Meeting Wednesday 10th July 2013LGMA, Dublin

Attendees: Chris Bailey; Huw Evans; Gillian Hanlon; Annette Kelly (Chair); Nick Kingsley (for items 1 – 8, by teleconference); Irene O’Brien; Joanne Orr (for items 5 and 7, by teleconference); Helen Osborn; Jane Robinson (Co-ordinator).

Matthew Linning of MGS joined by teleconference for items 5, 6, 7 and 8.

ACTION MINUTES1. Welcome and apologies

Annette welcomed everyone to the meeting in particular Huw Evans representing CyMAL and Gillian Hanlon representing SLIC, both attending for the first time.

Apologies had been received from Scott Furlong and Stephen Scarth.

2. Minutes

The minutes were approved. There were no matters arising.

3. ALMA-UK budget planning

Jane reported on the current financial situation. All invoices were received and paid by the end of the last financial year in accordance with the financial statement minuted at the Nov 2012 meeting. Core expenditure is on track (for co-ordinator, 2 days/month plus expenses). SLIC continues to provide financial support to the group.

Project funding (from CyMAL and DCALNI) has been committed as follows:- £1,000 + VAT to update the archives data in the Economic Impact Toolkit,- £9,000 inclusive of VAT to complete the Return on Investment project.It was noted that SLIC has made an additional commitment of up to £3,000 for Scottish Libraries to take part in this project.

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Jane to circulate an updated financial statement.

With regards future budget planning, the group will be expected to give a firm commitment to funding for 2014-5 at the November meeting. There was in principle support to continue as currently. It was agreed that the current level of co-ordinator support (168 hours/year) is appropriate.

CyMAL expects to continue with its contribution of £10,000 across cross core and projects. Pooling resources for projects delivers good value for money.

Northern Ireland will set its budget towards the end of the financial year. It was noted that the social impact research could help make the case in Northern Ireland, as in Wales.

All to attempt to secure financial commitment for ALMA-UK next year, prior to next meeting in November.

4. Public Sector Information Directive

Nick had circulated the text of the latest amendment to the Directive on re-use of public sector information, published on 26th June 2013: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:175:0001:0008:EN:PDF

The final text includes a reasonable degree of flexibility in areas such as charging and enforcement, which were key concerns of the UK. Archives, museums and libraries, including public libraries, are brought within the scope for the first time, but benefit from numerous specific exceptions. The UK now has two years to transpose the Directive into law. Organisations will need to define their public task, as this determines the scope of how the new provisions will affect them. To facilitate this, TNA has held a session with national institutions and is planning regional events, with further training events likely later on to cover issues such as request handling and charging.

Helen asked Nick to relay back that the training session held in Belfast provided an excellent briefing.

Responding to a question from Chris, Nick confirmed that the timescale is now fixed for full implementation by November 2015. However the UK, being very keen, may implement in advance of this date. There will be consultation on the UK guidance, which is where definitions (e.g. of what is a museum in relation to the Directive) will be finalised.Regarding copyright, it was acknowledged that, although broadly

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supportive, the Directive has not gone as far as some in archives, museums and libraries would have liked.

The closing date for the IPO consultation is 2nd August. It was agreed that it would be helpful if ALMA-UK organisations could submit individual responses, and if possible, also a group response. With this in mind, Nick and Huw agreed to request sharing of the TNA and CyMAL/National Libraries Wales drafts with members of the group, and that Jane should draft a group response.

5. National Occupational Standards for libraries and archives

TNA and CyMAL continue to keep a watching brief. Nick reported on progress. The working group formed under the auspices of ELSIS (which includes CILIP) has agreed to set up a new independent body which would seek to own the standards. Although nothing is in place yet, and a meeting with government is still to happen, there is a willingness to take this forward and to secure partnership funding to do so.

The group agreed it needs to continue to keep the situation under review and this item on future agendas.

6. International Agenda

At the last meeting it had been agreed that international programmes and cultural tourism warranted further discussion at this meeting, in order to identify role(s) for ALMA-UK.

a) International ProgrammesAnnette introduced this topic. The Europeana International Conference in June focused on the opportunities and risks of digital cultural heritage. The focus is currently on securing a funding model for the future sustainability of Europeana.

Members of ALMA are taking part in programmes commemorating the centenary of WW1, under a broad range of themes.

CyMAL is the official lead body on WW1 commemorations and is advising the first minister. A Cabinet Paper is being drafted to make the case for additional funding for a wide-ranging programme including the impact of the war on society and industry in Wales. The People’s Collection will be the vehicle for users to generate content. National Library Wales is making new content available, launching the results of a £5k JISC project in October. A Welsh AHRC bid is also planned.

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NIMC is currently taking an overview - monitoring planned activities and encouraging participation in IWM, National Museums NI and NIMC programmes. NIMC is acting as co-ordinator for what will be just one component of a decade of centenaries. A meeting is planned in early September. The regimental museums are considering a range of programmes.

SLIC is encouraging public libraries to participate in programmes. Public Libraries Improvement funding is driving participation, with closure of a first round of applications on 1 July. Activities will celebrate the peoples’ experience, as well as incidents and episodes important in Scotland. As a separate strand, SLIC is meeting with Edinburgh University on behalf of government to investigate whether their crowd-sourcing initiative, Edinburgh’s War http://www.edinburghs-war.ed.ac.uk/ could be extended nationally.

LGMA is involved in the decade of commemorations in Ireland, with Ministers keen on pooling content through a history website, and public libraries planning a range of celebrations individually.

Libraries NI are keeping a watching brief on the decade of commemorations. Queen’s University is leading a partnership bid.

Scottish Council on Archives is co-ordinating the involvement of archives in programmes and encouraging them to complete a template to share what is happening locally. Glasgow Council has invited IWM to give a presentation on its plans on Friday 12th July. National Records of Scotland has just digitised the soldiers’ wills, making them available as a new resource.

The National Archives is very active digitising WW1 materials and suing crowd-sourcing to keyword assets. An education project is planned, as well as guided talks and events throughout the 4 years. They are also playing a cross-disciplinary lead role on behalf of ministers, co-ordinating sector-wide activity and directing archives towards potential sources of funding.

Discussion followed on WW1 content availability via Europeana. There is a lot of content, but it is not easily accessed.

Annette updated on the Digitisation Conference held in Dublin on 17th June. 60% of delegates were from elsewhere in the EU, and the conference demonstrated that policy makers are now behind the digitising agenda. Building on this success, a public libraries conference is being planned for next year, promoting the benefits of public libraries and showcasing examples of enterprising new practice

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from Denmark, Finland etc. The Carnegie Trust is being considered as a potential funder.

Discussion followed on whether the Carnegie Trust http://www.carnegieuktrust.org.uk/home might be a potential funder of future ALMA-UK activity, given they have an interest in national co-ordination. The new EU programme, Horizon 2020, http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm might also be a potential source of funding.

b) Cultural TourismIrene and Helen had circulated Visit Scotland’s Ancestral Tourism report: http://www.visitscotland.org/pdf/Ancestral%20Research%2016%20Jan%20vs.org_pptx.pdf in advance of the meeting. It was agreed this was a useful piece of research and an excellent start point to prompt members of the group to share examples of any good practice cultural tourism initiatives in their countries/domains.

Helen cited two emerging strands proving potentially useful to stimulate cultural tourism: Derry/Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013 and Dublin’s status as UNESCO City of Literature.

Chris commented that a lot of ancestral initiatives centre on place, with local museums acting as hubs. It is important to make sure that web pages streamline people to plan in visit museums, libraries and archive facilities, programmes and events.

Annette reported that in Ireland, ancestral tourism focuses on The Gathering : http://www.thegatheringireland.com/

All members of the group to share examples of museum library and archive cultural tourism initiatives.

7. Strategy Evaluation

Joanne introduced Matthew Linning to present MGS’s recent work on developing a Monitoring and Evaluation Programme to monitor and assess the impact of “Going Further: the National Strategy for Scotland’s Museums and Galleries” published in 2012.

Following a period of consultation a Delivery Plan: “From Strategy to Action” was published in May 2013.

Between December and March 2013, MGS commissioned consultants

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to develop a Monitoring and Evaluation Programme to track the performance of the sector. It is based on two main Strands:

Strand 1 - Monitoring - a considerable amount of work had been completed to establish a Statistical Baseline for the sector, drawing on a range of publicly available data sources. It is presented in a PowerPoint format with summary statistics and hyperlinks to facilitate data-mining. Sections cover audience profile, museum performance, funding and economic impact. The aim is to use this information to set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), in partnership with the sector, for monitoring strategy delivery. This baseline will be published within the next couple of months and Joanne will circulate it to ALMA-UK members for their comment and feedback.The objective is to further develop the baseline in terms of the range and quality of the data sources, for example securing more museum questions in the Scottish Household Survey and in the Visitor Attractions Monitor. The approach is to systematically get more value out of what people contribute anyway, with the aim of increasing response rates and improving data quality. CyMAL endorsed the value of this approach, citing that in Wales, CyMAL are getting museum questions into data collected by the tour sector. MGS is also keen to improve the benchmarking of Scotland with other parts of the UK. Chris noted that NIMC would be happy to supply or point MGS in the direction of comparators in Northern Ireland, should this be useful.

Strand 2 – Evaluation – there are three main elements to the evaluation strand:

o Commissioning a small number of high quality /high impact evaluations which focus on impact and lessons learned (commissioned by both MGS and its partners in Scotland)

o Sharing this evaluation evidence to inform and, where relevant, change behaviour

o Supporting a process of capacity building across the sector to enhance monitoring and evaluation knowledge and skills.

8. Presentation on Libraries Development in LGMA Ireland

Annette gave a short presentation on libraries development work of the LGMA since it was established last year. The focus has been on

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developing the strategy. The draft strategy document has just been submitted for departmental sign-off. 6 weeks of public consultation is then planned, following which the draft will go for consideration by the national forum of all departments with an interest in libraries.

The strategy has three overarching themes – economy, community and culture. It will drive future activities and programmes. Annette provided some examples.

Commitment to the Capital Programme, which has resulted in the creation of 100 new state-of-the-art libraries so far, will continue. A further 250 libraries require refurbishment.

An annual audit of libraries’ buildings and services will be undertaken, that can overlay other mapping, e.g. to areas of deprivation and schools.

Opening hours are under review, as usage has increased where these have increased. Three pilots of the Danish model of Open Libraries (where members use smart cards to access libraries out of hours where the sole security is by CCTV) are planned.

The strategy re-positions libraries away from leisure into community engagement and well-being, with a shift in priorities towards job-seeking, learning and literacy.

Shared services are being investigated. Measures being considered include use of literacy liaison officers; regional support networks and joining up of local authority services to bridge gaps. The new strategy means that 14 currently vacant senior city/county posts can now be filled.

Shared procurement is being encouraged.

The public consultation is due to open on 24th July. Annette will circulate the draft to ALMA-UK members then.

Nick Kingsley and Matthew Linning left the meeting at this point.

9. Return on Investment toolkit for Libraries

Helen reported that the project is now moving again, with ERS commissioned to undertake surveys in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales before the end of July, and then to analyse and report on the findings and complete the toolkit by the autumn. In Wales, 10 local authorities are participating, including a mix of north/south, urban/rural and covering 35 branch libraries. In Scotland, 66 branch

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libraries from within 11 local authorities are taking part. In Northern Ireland, a sample of 8 libraries is participating from across the service.

Helen asked if there were any lessons learned from using the museums and archives toolkit that might help, for example with dissemination, and securing buy-in.

Chris commented that the museums toolkit had been well received by users, but that there is still work to do to ensure the robustness of the data that is put in. Irene commented that despite this, a useful overall picture is emerging, and the improvements to the archives toolkit currently under way, embedding the Public Service Quality Questionnaire will improve data quality.

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10. Economic Impact Toolkit for Museums and Archives

Irene updated on this project. Oliver Allies has been engaged to do two day’s work to improve the economic data that underpins the toolkit, drawing from CIPFA, and other sources, such as ARA and TNA.

Discussion followed on what the next steps might be in relation to both the museums/archives toolkit and the libraries one. It was agreed that next steps should be:- taking forward the planned complementary social impact research

as soon as it is realistic- joining up what emerged from both Economic Impact and ROI

reports.These are to be considered at the next meeting.

Huw agreed to enquire about progress with the social impact research brief. He noted that social return on investment work previously done in Wales was useful despite issues with robustness of data.

Annette noted that research has been done in Ireland on the economic value of libraries. She will circulate the report.

11. Leadership development

Jane had been asked to investigate the Clore offer to inform discussion on what ALMA-UK’s focus on leadership development should be.

The current Clore Cultural Leadership Programme is strategically commissioned by ACE, and offers emerging leaders the opportunity to apply for grants to join with peers for 2-week-long short leadership development courses. People from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can apply to join the courses at a full cost of £4,500 + VAT per person.

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The group went on to discuss what ALMA-UK might be able to do to support leadership development. It was agreed that it is a key issue of for the sector. Lead organisations (such as the nationals and some local authorities) are starting to engage with it. There are grants available. Should ALMA-UK’s role be advocating for leadership development? Or signposting to what is available? Or what else?

Discussion followed on whether key points and messages might be drawn from the two leadership reports (currently unpublished) to promote the benefits of leadership development and encourage engagement.

A key question is – where can I get leadership training? It was noted that often such questions are referred for answer to the strategic bodies, so there might be merit in ALMA-UK providing signposting and advocating for it.

It was also noted that good leadership and good governance are closely aligned, and that it is less about attending courses and more about networking and mentoring. Could ALMA-UK collectively access senior people to share their experiences, perhaps through mentoring?

It was noted that the leadership unit of SLIC’s Public Libraries Quality Improvement Matrix is the one least selected for assessment. For this reason, leadership is going to be embedded in the other units of the PLQIM.

It was also noted that national occupational standards and professional development/CPD requirements have a role to play in driving leadership development by motivating individuals to learn leadership skills.

12. Bill and Melinda Gates Evaluation project

Annette reported that the findings of this project had been presented at the recent NAPLE meeting. Some of the measurements had been challenged as poor indicators of how people use public libraries.

Helen has seen the EU-wide report, and some of the UK statistics are useful, and harvestable, e.g. on use of computers to help employment and e-government.

It was acknowledged that the results do not present a very useful overview of the situation in Western Europe, understandably so, as this is not where the Foundation’s priorities lie. It was agreed not to pursue this line of investigation further.

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It was also agreed that the Carnegie Trust’s report on public libraries may provide opportunities for ALMA-UK. Whilst they won’t fund infrastructure, they will support staff development and implementing strategy. It was agreed that group members should identify possible opportunities for securing a meeting with the Carnegie Trust.

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13. Member updates

Updates were not discussed - to be read outside the meeting.

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14. Website update

Jane reported that she has done some updating but has still to improve the Economic Impact page, as agreed last time. It is currently the most visited page (with 148 visits in the last quarter), and updating will make it more accessible to users.

15. AOB

It was suggested that with membership now extended to include Ireland that the group might want to think about a name change. It was agreed to consider this, and what the implications might be.

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16. Next meeting

To be hosted by CyMAL in Cardiff. Huw will consult on venue and possible dates in the first two weeks of November.

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