Re: The Krafty Librarian's post "Life as a Healthcare CIO".

Summary: Article about how hospital IT decisions are strictly limited due to HIPPA and money, but that this hurts many parts of the hospital including the library.

Absolutely. But I certainly don't blame the IT people. Well, not by themselves.

KL says that she feels that "hospital IT departments lack an adequate method to proactively address these situations where the round peg does not fit into the square hole." Totally. But so does EVERYONE else in the world. We all have a difficult time foreseeing potential problems and how they could be planned for or seeing anything but your own processes, practices and problems, that is, we do if we even try either at all.

Of course, difficulty and lack of trying is not an excuse. IT departments and everyone else SHOULD be solving the problems that they have a hand in creating and can do something about.

So the national and state libraries in Australia have endorsed the following principles to address the challenges facing the "new library universe":

Reshaping our collections
1 Resources in electronic format will be acquired in preference to print, where available. Collection development policies should reflect this preference.
2 NSLA recognises that commitment to consortium purchasing of electronic resources provides greater purchasing power, and therefore increased access, for all. NSLA libraries should consider consortium purchasing of electronic resources wherever practicable.
3 Hard-copy serial holdings will continue to be minimised.
4 The key acquisition and cataloguing responsibility and priority for each NSLA library is the unique and heritage materials relating to that jurisdiction. These materials might be in any format.

Finding our collections
5 Cataloguing of other collections will be minimal, within accepted standards.
6 NSLA libraries will work towards all collection holdings being visible through Libraries Australia or LibrariesNZ.

Delivering our collections
7 The key digitising priority for each NSLA library is the unique and heritage materials relating to that jurisdiction.
8 Interlending and online document delivery will be used for low-use items in preference to duplicate purchasing,
unless the item has significance for the local or distributed national collection.
9 Interlending and online document delivery services should aim to maximise access, to eliminate user charges
and to automate processes to increase efficiency.

Collecting and preserving our digital heritage
10 NSLA libraries support the development of a national infrastructure of trusted digital repositories as crucial to preserving our digital heritage.

Expanding user expectations
11 Mediated online information services will be expanded and strengthened.
12 NSLA libraries will provide and maintain digital space for community creativity and contributions.

From "The Big Bang: Creating the new library universe: Encouraging flexibility, rapid response and innovation within the library sector," a NSLA (National & State Libraries Australasia) 2007–09 report.