There was a
great vibe at the inaugural WA Leadership and Innovation Forum with a record 75
in attendance! Ghylene Palmer, WA ALIA Director, introduced the event with pins
awarded to new WA members of the ALIA 25 year Club.
The theme of
the Forum was ‘Finding the innovation Sweet Spot’ with the discussion hosted by
Tricia Genat, ALIA Vice-President. On the panel were: James Dexter, Director
Creative and Regional Development, WA Museum; Alison Sutherland, Director
Collection Services SLWA; Con Wiebrands, University Librarian ECU; Cheryl
Parrott, Library Manager City of Perth, and Kathryn Greenhill, Clinical
Professional Fellow, Information Studies, Curtin University.
The first
question addressed to the panel focused on the fundamentals of our industry. At
the WA Museum, meeting the deadlines on projects is extremely important. To
Kathryn, connecting people and information is fundamental, with Con noting that
this information is now mostly electronic and remotely accessed. Being
responsible for heritage collections, Alison identified the safety of physical and
digital collections as fundamental. To the staff of the City of Perth libraries,
the fundamentals are summed up in three words - flexible, adaptable and
responsive. To Cheryl, while innovation implies cutting edge, it also involves
relevant and responsive change. Kathryn added that good innovation is not only
novel, but also useful and fit for purpose. All members of the panel agreed
that empowering staff was crucial in implementing innovation.
The question
about the single most innovative development over the last three years drew a
wide range of interesting responses. Cheryl gave the example of wallpaper
displaying borrowable digital titles with QR Codes. Alison identified the
Storylines project as innovative as it connected Indigenous people to the SLWA
photographic collections. James cited the simple touch screens installed at the
National ANZAC Centre. Commenting that real innovation is small but powerful,
Kathryn referred to the API interface of Trove as an example. Con identified
the new procurement service at ECU as an innovative new service meeting the
demands of electronic resources and licensing. The audience also provided
examples of innovations such as the “Off the Grid” program allowing staff time
to work on innovative projects and the rebranding of library jobs.
The entire
discussion and audience participation at the WA Forum was refreshing. While
innovation has a novel aspect, it also needs to be useful and fit for purpose.
Most of the examples given were simple but sustainable, reinforcing the
fundamental of what we do: linking people to information.
Thank you to
the ALIAWest Committee for assisting on the night. It was also great to see
volunteers from other ALIA groups in attendance especially from WALT and WA ARL.
Congratulations to all new members of the WA ALIA 25 Year Club.
Noreen Kirkman,
WA ALIA State Manager, noreen.kirkman@alia.org.au