Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 29 March 2004 at the University of London Library

Present: Mary Davies (Chair), Christine Wise (Secretary), Penny Dade, Adam Edwards, Brian Murphy, Fiona O'Brien, Rachel Redrup, David Ward.

1. Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from David Pearson.

2. Minutes of the meeting held 9 February 2004

These were accepted as a true record.

3. Matters arising

Following on from the presentation given by Jane Glanville, Director, London Higher, at this meeting, it was agreed that MD would contact Jane Glanville to arrange a follow-up session to discuss in more detail issues of mutual interest.

4. LLDA Development Plan

FOB made a presentation on the LLDA Development Plan.

[Secretary's note: The full text is available for the handout tabled by Fions O'Brien. ]

In the course of her presentation, FOB drew attention to the following main points:

The LLDA Board had met the preceding week, and the main business item had been the Development Plan 2004-2005. At this meeting, Graham Fisher, then Director of the LLDA, had taken the opportunity to review the LLDA's work to date. There had been considerable progress in many initiatives, including contributions to the Thames Gateway London Partnership and the London 2012 Olympic bid, although work with the FE sector remained problematic.
There had been some interest in consortial purchasing agreements across the London Boroughs, with, to date, some 20 London Boroughs registering for access to the Times Digital Archive.
WiLL continued to be a successful project, with many website hits, but further work needed to be carried out to capitalise on the initial successes. BM suggested that exploratory liaison work could be carried out with InforM25 to develop this work further.
In addition, it was suggested that the LLDA should develop its link with CPD25, to avoid duplicating training events unnecessarily.
A consultancy report had recently been received by the LLDA on Information Services in London. There had been a response rate of approximately 50%. The possibility had been raised of hosting fairs in the education and health areas, to which the public would be invited. The M25 would also have a role to play in promoting access to higher education. Working Group members agreed that this could be a fruitful area of collaboration with London Higher.
The Welcome to your Library project had been funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. A link had been created through this project to initiatives to assist refugee doctors and dentists who wish to qualify to practice in the UK.
The London Connects project had been designed to enable IT managers in London Boroughs to work together to create a London portal. The LLDA was planning to promote access to WiLL through this portal.
The Youth Fora were being promoted in collaboration with the National Youth Agency.
Working Group members suggested that there could be useful liaison with the MASC25 project, based at UCL, to promote access to special collections.

FOB welcomed comments on the Development plan and advised that the next LLDA Board meeting would be held in July 2004. She further reported that Graham Fisher would take up the post of Chief Executive of ALM London on 1 April 2004 and that the recruitment process for the new Director of LLDA was in train.

MD thanked FOB on behalf of the Working Group for her presentation.

5. Action Plan - reports from the Working Group members

The Research Libraries Network BM reported that the Research Libraries Network (RLN) was in the process of development and provided the following information, which had been supplied by Jean Sykes, Librarian and Director of Information Services at the LSE, immediately after the meeting.

There would be an advertisement for a Board Chair for the RLN, to chair a Board of 8 members comprising representatives from funding bodies, academics, librarians and external experts. There would be £5m funding over 3 years, with funding in years 1 and 2 devoted to studies and in years 2 and 3 to fund developments. There would be a review of access mechanisms, and institution receiving access funds would have to permit borrowing.

Links with The British Library DW reported that he continued to liaise with colleagues at the British Library. Geoff Smith was retiring from the British Library and MD recorded thanks to him on behalf of the Working Group for his contributions. It was agreed to extend an invitation to Jan Wilkinson to join the Working Group in her new capacity as Head of Higher Education at the British Library. Action: MD

DW reported that the British Library was looking to market its services to SMEs, and that it was reviewing reading room use.

Links with Further Education MD, PD and FOB reported on the plans for the joint ALCL/LLDA/M25 seminar which had recently been postponed until 7 July 2004. The emphasis would continue to be on adult education in public libraries and links with higher education, with strong encouragement for cross-sectoral networking during the event. This seminar was planned to be the first in a series to be held at six monthly intervals, and which would foster a more cohesive approach. Action: MD, PD and FOB

Links with Government libraries and other consortia MD reported that the Committee of Departmental Librarians was looking to make an appointment to scope the creation of an integrated union catalogue for government departments. A meeting with CPD25 was being arranged to discuss how co-operation on training events could be advanced. Links would also be investigated with the M25 Systems Group and the Disaster Management Group. Action: MD

AE gave a brief overview of his work so far in mapping the M25 Consortium's plans on to those of other library consortia, including that of the South East University Librarians group (SEUL). MD thanked him for his work so far and asked that a further discussion in this area be a major item on the agenda for a future meeting. Action: CW for agenda

Links with ALM London, LMAL, LLDA and ALCL MD reported that she had attended the recent ALCL Annual Residential Seminar at Frensham Ponds. She highlighted three key presentations, and would forward presentation details where available to Working Group members. Actiopn: MD

Chris Batt, Chief Executive of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, on investing in knowledge. MD would approach Chris Batt to speak on the Council's role in higher education at a future Working Group meeting. Action: MD
Jill Finney, Director of Marketing at the British Library, on marketing and a change management case study from the British Library.
Pam Usher, Advisory Council on Libraries, on public libraries and links with higher education.

MD reported that recent meetings at ALM London had concentrated on staffing issues. An awayday would be held soon and a calendar of events for the first 6 months was being set up. A future formal launch of ALM London was being planned.

Links with health libraries and groups BM reported that the next joint meeting of the London Health Libraries / M25 Consortium Working Group would be held in May 2004.

6. Any other business

MD reported that David Pearson would be standing down from membership of the Working Group, and thanked him on behalf of the Working Group for his contributions.

RR gave a brief report on the remit and work of the Advocacy Working Group and its links with other M25 Working Groups, emphasising the support that the Advocacy Working Group would provide for forthcoming initiatives.

7. Date of Next Meeting

Monday 10 May 2004, 10.00 a.m., Dr Seng Tee Lee Centre for Manuscript and Book Studies, seminar room, University of London Library.

Christine Wise - 4 May 2004

[ Back ]