**Apologies for cross posting**
Today (23 November 1998) the Rt Hon Chris Smith MP, Secretary of State
for Culture, Media and Sport, launched a new Research and Innovation
Centre funded report:
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Feasibility study to establish a London Library Developement Agency/
by Vision Research Consortium
BLR&I report 142
ISBN 0712397353
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Available from: British Thesis Service, British Library Document
Supply Centre, Boston Spa, Wetherby LS23 7BQ tel: 01937 546229; fax:
01937 546286; email: [log in to unmask] Price in the
UK: microfiche £5.00; photocopy £12.00
A previous report, London Library City, commissioned by the Department
of National Heritage (now the Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
considered the issues facing library services in London and
recommended that a development agency be set up to explore new
opportunities for developing a strategic London-wide approach to
library services, enhancing co-operation and delivering value for
money.
This study investigates the need for and feasibility of establishing a
London Library Development Agency under the circumstances pertaining
in the autumn of 1998 and concludes that its establishment is both
feasible and desirable. It should, however, be set up as a
transitional body. Its major activities should include: seeking to
bring into being a high-impact, cross-sectoral body representing all
types of library in London; developing a strategy for a successful
interface between London's libraries and the GLA; associating itself
with a range of successful and visible activities which enhance the
development of a vision for London's libraries; developing
partnerships with organisations outside the libraries sector, in order
to move the Agency toward a position where it is seen by interested
parties as a "first point of entry" for public libraries in a
marketing context; seeking funding for a piece of research to take
place in 1999/2000 to demonstrate the value of work which is central
to the LLDA vision; and, undertaking advocacy activities.
Three more new reports have been published recently:
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Statistics from the NHS Regional Librarians Group 1996-97/ by Alison
Murphy
BLR&I report 131
ISBN 1901786072
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Available from: Publications Section, LISU, Loughborough University,
Loughborough LE11 3TU tel: 01509 223071; fax: 01509 223072; email:
[log in to unmask] Price in the UK: £25.00
The second published survey of the operations and performance of
National Health Service libraries.
The information, collected and made available by the NHS Regional
Librarians Group, is invaluable for managers of individual NHS
libraries and for regional and national health managers. The report is
arranged in two parts: a summary and analysis section, followed by
regional data tables which give data for each library that took part
in the survey. It provides a comprehensive overview of the provision
of library services within the NHS and includes information on:
expenditure on staff and materials; sources of funding; provision of
services, including interlending, photocopying and mediated
searching; resources and use, including book and journal stock,
acquisitions, loans and end-user searching; breakdowns of potential
and actual user populations; and floor space, staffed opening hours
and study space. Derived statistics such as expenditure per potential
user, loans per actual user, cost per journal title etc., allow
comparisons to be made between service points and between regions.
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Open learning and the Internet in public libraries/ by Angela
McCormick and Audrey Sutton
BLR&I report 135
ISBN 0712397299
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Available from: British Thesis Service, British Library Document
Supply Centre, Boston Spa, Wetherby LS23 7BQ tel: 01937 546229; fax:
01937 546286; email: [log in to unmask] Price in the
UK: microfiche £5.00; photocopy £12.00
Also available on the Internet at:
http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/blric/Contents.htm
The report presents the findings of the South Ayrshire Libraries Open
Learning and the Internet project which took place between September
1997 and October 1998. The objective of the project was to demonstrate
how open learning materials available on the Internet could be
integrated with the provision of local open learning resources to
provide an enhanced learning environment in the public library. The
main areas of concentration within the project were information skills
support to public library users and the provision of Web-based
independent materials to learners. The organisation and retrieval of
Web-based resources for local use was a major issue throughout the
project. Conclusions have included the adoption of Dublin Core
metadata standards, the connection of databases of resources with
searchable web pages, and the development of thesauri of terms used to
index the Web-based resources locally. Staff training, and the new
skills which will need to be developed, were identified as issues.
Cost was also identified as a related issue, extending to issues such
as access to open learning material and the Internet. The project
shows that the Internet is already a rich repository of information
and course materials, but that careful consideration of these
resources is necessary before they are recommended to learners. Many
problems, both technical and philosophical, remain. The exposure of
learners in a public library environment to information skills for the
World Wide Web can enable learners and librarians to work together to
identify appropriate courses and materials. Models for future
development were identified. One possibility is to develop the
Project's support of open learners using online sources. Another is to
continue the local partnership and continue to provide information
skills and subject-based support to learners at a cost to the
institutions concerned. Interest in the project reinforces the view
that public libraries can usefully engage in the research process and
produce knowledge which will contribute to the development of the
information society.
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LISU annual library statistics 1998: featuring trend analysis of UK
public and academic libraries 1987-97/ by Claire Creaser and Jane
Scott
BLR&I report 139
Includes Public library statistics report no.12 (ISSN 0967-487X)
ISBN: 1901786102
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Available from: Publications Section, LISU, Loughborough University,
Loughborough LE11 3TU tel: 01509 223071; fax: 01509 223072; email:
[log in to unmask] Price in the UK: £27.50
The LISU annual library statistics summarises trends in provision and
performance in various UK library and information sectors. The book
allows practitioners to compare their own performance with
national and sector averages, and to identify recent trends and plan
future developments. It provides researchers with essential background
for further work, and gives non-librarian planners and managers an
overview of library provision in the UK. There is detailed information
on expenditure, income, staff, users, stock and issues, and on many
other features. This issue also includes additional information of
use to managers producing public library plans, an extended section on
special libraries, and a summary of a recent survey on school
libraries.
Full details of all reports published by the Centre from 1997 to date
are available on the Centre's web pages:
http://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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