SCRATCHING
THE SURFACE:
arts information management in Australia - the role of special
interest groups?
By Paul Bentley.
October 1999
Key words
Performing arts, virtual organisations; special
interest groups; association management; information industry; library
associations; archival associations; museum associations; Arts Libraries
Society/Australia and New Zealand, Museums Australia Performing Arts Special
Interest Group.
Summary
Are arts library and museum special interest
groups loose networks of professionals? Are they businesses that influence
the way arts information is created, captured, presented and used? Do they
make the most of their potential?
This paper examines issues presented in Merging arts information and
curatorial special interest groups in Australia, a paper on management
options for ARLIS/ANZ, IAML and PASIG.
Considers historical contexts and information industry trends such as
association restructuring, joint venture and consortium management and
networking.
Describes the steps that have been taken to examine the issues and poses
questions relating to the membership, management, relationships and
effectiveness of each group.
Recommends a survey of the members to clarify interests, including
organisational affiliations, functional interests, subject interests, needs,
expectations and ideas. A draft questionnaire is provided.
In conclusion, invites members to think about new modes of operation to
reduce duplicate effort, martial limited resources and maximise the effect
of their contribution to the management of arts information resources.
A final paper in the series is planned for the year 2000.
Full
text See
also previous paper, Merging
arts information and curatorial special interest groups in Australia
