Five new reports based on research funded by the Research and Innovation Centre are now available. Further details, including ordering information, are available from the Centre's web pages: <http://www.bl.uk/services/ric/>.
New measures for the new library: a social audit of public libraries
This report demonstrates the social impact of the public library. Documenting the experience of library users, staff, and local politicians it shows that public library services promote social cohesion and create confidence in individuals and communities. Public libraries are community landmarks that reinforce community identity. They also help individuals, especially older people, overcome the problems of social isolation and loneliness. The recognised and established functions of the public library in terms of reading, education, information, culture and leisure also remain important. The report argues that qualitative data, properly gathered, are valid evidence and should be used as such by politicians and professionals. The report provides policy makers, practitioners and academics with a framework for understanding the social impact of the library. This can be used as a practical tool by library managers to identify the factors that can help and hinder the achievement of social objectives.
Electronic serials in public libraries
This project investigated the impact of electronic serials on UK public libraries. The current provision and promotion of electronic serials is described and it is noted that the majority of those provided were newspapers in CD-ROM format; very few authorities had taken out a subscription to an Internet-based serial. The benefits and pitfalls presented by electronic serials and the main management issues are also explored. It was found that there was a lack of policy documents relating to electronic serials and that staff are facing serious problems supporting electronic resources (it was noted that the lower levels of ICT training and awareness in branch libraries was a particular problem). The research has also shown that most public libraries are not measuring the use of electronic serials; anecdotal evidence suggests that, while use of serials on CD-ROM is healthy, usage levels of Internet-based serials are very modest. The report also proposes performance indicators which may be applied to electronic serials. The main conclusions of the research are that there will be benefits for library users if libraries are able to extend their collections of serials on CD-ROM and, most importantly, if they begin to provide co-ordinated access to Internet content, including serials.
Academic library effectiveness
The remit of this investigation was to develop a small set of performance indicators which would enable funding bodies, vice-chancellors and other senior university managers to compare library effectiveness across the UK higher education sector. The report recommends a small set of management statistics (as opposed to performance indicators) covering per capita expenditures, seat hours per week per user, lending and user education data. The report also recommends the provision of "contextual" data largely on the size of the institution to facilitate interpretation of the management statistics. Recommendations for further work on the electronic library, benchmarking, user satisfaction, document availability, information services, user education, impact, in-house use and access vs holding are also included.
Libraries in the workplace
This report presents the findings of the first major questionnaire survey of library and information services in the UK workplace. Included are government organisations, professional associations and charities, and the corporate sectors of pharmaceutics, finance, energy, management consultancy and law. There are data on the organisations and their users, staffing, electronic and printed resources, interlending, performance and expenditure. Sectoral estimates are included for key data.
Information policy in the electronic age
This book brings together many of the papers presented at the Information Policy Briefing Lectures, organised by the Research and Innovation Centre. The briefings illuminate current detailed research into the dynamic world of information policy and are designed to help policy makers in both national and local governments as well as in the information industry. The contributions cover a diverse range of issues including: the US national information infrastructure, current UK and EU policy issues, information reliability, and the public library in the next century.
Simon Matty, Information Officer, Research and Innovation Centre
The British Library, 2 Sheraton Street, London W1V 4BH
Tel: (01 71) 4 12 70 54, Fax: (01 71) 4 12 72 51, E-Mail: simon.matty@bl.uk
