CAUL as an agent for change

Alex Byrne

From its earliest beginnings, CAUL has been a vehicle for mutual support and collaboration between university libraries. The record of the earliet meeting indicates a concern with major issues, some of which concern us to this day, albeit in changed form. But in the last decade, CAUL has emerged as a much stronger vehicle for university libraries to deal collaboratively with the sea changes in higher education and in the delivery of the information resources on which teaching, learning and research depend.

CAUL has emerged as an effective voice for university libraries aross Australia. It represents shared interests and is most effective when those commonalties can be identified. In some areas common action has not been possible because of the diverse requirements of universities and their libraries...

...Over its seventy years since 1928, CAUL has evolved into a significant agent for change in Australian university libraries. Its concerns have been those of its members, the nation's university libraries, and have reflected the concerns and issue facing universities. From mutal support and limited co-operation, CAUL has moved to supporting specific programs in which collaborative activity is most appropriate. It has assisted university libraries to respond to budgetary stringency and to embrace quality. It has provided a vehicle for collaborative purchasing and to tackle the challenges of changing information technologies. And, of course, CAUL represents the interest and concerns of Australia's university libraries.