**Apologies for cross-posting**
     
     Five new reports based on research funded by the Research and 
     Innovation Centre are now available. Further details, including 
     ordering information, are available from the Centre's web pages: 
     www.bl.uk/services/ric/.
     
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     New measures for the new library: a social audit of public libraries 
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     This report demonstrates the social impact of the public library. 
     Documenting the experience of library users, staff, and local 
     politicians it shows that public library services promote social 
     cohesion and create confidence in individuals and communities. Public 
     libraries are community landmarks that reinforce community identity. 
     They also help individuals, especially older people, overcome the 
     problems of social isolation and loneliness. The recognised and 
     established functions of the public library in terms of reading, 
     education, information, culture and leisure also remain important. The 
     report argues that qualitative data, properly gathered, are valid 
     evidence and should be used as such by politicians and professionals. 
     The report provides policy makers, practitioners and academics with a 
     framework for understanding the social impact of the library. This can 
     be used as a practical tool by library managers to identify the 
     factors that can help and hinder the achievement of social objectives.
     
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     Electronic serials in public libraries 
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     This project investigated the impact of electronic serials on UK 
     public libraries. The current provision and promotion of electronic 
     serials is described and it is noted that the majority of those 
     provided were newspapers in CD-ROM format; very few authorities had 
     taken out a subscription to an Internet-based serial. The benefits and 
     pitfalls presented by electronic serials and the main management 
     issues are also explored. It was found that there was a lack of policy 
     documents relating to electronic serials and that staff are facing 
     serious problems supporting electronic resources (it was noted that 
     the lower levels of ICT training and awareness in branch libraries was 
     a particular problem). The research has also shown that most public 
     libraries are not measuring the use of electronic serials; anecdotal 
     evidence suggests that, while use of serials on CD-ROM is healthy, 
     usage levels of Internet-based serials are very modest. The report 
     also proposes performance indicators which may be applied to 
     electronic serials. The main conclusions of the research are that 
     there will be benefits for library users if libraries are able to 
     extend their collections of serials on CD-ROM and, most importantly, 
     if they begin to provide co-ordinated access to Internet content, 
     including serials.
     
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     Academic library effectiveness
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     The remit of this investigation was to develop a small set of 
     performance indicators which would enable funding bodies, 
     vice-chancellors and other senior university managers to compare 
     library effectiveness across the UK higher education sector. The 
     report recommends a small set of management statistics (as opposed to 
     performance indicators) covering per capita expenditures, seat
     hours per week per user, lending and user education data. The report 
     also recommends the provision of "contextual" data largely on the size 
     of the institution to facilitate interpretation of the management 
     statistics. Recommendations for further work on the electronic 
     library, benchmarking, user satisfaction, document availability, 
     information services, user education, impact, in-house use and access 
     vs holding are also included.
     
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     Libraries in the workplace
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     This report presents the findings of the first major questionnaire 
     survey of library and information services in the UK workplace. 
     Included are government organisations, professional associations and 
     charities, and the corporate sectors of pharmaceutics, finance, 
     energy, management consultancy and law. There are data on the 
     organisations and their users, staffing, electronic and printed 
     resources, interlending, performance and expenditure. Sectoral 
     estimates are included for key data.
     
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     Information policy in the electronic age  
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     This book brings together many of the papers presented at the 
     Information Policy Briefing Lectures, organised by the Research and 
     Innovation Centre. The briefings illuminate current detailed research 
     into the dynamic world of information policy and are designed to help 
     policy makers in both national and local governments as well as in the 
     information industry. The contributions cover a diverse range of 
     issues including: the US national information infrastructure, current 
     UK and EU policy issues, information reliability, and the public 
     library in the next century.
     
     
     *******************************
     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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