If you want to join in, let @flexnib know so she can add you to the list.

If you want to follow along then you can add everyone on the afore-mentioned list into your favourite RSS feed reader or follow her Twitter list – as participants will probably tweet when they have posted.

Or take a look at the #blogjune tag board which captures tweets, instagrams, facebook updates, and more with the hashtag #blogjune.

Or, I’ve subscribed to all the participant blogs and shared the feeds on this my Netvibes page.

Queensland, Australia: City Looks to Commercialise #Libraries ow.ly/kt34S via @infodocket Tip: @mattrweaver

— Library Journal (@LibraryJournal) April 26, 2013

A short time later I found the article on our local newspaper website – The Gold Coast Bulletin.

City looks to commercialise libraries (April 27, 2013) by Stephanie Bedo.

ABC Gold Coast (on Facebook) is asking what locals think about having to pay to check out books, and if collection development preferred e-books over print resources. Check out their responses.

Letters to the Editor

LIBRARY

The Gold Coast Bulletin
Apr 29 2013

I FIND it amazing we can’t afford library services but can afford the exorbitant wages of councillors and CEOs like Dale Dickson. – Grasshopper AS much as libraries are nice relaxing places and a good place to store records on paper, Colette McCool’s…read more…

Facts & Figures about Gold Coast Library Services – one of the busiest public libraries in Australia.

Public Libraries advocacy resources from ALIA

Howard, Jennifer; For Libraries, MOOCs Bring Uncertainty and Opportunity, The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education (March 25, 2013). Here’s a quote….

“Ms. O’Brien had one piece of basic advice for librarians wondering what to make of MOOC mania: Take a MOOC or two to see what they’re really like. “You can’t be a valued adviser if you don’t understand what it takes to do one of these courses,” she told the audience.”

Image by BrianCSmith CC Some rights reserved

Some that might be of particular interest to librarians…

• Metadata: organizing and discovering information – starts September 2013 (8 weeks)
• Hyperlinked Library MOOC – starts September 2013
• Surviving disruptive technologies – started 3 days ago, but looks like you an still sign up. 2-4 hours per week for 7 weeks
• Introduction to data science – May 2013 (8 weeks)
• Globalizing Higher Education and Research for the ‘Knowledge Economy” – Jan 2014 (8 weeks)
• Apps for Librarians & Educators ($125)
• Accessibility features of iOS for the iPad and iPhone
• How to write a thesis ($12)
• Responsible Computing – sounds interesting to see how they ‘develop foundational computing and information literacy’ for college freshmen
• The Economics of Information: Strategy, Structure and Pricing
• Digital Learning Transition

But you could choose one on any topic you like:

• How to listen to orchestras
• Introduction to guitar
• Message of the image
• Polite Puppy Dog Training Classes

Have you enrolled in a MOOC? What was it like? Have you asked your employer to fund a MOOC for professional development? How did that go?

Read Jan Holmquist’s article at Tame the Web to learn more about Unglue It.

“when it comes to encouraging people to embrace the written word, e-readers trump their physical counterparts.” – Are Books Doomed? The Rise of E-Reading [INFOGRAPHIC]

But from Dan Turner at UX Magazine…

“Reading on an iPad, or a tablet, just isn’t the same as reading a book. And for me, it’s not better. Even though I was, of course, excited about the prospect of an infinitely accessible library in a carry-on form, the fact is that when I try to read on the iPad, I’m doing so reluctantly, and I get through far fewer pages in a sitting than I’m used to.” – A Tablet Still is Not a Book … Not Yet.

And on Gruen Planet – The Pitch segment features ads promoting paper books.

What’s your take? I’m really only reading ebooks at present. It’s the size factor for me. A book is just too big to be bothered carrying around, especially when I’m carrying an ipad anywhere (for it’s other features). And my kobo vox is working out well for reading in bed as I don’t have to turn on the light to read it, it’s smaller than many hardbacks or longer paperbacks, and the night-time reading option means that it’s not generating much light to bother my partner.

Follow the hashtag #LIANZA2012, or for those without a twitter account you can follow the Coveritlive session set up by Hana Whaanga.

“Ipukarea – Celebrate, Sustain, Transform is the theme of the 2012 LIANZA conference. Ipukarea refers to the ancestral homeland, a significant land or water feature which relates to identity and source of livelihood. It is a place that represents our history, a place to which we have an emotional attachment, and a place where we go to be rejuvenated.” – Welcome, Linda Palmer, Convenor

It looks like the target of 600 signatures is going to be surpassed.

Image by League of Women Voters of California  used under a Creative Commons Licence.

Follow #learn12 on Twitter, or follow tweets below

Program

From today’s (11 September 2012) p. 5 Courier Mail. Black day for coal jobs: positions slashed as industry reels from price falls and slowing China. This article is accompanied by a table outlining what is so far known about the Queensland 2012 budget. In the table listed under Savings: “State government departmental libraries”

So far I have not found any other news articles on the government library cuts. I look forward to more detail being generally available.

One document I plan to take a closer look at is the Queensland Government Agency Libraries Review. This is a MS Word document that does not appear to have a date within it!! But on the website (Department of the Premier and Cabinet) where I accessed it, it says Last updated 23 April 2012 and Last reviewed: 27 October 2011.  Based on content it appears that this review was undertaken in 2010. On the website it states…

“The review identified potential options for future service delivery. The key projects to be implemented include the development of a single library and research portal for all government officers; increasing the visibility and accessibility of information and knowledge resources to those officers regardless of their agency affiliation and introducing more cost effective purchasing and licensing arrangements.”

So clearly some actions towards cost saving and efficiencies were already in the pipeline.

ALIA has launched a campaign called Dumb Idea. The key message of this campaign against the library cuts is,

“Cutting expenditure on government libraries is a dumb idea. We hope the Queensland government will see sense, call a halt to the cuts and renew its investment in these essential library and information services.”…

based on these two main reasons:”

1. We do not want government policy based on Google, Twitter and Wikipedia.
2. It will not save money in the long run. “

A press release is also on the ALIA website. (10 September 2012)

ALIA’s open letter to the Queensland Premier, Campbell Newman. (4th September)

“If you believe in giving government scientists, researchers, politicians and bureaucrats access to vital information that enables them to do their jobs well; if you want them to make informed, well-balanced decisions; if, ultimately, you want Queensland to be well governed, we urge you to retain well-resourced government libraries run by qualified professionals.”

On LinkedIn there is a conversation to generate ideas to educate the Queensland government and the public on why special/government libraries exist and why closing them is a bad idea. If any government department librarians would like to write a post that explains why, we can host it here on Libraries Interact – Let us know. A missal from the trenches or a day-in-the-life post would be good.

Australian Library and Information Association: Official This is a private group so you will have to join to participate in the discussion.

And, on a tangent…..

The radio interview title is not directly about government departmental libraries, the connection between ‘dumbing down’ and poor library funding strikes a chord though.

Library funding cuts and poor Qld literacy figures from Mornings with Steve Austin, an interview with Sue McKerracher, the Executive Director of the Australian Library and Information Association. 07 September 2012.

If you find other news articles or related resources please add a comment with links/details.

PS – for those interested, that newspaper page is embedded using PressDisplay’s feature to blog this page.