**Apologies for cross-posting**
     
     The British Library Research and Innovation Centre has published
     two new reports:
     
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     Information needs of rural users: an update
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     Rural communities have changed in recent years including
     alterations in employment and living patterns, transport and other
     local facilities, age and wealth distributions. At the same time,
     the growth of information and communication technologies, and the
     World Wide Web in particular have made it easy to disseminate
     information. There has also been a growth in the concept of
     community information networks. These developments and changes
     indicate a need to reappraise the needs of people living in rural
     areas. This report reviews and updates our understanding of the
     information needs and access of individuals and groups living,
     working, and being educated in rural areas of the United Kingdom.
     It looks at the published literature in the past 15 years,
     utilising statistical and electronic information, and surveys
     public libraries and the main organisations concerned with rural
     society. To supplement this information, some small-scale case
     studies in rural villages were carried out. It summarises the
     difficulties that people in rural areas face
     when needing information, and looks at ways in which access could
     be made easier through both conventional and technological means.
     
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     A strategic policy framework for creating and preserving digital
     collections: a report to the Digital Archiving Working Group
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     The report addresses the critical issue of developing a strategic
     policy framework for the creation and long-term preservation of
     those digital resources which will form our future cultural and
     intellectual heritage. It provides a high-level presentation of
     the framework identifying how policies need to addressed, the key
     stages in the life cycle of a digital resource, the
     inter-relationships and dependencies between each stage, and how
     these are influenced by the legal and business environment within
     which the digital resource is created, used and ultimately
     preserved. Case studies demonstrate how issues identified in the
     framework have been addressed by organisations in different
     business environments. A summary of best practice and standards
     in implementing the framework is also included. This report is
     also available on the Internet at:
     http://ahds.ac.uk/manage/framework.htm
     
     
     Further details, including ordering information, are available
     from the Centre's web pages: www.bl.uk/services/ric/.
     
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     Simon Matty
     Information Officer
     Research and Innovation Centre
     The British Library
     2 Sheraton Street
     London W1V 4BH
     
     tel: 0171 412 7054
     fax: 0171 412 7251
     email: [log in to unmask]
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