Collaboration and Partnership Working Group - Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting held at Senate House Library, University of London

Present: Mary Davies (Chair), Adam Edwards, Brian Murphy, Fiona O’Brien, Ann Sainsbury, Christine Wise (Secretary)

By Invitation: Peter Griffiths, Committee of Departmental Librarians

1. Apologies for Absence

Penny Dade.

2. Minutes of the meeting held 22 June 2005

These were accepted as a true record, subject to the removal of the names of Brian Murphy and Ann Sainsbury from the list of those present.

3. Matters arising

The following matters arising were noted:

• The Chair of the M25 Consortium would provide details of a British Library representative on the Working Group.
• FOB would circulate the final version of the LLDA work plan 2005-2006 to MD ACTION FOB
• FOB would bring the final version of the Libraries and Learners in London (LLiL) migration paper to the next meeting of the Working Group ACTION FOB

4. Presentation: Peter Griffiths, Committee of Departmental Librarians

MD welcomed Peter Griffiths, Chair of the Committee of Departmental Librarians.

In particular, Peter Griffiths drew attention to the new initiative, the Electronic Library for Government, which was currently under development. This would bring together key resources across libraries in government departments for mutual resource sharing.  Issues of access and licences were being addressed, as practical steps towards the creation of a portal for government information.  Plans were in place to apply for further funds to develop this initiative.  Working Group members suggested that EDUSERVE might be a helpful contact in this particular developmental area.

Peter Griffiths noted that the Freedom of Information Act was impacting upon government departments and their libraries, especially upon published material, and that this was leading to further consideration of the definition of what constituted the “public domain”.

Working Group members commented that there were resources in government libraries which would be of interest to academic researchers, and that it would be helpful to explore further how researchers might access both database and libraries for mutual benefit. This area would be kept under review.

MD thanked Peter Griffiths for his presentation.

5. Action Plan – reports from members

ALCL

AS reported that ALCL had not met since the last Working Group meeting.

ALM London

MD reported that there had been a number of recent ALM London Board meetings.  She would invite Graham Fisher to address a future meeting of the Working Group. ACTION MD

The British Library

BM continued to maintain a watching brief on British Library developments.

Committee of Departmental Librarians

Key strategic issues are reported above from Peter Griffiths’ presentation.

HE / FE liaison

FOB reported that the proposed second joint HE/FE seminar, “London Knowledge City”, had been deferred until 16 January 2006. The event would be held at the British Library Conference Centre, and FOB would circulate the programme. ACTION FOB

InforM25

BM reported that a study on the future development of InforM25 which had recently been undertaken by external consultants would shortly be considered by the M25 Steering Group.

LLDA

FOB reported on a number of key current initiatives.

Helen Carpenter was acting as co-ordinator for the “Welcome to your Library” project, for which a second tranche of funding had been secured. The potential for work with LLiL was being explored.

FOB had recently met with Sarah Chambers, Business Manager for the London Creative Consortium, to explore the potential for reading programmes of interest to students. The forthcoming “London Lives”, featuring biographies of Londoners, offered possibilities.

The “Get London Reading” promotion would take place 7 February – 7 March 2006, organised by the Book Trust, and with the support of the Mayor’s Economic Development Team.  Links with Fair Trade were being explored, as Fair Trade Fortnight would start on 7 March 2006. FOB would circulate further details. ACTION FOB

FOB reported that she would be speaking at the inaugural CILIP conference on RFID in libraries on 8 November 2005.

FOB reported that a bid had been made with London Connect to the Treasury for funding for a smart card access programme, “One Card for London’s Libraries”, in line with the successful Oyster card model. News on this bid was awaited.

Barry Smith, of the British Library Business Information Service, had attended a review meeting on the business information needs of start-ups and SMEs in London. It had been concluded that further research in this area was needed. Details of the recommendations arising from the study would be made available in due course.

FOB reported on a recent SEMLAC report, “Study of Provision of Performance Arts: Resources in the South East”. There was a particular recommendation to promote music and the performing arts collections.

FOB drew to the attention of Working Group members the report, “A Review of the Future of Resource Sharing and Inter-Lending for The Combined Regions and Talis”, by Kentwood Associates, which had been published in November 2004.

London Higher

MD tabled the draft flyer on the M25 Consortium, targeted for use by London Higher. This had been drafted by the Advocacy Working Group. Working Group members made various comments, in particular relating to the order of the main content headings.  It was suggested that the headings “Enabling”, “Supporting” and “Promoting”, should be given priority, followed by “Maximising”, “Representing” and “Facilitating”. In addition, it was agreed that it would be helpful to provide a statistical summary derived from the most recent SCONUL return, to reflect a consistency of approach across the sector, and support given to international students would be emphasised. MD would report detailed comments back to the Advocacy Working Group and would circulate a further draft of the flyer. ACTION MD

London Olympics 2012

MD reported that CW had attended a meeting convened by ALM London on Monday 15 August 2005 to represent the M25 Consortium. A wide range of cultural bodies, in the archives, libraries and museums sector had been represented, and their reports on current work in support of the London Olympics 2012 had fully been recorded in the minutes of the meeting. In addition, the informal record of the meeting made by Michael Clarke, Director of the LLDA, had also been circulated to Working Group members for their information. Working Group members noted that the timescale for participation in strategic discussion relating to the library sector and M25 Consortium participation was relatively tight.  MD would liaise with Michael Clarke to discuss a collaborative approach with LLDA and the ALCL. ACTION MD

Regional library consortia

AE reported that discussions were under way regarding the potential merger of the UK Libraries Plus programme with SCONUL Research Extra. Working Group members noted that Goldsmiths’ College had recently joined the UK Libraries Plus programme and that the pilot postgraduate programme was proceeding smoothly.

Research Libraries Network

CW continued to maintain a watching brief on RLN developments.

6. Any other business

MD reported that M25 Consortium membership categories had been discussed at the recent M25 Steering Group meeting. Enquiries regarding new memberships would be considered once Steering Group discussions had concluded.

She reported that she had, on behalf of the Working Group, made a contribution to the M25 Consortium Annual Report 2004-2005. Finally, she reported that the Student-Centred Task and Finish Group had been set up.

7. Date of next meetings

[Secretary’s note: subsequently confirmed by email as Thursday 3 November 2005, 14:30, Senate House Library, University of London, Tuesday 6 December 2005, afternoon, Senate House Library, University of London].

Christine Wise Secretary to M25 Collaboration & Partnership Working Group
October 2005