ALIA will convene cross-sectoral discussions on the Report in each state.
- ALIA will produce an information sheet on the possible
copyright implications of the Free Trade Agreement negotiations.
FTA info is on ALIA's website at http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/inquiries/detail.php?ID=18 and was updated through the year. InCite articles provided further background. - The National Library will liaise with the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee to define what information should be compiled to support future reviews.
- The National Library will make available on its website
information about its collection valuation procedures and policies.
This information is in preparation - The National Library will write to the Independent Scholars
Association of Australia, recommending they liaise with CAUL about the issues
relating to access to research resources.
(Relevant correspondence was provided to members of the Forum.) - The National Library will ensure the issue of access to electronic resources by independent scholars is on the agenda for the site licensing Round Table.
- The National Library will invite a representative of library
educators to Peak Bodies meetings in the future.
Done - Professor Kirk will report back to the group about the Peak Bodies meetings.
- The National Library will convene annual meetings of the
Peak Bodies Forum.
Done
***********************************
Agenda Item 2
Strategic directions
The Library's vision for Kinetica is that: "Kinetica will provide access for Australians to all significant Australian and overseas publications by enabling Australian libraries to work collaboratively to share their resources in an environment that inspires innovation and efficiencies" (Directions for 2003-2005).
The Directions statement further states that: "Our major
undertaking in 2003-2005 will be to provide rapid and easy access to the wealth
of information resources that reside in libraries and other cultural
institutions and to break down barriers that work against this. Services
supporting access to library information will be simplified and made more
user-friendly, and will be widely promoted".
"To meet the needs of our
users for rapid and streamlined access to collections, we will
facilitate the access of individual users to the collections of Australian
libraries through Kinetica, regardless of their location or library affiliation
[and] collaborate with other libraries to extend and transform the nation's
interlibrary loan services to support direct requests by users and to provide
more timely access to documents."
Business Case for the Kinetica Service
Kinetica aims to offer Australians the ability to access resources held in Australian collections and Australian publications available online. To deliver this functionality, the service must support "finding and getting" material from collecting institutions and other information suppliers such as bookshops and publishers of online content.
Kinetica's key asset is its comprehensive database (the Australian National Bibliographic Database) containing records of over 36 million items held by the majority of the 1000 Australian libraries that are members of the service. Users can also access major international databases including the catalogues of RLG (Research Libraries Group - major US research libraries), OCLC, Consortia of UK and Irish University Libraries and Te Puna (New Zealand libraries union catalogue). Kinetica's discovery and access services depend on these data sources, and especially on the National Bibliographic Database. In order to gather this data in a timely way, Kinetica supports cooperative cataloguing, enabling Australian libraries to reduce the costs of their cataloguing by using records created by other libraries and international agencies such as the British Library and Library of Congress. In order to improve access to information resources, Kinetica supports interlending, allowing libraries to share resources by borrowing (or receiving copies) of library materials from other libraries. Kinetica also supports cooperative collection development, enabling libraries to reduce the amount of duplication in their collections and better manage their acquisitions budgets.
Since the early 1980s Kinetica and its predecessor service have operated on a partial cost recovery basis.
In investigating the future direction for Kinetica, the Library consulted the Advisory Committee, which confirmed the continuing need for a service beyond 2005. The Library and the Committee have agreed on the following high-level business needs for the future Kinetica service:
- to support efficiencies in Australian libraries through resource sharing, including exchange of data and interlending operations;
- to provide users with streamlined mechanisms for "finding and getting" resources in Australian collecting institutions and in international databases;
- to support end user access by simplifying the processes of resource discovery and delivery, authentication and payment for resources in Australian collecting institutions;
- to provide a service which is affordable both for Australian libraries and the National Library;
- to comply with international standards to enable interoperability with library and database systems around the world; and
- to use technology innovatively to develop services to meet the needs of Australian libraries.
The Library's investigation in 2003 identified trends in the market which will influence the future use of the service. The key trends are:
- pressure on library budgets means that there is still a place for traditional interlibrary loan and document delivery, though this is slowly declining;
- increased use of electronic resources implies a need for the National Bibliographic Database to include records for digital materials, supporting immediate access to the resources themselves; and
- there are strong pressures on customer libraries to reduce expenditure and increase the efficiency of services.
As far as libraries are concerned the service has a high market share, as it serves over 1000 Australian libraries including all state, university and most special, government and public libraries. Its continued operation is based on providing cost efficiencies to these libraries and providing new services supporting access by individuals to Australian collections. About 30 university libraries and 50 public libraries offer free Kinetica access to their end users. However, the service has very few end users as direct subscribers.
Since the basic purpose of Kinetica is to enable Australians to access information resources, it is essential that it be made more available to end users. The Information Australia pilot, which commenced in late 2003, was an important step in this direction. This Plan envisages the further development of Information Australia, including a free access service to support the "finding and getting" function at a basic level. A free access service would enable a considerable increase in usage by individuals.
In October 2003 the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee reported on their Inquiry into Libraries in the online environment. The report recommended:
- "Recommendation 1: The committee recommends that the National Library of Australia receive additional funding to provide improved access to Kinetica for all Australian libraries and end users".
The Government's response to the report notes that the cost implications will be better understood once the Kinetica Redevelopment Project is completed. The Library will revisit this issue at that time, and will also explore whole-of-sector charging arrangements.
Redevelopment project
The aims of the redevelopment project are to:
- Introduce improvements for customers
- Allow innovation to deliver future improvements
- Integrate the CJK service " Develop better interfaces for searching and cataloguing
- Obtain the best value-for-money solution
The first deliverable of the Kinetica Redevelopment Project, the Libraries Australia search interface, will be made available on December 8. The interface features:
- A 'Google' type search
- An advanced search offering powerful searching of indexes and limits
- Federated searching of multiple databases
- Value added services such as alerts and the saving and emailing of records in new formats
- A sophisticated 'get' service
Consultative mechanisms
Consultation with Australian libraries on their needs and the future development of the service occurs through a formal Advisory Committee (comprising representatives of all Australian library sectors) and regular meetings with customer libraries in all states. The Kinetica Advisory Committee includes representatives from:
- CAUL (2)
- CASL
- public libraries
- government libraries
- special libraries
- Elected members from Kinetica customers (3)
- NLA representatives (2)
The Kinetica Annual User Meeting is open to all libraries as is attendance at Kinetica State User Groups in all capital cities.
***********************************
Agenda Item 3
National Site Licensing Forum, 8 December 2004 : agreed actions
On Wednesday 8 December the National Library of Australia hosted a forum for representatives of library consortia and other interested bodies to discuss issues relating to site licensing and to determine if a plan of action at the national level is required.
The forum agreed to the following actions:
Agreed actions
:
- The Australian Government Libraries Information Network will facilitate a reference group of existing consortia who will develop a proposal for a core set of Australian electronic resources for a self-funded national site license, to be provided through the library sector to its users. The reference group will also define the audience for this core dataset.
- The National Library of Australia will convene a meeting of existing consortia in mid-2005 to consider the establishment of an annual forum for the exchange of information and discussion of issues of mutual concern at the national level.
- The meeting in mid-2005 will consider the establishment of an annual roundtable between consortia, vendors and publishers to discuss issues such as licensing, access levels, copyright and pricing structures.
- The Australian Library and Information Association will develop a strategy for promotion to the public of the availability of electronic resources in libraries.
- The Australian Library and Information Association will develop a strategy for increasing the awareness amongst library staff of electronic resources and for providing training to support library staff in the use of these resources.
- The Australian Library and Information Association will continue to pursue the inclusion of library interests in the National Broadband Strategy as recommended in the Senate ECITA report Libraries in the online environment (Recommendation 7).
***********************************
Agenda Item 4
National Resource Sharing Working Group : outcomes of final forum and future activities
The final meeting of the NRSWG was held in July 2004.
The
discussions are summarised below.
Summary of Discussions
The final meeting included discussions based on specific papers; a paper summarising the achievements of the group, key issues and trends, the ARCLAP study, the work of the Australian Library Collections Task Force and perspectives from all library sectors. Issues which need to be the subject of further activity were identified and allocated to various groups. A need was identified for an annual review of activity occurring on resource sharing and to ensure that issues truly were addressed. There was a high level of commitment to continue to work on the issues, with referrals to the National Library, ALIA, CASL and other groups. A table summarizing issues and actions is attached and notes on the key issues follow.
- Participation: For the first time public and TAFE libraries were represented at a meeting of the National Resource Sharing Working Group. It is clear that public libraries are increasingly moving to supply resources from beyond just their local networks and are looking forward to actively participating in discussions on resource sharing. They provide a very strong link with end users. The whole library sector is actively involved in resource sharing and future discussions and meetings should include representatives from national, state, academic, research, special, law, health and tafe libraries.
Collections: Considerable discussion occurred on issues relating to collections in Australian libraries. The management of collections of libraries which close and trends in reduction of new acquisition because of changed in policies and budgets remain of concern, as these collections need to be offered to other libraries before any disposal takes place. The Australian Research Libraries Collection Analysis Project (ARLCAP, 2004) demonstrated that Australian universities and the National Library's collections contain many unique resources and poses issues for collection analysis for the future
ILRS Code: Recognising that expectations of users and libraries have changed significantly, the group took into account feedback through the NLA Document Supply survey and from various librarians that a 5 level code was too complex and that the 5 day core turnaround time is too slow. This issue was referred to ALIA for review and will clearly need discussion across library sector bodies to ensure that changes can be implemented and enable libraries to continue to operate efficiently.
Skills and manuals/documentation: A need was identified for an up to date information package for library staff on interlending and document supply. The most recent edition of the Australian manual, Ausloan, was published over a decade ago. For the national system to operate effectively an updated manual would enable clear information on the code, copyright, and general interlending issues to be available in one place. Work on a manual was referred to the ALIA Interlending Group. Skills training/CPD was also discussed and it was agreed that the development of relevant courses should also be referred to ALIA.
National performance indicators and benchmarking: The Interlending benchmarking study has provided great basis for understanding how libraries can be efficient. While the measurement of the improvements in Australian interlibrary lending from implementation of the findings of the study has not been undertaken, the group consider that a manageable way forward would be for a sector to development performance indicators and trial these. CAUL's performance indicator tool includes interlibrary lending; however it was thought that this was inadequate and that CAUL should develop a better set of indicators and measures. This information could be shared with other sectors for implementation across a wider range of libraries through a future meeting.
New models: A number of "Borrow direct" type initiatives are being developed in Australia and it was considered important that information on new models and their effects should be explored, but within the existing Australian conference and research reporting framework (including REAP). Christine Cother indicated she would be undertaking some research and it was also agreed that research should be sought on factors affecting demand by end users.
Trends: While statistics compiled for the background paper suggest interlending remains in decline, monograph interlending has generally not declined. The impact of changing from the "big deal" for ejournals and the continuing move to interdisciplinary research suggest that the reduction in decline experienced in the past year may be a better predictor of future trends. Monitoring of the impact of direct end user access through services such as Copies Direct is important for the consideration of new services by libraries in all sectors. Unmediated interlibrary loans are likely to be an essential future direction to ensure user satisfaction and consortia are also essential for access to printed as well as electronic collections.
In summary the major themes were the need for increased resource discovery (through the NBD), acquisition of collections (particularly with library closures), capability building (training and manuals), information on performance and an urgent need to review the ILRS Code to improve speed of delivery and intelligibility of service levels.
The suggestion of an annual sharing of information and reporting on activities through a meeting convened at the National Library would provide an opportunity to ensure continued development in this area.
***********************************
Agenda Item 5
Copyright issues including an update on the Free Trade Agreement and its implications for libraries
Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement
With well over 50% of the contents of the AUSFTA relating to intellectual property - an indication of the breadth and complexity of those provisions - those with an interest in copyright law are naturally concerned with the implications of the changes.
Most of the changes will align Australian copyright law more closely with US law. The AUSFTA will introduce a number of significant changes to Australian copyright law, which impact upon the functions of libraries, archives, and educational and cultural institutions.
- First of all, it will extend the term of copyright from 50 years to 70 years. Copyright term extension is widely viewed as a concession by Australia in order to secure the AUSFTA. The resultant adverse effects for libraries will include extension of term of payment of royalties, increased costs of statutory licenses, increased transaction and tracing costs, and of course, the reduction of works flowing into the public domain will lead to a reduced incentive to create more works.
- The second major issue which will arise very quickly after
implementation occurs is that of carriage service provider liability.
Libraries, as providers of internet services to the public, appear to fall
within the definition of 'carriage service provider' (CSP), and therefore will
be able to make use of the limited liability scheme which is provided for by
the AUSFTA, and which will be incorporated in the Copyright Regulations 1969.
The scheme is intended to provide a 'safe harbour' so that CSP's are protected
from liability for copyright infringement provided they:
- quickly remove infringing material;
- have no knowledge of the infringing activity;
- gain no financial benefits from the infringing activity;
- provide proper notification of policies to its subscribers; and
- have an agent to deal with copyright complaints.
- The third major issue arising from the AUSFTA is that it will require Australia to strengthen provisions of the Copyright Act which relate to Technological Protection measures (TPMs) so that they closely resemble those in the US. Australia will have 2 years from the date of implementation of the AUSFTA to do this, and it is therefore an issue which the ALCC will be looking to consult with Government on when the implementing legislation is being drafted.
The AUSFTA will have an enormous impact on copyright law in Australia. It will require Australia to adopt many features of US copyright law - and thus fundamentally alter the balance between the interests of owners and users in favour of owners. However, whilst what has been prescribed in the AUSFTA appears to be non-negotiable at this stage, translation of the agreement into Australian legislation is something that the ALCC is still hopeful of influencing.
Digital Agenda Act Review
The Digital Agenda Review Report and Recommendations (the Report) was released in January 2004.
The law firm Phillips Fox were commissioned by the Commonwealth
Attorney-General's Department to undertake the review. Submissions are available at the Phillips Fox site at http://www.phillipsfox.com/whats_on/Australia/DigitalAgenda/DigitalAgenda.asp
(click on submissions )
Responses to the report have been varied. Although the Report provided vital feedback in relation to the DAA, with evidence suggesting that the DAA has been achieving its objectives and that the reforms have been working well, it has been criticised by some for the lack of depth in its review of certain issues.
Aside from the issues in relation to the Report itself, there has been much uncertainty over its relevance now that we have entered an agreement with the US which imposes numerous obligations on Australia in terms of legislative amendments to the Copyright Act 1968, quite distinct, and at times contradictory to the DAA recommendations. The recommendations contained in the Report, to the extent that they are inconsistent with the AUSFTA, have been superseded by it and will not be implemented by Government. Government has however indicated that it will still consider the Report's recommendations and where they are consistent with the AUSFTA, implement them in tandem with AUSFTA obligations.
The Report made twenty recommendations, ranging from the commissioning of further research and education campaigns, to the development of industry codes of conduct and legislative amendments. These recommendations included:
- That a consistent definition of 'library' be adopted throughout the Act, and that the broader definition contained in section 18 be adopted which does not automatically exclude libraries owned by a person carrying on business for profit.
- That owner groups, libraries and cultural institutions be given a reasonable opportunity to negotiate, agree and implement a code of practise that clarifies the circumstances in which libraries and archives can copy works under Part III, Division 5 of the Act.
- If a voluntary code is not negotiated within a reasonable time,
that the Act be amended to make it clear that;
- (a) a copy under section 49 or 50 can be made from a preservation copy of a fragile work
- (b) there is a distinction between different editions of works in determining whether a preservation copy can be made.
- That section 51A be amended to allow libraries and archives to make available to volunteers copies of works in the collection, for the purpose of educating or training them.
- That section 51A be amended to allow non-preservation copies of artistic works to be made available on a dumb terminal on the premises of the library or archive (without any ability to make a hard copy from that dumb terminal).
- That sections 49 and 50 be amended to allow low resolution
reproductions of the whole of an artistic work to be copied and communicated,
without infringing copyright. This recommendation however was made on 2
provisos:
- that the provision can be drafted in a technologically neutral way,
- that no owners demonstrate, within the course of public consultation, that their interests are likely to be adversely affected.
- That further research be conducted in relation to the extent of the effects of digital copying by libraries and archives, in order to determine whether the Act needs to be amended. (This was in response to concerns by rights owners effectively that recipients of digital copies don't understand copyright law and are less likely to abide by it).
Educational Statutory Licences
- That in relation to the educational statutory license provisions contained in Part VB, that a code of practice be agreed upon between Government and the education sector, using the existing Ministerial Council of Education Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) guidelines to copying on the internet as a model.
- That if this is not done within a reasonable time, the Act should be amended to give effect to the existing MCEETYA guidelines.
- That guidelines should be introduced on the meaning and operation of literary works accompanied by an artistic work which explains or illustrates that work.
Service Provider Liability
- That a take down procedure be introduced which balances the
interests of owners in having infringing material removed quickly and cheaply,
with the interests of users in being able to post, access and use material that
is able to be accessed and used legitimately, and with the interests of service
providers. The Report further detailed what it considered would be a balanced
procedure in the course of the review. It considered that:
- such a procedure should include the requirement for a statutory declaration to be made by the copyright owner.
- the rights owner must instigate legal proceedings against the alleged infringer within a reasonable time; if this is not done, the obligation to comply with the take-down notice does not arise.
- that an appropriate mechanism to ensure that baseless claims are not made, would be to require any complaint to be supported by evidence under oath.
- That given the privacy implications of any scheme where service providers are required to monitor their users, the Federal Privacy commissioner should undertake public consultation on the proposed process.
Technology and Rights
- That the definition of what constitutes a temporary copy be clarified. The report found that it should at least include 'transient, non-persistent reproductions that are incidental to the primary purpose or act for which the work is made available and which has no independent economic significance'.
- That the educational statutory licence provisions be amended so that educational institutions can actively cache copyright material for the purpose of a course of instruction, in return for a payment of equitable remuneration to the copyright owner.
Circumvention Devices and Services
- That the definition of 'Technological Protection Measure' (TPM) be amended to make clear that the copyright in a work is not infringed by making a temporary reproduction of that work 'as a necessary part of a technical process'.
- That the permitted purposes in section 116A (3) be amended so as to clearly allow any supply or use of a circumvention device or service for any use or exception allowed under the Act, including fair dealing and access to a legitimately acquired non-pirated product.
- That section 116A(1) be amended so as to prohibit the use, including commercial and personal use, of a circumvention device or service to circumvent a TPM, other than for a permitted purpose.
The report itself is more extensive, and provides further recommendations and discussions on a range of issues. It can be accessed at the Attorney-General's Department website. It is expected that a full Governmental response to this report will be concluded following the process of AUSFTA implementation.
(The above text is derived from longer items on the FTA and DAA, which appear in the 2004 issue of the Copyright Bulletin. This publication is available online.)
***********************************
Agenda Item 6
Collections Council of Australia
Establishment and purpose
The Collections Council of Australia is a body independent of Governments but established by the Cultural Ministers' Council. It is a non-profit public company with a constitution and a Board of Directors. It was incorporated on 27 September 2004. The Council was established by Cultural Ministers' Council to:
- further industry development, industry support and projects, " provide an independent forum for discussing and resolving cross-sectoral issues in a strategic manner, and
- create a different set of relationships with the sector and between the sector and other areas.
The objects and powers of the Council are to:
- advance the stability and sustainability of the collections sector, through communication, consultation and resolution of common issues;
- promote understanding among the community, government, other funding bodies, and the media, of the nature of the sector and the issues it faces, as well as the contribution made by the sector to the areas of economic and social development;
- sponsor such programs deemed necessary and desirable to further industry development;
- promote high standards of performance and efficiency throughout the sector, through education, training and development;
- promote benchmarks and standards for the care and management of collections;
- promote access to and participation in Australian cultural heritage collections;
- act as a source of consolidated advice for governments on issues facing the collections sector; and
- investigate sources of independent funding for the sector, and encourage private-sector support.
The Council's predecessor bodies are the National Collections Advisory Forum (2002-3003), the Heritage Collections Council (1996-2001), the Heritage Collections Committee (1993-1996) and the Heritage Collections Working Group (1990-1993).
Directors and staff of the Council
The Council's Directors are:
Paul Ah Chee
Larissa Behrendt
Kevin Fewster (ex officio - Chair of Australian Museum Directors)
Ross
Gibbs (ex officio - Chair of Council of Australasian Archives and Records
Authorities)
Sue Nattrass
Barbara Piscitelli
Anne-Marie Schwirtlich
(ex officio - Chair of Council of Australian State Libraries) Robert Sharman
Gerard Vaughan (ex officio - Chair of Council of Australian Art Museum
Directors)
Kathy Williams, and
Kylie Winkworth.
The Council's Secretariat is hosted by the State Library of South Australia in the Institute Building on North Terrace in Adelaide. The Secretariat consists of a CEO (an appointment is pending) and an Administrative/Project Officer (recruitment to commence when CEO appointed).
Inaugural meeting
The Council held its inaugural meeting on 18 November. The Council selected a Chair and will write to Cultural Ministers' Council seeking endorsement of this. The meeting considered matters such as the appointment of its Company Secretary, administrative arrangements, responsibilities and accountability of Directors, the constitution and so on.
The Council considered the draft budget and reduced expenditure (eg agreeing that all Directors other than those from Perth and Darwin would fly economy; that several Directors would not require sitting fees) in order to increase the money available for programs/projects. Cultural Ministers' Council has provided funding for the Council's first three years as follows:
- $281,000 in 2004-05
- $288,000 in 2005-06, and
- $296,000 in 2006-07.
The purpose of the budget pruning was to increase funds available for projects/programs to $80,000 to $100,00 in 2004-05.
Strategic Plan
The Council resolved to meet in February for 2 days to frame its strategic plan (taking into account the October 2003 Discussion Paper: Towards a National Strategy for the Collections Sector, prepared by the National Collections Advisory Forum).
This Discussion Paper proposed the following objectives (each underpinned by several strategies) for the industry:
- foster greater cross-sectoral collaboration for the purpose of improving the care, management and sustainability of the distributed national collection;
- a vibrant collections sector that is relevant and responsible to the needs of the community and governments;
- improved access to Australian cultural heritage collections;
- enhanced community learning, awareness and participation;
- a strong and strategic cross-sectoral network of regional and remote collecting institutions;
- effective care and management of collections across the sector, taking into account conservation and significance assessment;
- coordinated documentation of collections across the sector;
- consistent, quality-based standards across the range of the sector's operations;
- a national, coordinated approach to training and professional development throughout the sector, including through the leadership roles of major institutions; and
- strengthen the sector's capacity to collaborate with its international counterparts and increase its involvement in relevant international issues.
The Council considered four projects begun by the National Collections Advisory Forum (Regional Hubs; National Benchmarks for the Management and Care of Collections; Significance Learnings and Communicating the Value of Collections) and determined what it would wish to do with each.
Meetings for the remainder of the financial year have been scheduled for February (Adelaide), April (Melbourne) and June (ideally to coincide with Cultural Ministers' Council in Brisbane).
Communicating with and contributing to the work of the Council
At the Peak Bodies meeting I would be grateful for discussion and advice about:
- the level of interest of your peak body in the work of the Council;
- how I and the Council can best communicate with the library sector about the work of the Council; and
- how I can best gather advice about what libraries would wish to see on the Council's strategic plan.
Anne-Marie Schwirtlich
Chair, Council of Australian State
Libraries
www.casl.org.au
casl@slv.vic.gov.au
***********************************
Agenda Item 7
Visual Arts Forum May 2004 : update on actions arising
- The NLA to place the results of its survey of visual arts
libraries on its web site.
- Kinetica and ARLIS/ANZ to collaborate on designing a
workshop on cataloguing prior to the ARLIS/ANZ Conference in September to
address the following issues:
- Identifying and resolving barriers to contribution to the National Bibliographic Database from visual arts libraries
- Identifying and resolving cataloguing workflow issues in visual arts libraries
- Setting guidelines for the description of guerrilla resources, at both collection and item levels
- Investigating arrangements for shared responsibilities among visual arts libraries for cataloguing of guerrilla resources
- Testing the efficiency of harvester gathering methods for NBD contribution through a pilot project with some small visual arts libraries
- Kinetica to investigate provision of the SCIPIO database from the Research Libraries Group as a core service to increase the amount of copy cataloguing data available to visual arts libraries SCIPIO database is now available through Kinetica.
- ARLIS/ANZ and the National Library to work together on
establishing a working group to address the issues outlined in the Indexing and
Databases paper presented at the Forum. Issues include sustainability,
coverage, retrospective conversion, discovery, availability. The feasibility of
creating a portal or gateway for Australian visual arts resources could also be
addressed by this working group. The working group should aim to report on
these issues by May 2005.
The working group met at the National Library on 29 October 2004 and agreed on the following actions:- Further enhancements to Australian Libraries Gateway were requested so that searching across subject specializations such as visual arts could be facilitated: the National Library will be enhancing ALG in 2005. ARLIS/ANZ to continue to encourage members to contribute to ALG
- ARLIS/ANZ to identify software options that provide suitable platforms for indexes and databases currently supported in visual arts libraries.
- ARLIS/ANZ and the National Library to work together on
establishing a working group to address the issues outlined in the papers on
digitisation presented at the Forum. Issues include metadata, technical
standards, rights management, shared effort, and educational uses of digitised
images. The working group should aim to report on these issues by May 2005.
The working group met at the National Library on 29 October 2004 and agreed on the following actions:- ARLIS/ANZ to develop digitisation information page on their website, including information on standards
- In conjunction with the information page above, ARLIS/ANZ and the NLA to develop a digitisation metadata template for use by visual arts libraries, based on the PictureAustralia model
- PictureAustralia to consider assisting visual arts libraries with digitised collections to join PictureAustralia
- ARLIS/ANZ to collaborate with NAVA (National Association for the Visual Arts) about hosting individual artists works in digital form on their website
- ARLIS/ANZ to provide a list of artists websites to PANDORA for selection for archiving
- The National Library to investigate incorporating rights
management data into the metadata format used in PictureAustralia
The National Library is developing a standard statement about the use of images for educational or classroom use for PictureAustralia. - The CASL Consortium to investigate including the Art Gallery
of South Australia in the negotiations for Grove Art Online as a test case for
involving small institutions
This trial was conducted but the Art Gallery of South Australia did not proceed with the product past the trial phase. - ARLIS/ANZ review its purpose, goals and activities over the
next twelve months
In progress. - All attendees of the Forum to promulgate information about
the LearnScope project at the Hunter Institute in order to stimulate
development on an online community of practice in digitisation of images for
educational uses.
In progress. - A second Visual Arts Forum to be held in May 2005
***********************************
Agenda Item 8
Archiving Web
Resources conference : national agenda for access to web resources,
including outcomes from the web archiving conference.
From November 8-11 the National Library hosted the international conference Archiving Web Resources: issues for cultural heritage institutions.
An Information Day, at which new digital preservation tools and methodologies were presented, was held on the 12th.
In addition, the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) Steering Committee, met at the Library before the conference started. (The IIPC is managed by the Bibliotheque national de France. Membership comprises 10 national libraries including the National Library of Australia, and the Internet Archive.)
About 200 people registered for the conference and 100 for the Information Day. Participants were from 22 countries representing national libraries, archives and museums, academic and research institutions, government agencies, publishers and web creators.
The conference was a great success with very positive feedback received on all aspects. The core participants were very energetic with several meetings and discussions held throughout the conference week. The conference program was built around four key themes:
- the importance of web based information to a range of sectors;
- specific issues that need to be addressed by archiving and preservation programs (such as selection, documentation, maintaining accessibility, managing archives);
- practical implementation models that are being developed and built by selected institutions that address particular issues; and
- research directions - what needs are not being addressed, what new areas are being researched.
There were 36 presentations from Australian and overseas speakers representing policy makers, chief executive officers and practitioners from a range of institutions actively concerned with digital archiving and preservation issues.
Copies of presentations will be available from the conference web site. An official report on the conference, commissioned by the Library and ALIA, a conference sponsor, will also be available on the web site by the end of December.
Key outcomes for the Library which will be pursued as part of our digital and preservation archiving strategy include the following:
- A national audit of digital archiving and preservation activity involving key national agencies creating digital content, which will inform the development of a national plan for preserving digital content based on distributed responsibility and formal understandings - a key focus will be Commonwealth government information.
- A review of the Library's own digital library architecture with the aim of identifying software modules or components we will require in future and how we will source and integrate these modules.
- A consideration of strategies to increase our rate of harvesting web resources into PANDORA, including thematic or domain harvesting, different models for contribution by partners, metadata creation, and active deposit of digital publications by Australian publishers - an initial focus will be Commonwealth government online publications.
- Renewed commitment to national and international collaboration to develop further the systems and tools required to support the digital archiving and preservation needs of cultural agencies - in particular, the Library will work with the National Archives of Australia, the IIPC, the National Library of New Zealand and the IFLA CDNL Alliance for Bibliographic Standards (ICABS). Specific actions include managing an IIPC project with the National Library of New Zealand to develop a web resources workflow module; contributing to the work plan of ICABS by conducting an international audit of the availability of tools to support digital preservation; and working with the National Archives to extend the scope of their digital preservation tool called Xena.
***********************************
Agenda Item 9
The National Plan for Australian Newspapers (NPLAN) is a cooperative initiative established by the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) involving all State and Territory libraries and coordinated by the National Library of Australia. The Plan was established in the early 1990's in recognition of the importance of newspapers as primary sources of historical information and a growing concern about the status and preservation of Australian newspapers. NPLAN partners aim to preserve at least one hardcopy of each Australian newspaper while ensuring ongoing access to the information content.
Partners include the National Library of Australia, State Library of New South Wales, State Library of Victoria, State Library of Western Australia, State Library of South Australia, State Library of Queensland, State Library of Tasmania and the Northern Territory Library. The NPLAN website is available at http://www.nla.gov.au/nplan/index.html.
Strategies
The NPLAN project is underpinned by three basic strategies; collection of the hardcopy newspaper, preserving the information content and creating bibliographic records of where the newspapers can be found.
NPLAN partners collect hardcopies of newspapers published within their jurisdiction and identify, locate and collect missing issues. The collection of hard copies is assisted by legal deposit laws in Australia which oblige publishers to deposit copies of their publications in designated deposit libraries.
Partners are responsible for ensuring the hard copy is stored in appropriate archival conditions and that an appropriate archival copy of the newspaper is made. Microform has traditionally been the accepted method of preserving and providing access to the newspapers. The digitisation of newspapers has become an option in recent years, but has not yet been fully realised as an alternative to microform as part of the NPLAN project.
Individual NPLAN partners record information about their newspaper holdings on their online catalogues and on the National Bibliographic Database which is available via the KINETICA service. This database can be used to identify libraries across Australia who have hardcopy, microfilm and digital copies of newspapers and to verify bibliographic information.
Progress and Challenges
As a result of NPLAN most current Australian newspapers are now microfilmed to appropriate preservation standards. This shows a considerable achievement by Australian libraries over the past 12 years. Australian libraries continue to commit resources each year to the task of filming backlog titles, with some states having already completed this task.
The challenge of maintaining appropriate storage conditions both for the original newspaper and the microform masters is an ongoing issue. The recently identified problem of deteriorating cellulose acetate microform has highlighted the need to ensure all masters are made from polyester and libraries are now faced with the issue of replacing acetate microform collections.
Priorities
NPLAN partners continue to support the aims of NPLAN through their copying programs and by providing ongoing storage and access to their newspapers.
Priorities for the future include:
- Raising the profile of NPLAN to recognise achievements and encourage sponsorship.
- Developing an Action Plan for microfilming high priority titles not yet filmed.
- Looking for ways to improve control over preservation masters.
- Managing deteriorating cellulose acetate microfilm masters. " Investigating the role digitisation may play in preservation and access of the original newspapers.
***********************************
Agenda Item 10.
Public Libraries Australia : Report to Peak Bodies Forum - 10 December 2004
- Governance: PLA formally appointed its new
Board of Directors at a meeting on 16 July 2004. The Board is truly a
nationally representative body with one Director from each State and Territory
and appointees from ALGA, ALIA and CASL. Board members are:
- Lynne Makin (VIC)
- Robert Knight (NSW)
- Geoff Strempel (SA)
- Susan Feeney (WA)
- Siobhan Gaskell (TAS)
- Tom Elliott (ACT)
- Glenys Aird (NT)
- David Cornwell (QLD)
- Jan Richards (ALIA)
- Lea Giles-Peters (CASL)
- Ian Chalmers (ALGA)
- Partnerships: PLA is very pleased to have entered into MOU's with two important library sector partners - ALIA and CASL. The objectives of the MOU's are to articulate the individual objectives of each organisation and to identify areas of collaboration.
- Membership: Membership of PLA is growing steadily and currently stands at 115 members (89 Institutions, 18 Personal, 6 Associations, 2 Suppliers). One of the key identified priorities of PLA is to increase membership through promotion.
- State Committees: The PLA Board has endorsed the
establishment of PLA State Committees to further the objectives of the
organisation across the nation. The main objectives of each state sub-committee
during the first few years will be:
- advocacy of the organisation through encouraging membership
- assisting with the promulgation of information about PLA through the development of a communication strategy that is appropriate to that state " provision of quarterly updates to the PLA Executive Officer for inclusion in newsletters and promotional material
- activating political lobbying strategies developed by the Board
- increasing the political awareness of library staff in each state
- encouraging participation of libraries in any national project that may be developed
- contributing to professional discussions and relevant research projects
- assisting the Board with the development of national conferences, seminars and forums
- Current Projects: The PLA Board meeting on 6 September
2004 identified three priority issues for investigation and reporting. They are
as follows:
- Further definition of the roles of ALIA and PLA in the Public Library sector
- Development of a strategy for advocacy at a national level
- Definition of strategies for building relationships with Local Government Associations in each state, and guidelines for the establishment of PLA State Committees
The Board has since endorsed the investigation of a PLA National Conference proposed for November 2005, with a view to making the conference a biennial event.
Robert Knight
Chairperson - Public Libraries Australia
8
December 2004
***********************************
Agenda Item 12
1. Paper from ALIA
2.
Additional comments from Ross Harvey
Issues in LIS education
Entry-level education, 2005
Librarian
- 10 higher education institutions will offer courses at Bachelor and/or Graduate Diploma/Master (Coursework) level;
- One institution to introduce graduate education at Master
(Coursework) level only with no Graduate Diploma exit point:
- represents direction in which some institutions are preparing to move;
- equity implications for students wishing to study to Graduate Diploma level only;
- implications for future entry-level qualifications if institutions generally move in similar direction;
- impact on acceptance of undergraduate qualifications at entry-level;
- employers to determine if they continue to accept the Graduate Diploma as the graduate entry-level qualification.
Library technician
- 11 TAFE institutions will offer the competency-based Diploma
(AQF level 5) based on the National Museums and Library and Information
Services Training Package:
- non-TAFE education providers now establishing as RTOs who can offer diploma courses;
- Employer based training at certificate II, III level - progression to diploma;
- ALIA recognition program in relation to non-traditional training providers.
- One higher education institution offers a course for library
technicians -
- graduates receive bachelor award;
- employer understanding of level of award and its equivalence to the TAFE diploma - does extra year study imply greater/higher-level knowledge and skills;
- employer uncertainty about appropriate worklevels, pay structures for graduates of the course;
- implications for graduates of this course for future professional development, for example undertaking graduate level librarian studies.
Student numbers
| 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 200 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | |
| Librarian -graduate | 1759 | 1455 | 1425 | 1429 | 1372 | 1492 | 1917 | 1640 |
| Librarian -bachelor | 1115 | 1164 | 1209 | 1189 | 1164 | 1134 | 1745 | 1703 |
| Library technician | 3171 | 2941 | 2871 | 2806 | 2853 | 1653* | 2206 | 2688 |
These numbers are approximate only as statistics supplied are not always complete. *Following introduction of the Library Industry Training Package, students were enrolled in Certificate II, III, IV and Diploma and only those completing the Diploma course that year were counted as library technician students.
Curriculum
- Range of knowledge and skills needed by librarians and
information professionals continues to broaden:
- scope of LIS courses changing as new developments in knowledge, technology, etc. - implications for course curriculum
- need to incorporate new areas, for example IM/KM/Web content management.
- Only two library schools offer full teacher-librarianship courses although several others offer a T-L stream alongside the generalist stream. The ALIA/ASLA policy advisory group has provided information that education authorities do not always insist on full T-L qualifications when appointing teacher-librarians. This is partly because there is insufficient fully qualified staff available but the situation is being exacerbated by decisions such as that taken by the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET) which recently determined that a tailored Graduate Certificate would be sufficient qualification for T-Ls in that state.
LIS programs - ongoing and new
- LIS studies are offered in one higher education institution through a discrete School.
- LIS programs are more generally offered as a course within a larger School or Faculty, for example business, information technology, etc. This can be an advantage to LIS because it can demonstrate that information management plays an important role across many disciplines. However, it can also result in LIS studies having a low profile within an institution which may lead to consequent low enrolments in the course. This may then impact at the decision making levels of the institution where the viability of a course may be questioned and the course discontinued relatively easily because it does not involve closure of a large unit, for example, a School.
- Development of new LIS programs is important in order to sustain diversity and choice in education for the profession.
- Institutions which do not currently offer LIS courses may be encouraged to develop partnerships with institutions where an LIS course is offered.
- There is an important need to promote the academy as a viable part of a career path from an early point in professional development and to encourage cross-fertilisation between programs. Currently LIS programs are frequently offered by small numbers of staff in each institution - around 40 across all institutions in Australia offering entry-level courses. Encouraging closer links between LIS staff across institutions could invigorate the academy.
Research
- Research work to develop the body of LIS knowledge has been given little prominence in the past.
- LIS schools have made and are now making greater efforts to encourage and provide opportunities for research at graduate and post-graduate level.
- The broader profession has not made research a priority nor does it tend to recognise research level qualifications.
- To lay a strong foundation from which a research culture can be developed, LIS schools and practitioners need to establish mechanisms which will encourage the development of partnerships between the two to undertake research activities.
Lifelong learning
- Information professionals must be prepared to continue developing and extending their knowledge and skills in order to provide excellent information service throughout their career.
- Courses must prepare graduates to be lifelong learners. Both students and educators have responsibilities to ensure this is an outcome of professional education.
- Employers have a responsibility to ensure that staff have opportunities to continue learning throughout their career, either by providing a staff development program or by enabling staff to undertake appropriate learning activities outside the organisation.
Professional association
- The review of ALIA education statements currently underway aims to examine and position ALIA's policy on education in the context of career-long learning as set out in the ALIA Education Framework. This will then inform future developments in LIS education.
- Education for the LIS profession must involve the Association as a standards body engaging with major stakeholders such as educators and employers so that entry level courses produce graduates capable of delivering effective information service and of applying themselves to lifelong learning.
2. Comments from Ross Harvey: Education for Librarianship (including closure of University of Canberra course)
The environment
- The number of LIS schools is reducing: 12 university sites in 2004 (down from 16 in 1990) and 16 TAFE sites
- Many of the schools have small numbers of students and/or staff
- The number of educators is small (estimated 45 University and 20 TAFE) and geographically dispersed
- The aging profile of educators is of concern, especially when there are currently few opportunities to employ new staff
- Increasingly, a PhD (or significant progress towards one) is required for academic positions. The profession in Australia has not placed much value on doctorates for normal LIS employment and therefore has removed itself from the tertiary employment stakes
- There are few LIS academics at Level D (Associate Professor) and Level E (Professor) at Australia's universities
Recent activities aimed at improving communication and collaboration
- The RAIL Seminar (QUT, 20 September 2004) highlighted the development of focussed research groups, with willingness and capacity to engage more closely with practitioners. This seminar is to be repeated in 2005 (hosted by Charles Sturt University) and in 2006 as a pre-conference for the ALIA 2006 conference in Perth (hosted by Information Studies@Curtin University)
- ALIA has shown renewed interest in research through REAP and the Research Committee.
- The Isef listserv is being more regularly used by educators
- There is a new energy among library educators
Issues
- Too many schools, too few students? - both the US and Canada have a lower ratio of LIS schools to population size (e.g. 7 schools for >30 million in Canada). This observation has been made in the Australian context by many from the late 1980s on. The result is that most Australian LIS schools are not large enough to offer significant choice to students and to fully accommodate the profession's requirements
- Federal government's policies of funding of higher education will increasingly place smaller LIS schools at risk of closure - fees will increase, small programs will be considered unviable
- Retirement of aging staff will also place smaller LIS schools at risk of closure
- There is inability to cross-offer specialist subjects between LIS schools because of loss of funds when subjects are studied elsewhere. This has the effect of a lack of specialisation in the LIS schools because low enrolment subjects are not financially viable
Closure of University of Canberra course
- This will have the effect of reducing diversity in Australian LIS education
- There is reduced choice for LIS students, especially in the ACT (but it should be noted that there are a number of distance education courses available).
Professor Ross Harvey
Charles Sturt University (representing
library educators)
2 December 2004
***********************************
Agenda item 13
Introduction
CASL is the peak body representing the National, State and Territory Libraries throughout Australia. These libraries collect the documentary heritage for their state or territory, provide reference and research services, and support the provision of public library services to the people of Australia.
The 9 permanent members of CASL are the CEOs, Directors or State Librarians of these organisations. Since 2003, the National Librarian of New Zealand, Ms Penny Carnaby, has joined CASL as an Observer and from January 2005 will participate as a full Overseas Member. The current Chair of CASL is Ms Anne-Marie Schwirtlich, CEO & State Librarian at the State Library of Victoria. CASL meets three times per year and communicates regularly through the CASL Secretariat based in Melbourne.
Collaboration between member libraries is encouraged through the establishment of Working Groups to address issues and respond to opportunities. There are currently 8 Working Groups, with representation from all CASL Libraries, focusing on priorities such as public programming, reference and digital issues, stack management and performance measures.
Achievements in 2004
Highlights for CASL and its Working Groups in 2004:
- AskNow online virtual reference service - permanent service established in March 2004, following the pilot project running from August 2002 - March 2004. More than 71,000 enquiries have been answered since the service began. Development during 2004 has focused on the procurement of new software with contract negotiations nearing completion.
- Development of the Australian Library Treasures major travelling exhibition, to visit each State and Territory during 2005-2007.
- CASL submissions to:
- Senate Inquiry into the Progress and Future-Direction of Lifelong Learning;
- Adult Learning in Australia DEST Consultation;
- Review of Crown Copyright, Copyright Law Review Committee.
- CASL National Audit Report on Indigenous Library Services and Collections, March 2004; contributing to the Colloquium on Indigenous Knowledge & Libraries to be held at the State Library of NSW in December 2004; and supporting the development of a National Policy Framework for Indigenous Library Services and Collections, to be finalised in 2005.
- Ex officio appointment of the Chair of CASL to the Collections Council of Australia.
- CASL Forum on Information Access, held in October 2004 in Adelaide, to identify options for improving the infrastructure supporting the access to information. Recommendations from this Forum will be addressed in 2005.
- "Defining Stack Management" Discussion Paper and subsequent "Survey of Current Work Expectations for Stack Staff in CASL Libraries". Further work on this project will be undertaken in 2005.
- "Survey of Digital Projects in CASL Libraries", July 2004.
Priorities for 2004-2005
In addition to the CASL Key Priorities 2003-2005, CASL identified three areas of particular importance in 2004 and these are likely to be carried over into 2005. These are Advocacy, Literacy and Indigenous Library Services. The outcomes and recommendations of the CASL Forum on Information Access will also direct the priorities of CASL in 2005.
CASL aims to build more effective relationships and communication with the education sector. In particular, CASL is interested in exploring opportunities for partnerships and developing a more integrated approach across the education and library sectors to the needs of students in both formal education and life-long learning. Strategies for advancing this agenda are being considered.
Anne-Marie Schwirtlich
Chair, Council of Australian State
Libraries
www.casl.org.au
casl@slv.vic.gov.au
***********************************
Agenda Item 14
1. Major Initiatives
1.1 Scholarly Communication
CAUL members are involved in several projects funded through Backing Australia's Ability and overseen by the Australian Research Information Infrastructure Committee.
- ARROW (Australian Research Repositories Online to the World). Lead institution: Monash University. Partner institutions: University of New South Wales, Swinburne University of Technology, National Library of Australia. ARROW has selected FEDORA and VITAL to support research repository activities. NLA has developed a prototype for the ARROW resource discovery service.
- APSR (Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories). Lead institution: Australian National University. Partners: University of Sydney, University of Queensland, National Library of Australia and the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (APAC). This project aims to establish a centre of excellence for the management of scholarly assets in digital format. It has an overall focus on the critical issues of the access continuity and the sustainability of digital collections. It will build on a base of demonstrators in the repository facilities within the partner institutions. It will contribute to national strength in this area by encouraging the development of skills and expertise and providing coordination throughout the sector. It will actively provide international linkages and national services. The project has four interlinked programs:
- Australian Digital Theses Program Expansion and Redevelopment. Lead institution: University of New South Wales. Partner institutions: Curtin University of Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, University of Melbourne, University of Queensland, ProQuest. This project's major outcome will be a metadata repository having comprehensive coverage of Australian higher degree theses. It will be a 'one-stop shop' for finding information about theses in all formats. The new metadata repository will be launched in early 2005. The project will also develop best practice for retrospective conversion of theses.
Library engagement in e-science and e-research is starting to emerge as an issue for some CAUL members.
1.2 Quality
CAUL members are involved in audits conducted by the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). The quality of offshore library services has been addressed by CAUL in 2004.Systems to improve the quality, relevance and currency of CAUL statistics will be implemented in 2005.
The majority of CAUL members will conduct the Rodski survey in 2005. This survey has enabled CAUL members to address service quality issues raised by users. The survey has been used by many CAUL members for over 5 years now, providing valuable longitudinal data. Some CAUL members are trialling the LIBQUAL survey developed by the Association of Research Libraries as an alternative. A few CAUL members are undertaking both surveys.
The CAUL Statistics Focus Group has been developing new measures for electronic resources and services. CAUL has joined COUNTER, the international organization aiming to develop a standard approach to statistics relating to digital materials. CAUL has engaged CAVAL to develop a new service to enhance the collection, publication and analysis of CAUL statistics.
2. Recurrent activities
2.1 CEIRC
CEIRC has continued with its negotiations for cooperative purchasing of access to databases. Most recently funds were provided through ARIIC for the first national site licence for JSTOR. Membership of CEIRC continues to increase.
2.2 Advocacy
Members have been involved with the ALCC and ALIA in lobbying against the Intellectual Property provisions of the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. Submissions were provided to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and the Senate Select Committee on the UA-Australia Free Trade Agreement, with an appearance before the JSCOT in conjunction with ALIA. Lobbying of Attorney General's is continuing for changes to the Australian legislation which will assist libraries now that the FTA has been signed.
CAUL maintains close ties with DEST and the AVCC on issues of copyright, standards developments and innovation in scholarly communication.
2.3 Surveys
CAUL members utilize surveys for the purposes of information gathering and to inform policy development. The survey register continues to grow and is available through the CAUL webpages.
***********************************
