It is proposed that special interest groups representing arts
libraries, archives and museums merge and/or develop new structures and/or
create collaborative programs and projects to deliver quality services in the
future.
OPTIONS
- Option 1. Merger.
Merger of organisations at a national and state level.
- Option 3. Collaborations.
No merger, but development of structures such as joint committees and
combined conferences, publications, listservs and projects.
BACKGROUND
At
the Seminar of Arts Information in Australia organised by the Museums, Arts
and Humanities Group (MAHG) at Hobart in 1975, the question of an integrated
professional arts information association was raised.
The consensus, strongly influenced by Thor Wood (New York Public
Library for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center), was no - the visual arts,
theatre, music and film/radio/television are different disciplines with
different histories and practices requiring different approaches.
After
the conference, MAHG was disbanded in favour of the establishment of a local
branch of the Art Libraries Society (ARLIS).
The scope of the local version, the Arts Libraries Society/Australia
and New Zealand (ARLIS/ANZ), was tweaked to embrace all the arts, although its
focus continues to be on the visual arts. Music library interests continued to
be represented by the local branch of the International Association of Music
Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML), which had been formed in
1971. The performing arts in general and theatre in particular were never
forcefully represented until the formation of the Performing Arts Special
Interest Group (PASIG) of Museums Australia in 1992. Another group, the
Australian Branch of the International Association of Sound Archives,
transformed itself into the Australian Sound Recording Association in the
1980s.
Information
management has become more complex. The sources of information and the means
of delivering information have become more diverse. Paradoxically, diversity
is also producing converging relationships and practices – between
information suppliers, handlers and users, between librarians, archivists,
museum curators and information technology practitioners, and between subject
disciplines.
These
trends have implications for organisations representing information
professionals and their institutions.
Professional
library and information groups operate with varying degrees of effectiveness
in Australia. Group interests, understandably, play second fiddle to the
demands of individual institutions. Business or strategic plans are of
variable quality. Financial possibilities are not fully explored. Projects
often involve noble unpaid efforts by individual members and are sometimes
completed at a snail’s pace. The members of one group are sometimes unaware
of the existence and activities of another group. The potential for
dovetailing professional thinking and expertise with related groups is not
fully realised. A wider membership is not fully exploited.
Has
the wheel turned 180 degrees? Do the circumstances of the 1990s propel us
towards some kind of merger? These
questions in my mind turned to an affirmative response in the last month while
I was preparing a paper called Virtually
Yours for the 1998 IAML conference and Acting
on a New Stage, a report for the Wolanski Foundation.
ARLISANZ,
PASIG and IAML have expressed interest in exploring the pros and cons of a
merger. When PASIG considered peak body affiliations in 1996, the link with
Museums Australia was regarded as a marriage of convenience, an affiliation
that would be reviewed at an appropriate time. Structures are less important
than the imagination, energy and perseverance of people working in
organisations, but clear organisational structures and structured networks can
help people maximise the impact of their efforts.
ISSUES
1
Representation
Situation
The
arts information and curatorial community is represented by several
uncoordinated special interest groups. Group enthusiasm, energy and
effectiveness fluctuate in response to a range of factors.
ARLIS/ANZ,
IAML and PASIG comprise institutional and individual members from national,
state and local government collecting institutions, from single discipline and
multi-discipline tertiary institutions, special collecting institutions and
other organisations. Each group has individual members who are not affiliated
with an institution.
ARLIS/ANZ
is Australasian. IAML, which began as an Australasian body, has separate
Australian and New Zealand branches. PASIG is an Australian body.
Opportunities/benefits
2
Governance and decision making
Situation
Each
group is served by strategic plans and operational frameworks of variable
quality. ARLIS/ANZ’s has a good draft Strategic Plan 1998-2000. PASIG’s
strategic direction was articulated at a workshop hosted by the National
Library in 1996, but requires further iterations to capture missing issues.
IAML relies on an outdated statement of purpose composed in the 1970s.
Each
group has a national executive that is rotated every few years, state by
state. Some groups have official state representatives or state committees and
individuals or working groups dealing with particular issues or projects.
Group decisions are often dependent on the frequency of general meetings:
PASIG holds national meetings every 6 months; ARLIS/ANZ every year; and IAML
every two years.
Opportunities/benefits
-
An
integrated business plan – or several dovetailed business plans –
dealing with environmental, financial, stakeholder and marketing issues
will provide a clearer framework for the development of strategic plans
relevant to arts information and curatorial institutions and their users.
3 Liaison and lobbying
Situation
There
are few formal strategic links with peak industry organisations like ALIA and
CAUL and with coordinating institutions like the National Library of
Australia. PASIG is a special interest group of Museums Australia. IAML is
represented on the Music Council of Australia.
The
Music Library Association in the United States, among other associations,
offers an excellent model for representing group interests via formal links
with peak body associations, specialised committees, joint committees and
other forums.
Opportunities/benefits
Stronger
links with peak body organisations, cross-sectoral forums, special committees
and national institutions will strengthen the groups’ influence and
effectiveness in dealing with a range of issues.
4
Financial management
Situation
ARLIS/ANZ
is the only group with a written financial plan.
IAML
Australia is linked to an international parent body and sends 80% of its
Australian membership fees to the parent body. PASIG is a special interest
group of Museums Australia (financial arrangement to be clarified). ARLISANZ
is affiliated with the Art Libraries Society in the USA and of ARLIS UK, but
retains all its membership fees in Australia.
Models
for imaginative financial management can be found in organisations like the
Cardiff Arts Marketing Consortia, ARLIS/ANZ, Australian Sound Recording
Association, Music Library Association, capital budgets in most companies and
in body corporate sinking funds.
Opportunities/benefits
More imaginative financial management strategies involving
pooled finances, retention of membership fees in Australia, new institutional
membership fee structures and sponsor supplementation will improve capacity to
achieve group objectives.
5 Conferences
Situation
Limited
funds for conferences, travel and accommodation within institutions and
limited time make it difficult for multi-discipline members to participate in
the activities all groups
ARLIS/ANZ
holds a national conference each year, sometimes linked to the biennial ALIA
conference. PASIG holds meetings every 6 months including one annual meeting
held in conjunction with the Museums Australia Conference. IAML holds biennial
conferences that usually do not coincide with the conference of a peak body.
There
are numerous peak body and specialised conferences which offer relevant
contextual information to arts information professionals – eg ALIA, Museums
Australia, Australian Society of Archivists, Records Management of Australia,
Theatre History Conference, AusWeb, and Information Online and On Disc.
Opportunities/benefits
Annual
arts information conferences linked to contextual conferences on a rotating
basis will provide opportunities for more effective use of conference and
travel budgets by individual members, better exposure to relevant contextual
information and increased networking opportunities.
6 Publications
Situation
Intellectual
output in the form of publications varies in quality and quantity. All groups
struggle to locate articles and news for their journals and newsletters. IAML
produces the annual journal Continuo
and a newsletter Intermezzo (3 times
a year). ARLIS/ANZ publishes ARLISANZ News twice yearly. PASIG
does not produce a journal or newsletter, but recently contributed to a
special issue on the performing arts in Museum National.
There
is a high level of common interest in management and technical issues. The
distillation of generic information management trends and issues is relevant
to all. The way an art library handles a problem can often be relevant to the
way a music library handles a problem.
Opportunities/benefits
A combined journal and/or newsletter would more effectively
harness limited capability, provide a larger source of potential articles and
reduce production costs. In considering this issue, the distinction between
news and scholarly articles and the potential use of the internet for
distributing one or both types of information should be taken into account.
7
Websites and listservs
Situation
All
groups have web sites or are about to launch them. The ARLIS/ANZ site is the
most advanced. IAML and PASIG presented prototypes to members in October 1998
and will launch their sites very soon. ARLIS/ANZ
is the only organisation with an Australian listserv which is used for
information distribution and group thinking, although other groups use e-mail.
Opportunities/benefits
A
combined site and listserv would be more efficient and effective use of
limited funds and energies and improve exposure to contextual and
multi-discipline issues.
8
Projects
Situation
Special
interest groups and affiliated institutions or associations have initiated
notable projects in the past, usually in conjunction with supplementary
funding by bodies like the Australia Council and the Department of
Communications and the Arts. Examples include IAML’s Union Catalogue of
Orchestral Performance Material and the Keep Dancing Project, a collaboration
of the National Library of Australia, the National Film and Sound Archive and
Ausdance.
The
digital age is increasing the opportunities for collaboration – not only
between groups, libraries and museums but also with information suppliers and
users. Projects associated with
the Arts and Humanities Data Service and the Library and Information
Technology Centre in the UK are among many examples of new dynamism in an old
game.
Opportunities/benefits
The prospects for collaborative projects will be strengthened
by more streamlined management of arts information and curatorial interests.
