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This section of the report outlines the existing organisational structures of ACLIS, ALIA and other sectoral organisations, and it also examines the level of coordination that exists between these bodies.

3.1 ACLIS

ACLIS is an unincorporated association of libraries, information services and related organisations and institutions. Individuals are not able to be members of ACLIS.

The objects of ACLIS as set out in its constitution are:

  • To foster the development and effective utilisation of Australian libraries, information resources and services.
  • To promote and encourage co-operation among Australian libraries, information resources and services, including the adoption of national and international standards and practices where appropriate.
  • To provide policy advice to governments and public authorities concerning the development, improvement and co-ordination of Australian libraries, information resources and services.
  • To promote the adoption of effective information policies and plans by Commonwealth, State and Territory governments.
  • To provide effective public advocacy relating to matters of common concern to members of ACLIS.
  • To encourage research and development relating to Australian libraries, information resources and services.
  • To maintain effective liaison with other organisations concerned with the objectives of ACLIS.

Finances and Secretariat

ACLIS is funded through membership subscriptions and by the National Library of Australia providing three of its staff to work full-time for ACLIS. For the 1996/97 financial year, membership income for ACLIS is estimated at approximately $218,000 and the cost of the staff provided by the NLA is estimated at $146,000 plus on-costs. A significant new cost to ACLIS in the current financial year is the decision by the NLA to request a one-off payment from ACLIS of $50,000 to offset some of the staff costs. This payment by ACLIS to the NLA will reduce the level of ACLIS reserve funds. The ACLIS Secretariat comprising four full-time staff is located in the National Library of Australia, the Executive Officer of ACLIS, Gordon Bower, and the three other positions are an Administrative Officer, Librarian, and a Copyright Officer.

Governance

ACLIS is governed by a National Council of thirteen members which consists of eight elected representatives from within the membership of each State and Territory ACLIS Committee; four members elected from the whole of the ACLIS membership; and the Director-General of the NLA as an ex officio member. The National Council elects its president and deputy president from its own members for a period of one year.

Activities of ACLIS

ACLIS has provided the review with the following list of its major activities:

  1. Interlending and Document Supply Issues

    ACLIS is responsible for a wide range of activities which underpin the Australian interlending system. These include the setting of the recommended scale of charges, the Australian Interlending Code, the Australian Guide to Interlending and Document Delivery and the ACLIS standard request form.

  2. Copyright

    ACLIS is the acknowledged leader in the copyright and libraries debate in Australia and is also internationally recognised as such. ACLIS employs from its own funds a full time Copyright Research Officer and manages a cross-sectoral Libraries Copyright Committee.

  3. Standards

    ACLIS is involved in supporting the development of standards, both Australian and international, for a wide range of areas affecting libraries, but in particular standards relating to interoperability of systems.

  4. The Distributed National Collection

    The concept of the Distributed National Collection (DNC), endorsed through the Australian Libraries Summit, was a centre of much attention by ACLIS in its early days, in particular through development in Australia of the Conspectus collection assessment material. This work was, by deliberate decision of the Council, passed to the DNC Office in the NLA when that office was established.

  5. Preservation

    ACLIS has had a strong interest in preservation from its inception - both in areas of traditional preservation issues and in the issues involved in the preservation of electronic information. Much of this agenda was ceded, again by deliberate decision, to the National Preservation Office in the NLA when it was established. ACLIS still maintains a commitment in this area through its involvement in and support for the preservation of Australian Digital Information (PADI) Working Party.

  6. Lobbying and Advocacy

    As well as publishing two editions of a lobbying brochure, ACLIS has pursued a series of visits to (principally) Federal politicians of all political persuasions. In addition, ACLIS makes submissions to all relevant government inquiries.

  7. Quality and Best Practice

    ACLIS has made investments in a variety of best practice/quality management issues. This includes a range of publications and workshop activities.

ACLIS is also a member of the following:

  • ACLIS-AGPS Liaison Committee (AALC)
  • Australian Committee on Cataloguing (ACOC)
  • Australian Quality Council (AQC)
  • Electronic Libraries Forum (ELF)
  • Friends of Libraries Australia (FOLA)
  • Libraries Copyright Committee (LCC)
  • National Campaign for the Arts Australia (NCAA)
  • National Scholarly Communications Forum (NSCF)
  • Standards Australia Committee IT/19

Relationship with the NLA

When ACLIS was established in 1988 the NLA provided financial support in the form of funding of four (subsequently three) staff positions. In addition, the NLA initially provided accommodation and services and some travel expenses for the National Council of ACLIS. Since 1988 the financial relationship between ACLIS and the NLA, has changed to the extent where ACLIS, while still receiving financial support in the form of three full-time staffing positions, now pays the NLA an annual amount of approximately $33,000 for accommodation and services.

There is no formal written agreement between ACLIS and the NLA relating to the NLA's financial support for ACLIS and it would appear that this support can be withdrawn at any time. The ACLIS constitution merely states:

"As long as the secretariat remains in the National Library there shall be a secretariat for ACLIS which, subject to the concurrence of the Director-General, shall be provided by the National Library of Australia."

An ACLIS briefing paper to the strategic review stated:

"In November 1996, the Library advised ACLIS that, whatever the outcome of the strategic review process, the Library would not be providing any support to ACLIS after an appropriate phasing out period of approximately eighteen months."

The review was advised by the Director-General of the National Library that the Library was withdrawing its financial support for ACLIS over a period of time.

Mission Statement and Goals

ACLIS' mission statement proclaims:

"ACLIS is the national organisation working to achieve effective access to information for all Australians through cooperative action among libraries and information services in all sectors.

The three goals of ACLIS are:

  • excellence in management and service delivery in Australia's libraries and information services;
  • cooperation within and between all sectors of Australia's libraries and information services;
  • the best legal and regulatory environment for Australia's libraries and information services."

Membership

ACLIS at the date of the review had approximately 610 institutional members. ACLIS represents all the nine national state and territory libraries and 84 per cent of university libraries. In this latter respect, it should be noted that no university library in Western Australia is a member of ACLIS. ACLIS represents 18 per cent of public libraries and approximately 28 per cent of special libraries in Australia.

3.2 ALIA

ALIA is an association established by Royal Charter. The objects of ALIA are to:

  • promote and improve the services of libraries and other information agencies;
  • improve the standard of library and information personnel and foster their professional interests and aspirations;
  • represent the interests of members to governments, other organisations and the community;
  • encourage people to contribute to the improvement of library and information services by supporting the association.

Membership

ALIA has both individuals and institutions as members. As at 30 November 1996, there were some 6,458 personal members in the categories member, associate (professional) member, and library technician member. In the five-year period between 1991 and 1996, personal membership increased by approximately 6.5 per cent.

As at 30 November 1996, ALIA had 971 institutional (excluding voucher) members and 1,641 institutional (including voucher only) members. Full institutional membership entitlements include a subscription to the Australian Library Journal and inCite, a copy of the ALIA handbook, and a copy of the Biennial Conference proceedings, as well as reduced rates for other publications and services. Voucher only institutional membership is available to institutions wishing to purchase and/or redeem inter-library loan vouchers only. It should be noted, however, that neither class of institutional membership carries with it any voting rights in relation to the organisation.

Governance

ALIA is governed by an elected General Council which is the policy making body of the association. Since 1988 the General Council has consisted of the officers, President, Vice-President, Immediate Past-President, a representative of each State and Territory Branch and the Chairperson of the Board of Education. The Executive Director of ALIA, Virginia Walsh, is the association's Chief Executive Officer

Like ACLIS, ALIA has a branch of the association in each state and territory and, in addition, regional groups have been established within each state and territory.

ALIA has also established 117 divisions representing professional, sectoral and special interest groups dealing with a diverse range of issues (Attachment A).

ALIA has also established the following committees and task forces to deal with issues of concern to the library sector:

  • information technology and telecommunications;
  • copyright;
  • information literacy;
  • literacy, and
  • international relations.

ALIA also provides representatives on the following external bodies:

  • National Book Council;
  • Australian Committee on Cataloguing;
  • Australian Library and Information International Services Advisory Council;
  • Cultural Ministers' Council, Libraries Working Group;
  • National Scholarly Communications Forum;
  • CREATE Australia (Industry Training Board).

Finances and Secretariat

ALIA owns a modern office building in Deakin, close to Parliament House. ALIA has total net assets of approximately $3 million as at 31 December 1995. ALIA receives income of approximately $3 million per annum of which $1 million is by way of membership subscriptions. In 1995 ALIA had an operating surplus of $418,276.00.

ALIA has a national secretariat staff of 21 full-time positions divided into:

  • continuing professional development;
  • promotions, dealing with Australian Library Week, conferences and media awareness;
  • publishing, responsible for inCite, Australian Library Journal, advertising, promotions and ALIA net;
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander recruitment and career development strategy for the library and information sector;
  • industrial services, including analyses and advice in relation to awards, industrial relations reforms, and systems;
  • finance, including budgets and monthly reporting;
  • membership, including records processing, database, division support, and recruitment and retention.

ALIA Board of Education

The Board of Education is a subcommittee of ALIA'S General Council. The Chair of the Board is a member of General Council and a non-voting member of the Executive Committee. The General Council of ALIA elects one of its members annually to the Board to ensure effective two-way communication. In its submission, the Board of Education states that it supports ALIA's general objectives by:

  1. "ensuring members have equitable access to continuing professional development so that high standards of professional practice are maintained and further enhanced."


    The Board played a major role in publishing The Framework for Continuing Professional Development (1995), and has developed and conducted workshops on the Library Industry Competency Standards (1996);

  2. "guaranteeing high standards of professional practice for entry to the profession and fostering the maintenance of those standards."


    The Board recognises courses which provide entry to the library and information profession. For example, the Board refers to planning for a forum which will undertake a strategic review of library and information services education leading the profession into the 21st century;

  3. "monitoring of and involvement in outside issues within the terms of reference of the Board in order to represent the interests of members to governments and other organisations."


    Participation in the DEETYA funded ALIA project on the development of an RPL Strategy for the Library Industry (ASF2 - 5 LEVELS) is quoted as an example.

It appears that the Board of Education is highly regarded and its work in professional development remains a highly desired role according to members of the profession.

3.3 ACLIS and ALIA

From the examination of the organisational structures of ACLIS and ALIA, it emerges that there is a strong similarity between the aims and objectives of the two bodies.

At present the distinction between individual and institutional interests is somewhat difficult to sustain as detailed later in this report, and against a background where ALIA has a substantial number of institutional members. While ALIA has grown and evolved over time into an independent organisation with substantial resources derived from individuals and institutions, the same cannot be said for ACLIS.

ACLIS originated out of a government sponsored review of ALIC and AACOBS and with initial financial support provided by the NLA. ACLIS continues in its present form as a result of continued financial support from the NLA. During the review there has been no indication that institutions are prepared to make up any financial shortfall as the NLA progressively withdraws its funding of ACLIS. Alternatively, ACLIS has not advised the review how it can continue to operate, or on what basis, in the absence of NLA funding.

Despite this it needs to be acknowledged that ACLIS has carried out important work for the library and information sector in policy development including standard setting and copyright. In fact, ACLIS has recently increased slightly its membership as a result of its work in copyright.

3.4 Other Library Organisations

The terms of reference for the strategic review include an examination of the roles of other representative bodies in the library and information sector. The roles of these bodies is described below.

Australian School Library Association (ASLA)

The Australian School Library Association (ASLA) is an association representing interests in the field of teacher-librarianship and school library resource and information services. ASLA was established in the 1970s and has approximately 3,000 school librarians as members. The individual school librarian is a member of ASLA rather than the individual school libraries.

ASLA has a small budget of $90,000 and it employs an Executive Officer who works on a part-time basis. ASLA is a federation and its state resources are significantly greater than at the federal level. At state level, ASLA's main role is to lobby state education departments for funding to school libraries. The emphasis by ASLA on state activities is reflected by the Victorian office having some two to three full-time positions compared to only a single part-time executive position at the national level.

ASLA works with ALIA in relation to school library standards. ASLA also has a relationship with ACLIS which involves the exchange of publications and discussions between the two bodies on policy issues.

ASLA has had a joint venture with ALIA in relation to the publication of, "Learning for the Future: Developing Information Services in Australian Schools." ASLA has also been involved with ACLIS in endorsing a statement of purpose entitled, "School Libraries in the Electronic Age."

In its submission to the review ASLA states that it

".......... wishes to remain as a separate body addressing the library and information sector of teacher-librarians in their education settings." In so doing, ASLA is not averse (sic) to the development of joint ventures that would continue to provide leadership for the industry in the future."

Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL)

The Council of Australian State Librarians (CASL) is made up of the state librarians of each of the public libraries in each state and territory in Australia. The main role of CASL is to coordinate the state libraries' agenda. At present CASL is serviced by the library of the current chair but it does not have any secretariat staff.

Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL)

The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) facilitates cooperative endeavours by Australian university libraries. The members of CAUL are the heads of each of the university libraries across Australia. CAUL has some 38 members and membership fees are set at $4,000 per year.

In May 1995, CAUL appointed its first full-time Executive Officer who is based in Canberra and who operates out of separate offices within the Australian National University. According to CAUL the main reason for locating in Canberra was to be in close proximity to the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee based in the Canberra suburb of Deakin. CAUL works at a number of levels providing mutual support and advice for the university librarians, promoting and facilitating collaborate ventures among university libraries, and advocating the interests of university libraries and their clients both within and outside the higher education sector.

Federal Libraries Information Network (FLIN)

The Federal Libraries Information Network (FLIN) is a body which works to represent Commonwealth Government libraries most of which have three or fewer staff. FLIN is affiliated with ACLIS and ACLIS provides a small amount of money to FLIN each year for secretarial services. FLIN has a contact point of approximately 320 government agencies, not all of which are libraries. According to FLIN it concentrates on policies and issues which affect its government library members but which are not of great interest to ACLIS and ALIA. For example, section 183 of the Copyright Act 1968 only applies to copying of documents by Commonwealth officers.

3.5 Coordination

The aims and activities of ALIA and ACLIS have sometimes been distinguished on the basis that ALIA represents professional interests and ACLIS represents institutional interests. Such a distinction fails to recognise that ALIA has institutional members as well as individuals. At a functional level there is some duplication and overlap between the two bodies. It is important to note that the governing bodies of ACLIS and ALIA respectively agreed in 1992 to the following joint statement:

"That this joint meeting of ALIA and ACLIS notes that the Strategic Plans of each differentiate the organisations respectively as a 'professional association' dealing with a full range of library and information service issues in the case of ALIA, and 'the national organisation' (of libraries and information services) dealing with access to information for all Australians in the case of ACLIS. It notes that the distinction in the respective statements of purpose lies in the concept of a 'professional association' on the one hand, and an 'industry association' on the other.
The meeting recognises that a crucial element in the success of each is to be clear to our members about the implications of this distinction, whilst acknowledging that the actual plans of action of each organisation will often converge on the same issue. It suggests that the implications of this distinction should be the basis for further debate and discussions about appropriate areas of focus activity for each, including acknowledged areas of joint or similar action. Further, that in order to maximise impact and the effective use of resources overall in the achievement of agreed and common objectives, this meeting commends to the Councils of each body the desirability of formal and regular meetings to identify individual and jointly agreed priorities, and to identify those issues on which the two bodies might agree to differ."
[Source: ACLIS News, December 1992]

Following the joint statement of ACLIS and ALIA some initiatives have been put in place to ensure improved coordination between the bodies. For example, there is frequent liaison between the respective executive officers of the two bodies, and the Executive Committees of each body have jointly met from time to time. While there is some duplication of effort at the national level, the problem seems to be greater at state level where a small group of unpaid officers is often required to prepare submissions and make representations in relation to the same issues.

It needs to be acknowledged that coordination itself consumes scarce resources that would otherwise be directed towards substantive issues of relevance to the members of the industry and profession. In this sense, coordination is a necessary but costly activity for members where several representative bodies exist.

It was also recognised during the review that even if there was a lessening of the number of library bodies, there would still be a major need for coordination given the continuing role of sectoral bodies.


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