In this edition of the ERA eNewsletter the ERA Executive Committe Chair reports on a paper presented at the recent ALIA conference, we provide an update on subscription cycles and FAQs, and readers may be interested in an article publshed in the Australian Law Librarian.

Information Access - Roxanne Missingham

At the ALIA Dreaming 08 conference I presented a paper on Australians and information access: a framework for a national agenda for public libraries.  In this paper I reported on achievements against the recommendations of the 2003 Senate Inquiry into the Role of Libraries in the Online Environment, in particluar, noting the value of public libraries and the outcomes of recent studies using contingent valuation including the:

•  2005 report Libraries building communities, the vital contribution of Victoria’s public libraries – a research report for the library board of Victoria and Victorian public library network, Melbourne, State Library of Victoria, http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about/information/publications/policies_reports/plu_lbc.htm.

ERA is a major acheivement of library discussions on the report and our aim continues to be to:

                Deliver access for Australians to quality resources through their libraries.

Libraries now provide access for approximately 6.75 million Australians to selected resources through ERA, however we still have a long way to go.

The funding framework and limited resources for each library are issues that we need to try to resolve. I am writing to the Australian Social Inclusion Board to raise the issue of access to quality information to support a national approach to equity.

Financial and calendar year subscription cycles

Libraries can now opt for either Australian financial year subscriptions [1 July – 30 June] or calendar year subscriptions [1 January – 31 December] through ERA.

Two subscription cycle options were introduced in August 2008 in response to feedback from libraries that two cycles were necessary to accommodate the different budgeting cycles of libraries.

Subscriptions can be pro-rated so that they can be synchronised with no impact on your library patrons.

Frequently Asked Questions

The FAQs for libraries have been updated.  We have attempted to capture questions that we commonly get asked, however If you have any questions that you think are not covered please let us know. 

You can email them to era@nla.gov.au.

ERA Article: Australian Law Librarian

The August edition of the Australian Law Librarian contains an article on ERA.

ERA Blog

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