We recommend you visit

The Enterprise Development Website (http://www.enterweb.org/)

Keeping up to date is important.
Many people have their favourite publications or a model of strategic planning that they have used for years and will continue to use.

Many are members of associations that provide them with useful newsletters or contacts.

This section we have provided a list of useful publications, websites and associations. It is not definitive. We suggest you add your favourites if they are not already there and annotate each entry with your own opinions, with what you consider to be the particular useful bits.

In this section you will find information sources for:

• Regional Development: Theory and Practice
• Small Business Employment
• Statistical Information
• Small Business Resources
• Useful Databases
• Summary Of References From Text With Further Sources Of Information

We understand that finding time to read all of these is of course impossible. But the best practitioners continually add to their knowledge and to the knowledge base of their organisation.

Regional Development: Theory and Practice

Bureau of Industry Economics, 1994 Regional Development Patterns and Policy Implications Research Report 56, AGPS, Canberra

This report investigates the distinctive features of regions which help to explain regional variation in economic performance. A chapter is devoted to the role of government in regional development. Hence the impact of regional decision-making on small business and employment is alluded to in the context of a fairly theoretical discussion of the determinants of regional economic performance.

Douthwaite, Richard, 1996, Short Circuit – Strengthening Local Economies for Security in an Unstable World, Resurgence

This book examines various strategies whereby local regions can become more self reliant. These strategies range from alternative credit and finance arrangements to local energy production. Examples are given, some of which are Australian. There is inspiration in this book for those who are seeking a commitment to sustainability in their development plans.

Fulop, Liz and Brennan, Martin, 1997, Meeting The Challenge: Regional Economic Development Organisations in Australia. University of Wollongong, November 1997

Meeting the Challenge is a national study of Regional Economic Development Organisations (REDOs) which were established by the Federal Government between 1994 and 1996. The study examines the status of REDOs, following funding cuts to the Regional Development Program. It also outlines the future directions being considered by REDOs. The study was undertaken by Liz Fulop and Martin Brennan under an Australian Research Council Collaborative Grant with the University of Wollongong and the Australian Local Government Association.

Copies are available from:               

Department of Management

Faculty of Commerce
University of Wollongong
NSW 2522
email: liz_fulop@uow.edu.au

Kinsley, Michael J., 1997, Economic Renewal Guide – A Collaborative Process for Sustainable Community Development, Rocky Mountain Institute.

This is a practical ‘how to’ manual for people interested in integrating economic, employment, community and environmental concerns in an economic renewal process. It gives a description of the principles and tools of economic renewal. These points focus on the challenge of considering economic renewal in a different way – a way which emphasises quality and sustainability.

A detailed step-by-step guide to mobilising a community in an economic renewal process forms the bulk of the publication. This contains useful information on organising and running meetings, developing visions, solving conflicts, and putting these visions into action plans.

The weak part of this process is the failure to address the problems of implementation. Although some barriers to implementation are discussed and solutions proposed, the key questions of how ownership of projects is developed are left unanswered.

The process recommended in this publication is best suited to projects that can be publicly owned and therefore publicly funded. The vagaries and different manifestations of public ownership are not addressed.

Local Government and Shires Association of NSW, 1996 Paving the Way, An Introduction To The Local Economic Development Resource Kit For Local Government.

Paving the Way , is a resource kit that has been prepared for the Local Government and Shires Association of NSW. The objective of the project was to highlight the role of Local Government in the local economic development process and provide a guide and resource kit for councils to take on this role. The package is designed to be a user-friendly resource that brings together work prepared by other practitioners of local economic development. The development of the package has included close consultation with councils and key stakeholders. It is primarily intended for use by non-metropolitan councils who have been facing trends of rural depopulation, loss of services and economic decline.

Included in the Paving the Way package is:

• Paving the Way Summary
• Paving the Way - the main body of the manual

A Best Practice Kit for Local and Regional Economic Development, produced by the Municipal Association of Victoria in 1994 and included with their permission. The package includes:

• Ready Set Go: Action Manual for Community Economic Development
• Economic Development in Australia: Guidelines for Local Action and -Regional Strategy Development
• Ready Set Go for Community Economic Development Video
• AusIndustry’s BizLink for Information on funding sources a Regional, State and Federal Levels
• statistical analysis software
• presentation materials (overheads)

The cost of the Paving the Way Kit is $90.00 (includes postage and handling) The package is available from:

Local Government and Shires Association of NSW

GPO Box 7003
Sydney NSW 2001

Phone: 02 9242 4000
Fax: 02 9242 4111

McKinsey and Company 1994, Lead Local Compete Global: Unlocking the Growth Potential of Australia’s Regions McKinsey and Company, Australia

This report forms part of the Business Investment in Regional Areas Consultancy commissioned by the Federal Government. A survey, interviews and focus groups were conducted in 17 regions to identify what factors influence business investment in the regions of Australia.

The report is not so much a detailed description of the findings as an action plan for regions to take an active role in creating wealth and jobs. It outlines strategies for regions to promote growth in existing businesses and attract relocating businesses and includes some case studies of successful strategies by regional business leaders.

It includes a suggested list of data items for measuring the performance of a region. It briefly looks at the impact of government policies, in terms of their effect on the incentive structures facing small businesses, and it includes cross-regional comparisons of factors considered important for investment or choosing a location for business.

Sirolli, Ernesto, 1995, Ripples in the Zambezi – Passion, Unpredictability and Economic Development –Murdoch University.

Sirolli’s work and methodology are legendary in the regional development field.

In this publication, he explains the basis of his methodology which was developed as a result of his work in overseas aid fields The lessons learnt from the tragic outcomes of a “doing good” mentality have informed his life since.

He gives us an entertaining account of his experiences in Esperance, which has served as the classic example of his methodology. To illustrate that Esperance was not a special case, he goes on to detail experiences in Geraldton, New Zealand, and Lincoln County, USA.

Sirolli describes the true facilitator, drawing on the work of Carl Rogers. A facilitator is basically a passive listener who assists a would-be entrepreneur start a business, or an existing business person grow their business. Facilitators do not initiate.

Sirolli pours scorn on the “aristocrats” and “bureaucrats” who produce regional plans which ultimately cost the community significant sums of money and end up gathering dust on shelves. This is a salutary work for those interested in regional planning.

Towards local sustainable development: a toolkit of strategies

http://cres20.anu.edu.au/~eis/Introduction.html

Towards local sustainable development offers councils a toolkit of five core strategies designed to meet the increasing challenge of managing the local environment. A search for models of good practice of integrated environmental management has identified a toolkit of five core strategies.

The five toolkit strategies are:

• integrated information management
• building local government-community partnerships
• monitoring the whole environment
• mainstreaming environmental management
• managing for sustainability.

Part A of this manual gives details of how the five strategies were identified; Part B gives more detailed information on each of the five strategies; and Part C gives selected case studies describing each of the toolkit strategies in action.

Small Business Employment
Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia, 1997, Jobs In Our Regions - Building on the Small Business Base for Department of Transport and Regional Development

This comprehensive work examines:

• The regional importance of small business;
• The importance of information and communication; current gaps and needs of regional small business in these areas;
• The constraints on small business;
• The importance of retailing as a regional business sector;
• The regional impact of the contraction of services;
• Factors underlying regional resilience and self-reliance, and
• Successful small business development strategies.

COST $25 each

orders can be placed by phone (02) 6273 3635

or send a cheque to:

COSBOA
PO Box E445
KINGSTON ACT 2604

Bureau of Industry Economics 1994, Job Growth and Decline: Recent Employment changes in large and small business Occasional Paper 21, AGPS, Canberra

This paper examines the role of large and small businesses in contributing to job creation and economic prosperity. Using ABS data, the report presents evidence by sector showing that small business employment grew strongly in the early 1990s while over the same period there was substantial loss of employment in large firms. The report then goes on to examine possible reasons for this phenomenon. Using qualitative data obtained from interviewing 14 large firms, the report analyses the reasons for the employment losses of large firms. The growth in small business employment is analysed using unpublished ABS data on small business employment by industry sector.

The Finance, Property and Business sector and the Community Services sector are shown to be the sectors where most growth in small business employment occurred and the report contains various hypotheses to explain this growth. In the report, an attempt is made to determine how much of the small business employment is generated by new firms commencing and how much is generated by expansion of existing businesses. A qualitative estimate is made of how much the growth is due to increased demand, and how much is due to increased supply and underemployment. On the basis of largely anecdotal evidence, it is postulated that much small business growth is due to increased outsourcing from the public sector.

Taylor, M. 1992, The Regional Impact of Changing Levels of Protection in Australian Industries, Office of Local Government

This discussion paper provides a measure of the regional and local community impacts of past and future trade liberalisation and tariff reduction.

Regions are defined according to the set of 94 regions defined by the Office of Local Government. Future estimates of tariff reduction are based on the Commonwealth Government’s March 1991 economic statement.

The author estimates the effective rate of protection within individual regions using a weighted averaging procedure, Industry Commission estimates of effective rates of assistance to industry and regional employment estimates.

Without attempting to quantify the number of jobs likely to be lost in any region, the paper identifies those regions that are most likely to experience employment difficulties associated with structural change.

Statistical Information
ABS 1997 Small Business in Australia 1997 Catalogue no 1321.0, AGPS, Australia

This report contains a wealth of statistics on the number and employment of small businesses by State and industry. It looks at the growth in the non-agricultural small business sector since 1983. It also contains statistics on bankruptcies, labour costs, and earnings, as well as detailed profiles of the mining industry and agriculture industry. The final chapter is a directory of ABS small business statistics (including unpublished statistics) divided into major subject groups.

Can also be obtained from http://www.abs.gov.au

ABS 1997-98 Business Operations and Industry Performance Australia, 1994-95, Catalogue no. 8140.0, AGPS, Australia

This publication contains estimates derived from the Economic Activity Survey. It includes statistics on business employment, income, expenses, profits and production as well as data on business performance by industry. This industry data is disaggregated into large businesses and small to medium businesses.

Available at http://www.abs.gov.au

ABS 1999 Integrated regional data base (IRDB), Australia: Statistical Local Areas Catalogue no. 1353.0

The Integrated Regional Database (IRDB) has been developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for policy markers, planners and managers. It is an off-the-shelf CD-ROM product which provides the ability to access and analyse regionalised economic and social data from a wide range of ABS and non-ABS collections.

With IRDB97, you choose the geographic areas, data items and time points you are interested in, and the IRDB can generate tables, graphs, reports and maps.

IRDB97 allows you to evaluate and compare data that will enable you to highlight findings or visually pin-point solutions through graphs or maps.

IRDB97’s applications include:

• urban planning infrastructure needs;
• supporting policy and planning;
• employment patterns analysis;
• benchmarking (comparisons) between regions (eg. local councils);
• providing information for broad or specific regional demographic analysis (eg. demand on public utilities);
• providing information for socio-economic analysis (eg. a regions income distribution);
• developing regional business profiles; and
• identifying trends in regional agricultural production.

To find out how IRDB97 can help you explain and utilise the facts about regional Australia, contact the ABS office in your State to receive your free demonstration disk and order form. IRDB is expensive and is not likely to be a tool which an individual entrepreneur or a small agency could purchase.

New South Wales

Phone 02 9268 4634
Fax 02 9268 4100   

Queensland

Phone 07 3222 6023
 Fax 07 3222 6283

Victoria

Phone 03 9615 7578
Fax 03 9615 7798

Tasmania

Phone 03 6222 5812
Fax 03 6222 5995                                          

South Australia

Phone 08 8237 7609
Fax 08 8237 7566                                          

Northern Territory

Phone 08 8943 2124
Fax 08 8981 1218

Western Australia

Phone 08 9360 5238 
Fax 08 9360 5950                             

Australian Capital Territory

Phone 02 6252 7786
 Fax 02 6252 6062                                                  

Also available at http://www.abs.gov.au

Small Business Resources

AUSINDUSTRY
http://www.ausindustry.gov.au

This is advertised as the single entry point for Government Assistance programs to business. The site also contains information about policy and the Department. It includes contacts in the Department and a host of related links to business assistance sources.

BIZLINK
At http://www.business.gov.au/

Bizlink is an innovative information service which provides simple and flexible access to accurate and relevant business information on:

• over 500 industry assistance programs for small and medium businesses provided by Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, complete with contact details
• more than 260 forms of assistance provided by industry associations and chambers of commerce, ranging from business start-up advice to training and trade facilitation.

Bizlink allows users to search by industry sector and customer interest, or alternatively by partial program name or key word to quickly view what programs and services are available, how to qualify for a program, and a contact telephone number.

In addition, links are provided to sites containing information of use to small businesses. These include:

• The Australian Taxation Office's ATO Assist site, which outlines taxation information relating to topics such as starting a business, keeping business records, and employer obligations such as salary and wages and superannuation.
• intellectual property information about issues including patents, trade marks and designs from the Australian Industrial Property Office; and
• Information about the Commonwealth Budget.

BLIS
The Business Licence Information Service, also known as BLIS, is a free one-stop information service for all licences and permits that businesses are required to have in order to operate. BLIS centres in all States and Territories answer more than 200,000 inquiries each year. Using a computerised database, BLIS provides businesses with the licensing information they require. Information is provided as a tailor made report.

Contacts:

New South Wales

Business Licence Information Service
Level 6, Stockland House
175 Castlereagh Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000

Telephone: (02) 9286 0099
Fax: (02) 9261 4289

NSW Country Callers: 1800 463 976

Victoria

Business Licence Information Service
Level 5, 55 Collins Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000

Telephone: 13 22 15 (local call cost)
Fax: (03) 9651 9725

E-mail: sbv@sbv.vic.gov.au

Queensland

Smart Licence

Cnr Boundary and Fortescus Streets
Spring Hill
BRISBANE QLD 4000

Telephone: (07) 3221 1620
Fax: (07) 3234 0024

QLD Country Callers: 1800 061 631

Western Australia

Business Licensing and Information Centre
553 Hay Street
PERTH WA 6000

Telephone: (08) 9220 0234
Fax: (08) 9221 3780

WA Country Callers: 1800 199 125

South Australia

Business Licence Information

145 South Terrace

ADELAIDE SA 5000

Telephone: (08) 8463 3850

SA Country Callers: 1800 188 018

Fax: (08) 8231 1199

Tasmania

Business Licence Information Service

5th Floor, ANZ Centre

22 Elizabeth Street

HOBART TAS 7000

Telephone: (03) 6233 5858

TAS Country Callers: 1800 005 262

Fax: (03) 6233 5800

Northern Territory

Business Licence Information Service

Territory Business Centre

Ground Floor, Development House

76 The Esplanade

DARWIN NT 0800

Telephone: (08) 8924 4280NT Country Callers: 1800 193 111

Fax: (08) 8924 4290

E-mail: territory.businesscentre@nt.gov.au

Australian Capital Territory

ACT Business Licence Information Service

2nd Floor, Canberra Nara Centre

London Circuit

CANBERRA CITY ACT 2601

Telephone: 1800 244 650

FAX: (02) 6207 0033

Email: act_blis@dpa.act.gov.au

Baraclough and Co., 1997, Enterprise Improvement through Innovation: a study of innovation impediments and incentives among Australian firms, AusIndustry

The report found a strong relationship between technical and managerial innovation and superior sales and exports. There is also a much lower propensity to either form of innovation by SMEs, confirming the national potential for improved performance. Successful enterprise improvement programs resulted in a 30% average increase in innovation. Success of programs was more related to firm and management behaviour than demographic, size or performance measures.

Suggestions, however, to target programs along some very generalised behavioural lines should be carefully considered. The key behaviours that are characterised are Contented, Loners, Searchers and Accomplished. While gains are possible with all four segments, Searchers will offer the best result for any investment. Criteria to optimise successful targeting are proposed along with a delivery strategy.

Impediments and innovation inducers which affect SMEs are discussed.

Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business, 1998, Annual Review of Small Business 1998

This publication covers the range of Government activities in the small business area. It details policy and new initiatives such as taxation reform and the Innovation Investment Fund. It examines the characteristics and conditions of small business detailing statistics on issues such as employment, finance and insolvency.

Chapter Three details current research programs, including the Business Longitudinal Survey (BLS). The final part of the chapter gives a detailed example for benchmarking your own business against industry norms over a number of business performance ratios.

Chapter four covers issues of interest for small business. Chapter Five contains a list of very useful contacts and resources.

OECD 1995, Best Practice Policies for Small and Medium sized Enterprises, OECD, France

In 1994, the OECD’s Industry Committee Working Party on Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), conducted an analysis of Best Practice in SME policies. This report contains a selection of presentations made by OECD Member countries to the meetings of the Working Party. The presentations cover four main policy areas: financing, business environment, management capacity and access to markets. Included in the area of business environment is the issue of government information and advisory services to SMEs. There are three papers on this subject, one by the Australian delegate titled ‘First-Stop Shopping in Australia’, one by the Canadian delegate ‘Improved Business Access: The Canada Business Service Centre Solution’ and a presentation by the US delegate ‘One-Stop Assistance Centres in the United States’ In the space of a few pages, each of the delegates summarises the type of government advisory service provided in their country, including the rationale for the model used and a description of any problems encountered. The Australian paper reports on the introduction of ‘First Stop Shops’ and refers to the results of an evaluation of three different pilot models of First Stop Shops. In addition to the presentations themselves, is a summary that compares the systems in the three countries and reports on the discussion that followed the presentations and the central issues debated.

Still, L. & Soutar, G. ‘Sources of Assistance for Small Business: from start-up to operations’, Proceedings of the Joint SEAANZ and IIE Small Enterprise Conference 1996, Changing Business Relationships: Small Business Growth and Other Challenges, Institute of Industrial Economics, University of Newcastle

This paper investigates the use of information sources by small business owners in Western Australia. Data was collected through a mail survey of 1000 small business operators (with a response rate of 39%). Respondents were presented with a list of 23 information sources, and asked to indicate which sources they used at start-up and which they still used. They were also asked to indicate, on a 4 point scale ranging from ‘not helpful’ to ‘extremely helpful’, how useful they perceived these sources to be.   The categories of government sources of information included in the list were Business Enterprise Centres, Commonwealth Employment Service, New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, and Small Business Development Corporation, Department of Labour, Industry Assistance Programs and Other Government. The remaining 16 information sources in the list comprised other professional and personal sources. Statistical techniques were used to compare use at start-up and during operations, as well as to examine which sources were used together and any gender differences. One finding of the study was a relatively low use of specific small business information sources, such as the Small Business Development Corporation and the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, and a reduction in their use from start-up to operation.

The Aspen Institute, USA – see especially, The Rural Economic Policy Program

http:/www.aspeninst.org/dir/polpro/REPP/REPP1.html

The Aspen Institute is an international non-profit educational institution dedicated to enhancing the quality of leadership. The Rural Economic Policy Program (REPP) organises and supports focused learning and vigorous dialogue among rural economic development practitioners and policymakers in the United States.

This is a site packed with research and references relevant to regional development practitioners. Make an effort to go back to The Aspen Institute’s homepage for many other relevant references.

Australian Business on the Internet
http://www.ausmanufacturers.com.au

Australian Business on the Internet currently provides search facilities for two industries: wholesale and manufacturing. This site also links to classifieds for posting for sale and wanted ads.

The Australian Media Facilities Directory
http://saturn.amfd.com.au/index.html

This is a search facility for contacts for newspapers, magazines, radio, television, advertisers, film companies, multimedia companies etc. This is a comprehensive listing although some of the smaller regional newspapers do not appear to be featured.

The Enterprise Development Website

http://www.enterweb.org/

This is a fabulous resource site.

ENTERWeb is an annotated meta-index and information clearinghouse on enterprise development, entrepreneurship, business, finance, international trade and the economy in this new age of cyberspace and globalisation. The main focus is on micro, small and medium scale enterprises, cooperatives, community economic development, both in developed and developing countries. ENTERWeb lists and rates Internet resources in these areas, and complements search engines by providing shortcuts in identifying important sources of information.

The primary objective of ENTERWeb is to provide to enterprise development practitioners, policy makers, academics and small business owners an annotated list of Internet resources giving substantive information on enterprise development topics. These include finance and credit, technology and technology transfer, management training, business centres and advisory services, entrepreneurship development and incubators, community economic development, credit unions and cooperatives, education and vocational training, marketing and trade, business networks and information resources, business law and cyberbusiness, enterprise development policies, economics, enterprise and environment, business news, women and enterprises, etc.

Publications, Documents and Bibliography
http://www.enterweb.org/biblio.htm

Reasons for Regions
http://www.environment.gov.au/portfolio/dg/reasons/reasons/htm

Long-term sustainability from the ground up.

A resource file prepared by the Local Sustainability Project, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University.

Jackie Ohlin, Valerie A Brown, Naomi Appleton, July 1996.

This Resource File is the result of a two-year review of the resources used by Environmental Resource Officers, Local Government officers and community members in managing regions sustainably. Although primarily aimed at Local Councils, it provides useful information on communication, integrated approaches to regional management, conflict resolution and negotiating. It also provides some useful links to resources and a bibliography.

Standards Australia
http://www.standards.com.au

Standards Australia is an independent not-for-profit organisation whose primary role is to prepare Australian Standards through an open process of consultation and consensus in which all interested parties are invited to participate. It is recognised by the Commonwealth Government as the peak Standards writing body in Australia.  Its subsidiary company, Quality Assurance Services Pty Ltd provides a range of system and product certification services. Standards Australia comprises representatives of the Commonwealth and State Governments, government instrumentalities, manufacturing and commercial associations, professional institutes, academia, consumer and community interest groups, and trade unions, plus nine representatives of Standards Australia's subscribing Members.

This is an excellent site providing information on a very wide range of standards including information on import and export and design awards.

Useful Databases
INFORMIT
Australian Information Online
Established by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Informit is a growing network of Australian bibliographic, directory and research databases.

Subject Coverage
Informit databases cover a wide range of disciplines including subjects as diverse as law, architecture, politics, economics, cultural and ethnic affairs, criminology, science, industrial relations, education, medicine, agriculture, natural resources, history, geography, language, engineering, sport, religion and literature.

Information regarding subscription to Informit or individual databases within is available online at: http://www.informit.com.au

How to Join
An application form is available either online or from:

RMIT Publishing

PO Box 12477

A’Beckett St

Melbourne Vic 8006

Telephone: (03) 9349 4994

Facsimile: (03) 9349 4583

E-mail: info@rmitpublishing.com.au

Environmental Databases
URL: http://www.environment.gov.au/environment/search/db.html

General

                EnviroMaps- Integrated environmental mapping

Atmosphere

Greenhouse Gas Inventory

National Pollutant Inventory

Biodiversity

Eucalypt data project

Species mapper

Directory of Important Wetlands

Coasts and Marine

                Australian Coastal Atlas

Blue Pages - the Marine & Coastal Data Directory

Data Directories

                Australian Spatial Data Directory (ASDD)

            Green Pages

Geographic

                Australian Geographic Place Names

                Mapsheet Lookup

Heritage

                HERA- Heritage Australia Information System

                Register of the National Estate

Industry

            EnviroNET Australia

Mining

                Best Practice Environmental Management in Mining

Monitoring

                Australian EIA Network

                Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA)

Land Conservation

                National Wilderness Inventory

                Nature Conservation Reserves

Strategic Planning
Davis, Jeremy; Devinney, Timothy; 1997 The Essence of Corporate Strategy/Theory For Modern Decision Making –Allen and Unwin;

Gouillart, Francis J.; Kelly, James N.; 1995 Transforming the Organisation/Reframing Corporate Direction –McGraw Hill

Hesselbein, Frances; Goldsmith, Marshall; Beckhard, Richard; eds. 1997, The Organisation of The Future The Druckner Foundation 1997

Robert, Michael, 1998, Strategy Pure and Simple; Strategy Pure and Simple II; McGraw Hill.

(Michael Robert was the person who coined the term “strategic thinking” as it is used in a business sense.)

Summary of references from text and further sources of information
References for Leadership
Moodie, Ann- Marie, 1998, Local Heroes/ A Celebration of Success and Leadership in Australia –

Mant, Alistair, 1997 Intelligent Leadership –Allen and Unwin.

Parry, Ken, 1996 Transformational Leadership Pitman (Includes a section on how Australian Leadership is different to American Leadership).

Serros, James C.; Butchatsky, Oleh; 1996 Leadership/Australia’s Top CEO’s –; Harpers Business

Spears, Larry C.; Ed; 1998, Insights on Leadership; John Wiley and Sons.

References for Community Action and Committees
The texts below relate to teamwork or grass roots action, all texts have useful information for a community committee.

O’Connell, Margie, 1995 Life’s Little Tips For Better Meetings, Hale and Iremonger.

Handy, Charles, 1990 Understanding Voluntary Organisations, Penguin Books

Bennis, Warren; Biederman, Patricia Ward, 1997, Organising Genius/The secrets of Creative Collaboration, Nicholas Brearly Publishing.

Bendaly, Leslie, 1996, Games Teams Play – Dynamic Activities for Tapping Work Team Potential, McGraw Hill.

Garratt, Bob, 1997, The Fish Rots From The Head. A Crisis in Our Boardrooms: Developing the Crucial Skills of the Competent Director.

Shapiro, Eileen C., 1995, Fad surfing In the Boardroom, Harper Collins.

Thornton, Phil; Phelan, Liam; McKeown, Bill, 1997, I Protest/Fighting For Your Rights, Pluto Press

Metzyer, Thomas F., 1995, Becoming a Political Pain In the Ass/How to Change Your Government Sensibly Blue Dolphin.

References for Australian Politics
Fin, Ken, 1998, The Book of Australia. The Essential Information Book On Everything Australian. Almanac 1997-98; Watermark Press.

Waugh, John, 1996, The Rules/ An Introduction To The Australian Constitutions Melbourne University Press.

Uhr, John, 1998, Deliberative Democracy in Australia/ the Changing Place of Parliament  Cambridge.

AGPS, 1997, Questions and Answers on the Commonwealth Parliament, - Australian Government Publishing Service.

Saunders, Cheryl; 1998, Its Your Constitution/ Governing Australia Today Federation Press.

Australian Local Government Information Network (ALGIN)
http://www.algin.net.au/

ALGIN is an electronic 'roadmap' of information resources for Local Government on the Internet.

This is a very comprehensive site and acts as a gateway to information on a wide range of resources relevant to local economic development.

A definite to bookmark.

Jane Ford; 1997, Scitech Technology Directory/A Comprehensive Guide to Technology and Industry Development Assistance in Australia Jane Ford and Associates 1997.

This is an annual publication which details current Government, academic and private sector technology, industry and venture finance initiatives Australia-wide. It provides a record of changes over the past year as well as a commentary on the impact of key Government policies. It contains an extensive list of Government, academic and private sector contacts involved in these fields as well as current information on the venture capital industry, technology centres, tertiary consulting companies, research associations and other technology support organisations.  A highly useful resource.

Cost is $160, including postage. Contact Jane Ford and Associates, Ph: (02) 6247 7220,

Fax 02 6249 6648 or

email:jfjfa@ozemail.c