Both library services in our Learning and Skills Council area are active
participants within the local IAG Partnership - both gaining the previous
IAG Quality Standards and now working with "Matrix".
In terms of service delivery, we currently focus on "information" provision
and are able to satisfy their requirements for management information by
supplying fairly crude statistics on the volume of "episodes". However, the
management information required for "advice episodes" requires the
completion of a "Short Event Record" (SER). As the definition of "advice
episodes" can easily extend to simply handling a more complex information
enquiry, and their financial value to use in delivery terms is higher, we do
not want to exclude them artificially from our provision.
We are, therefore, currently trying to engage our local LSC (and nationally
if relevant) about our concerns regarding the SER and how applicable (or
otherwise) it is for blanket use within library services for this part of
the IAG provision. We are struggling to have it recognised that library
use - whether for IAG enquiries or the far wider range of information
enquiries our staff handle - is characterised by the ability of our users to
come in independently and anonymously, with little or no intervention about
ethnicity, employment status, home address, highest level of qualification
or learning aim.
Is anyone experiencing similar problems with their local LSC?
Nigel Ward
Head of Community Services
(Libraries, Arts and Lifelong Learning)
Solihull Central Library
Homer Road
Solihull B91 3RG
Tel: 0121 704 6945
Fax: 0121 704 6991
[log in to unmask]
|