Welcome to FAIR, a major initiative from the Australian Library and Information Association.
We're aiming to increase the reach and profile of our advocacy for the library and information sector.
We want to engage with library users on particular issues and use this engagement to create a long-term relationship so we can stand together to champion causes.
We need your support and will be talking to other organisations with shared interests to seek their participation.
There will be individual campaigns on particular issues and where these campaigns resonate with you we will welcome your active support.
Subscribe to the free newsletter and use the resources we have provided to share the messages with friends and colleagues.
Encourage your contacts to spread the word to the wider community and follow the conversation on social media.
Find us on Twitter @joinFAIR and on Facebook at facebook.com/joinFAIR.
Freedom of Access to Information and Resources
We’re campaigning for a fair, open, democratic society where information can be accessed by everyone.
FAIR is lobbying on a number of issues which affect Australia's library and information sector including copyright law reform, cybersafety and the problems with internet filtering, digitising our nation’s history, encouraging children to read, evidence-based decisions in law, health and business, evidence-based policy making, learning at any age, qualified library staff in schools, supporting Australia's book industry and well funded public libraries.
Evidence-based
We identify and evaluate information sources which will help people reach their own, well-informed decisions about critical issues. We consider the source, the credibility of the author, the wider context and the supporting evidence, in order to authenticate information.
Digital expertise and inclusion
Indigenous Knowledge
Librarians work respectfully with Indigenous knowledge – the stories, artefacts, images, artworks and documents that form collections of first nations’ materials. We seek permission for access, consult with community Elders and use established protocols to ensure that knowledge is handled sensitively and appropriately.
Freedom of expression
We believe in free speech and freedom of expression. To quote the IFLA principles of freedom of expression and good librarianship: ‘Libraries contribute to the development and maintenance of intellectual freedom and help to safeguard basic democratic values and universal civil rights’.
Equity
We are working to ensure that any and everyone in Australia can join a library, borrow books, use PCs, seek the expert help of library staff and source the information they need. There are still some barriers to library membership, for example fines for overdue books and the need to have a permanent address to register, but these have been removed in some locations and are being tackled in others.
Privacy
Libraries promote the right to privacy in the digital age. We are concerned about excessive data collection, hacking and harvesting of personal information, for political and commercial gain. At the same time, we support aggregated data, stripped of personal identifiers, being made available to researchers for social benefits – for example, in the health sector.
Open Access
We support the principle of open access, especially for government-funded research. Open access enables the reuse of data, building on the work of others and advancing the world’s knowledge at a faster rate than has been possible before. Quality metadata, applied by librarians, makes this data more easily discoverable.
Collaboration
Librarianship is an ethical profession and one that thrives on partnerships, collaboration and sharing. We work with government, academia, corporate and civil society organisations as a force for good. This makes libraries a natural partner in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals identified in the UN 2030 Agenda.
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and FAIR are pleased to announce that we will be running the Truth, Integrity, Knowledge (TIK) campaign throughout 2019. The campaign will focus on how and why librarianship is one of the most trusted professions in Australia. It will remind users that, in a society driven by fake news and the 24-hour media cycle, they can rely on library and information professionals to hold the integrity to be the bastion of truth and to have obtained the skills to be able share the knowledge that they look after.
The ABC has decided to close sound and reference libraries in Adelaide, Hobart and Perth, to reduce the service in Sydney, and to make 10 specialist librarians redundant, as reported in The Guardian (Tuesday 30 January) “ABC dismantles sound libraries and axes staff to improve budgets” and The Guardian (Tuesday 6 February) “ABC plans to send entire book collection to Samoa to save money”. This decision has caused deep concern among ABC staff, libraries and cultural institutions.
