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£3 million national framework for UK research information announced
Research Libraries Network promises UK researchers 'joined-up' services
A new national initiative - the Research Libraries Network (RLN) - announced today, is set to transform the way research information is collected, organised, preserved and accessed across the UK. The RLN will bring together the UK's four higher education funding bodies, the British Library, the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales and the eight members of Research Councils UK to develop the UK's first national framework aimed at addressing the information needs of researchers.
The financial, technological and organisational demands on university and research libraries are huge. They include the transition to electronic publishing, the increasing volume and cost of information, new models for publishing and disseminating research (such as Open Archives), researchers' changing patterns of behaviour, massive growth in the volume of publicly-funded research, and government initiatives to foster innovation and technology transfer.
The RLN aims to provide the unified and focused strategic leadership needed to address these demands. Set up following the recommendations of the Research Support Libraries Group (RSLG), and endorsed by the House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills, the RLN will:
· provide strategic leadership for collaboration between publicly-funded research information providers and their users - to develop effective, efficient and integrated information resources and services to support UK research
· co-ordinate action to propose and specify solutions to meet researchers' changing needs - building on the earlier studies into UK researchers' needs carried out by the RSLG
· act as a high-level advocate for research information, across the UK and internationally.
For more information on the RLN see the press release in the News area of the British Library's website at www.bl.uk
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Henry Girling
Regional and Library Programmes
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB
T: 020 7412 7333
F: 020 7412 7155
W: www.bl.uk
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