http://www.rslg.ac.uk/consult/

A response by The Library Association

1. Introduction

1.1 The Library Association is the professional body that represents some 24,000 librarians and information workers in the United Kingdom. Under the terms of its Royal Charter, The Association has a duty to promote high quality library and information services and to advise government, employers and others on all aspects of library and information provision.

1.2 Therefore we welcome the opportunity to contribute to the Research Support Libraries Group call for evidence

1.3 The Library Association response is formed by expressions from our membership. Within that context we offer the following comments for your consideration.

2. Needs of UK Researchers

2.1 Researchers in the UK need easy access to timely, reliable, international information regardless of discipline. This can be ameliorated by the development of robust ICT infrastructures to enable effective ‘one-stop-shop’ research access. This would necessitate a greater standardisation of materials description, an issue for those who design and develop software as well as for the librarians who exploit it. The current development of a number of software applications is rendering some past information inaccessible.

2.2 It has been suggested that the Research Centre for Social Science (RCSS) model of a dedicated information officer within an organisation would facilitate the ease of access to information by researchers. The role of the information officer would be to maintain awareness of current research activities, understand the personal interest areas of ‘their’ researchers and be aware of the research opportunities for their user community – a community that may be increasingly scattered physically and linked by ICT.

3. Provision

3.1 Recent collection description projects, such as those funded by the Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) and the British Library Co-operation and Partnership Programme (BLCPP) describe collections, particularly of printed material, which are not catalogued at the item level. Therefore, a researcher may be made aware via a website of a collection of potential interest only to find, on contacting the holding institution, that no catalogue to it exists, even in manual form.  As collection description projects have raised awareness of collections, so the need for a comprehensive cataloguing programme for research collections becomes greater. The Research Support Libraries Group may wish to draw on the findings of the various collection description and collection mapping projects to identify priorities for such cataloguing.

4. Current Gaps

4.1 The collection description projects have done much invaluable work, but of necessity only cover selected subjects or categories of material.  A systematic identification of gaps in provision could be undertaken, with a view to completing the national picture.

4.2 There needs to be a guarantee of continued access to information that is held only in digital format. Those responsible for this guarantee need to be specifically identified and their responsibilities defined.

5. Preservation

5.1 The question of physical preservation is crucial, in particular with regard to nineteenth and twentieth century material. Only a huge programme of de-acidification and paper conservation, accompanied, where appropriate, by the provision of surrogates, can hope to preserve collections of rapidly deteriorating brittle material. It is likely that in the future researchers will find many original sources from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have literally crumbled away.  Many large research libraries no longer have in-house conservation units. Even with the assistance of external funding they are often unable to afford full conservation treatment at commercial rates for more than a handful of items per year.  The regional approach, exemplified in Scotland by Dundee University's conservation unit, is regarded with envy by many other institutions in the UK. A systematic and strategic approach to provision, perhaps with a network of part-funded regional conservation units, might be a course worth investigating.

6. Funding

6.1 The funding made available to higher education institutions by RSLP under the Supporting Access to Major Holdings Libraries scheme has been welcomed and proved invaluable. It is hoped that a similar funding stream will be a feature of the Research Support Libraries Group's strategy.

7. Other Comments

7.1 The ability to attract suitably skilled information staff may impact on initial library and information training and continuing professional development programmes.

7.2  Information officers or research analysts (as used extensively in the private sector) have a role that may be difficult to accommodate in traditional university staffing terms. Therefore there may be a need to introduce more fixed-term contracts for information staff. If this is the case, equality of pay, status and conditions of service with staff on full contracts of employment needs to be maintained.

7.3 Many library services in the higher education sector are working within cross-sectoral partnership arrangements. An increase in the amount of collaboration with the private sector would be beneficial to both the information provider and the researcher.

7.4 There is a need for access to adequate training and continuing professional development programmes, for both researchers and their information providers.

8. Conclusion

8.1 The Library Association hopes that the comments provided prove useful and welcome the possibility of further engagement in this debate.

The Library Association, September 2001

For further information please contact:

Kathy Ennis
Professional Adviser, Academic And Research Libraries
020 7255 0633
kathy.ennis@la-hq.org.uk