The ARROW (Australian Research Repositories Online to the World) Discovery Service has had a branding makeover. The ARROW project concluded in December 2008, and the new name is ARO (Australian Research Online) – a fortuitously homophonic new name. Update your bookmarks as the URL has changed although at present a redirect is handling traffic. Similarly the [...]

Applications are open until 20th October 2009 for next year’s Aurora Leadership Institute. This is a fantastic opportunity to explore your leadership potential and learn about yourself and how you operate. It is not a management course, it is about leadership. The institute is held in Thredbo in February – a charming time of the [...]

It is now possible to create your own ‘book’ of Wikipedia articles and either download it as a PDF, or order a bound copy. That adds a whole new dimension to collection development, and opens up possibilities for creating open educational resources. Help:Books – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Currently only Wikipedia editors can save books [...]

Over the coming fortnight a number of open forums are being held in capital cities to gather input on how the Australian Government can use ‘web 2.0′ technologies in consultation and engagement with citizens and how it can expand the uses of Commonwealth information. The first one is being held today in Canberra, and RSVPS [...]

ALIA has released an advance notice for “Rebuilding with Books”, a campaign to provide new books for families with empty bookshelves. “When the bushfires swept across Victoria in February, homes and contents were destroyed and thousands of books turned to ash. In the immediate aftermath, the basic necessities of life took priority, but as people [...]

In the latest round of who is buying who, Facebook has purchased FriendFeed, for an (officially) undisclosed amount. Check out the reports on the acquisition and what will happen to FriendFeed at Tech Crunch, FriendFeed blog, Read/Write Web and Mashable.

VALA 2010 will be held in Melbourne from February 9 to 11, 2010 and the program is now available on the website.  The keynote speakers are Marshall Breeding from Vanderbilt University, Karen Calhoun from OCLC, Stephanie Orlic from the Musee de Louvre, Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet Project, McKenzie (Ken) Wark from the Eugene [...]

The National Library of Australia recently released its Directions for 2009-2011 which outlines broad objectives of collecting, delivering and collaboration. The Resource Sharing and Innovation Division of the NLA has also released its strategic plan.

The 2nd season of The Librarians premieres on ABC on Wednesday 5th August at 9pm. The Middleton Interactive Learning Centre staff team are back and up to more mischief, with new adventures, new problems and additional cast members in the form of Vince Colosimo, Noni Hazlehurst and Hamish Blake. ALIA has rekick-started The Librarian’s blog, [...]