Information Scotland

The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland

October 2006 Volume 4(5)

Resource sharing

Can we inspire Scotland?

Cross-sectoral library collaboration is healthy in Scotland, but Chris Pinder suggests joining the Inspire programme from England would make things even better.

In his Presidential Address, delivered to the CILIPS Conference in 2005, Alastair Johnston identified the need for a nationally co-ordinated strategy for libraries which would lead to the delivery of more cost-effective services for more people across Scotland. A major plank of such an initiative would be “the exciting opportunities… for joint and imaginative partnership working within and across the sectors.”

Cross-sectoral library collaboration and co-operation is flourishing in Scotland – one only has to note the activities of the various regional consortia ALF (Ayrshire Libraries Forum), ELISA (Edinburgh Libraries & Information Services Agency), GALT (Glasgow Area Libraries Together), GI (Grampian Information) and TAFLIN (Tayside And Fife Library & Information Network) to gain an appreciation of how much progress has been made in recent years.

Additionally, the Resource Sharing Scotland project, funded by SLIC (Scottish Library & Information Council), is looking at meaningful resource sharing on an ILL basis with readers borrowing from member institutions and being able to reserve material from other systems. While it is hoped to roll out RSS across the whole of Scotland in due course, the immediately achievable focus within the regional consortia must surely remain that of reciprocal access.

Despite this, there is an absence of any really meaningful central support in terms of either strategy or funding. Our regional initiatives remain just that: individual, autonomous and independent. Furthermore, they rely primarily for their continued existence on the goodwill and freely given resources of committed institutions and individuals.

Look southwards and it all seems much better organised! Why so? Government support, a properly functioning regional structure and funding cannot but help.

Inspire is a national (English) two-year programme, with lasting implications, to improve access for all learners to resources held in national, higher education and public libraries. Funding comes from the Regional Libraries Advisory Group which is sponsored by the British Library, CILIP and the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (MLA) and through the Department of Culture Media & Sport’s Action Plan supporting Framework for the Future, the public library strategy to 2013. Joined-up indeed.

Lead organisations are: the British Library, the Society of Chief Librarians (which covers public library authorities in England, Wales and N.I.), SCONUL (Society of College, National & University Libraries) and the MLA and its regional agencies. It is also supported by the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales. Inspire’s vision is to create seamless access across 4,000 public, three national and 700 higher education libraries as well as bringing on board further specialist libraries where possible. Already there is commitment from more than 80% of public and HE libraries and an increasing number of FE and health libraries. The project’s aim of ensuring that learners, irrespective of status, can access the most appropriate learning materials, wherever they are located, cannot but resonate positively north of the border too.
Through registering with Inspire, libraries adopt a set of criteria which are deemed to be “kitemarked”. This is a surprisingly undemanding framework which includes guarantees on visitor access and staff awareness, with collection strengths being publicised through the “Findit” website.
More than 170 people from all library sectors attended the Inspire Conference in April; only three came from Scotland. For us not to engage positively with Inspire is a mistake for, if nothing else, it must be seen as a positive driver for change and a means to spread awareness, engagement and, ultimately, commitment to the process of maximising access to resources.
While Inspire has no official remit to include Scotland or, indeed, Wales or Northern Ireland it is very keen to do so. SCURL (Scottish Confederation of University & Research Libraries) has discussed adopting the kitemark, though not necessarily under the Inspire banner, and is keen for cross-border linkage to take place. Adding weight to this view, the recent RIN (Research Information Network) report on access to digital content for members of the public recommends that Universities UK and Higher Education Funding Bodies formally endorse and support the Inspire programme.

Scottish HE libraries already operate on a UK-wide platform through membership of SCONUL which operates reciprocal access schemes. Some Scottish HE libraries are also members of CURL (Consortium of University Research Libraries) which has a mission to increase the ability of research libraries to share resources. Co-operation and collaboration is, thus, high on the agenda of academic libraries. While public libraries are involved in Scottish regional initiatives and, individually, show a willingness to be actively engaged in co-operative issues it is more difficult to hear a unified voice speaking on behalf of all of them and which could clear the path for participation in schemes such as Inspire.
Inspire’s strength is that it is a national brand though it remains sensitive to existing
regional and local initiatives. Many of the English regional co-operatives have taken the lead in signing-up and committing to its aims. Should we in Scotland not follow suit and become stakeholders through the likes of ALF and TAFLIN or, better still, through SCURL and the entire public library sector working together? In this way the access and resources sharing agenda will be taken forward across the whole of Scotland.
Let’s pick up the baton laid down by Alastair Johnston and embrace Inspire… for the good of all our learners.

Chris Pinder is Director of Learning Information Services, Napier University.

Information Scotland Vol. 4(5) October 2006

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.

Last updated: 08-Dec-2006