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The ALIA Handbook
The Handbook will be available for distribution before the end of July. At the request of General Council, no significant changes have been made to the format or production. As mentioned elsewhere in these papers, the ALIA Publishing Policy Commitee has discussed alternative means for the production of the handbook.
inCite
As anticipated in the previous General Council meeting, a review of the production processes for inCite was conducted in February. In summary, it was felt that there was little that could be improved upon in the immediate future, although there was scope for improvements in the longer term. Deadlines have been published which prevent any significant alteration to what is already a highly-tuned workflow. Any proposal to alter the production schedule of inCite would greatly depend upon the overall publishing schedule and content of the magazine, and the relationship between the publishing schedule of inCite and other ALIA publications. It was also decided that a greater level of delegation of responsibilities for copy and other material would allow the production team to produce the magazine in a more efficient and timely manner. A number of proposals were discussed to encourage greater participation of members and ALIA National Office staff, to not only round out the stories that are currently published, but to also develop further the 'themes' that have already been documented. This approach has been successful, in that we now have a surplus amount of copy and other material to work with for each issue.
Australian Library Journal
Following on from the success of the first issue of ALJ for 1997, the second issue was completed in late May. Reader response to the new design was most enthusiastic, and many suggestions for further improvement were implemented in the second issue, without detracting from the 'fresh' look of the first. The editor, John Levett, is experiencing a consistent and high-quality supply of manuscripts for future issues, and is currently in the process of putting together the September issue. John Levett indicates that an ALJ reviews editor will also be appointed soon.
Australian Academic and Research Libraries
Preliminary discussions have taken place between the new editor of AARL, Dr Peter Clayton, to produce AARL through ALIA National Office (printing and distribution). A major redesign is also likely to take place in the coming months, following consultation between Dr Peter Clayton and ALIA National Office. The AARL web pages on ALIAnet have been revamped recently to offer readers a more logical and streamlined flow of information. this has been well-received by the editor and readers alike.
International Network of Public Libraries' papers
Successful preliminary negotiations have taken place between the Association and the Bertelsmann Foundation of Germany to publish the International Network of Public Libraries' papers, proceedings from a recent world conference, hopefully in time for the ALIA Public Libraries conference in Brisbane. At the time of writing, the Bertelsmann Foundation and ALIA are negotiating a contract for the publication and distribution of these papers.
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