Publication Date: 29 October 2008
Related themes: e-Research, e-Resources
A JISC-sponsored ‘Libraries of the Future' supplement has just appeared in Library and Information Update, the publication of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). It discusses the ongoing transformation of FE, HE and research libraries - including ‘moving books out to make more space for people’ – and considers the technical, human and political threats to these institutions.
Following on from the Guardian’s Libraries Unleashed supplement - also part of JISC's ongoing Libraries of the Future campaign - the new articles offer an insight into the vital but often behind-the-scenes services that JISC provides to the sector.
'JISC is an agent of transformational change across UK higher education as a whole.' Editor, Library and Information Update
Editor Elspeth Hyams describes how ‘a number of academic libraries are making headlines for moving books out to make more space for people.’ She goes on to describe how JISC provides ‘not only an increasingly streamlined technical infrastructure, but also content, central support and advisory services…JISC is an agent of transformational change across UK higher education as a whole.’
Hyams’ interview with JISC Chair Sir Ron Cooke reveals a need for clarity and simplicity when conveying what JISC does, both for individual institutions and for libraries on the whole. Concerning JISC services, it notes that between institutions, ‘take-up and use vary enormously. It seems tragic not to take advantage of what is on offer because it is such good value for money.’
JISC Collections' electronic content provision has saved institutions £37.6m this year. The financial benefits of using JISC Collections (JISC’s digital content procurement company) are also revealed. Their electronic content provision has saved institutions £37.6m this year alone.
JISC Collections CEO Lorraine Estelle says: ‘What isn’t included in the efficiency gains are the benefits of having a central negotiating body that saves effort across the community. Publishers talk to us, not to every single librarian. Nor do we include saving on shelf space and so on.’
Here are the articles in Update’s Libraries of the Future supplement:
- Transforming higher education libraries (editorial)
- Getting the right message across (an interview with JISC Chair Sir Ron Cooke)
- Procuring content for the community (an overview of JISC Collections)
- e-Content and JISC Model Licences
- A national e-Content framework: the work of the Strategic Content Alliance
- Digital Libraries 2003-2008 )
- Preparing the ground for Library 2.0
- Supporting learners with disabilities (introduces advisory service TechDis)
- International collaboration and global infrastructure
- JISC resources are helping to make FE funding go further
- Digital keys to help unlock cultural treasures
- ‘Light the touch paper and see what happens’ (a report on eBook usage)
- Embedding subject librarians in research departments
- The problem with the future
- Reaching out to business and the local community through lifelong learning
- ‘Google Generation’ – Striving to understand the researchers of the future
- Repositories take-up: Cultural barriers
Visit JISC's Libraries of the Future blog
Explore JISC's Libraries of the Future campaign homepage
Link to the Guardian newspaper's Libraries Unleashed supplement
Go straight to Library and Information Update's online supplement