the role of co-operation and partnerships – a national perspective

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The role of co-operation and partnerships – a national perspective

Geoff Smith. British Library

Presentation to FIL conference. July 2003

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Introduction

• UK has long history of effective overall provision for user access to library resources through its library network

• Institutional autonomy in meeting local user needs, backed up by regional framework of co-operation and national central provision through interlending and document supply

• Traditional system under pressure because of political, economic and technical developments

• Recent co-operative initiatives to improve physical access, resource discovery and access to electronic content

• Developments in regional and national coordination to ensure sustainable future access to resources to meet user needs

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UK traditional library roles

• HE libraries – provide for needs of students, researchers and staff

• FE – provide for needs of students and staff

• Public libraries – provide for needs of local community

• Other – serve needs of members, employees etc

• National libraries –collect and make available national published archive; provide underpinning national-level collections and services

– First line of provision through local institution

– Tiering of local / regional / national provision within collaborative framework

– Regional library systems co-ordinating ILL / document supply / transport at regional level

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UK traditional library roles (2)

British Library objectives (White Paper, 1971)

“to provide the best central library services for the United Kingdom. They include:

• preserving and making available for reference at least one copy of every book and periodical of domestic origin and of as many overseas publications as possible

• providing an efficient central lending and photocopying service in support of the other libraries and information systems of the country

• providing central cataloguing and other bibliographic services related not only to the needs of the central libraries but those of libraries and information centred throughout the country

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UK traditional library roles (3)

British Library New Strategic Directions consultation 2001

Should document supply / ILL Services move to decentralised / distributed model?

• 85% of all respondents / 91% of organisations wished to see the service remain centralised.

• Recognition by some that decentralised approach to document supply might become necessary in the future as more journals and research reports moved online.

• Hoped BL would remain at the centre of activity by providing the central navigation and administration point

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Factors driving change (1)

Economic • Increase in cost and volume of materials• Public sector budget pressures in institutions

– Acquisitions cuts;– Rationing of requests;– Imbalance of provision among institutions– Need for investment in technology

• Inability to charge on full costs of loans in public libraries

• Growth in student numbers in HE/FE

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Political• Devolution in Scotland and Wales • Possible regional assemblies / growing autonomy• Government regional cultural and economic

development agenda • Change of existing regional boundaries• Break up / closure of existing regional bodies • New regional cross domain bodies

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Technical• Impact of the web on access to information• Licensing of online resources, including journal ‘big

deals’ • Limitations on ‘library privilege’ copying in electronic

environment• Improved capability for resource discovery • Developments in scholarly communication

– Open archives initiative– Open access models– Proliferation of versions of content

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Challenge facing UK libraries in relation to access to content

Aspirations

• “Anyone seeking a book can be guaranteed to get access to it through the library whether or not it is still in print” - Libraries in 2013. Framework for the future, 2003

• We need “a programme for action to ensure that UK professional researchers will continue to have access to the full range of world-class information resources wherever these resources are located. At the heart of our considerations lies cooperation …” RSLG Report 2003

Challenge – how to sustain comprehensive access based on user needs to both centralised and distributed resources, print and electronic

• Self sufficiency not a realistic option

• Co-ordination / co-operation only sensible way forward

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Co-operation on improving physical access

• Growing acceptance of need for seamless access to public, HE and national library resources in support of lifelong learning and research

• Encouraging progress on improving physical access both within sectors and across sectors

– Local / regional access agreements – INSPIRE – “Empowering the learning community”– UK Libraries Plus– SCONUL Research Extra– RSLP access funding

• Need to tackle major issues on access to electronic resources

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Co-operation on resource discovery

• JISC: Information Environment Resource Discovery Network

• SUNCAT

• COPAC – now includes BL, NLS, NLW

• Unity Web

• Subject / thematic tools: RSLP & BL CPP projects etc

• Full Disclosure

• UKOLN Collection Description Focus

• Common information environment – collaboration between JISC, Resource, BL, NHS, on standards, technical infrastructure etc

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Co-operation on electronic content

• Consortial licensing of electronic content

• NESLI 2

• NHS: National Electronic Library for Health

• Public libraries: need for consortial licensing of commercial content on People’s Network?

• Feasibility of national electronic reference or research libraries?

• Digitisation programmes: NOF, JISC

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Co-operation on collection development and management

• Some bilateral pilot projects: BL with:

LSE - foreign official publications

IALS - foreign legal materials

SOAS - Oriental and African materials

• RSLP / CURL project on Slavonic and East European materials - Oxford, SEES, BL, Leeds, NLS etc

• Some institutional and user resistance

RSLP ‘Barriers to resource sharing’ study

Response to BL 2001 consultation

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Regional / local developments

• Resource: role cross domain, primarily strategic

• Potential role of People’s Network in providing resource discovery and front end for access to content

• New regional agencies – cross domain rather than library specific strategic rather than operational

• Differing regional approaches to library issues: some have library development officers within MLACs, some have retained separate library agencies

• Resource / CILIP / BL collaboration: Development Officer for Regions: Geoff WarrenRegional Library Advisory Group

• Continuing role for Combined Regions and CONARLS in championing / ensuring sustained effectiveness of ILL at the regional level and in linking at national level

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Monograph Interlending for the HE Research Community – CURL study

Terms of reference

• To assess the current position concerning ILL to UK HE including:

– Identifying the current monograph interlending services and their key operational characteristics.

– Assessing the size and nature of the monograph interlending market.

– Evaluating the financial and organisational sustainability of the BLDSC and CURL-SHARES services.

• To assess the advantages, drawbacks and sustainability of different models of interlending.

• To assess available software solutions to support interlending and their interoperability.

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Monograph Interlending for the HE Research Community (2)

Criteria for future system

• It should enable the current fill rate in higher education libraries of approximately 90% to be maintained, and if possible improved.

• It should operate to performance standards not lower than those currently achieved by the BLDSC.

• It should maximise value for money in relation to collection development, procurement, and in other related areas.

• It should aim to maximise operational efficiency in all parts of the interlending process, including within requesting libraries.

• It should not harm by oversight other aspects of the national interlending system, eg public libraries etc.

• Where the other criteria can be satisfied an option should seek to be consistent with the approach of the RSLG Report.

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Monograph Interlending for the HE Research Community (3) - Options

1. BLDSC i ) continues to operate as now, but rebuilds its network of a small number of back-up libraries to assure supplyii) key partner in a new national network of ILL providers with common charging and operating standards -BLDSC Plus

2. CURL-SHARES i) extended and the BLDSC is brought into the scheme ii) takes over all the HE ILL operations of the BLDSC iii) explicit partnership created between the UK CURL-SHARES above and RLG’s SHARES

3. Expansion of local collaborative schemes between HE libraries

4. New scheme i) based on SCONUL Research Extraii) based on the holdings of the legal deposit libraries

5. National ILL service to be put out to tender to a private provider

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Recommendations

• British Library to form a consortium with range of partner libraries who would agree to provide ILL services to defined service standards and charges.

• The consortium would have its own management board, whose membership and role would be agreed at funding body levels.

• The consortium could invite into membership any library it wished (including CURL members), but the focus should be on participation by those with unique research collections

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Recommendations (continued)

Key characteristics for the development and subsequent operation of this option:

– It should be explicitly customer oriented. Contracts and service level agreements would bind all parties to agreed performance standards.

– Single online routing for all ILL requests via the BLDSC. Requests that could not be met by the BLDSC would automatically be sent on to an appropriate partner library for completion.

– A common pricing system should be developed based upon a realistic cost structure.

– Using the most comprehensive on-line catalogue available, the ordering process should encourage direct end user requesting.

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Report available at:

http://www.curl.ac.uk/projects/Monograph%20final.pdf

Consultation period to 31st August 2003

Comments to Marie-Pierre Detraz - CURL secretariat

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Strategic co-ordination: Research Support Libraries Group

Purpose: To advise on development of national strategy to ensure that UK researchers in all disciplines have access to world class information resources

Terms of reference:To advise the HE Funding Bodies, the British Library and NLS/NLW on strategies for promoting collaboration in, and integration of the development and provision of library collections, their long-term management, and services to support research

Report at www.rslg.ac.uk

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Strategic co-ordination: Research Support Libraries Group (2)

Recommendations

• UK should create a new body - Research Libraries Network - to lead and co-ordinate the provision of research information Roles of RLN:

• To give strategic leadership to the provision of research information in the UK

• To have executive function in ensuring that the programme is funded and implemented

• To act as a high-level advocate for research information RLN roles

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Strategic co-ordination: Research Support Libraries Group (3)

Proposed programme

• Resource discovery initiatives to help researchers identify and locate the resources they need

• Access developments

• Collection development and collection management initiatives

• Scholarly communication

• International representation

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Strategic co-ordination: Progress towards Research Libraries Network

• Report published spring 2003

• Conclusions and recommendations endorsed in principle by all 7 sponsors

• Study on governance and costs under way – due to report July / August 2003

• Broad endorsement in community, though with significant variation in opinion on detail

New Review of Academic Librarianship 2002.

Special issue on RSLG – full report plus viewpoints from a number of key stakeholders and library sectors

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In conclusion

• The British Library’s mission is to help people advance knowledge to enrich lives

• This allows us to be clear about our aims and the benefits of collaboration, and to focus on the end goal rather than obstacles along the way

• This end goal will continue to be best achieved through effective co-operation and partnership working, with the library network, with publishers, and with user communities, within strategic frameworks for effective national co-ordination of provision

the role of co-operation and partnerships – a national perspective

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