Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal April 2005 Volume 3 (2)

NEWS

Grants for ‘equity and access’ projects

Successful applicants for grants from the SLIC Innovation, Development and Research Fund 2005 have been announced. This year, they focused on library and information projects in the field of improving equity and access. Projects commenced this month (April).

SLIC received 33 applications to the Fund this year. The successful projects are as follows:

Homebound users on-line access
Falkirk Council Library Service (£7,727)
To enhance homebound users access to library service resources through web based catalogue using laptop computers and mobile phone technology.

Cultural diversity evaluation toolkit
West Lothian College (£10,000)
To produce a resource and service evaluation kit that will enable libraries to respond fully to the legislative requirements of the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000.

Project Wishart
Dundee City Council Communities Department (£10,000)
To develop a transferable model for applying library and information services to the sharp end of drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

Centre for Digital Library Research at Strathclyde University (£9997)
To create guidelines for best practice in choosing and using metadata for the management of digital objects in the Scottish Information Environment.

Help yourself to learning
Scottish Borders Library and Information Service (£10,000)
To develop and deliver tutor supported learning opportunities, encourage self-help access to learning and generate hard copy support materials to include in the ‘Help Yourself’ literacies initiative collections in libraries.

‘Right to Read’ in protest

Blind and partially sighted adults and children presented a 30,000 signature petition to Downing Street recently to call on the Government to end discrimination against those who have a sight problem, reading disability or dyslexia.

95% of all books, magazines and other publications never become available in large print, audio or Braille which means that every day in the UK three million people are denied the Right to Read.

The Right to Read Alliance, made up of 17 organisations including the National Library for the Blind, RNIB, Calibre Cassette Library, LOOK, and the British Dyslexia Association, has been campaigning for two years for everyone to have access to the same material, at the same time, at the same price. The Alliance has been asking supporters to sign the Right to Read Charter, which calls for Government funding to increase the production of alternative format books and to remove VAT from audio books.

With around 125,000 print titles published in the UK each year they fear they’re fighting a losing battle.

Helen Brazier, Chief Executive of the National Library for the Blind, said: “It’s appalling that three million people in this country still can’t read everything they want to read. We are simply asking for books for everyone – not just for everyone who can read print.’
Availability of Accessible Publications by Suzanne Lockyer, Claire Creaser and J Eric Davies. Published by Loughborough University’s Library and Information Services Unit (LISU) in November 2004.

Healthy reading

Scotland’s first healthy reading scheme has been launched in Glasgow and East Renfrewshire.

The Healthy Reading initiative is a partnership between libraries and local health councils. Patients will receive additional support to aid their well-being, through a prescription to a book likely to help in some areas of stress or emotional problems. Seven libraries in the Glasgow City Council authority are participating, and Thornliebank library in East Renfrewshire Council. There are plans to extend the scheme to other libraries

GPs have access to a list of 35 books and can discretely point patients to self-help books aiming to lead patients to greater understanding of their problems. Rhona Brankin MSP, Deputy Health Minister, launching the scheme, welcomed the partnership and encouraged other library services to consider similar initiatives, which she felt could have a positive impact by addressing problems.

The Greater Glasgow project follows a healthy reading pilot in Cardiff, which proved so successful that it is to be rolled out across Wales as ‘Book Prescription Wales’. (see President’s Perspective). And in England, other schemes are in place in Devon and Ipswich.

Reveal your information

Revealweb ‘the national database of resources in accessible formats’ is a database that brings together information about books produced in accessible formats. It contains more than 110,000 records. Revealweb signposts users to organisations that can supply material. The complementary Register of Suppliers gives information on the terms and conditions under which resources are made available and how to get hold of them. It is managed and supported by the RNIB and NLB.

If your organisation produces material that you are willing to share contact manager@revealweb.org.uk.

To sign up for a free bulletin, go to: www.revealweb.org.uk

Information Scotland Vol. 3 (2) April 2005

Information Scotland is delivered online by the SAPIENS electronic publishing service based at the Centre for Digital Library Research. SLAINTE (Scottish libraries across the Internet) offers further information about librarianship and information management in Scotland.