Making Connections (Volume 17 Issue 1, 2003)

Michele McLoughlin and Di Ballantyne

Michele McLoughlin is a Teacher Librarian & Executive Teacher for Library, IT & SOSE at Telopea Park School, Barton ACT. She is the current Treasurer of ASLA.

Di Ballantyne is a Teacher Librarian who is currently working with the High School Development Project team in the ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services. She is also the current Vice President - Operations of ASLA.

(The views expressed in articles are those of the author(s) concerned and do not necessarily represent the views of ASLA.)

As professional teacher librarians we are constantly being challenged to collaborate with our clients and others who support and provide information services with us. At the same time we are being urged to make better connections for, and between, our clients and sources of information, and between our clients and other information specialists.

Recently, because of our close proximity (i.e. we both live in Canberra), Michele and I have been asked to attend, as ASLA representatives, a number of forums that have been arranged by ALIA. While these forums targeted members of the library and information services in the broadest sense, if we were to think of school instead of government, teachers and students instead of the public, and so on we will find a lot of similarities, highlighting the fact that our colleagues in other library and information services sectors are dealing with issues very similar to those faced by teacher librarians, and so the question is .'Are we making and taking advantage of our connections?'

What follows here are some 'snatches' from the papers presented at these forums, as well as notes and reflections that we have each made while attending the forums with our fellow library and information services colleagues. These ideas are thought provoking because they are a challenge to us individually and collectively in terms of conveying information about ourselves, and our profession to others. As well, these ideas can also provide some pointers as to where we can / should make better connections, how, and with whom, we should be collaborating, how we can raise the profile of the services that we offer, and how we can improve on what we already offer to meet the needs of our communities.

At the ALIA National Policy Congress (2 November 2002) a number of papers were provided as pre-reading and on the day there were a number of discussion sessions. A series of recurring themes emerging from the forums were:

• "libraries often do not present a clear vision to those responsible for library funding; .
• libraries need to find a way to be more closely aligned with political and economic agendas;
• it is difficult for government agencies to get approval for plans which do not show tangible economic benefit;
• it is essential that the library sector present as a single voice to get funding for significant infrastructure development;
• there is value in trying to move the focus from strictly economic issues although social and cultural value is not necessarily measurable in dollar terms".

(Henderson, InCite May 2002)

The ALIA Core Values

"A thriving culture, economy and democracy requires the free flow of information and ideas" (McLean, quoting from InCite, May 2002).

Fundamental to that free flow of information and ideas are Australia's library and information services.

McLean goes on to say in his paper on professional issues that library and information services professionals therefore commit themselves to the following core values:

1. promotion of the free flow of information and ideas through open access to recorded knowledge, information and creative works.

2. connection of people and ideas

3. commitment to literacy, information literacy and learning.

4. respect for the diversity and individuality of all people.

5. preservation of the human record

6. excellence in professional service to our communities

7. partnerships to advance these values.

The challenge with the goals is their achievement. The challenge with values . is how to live up to them (Bundy in McLean 2002).

The library / teacher librarian profession has no natural monopoly on most of these core values, and so the challenge is to find ways of adding value to society /schools in terms that society /schools understand and will support in political and economic terms.

It is not just a matter of better marketing of our values and services (although this may have a place) but rather a matter of seriously engaging our communities in ways that ensure they perceive real value in what we have to offer.

In thinking about how to engage with our respective communities, it is important to distinguish between internal professional issues which need attention in building "a state of readiness", and issues which require negotiation and agreement by our users, constituencies, and by funding agencies. Such distinction is important to avoid misunderstanding of, and perhaps disappointment with, the purpose and potential outcomes of such engagement.

Most issues that will spring to mind are matters for internal debate within our profession, and will bring us to a stronger position when we engage with our communities. These include industrial issues, professional image, performance measures and so on. These are not natural points of engagement in furthering the goals and values of our profession to the wider community, although there will be times when they will require advocacy. Rather they are matters for internal consideration and resolve.

Collaboration

This is a term that is used in a range of contexts, including the sharing of ideas, professional expertise, technical knowledge and services and information resources with other teacher librarians as well as with our clients - the teachers and students in our school communities. However it should not be seen as the only solution to better information services provision.

Librarians / teacher librarians have been committed to the concept of collaboration for decades with mixed results. When their efforts to work collaboratively are met with enthusiasm from their partners, the results are significant, but occasionally the efforts to collaborate are not met with enthusiasm, and so alternative strategies or partners may be required if progress is to be made.

Rebuilding Communities

A frequent cry from a number of teachers and speakers at conferences and seminars has been the sense that there has been a loss of community in recent years. While we are using the technology to create and deliver virtual collections to virtual communities full of virtual clients, there is a strong perceived need to recognise that the physical presence of the person, and the collection, and the building are all significant factors for many of our clients and information users. It is the interpersonal skills that value add to the service delivery and which also contribute to the re-establishment of the sense of community that should exist within our schools whether they are inner metropolitan or isolated rural.

While a sense of community needs to be maintained, at a recent ALIA forum the topic of discussion asked how all Australians could have access to electronic resources. At the ALIA Forum on Purchasing Agreements (14 October 2002), Cheryl Brickall from the National Library (NL) talked about the NL's aim for every Australian to have access to electronic resources and indicated that the NL is keen to have public and state libraries on board. A consortium has been formed with the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) to work towards achieving this aim. A number of issues have to be worked through such as: cost of dealing with suppliers, products to be obtained, granting of access and licence agreements. A statement of principles guiding licence negotiations can be accessed at: www.caslconsortium.org/licenceprinciples.html

Julie Rae (Public Libraries Victoria) talked about the success of the database 'Gulliver'. Julie discussed the principles behind the establishment of an electronic resource for public libraries. Initial take-up rates have seen 43 libraries opt for 'Gulliver' and the training for access.

Dianne Costello (Council of Australian University Librarians, CAUL) spoke about the consortia for purchasing and the Council of Electronic Information Resources Committee (CERIC). She discussed two main issues; cost of the product and time spent on negotiation of licences & contracts.

Roxanne Missingham (National Library) and Steve O'Connor from Cooperative Action by Victorian Academic Libraries (CAVAL) discussed the rising costs of online resources: increasing access means increasing costs. Library budgets will need extra scrutiny. They were in agreement that the future is definitely digital, and predicted that journals online will move from 5% in 2002 to 60% in 2010.

The implications for school libraries from this forum are tremendous. Access for all to a set of databases would have far reaching consequences for teacher librarians and information literacy.

As if on cue the next ALIA workshop discussed the possibility of establishing an Interim Coalition for Information Literacy Advocacy (13 November 2002). The workshop opened acknowledging that 2003 begins the 'Decade of Literacy'.

A paper was tabled that will be of interest to all teacher librarians - Christine Bruce's Information Literacy as a catalyst for Educational change: A background paper, July 2002, White paper prepared for UNESCO, the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the National Forum on Information Literacy, for use at the Information Literacy Meeting of Experts, Prague, The Czech Republic. The paper is available at

http://www.nclis.gov/libinter/infolitconf&meet/papers/bruce-fullpaper.pdf

(Christine Susan Bruce is Associate Professor and Director of teaching and Learning, Faculty of Information Technology, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St, Brisbane, Qld 4000. email: c.bruce@qut.edu.au)

The workshop leader Prue Mercer, Chair Information Literacy Project Steering Group referred to the Feasibility study for the development of a National Coalition for Information Literacy Advocacy: Final Report compiled for Australian Library Information Association, National Library of Australia, National Office for the Information Economy by Michele Lonsdale and Marianne Fleming (ACER) and Ralph Leonard (Nereus Consulting) March 2002. Prue recommended that a national coalition for information literacy advocacy be established. The project is to be set out in three stages:

Stage 1 - completion of the feasibility study and final report [completed 2002];

Stage 2 - implementation, over a two-year period, of recommendations relating to the proposal to establish an interim body [December 2003]; and

Stage 3 - formation of the coalition at the conclusion of this two-year (Stage 2) period [December 2004].

Prue recommended that an interim body consisting of a small group of representatives from key stakeholders, who were consulted during the feasibility study, be formed with a view to implementing the recommendations of the final report. ASLA signalled its support for Stages 2 & 3.

ASLA, through its publication Learning for the Future 2^nd Edition, has already moved forward to advocate the importance of information literacy. It is reaffirming for teacher librarians to have information literacy recognised by the wider information specialist community as crucial for future learning.

"The main purpose of this study was to develop a strategic framework for a broad-based national coalition 'to promote and advance the integration of information literacy into the community, business, public library, school and tertiary education programs and to ensure an awareness of information literacy for lifelong learning' "(Final Report p.5).

The Senate Inquiry into lifelong learning found that information literacy was a key component. A definition for information literacy was discussed at the workshop. It was agreed that the definition of information literacy should move away from information technology skills towards an understanding of critical information literacy skills. ALIA will discuss this concept with the Federal Government. The Inquiry also found that libraries could build partnerships with their communities and be flexible learning centres.

It is an exciting time to be a teacher librarian. Teacher librarians are strong advocates for the promotion of information literacy skills. It is morale boosting to find that so many other institutions are also advocating the importance of information literacy. We are part of a whole that is moving towards a goal of critical information literacy for all Australians.

Engaging Partners

If we are to engage with our various user communities on their terms then the following could be ways of achieving that engagement:

1. create a new and powerful vision of how a mixture of electronic access and physical provision can enrich a wide range of communities, providing support and leverage through common goals such as technical infrastructure, shared information provision and shared access to information expertise.

2. identify key issues that are relevant to others and use that as the catalyst for the development of joint strategies and action plans.

3. prepare a series of so-called value provisions that would highlight the opportunities for partnership and so provide an opportunity for discussion with those who might be considered both natural and unnatural partners.

Garry Hartzell in his book Building influence for the School Librarian (p5) readers are asked to identify people and groups upon whom we are somehow dependent for our success, and then identify the intensity of that dependency. Completing such an activity is very useful when considering who our partners are - who are the stakeholders and who are the drivers, who are we dependent upon, and who is dependent upon us.

So .

Are we the leaders? Maybe not, BUT maybe we should and can be influencing those in positions of leadership.

If this is true then .

Let's do what our profession demands and let's do it well:

• facilitate information management
• promote information literacy
• provide quality services to the educational community
• contribute to the improved learning outcomes of our students
• collaborate and make connections

And we will do this by .

• including these aspects in our core values and vision statements.
• identifying and building connections with our natural partners, and
• identifying and building connections with our unnatural partners including the technical people who provide the IT servers/ services and the decision makers re funding, training, research.

References:

Hartzell, Gary (1994). Building influence for the school librarian. Linworth Pub Inc, Ohio.

Henderson, Sandra (2002). Forum discusses national action plan ALIA National Congress papers November 2002, (InCite, May 2002).

McLean, Neil (2002). Information futures - professional issues, ALIA National Congress papers, November 2002.