eLib: UK National Electronic Libraries Programme

Peter Stubley University of Sheffield Library

In the beginning: Follett

Follett Report: Joint Funding Councils’ Libraries Review Group, 1993: ICT research and development programme £15 million over 3 years FIGIT: Follett Implementation Group on

Information Technology + buildings programme (£30m?); special collections

& archives (£50M?); Arts & Humanities Data Service (£1.5M)

eLib phases 1 & 2

Electronic publishing (17 projects)Access to network resources (10 projects)Document delivery (5 projects)Training and awareness (7 projects)Digitisation (5 projects)Supporting studies (3 projects)Customised publishing(12 projects)

eLib phase 3

Hybrid libraries (5 projects)Large scale resource discovery (4 Clumps

projects)Digital preservation (1 project)Development of phase 1 & 2 projects into

services (18 projects) plus two new projects: HERON, EPRESS

eLib is not all

Other initiatives supported by the Funding Councils in UKHE, e.g.: Information Strategies COPAC: CURL OPAC DNER: Distributed National Electronic Resource NESLI: National Electronic Site Licence Initiative SuperJANET

Management of eLib

JISC: Joint Information Systems Committee

Management of eLib

JISC: Joint Information Systems CommitteeCEI: Committee on Electronic Information

Management of eLib

JISC: Joint Information Systems CommitteeCEI: Committee on Electronic InformationeLib Programme Office

Management of projects

Tavistock Institute (1997):

‘The management of projects was generally under-estimated and many have been caught by surprise by the difficulties of engendering a whole team approach.’

Management of projects

Recruitment is responsibility of individual projects

Project management training provided by eLibProject plans to be approved, including

milestones, deliverables, risk assessmentReporting structure: Annual Reports a

condition

Other electronic library programmes

US Digital Libraries Initiative 2 phases + ‘International Digital Libraries’

Other electronic library programmes

US Digital Libraries Initiative 2 phases + ‘International Digital Libraries’

EU Telematics for Libraries Third and Fourth Framework Programmes FPV: User friendly information society

By contrast:

‘the eLib Programme characterised itself right from the start as “development” rather than research’

‘the emphasis has been very much on “action research” and the Programme has encouraged projects to experiment with a variety of approaches whilst accepting that these meet with varying degrees of success’

Impact of eLib

‘Enriched baseline’ large existing investment in ICT in UKHE long-standing discussions in the community existing national services e.g. BIDS ISI

‘Enriched baseline’

Michalko:Only 2% of the world is online: 85% in N. America and Europe. What we’re talking about here is important to us but largely irrelevant to the overwhelming majority of the world.

‘Enriched baseline’

Michalko:Only 2% of the world is online: 85% in N. America and Europe. ...The average US consumer spends enough on communications and information technology – that is, books, cable television, home video, recorded music, newspapers, magazines and online and internet access services – to support someone in the bottom 20% of the world income distribution for eight months out of a year.

Impact of eLib (II)

Reactions:‘As a practitioner I do feel a little removed from the

eLib projects, however I do feel that the projects have helped greatly in effecting cultural change.’

‘…the explosion of information, publicity, etc. about eLib and the sheer number of people involved, even if peripherally, has been one of the most important elements…’

Impact of eLib (III)

Evaluation and dissemination: Evaluation strategy from Tavistock Institute eLib dissemination via:

press releases, programme packs, website, mailing lists, concertation days, workshops, conferences

Integration is the key

IndependentApplications

IndependentApplications/Unified presentation

Unified service/Flexible presentation

Aug 2000: eLib will be dead, long live:

DNER: Distributed National Electronic Resource

RDNC: Resource Discovery Network CentreMiddlewareJoint NSF/JISC International Digital LibrariesRSLP: Research Support Libraries Programme

In summary

‘Nothing in this programme represents the last word … but it represents several more steps forward, sideways and backwards in our understanding of these issues’

‘We arrive at the future day by day…’

Chris Rusbridge

The acronymic legacy

Agora

Malibu CAIN

EEVL SOSIGJILT

MIDRIB

CAIRNS

RIDINGOMNI

CEDARSSEREN

LAMDAFIDDO

EDDIS

ERIMS

Phoenix

CINE