| Steering Group Thursday 9 March 2006 |
Steering Group Meeting MinutesNotes from the meeting held at the library of the London School of EconomicsPresent: Robert Hall, Maureen Wade, Nick Bevan, Anne Poulson, William Marsterson, J. Adam Edwards, Christine Wise, Mary Davies, Jean Yeoh, Nicky Kershaw, Graham Bulpitt and Madura Rasaratnam. Fiona O’ Brien was in attendance for item 3.i. 1. ApologiesApologies were noted from John Wolstenholme and Maire Lanigan 2. Minutes
2.i The minutes from the Steering Group meeting held on Thursday 8 December were approved.
2.ii The minutes from the January Consortium Business meeting held on Friday 27 January were approved. 3. Regional Update3.i Update from the LLDA FOB updated members on the activities of the LLDA. She reported on work in six key areas: Raising the profile of London’s libraries; Inclusion and community; Digital citizenship; Lifelong learning; Health and well-being and LLDA governance and administration. She asked SG members to note in particular the following activities and to contact her if they felt the M25 Consortium could contribute or wanted further information:
3.ii Meeting with Graham Fisher RH reported on a meeting that he and Mary Davies had with Graham Fisher of ALM (London). The meeting was held to discuss the M25 Consortium’s disappointment at the under-representation of the contribution made by academic and research libraries in ALM London’s advocacy work. To ensure more effective collaboration in future it was agreed that at the next SG meeting a discussion would be scheduled with ALM London and the LLDA to identify shared areas of work. During the SG’s discussion on collaboration with ALM London it was noted that the cultural resources of academic libraries should be included as part of the ‘Cultural Bid’ for the 2012 London Olympics. The importance of developing good links with cross – sectoral bodies was noted as the organising committee for the Olympic Games, LOCOG, intends to work with a single point of contact for the cultural sector. 4. Matters arising from the January Consortium meeting.4.i Collaboration with London Higher MD reported that the Collaboration and Partnership group had a productive meeting with London Higher at the last group meeting. Two projects were agreed through which the Consortium can input into London Higher publications: a fact sheet on HEI libraries and a contribution to a series of themes that will form part of London Higher’s Research Excellence publication.
During the discussion on mapping the Consortium’s future collaboration strategy, it was agreed that the C&PWG should focus on bodies where its collaborative work is likely to be most productive. NB suggested that the group should take an inside out approach and begin by identifying the groups and sectors of most strategic importance to the Consortium. It was agreed that the C&PWG would consider its strategy in this way and produce a mapping document for the next SG meeting. 4.ii Resource Discovery strategies The developments at CURL and COPAC presented at the January business meeting indicated the need to consider the Consortium’s resource discovery strategies more broadly. The SG agreed that a discussion of this issue should be postponed until the RDWG has considered the possibilities at its next meeting. The SG will discuss the issue in May based on the outcomes of the RDWG meeting. 5. Finance
5.i The accounts for 2004/5 had been audited by Roy Williams and found to be in good order. It was noted that the level of reserves had risen above the level set in 2004 and it was agreed that the SG will consider the appropriate level for reserves when the proposed budget and subscriptions are set for 2006/7. NB will bring a draft budget for 2006/07 to the SG in May. Before then (by Easter) he will need budget figures from CPD25 and InforM25 and budget requirements from Chairs of Working Groups. [The SG had agreed by email before the meeting to extend the Administrative Assistant post for a further two years. NB will take this into account in drafting the 2006/07 budget.] It was agreed that the Consortium’s financial position presented an opportunity to explore the possibility of services such as a brokerage through which to share expertise on issues such as business continuity planning and risk assessment. It was agreed that members would be surveyed (before Easter) for their views on mutual support services/activities that they would like the M25 to fund. (ACTION: MW/MR) 6. Steering Group Membership
6.i It was noted that the following three members of the Steering Group had completed a term in office and were eligible for re - election at the June AGM: MW, NB and GB. It was agreed that MD who has completed two elected terms will be co-opted onto the SG to continue her role as chair of the C&PWG. Elections will be organised in May. 7. June Consortium Meeting7.i Possible themes for the June AGM were discussed. The issue of diversity and equality was agreed to be of interest given the forthcoming formation of a single Equalities Commission. MW and MR would investigate possible speakers and draw up a programme for the AGM’s morning session by the next SG meeting. (ACTION MW&MR) 8. E-bulletin8.i It was agreed that the next issue of the E-bulletin will be published to coincide with the launch of the new website at the end of March. 9. Update on website redesign9.i MW reported on progress with the web redesign. She noted that the remaining tasks were organising and finalising content on the M25 Consortium site and transferring the content from Five2Nine’s server to the Consortium’s new server at the LSE. The cpd25 site was almost completed and the InforM25 site is due to be launched later on in the summer. MW also asked members to contribute photographs of their respective institutions to be used on the website. (ACTION: ALL) 10. Progress reports on Action Plans10.i It was agreed that Chairs of WGs would submit specific dates for the completion of actions, as well as progress, by the last week of April. (ACTION: ALL) 11. Reports from Working Groups.Reports from the following WGs were noted: Advocacy, Collaboration and Partnership, CPD25, Disaster Management, Disability and Special Needs Support, Quality, Resource Discovery and London Health Libraries & M25 Joint Group. 12. Any other business12.i Venues for September 2006 networking event and January and June 2007 Consortium meetings. It was agreed that a central London venue, preferably with an outside space should be sought for the September networking event. MW and MR are to finalise a venue from suggestions including: the University Garden next to Senate House, the Reader’s Lounge at the British Library and the UCL Garden and adjoining Cloisters. (ACTION: MW &MR) Possible venues for the January 2007 and June 2007 Consortium meetings included: Greenwich, the University of East London and the Natural History Museum. It was agreed that MW and MR would explore these options and finalise venues by the next SG meeting. (ACTION: MW &MR) 12.ii Funding for NEWSPLAN London and the South East MD forwarded a request to the SG from NEWSPLAN London and the South East for a contribution to the service which works to preserve and make accessible runs of local newspapers In September 2002 the Consortium had provided £500 which was used to set up the website www.newsplan.co.uk. A similar sum was being sought for an editing system to keep the website updated. The SG agreed to fund the request and it was felt that the M25 logo should be displayed on the website to recognise the Consortium’s contribution. 13. Programme of meetings for 2006/713.i Steering Group meetings
13.ii Full Consortium meetings: all day meetings commencing at 10am
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