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 June 2009 Volume 7(3)

CILIPS Conference: Reports

I was delighted that Richard Boulderstone, Director of e-Strategy for the British Library, was talking about Libraries of the Future. As a huge fan of the British Library I had been looking forward to his presentation. 

After a quick overview of the range of resources available at the BL, its impact on research and its contribution to the national and local economy, we were introduced to the new Digital Research Centre, currently being built on an acre of land behind the library to support storage and access to the library’s huge catalogue of digital resources and to assist researchers. The aim is not just to appeal to traditional researchers, but to include anyone with a research need – family historians, entrepreneurs, business people, and citizen scholars. As a result, Richard and his team have been working tirelessly to ensure that the content, services and the actual building is capable of meeting the complex needs of such a diverse set of users. An obvious question might be: “Why are they creating a physical building to house a digital collection?”. Well, it seems that, due to licensing issues, most of the digital resources will only be accessible on the premises. But this also means that visitors will be supported in their research by onsite staff.

The proposed layout for the building certainly looks attractive. A lot of thought has gone into creating a welcoming space that encourages and supports creativity. As a researcher I was relieved to see a balance between collaborative research spaces and private study areas.   

So, what is next for this ambitious project? Richard stresses that in order to meet the completion deadline of 2014,  there is a need for ongoing partnership working, between numerous internal and external agencies, from the private, public and academic sectors. I am already looking forward to visiting the centre.   

Journeying together

Up next was a personal journey in leadership from Rebecca Davies, Director of Information Services at Aberystwyth University. As a relatively new professional I was particularly interested in any advice on becoming established within a profession which, at times, can be difficult to infiltrate. Rebecca presented scenarios from her past which included trying to get a new idea off the ground, clashing with librarians who had been ‘in the job for years’, negative attitudes and cynicism. Many delegates were nodding their heads knowingly: it seems that such challenges are not the sole concern of new professionals. 

While as library and information professionals we have a responsibility to be innovative and to embrace new technologies, we also need to be aware of our personal and professional limits and confidently assess which battles are worth fighting for, and which ones we should walk away from. Rebecca suggested that a “yes we can” attitude is key to our success, but that it must be balanced with an appreciation for the organisational culture, and a willingness to collaborate and persevere to ‘get people on board’. 

Although it is important to use all of the tools at our disposal to ‘sell our vision’ she recommended we were cautious not to kill ourselves in the process. Indeed, it is important to ensure that our voices are heard, but this does not necessarily mean that we have to shout the loudest. The value of establishing communicating our ideas in a non-threatening manner might just make it easier for colleagues to hop on board and join us on our journey. 

Rebecca also taught us never to underestimate the power of showing up at a difficult meeting with a packet of biscuits and a smile!
Christine Rooney-Browne, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde

View CILIPS Annual Conference 2009 presentations on Slideshare

Information Scotland Vol. 7(3) June 2009

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.