Special libraries

Contents: Editorial by Lisa Belkin; from the President by Jo Marshall; ALIA Health Libraries Section general meetings by Jenni Rusciano; Fairfield campus information network by Suzanne O'Callaghan; professional issues; ITS: Information technology issues by Dorothea Rowse; forthcoming events; performance indicators by Kathy Hutton; obituary: Mary Delafield by Enid Meldrum.

Contents: From the President; at your service: executive profiles: Jo Marshall, Kathy Hutton, Roxanne McIvor, Lisa Belkin, David Lloyd, Enid Meldrum, Jenni Rusciano, Suzanne O'Callaghan and Janet Hindson; ALIA Health Section general meeting; forthcoming events; fellowships/scholarships; references of interest; obituary: Anne Harrison; personal notes, comments.

In 2014, ALIA, in conjunction with the Australian Law Library Association, Health Libraries Inc (HLInc) and Health Libraries Australia (ALIA HLA, a national group of the Australian Library and Information Association), released a study which suggests law firms, government departments, associations and other organisations involved with special libraries gain over $5 in return for every $1 they invest in special libraries.

Ten themes emerged from our consultation relating specifically to special libraries, including government, law, health, corporate, engineering, science, art and others. 1. Radical transformation. 2. Value proposition. 3. DIY information. 4. Ready to use. 5. A seat at the top table. 6. Centralise and embed. 7. Big data. 8. Digitisation. 9. Subject specialisation. 10. Space.

Special libraries comprise government, association, health, law, corporate, consulting firm, ICT, engineering, religious, science and technology, art, museum, agriculture, media and other libraries that serve departments, institutions, not-for-profits, charities and businesses. The word library doesn’t always appear in the title, instead some are called information services or research units, terms which also describe their main purpose and function.