SCONUL looks forward to 2010
21 December, 2009
SCONUL Secretary Toby Bainton looks forward to what 2010 may hold for higher education and national libraries.
Toby said:
"Most of our members have been making, or preparing for, tough decisions for their services in 2010. The theme of 2009, 'doing more with less', is certain to continue.
"SCONUL's work becomes even more relevant in this context. The Libraries of the Future project, in collaboration with the British Library, the Joint Information Systems Committee, the Research Information Network and Research Libraries UK, aims to provide a reliable basis for planning future services. It has built significant foundations this year and will soon begin serious evidence-gathering not only from our own community but also from key people representing the higher education and national research environment.
"SCONUL's long tradition of partnering with JISC, formalised in 2009 by an Associate Partnership, will be important in 2010 in areas beyond the Libraries of the Future programme. SCONUL has a big commitment in our HEFCE-funded investigation into the future of 'library management systems' - the major software products on which our basic services depend. Early findings suggest that much wider operations could be efficiently carried out cooperatively by shared services. This kind of development is likely to be of great interest to JISC too.
"Crucial for planning the near-term is a clear assessment of where we are now. This year we collaborated in two studies, the first with JISC and UCISA and the second with the Research Information Network, to investigate the effects on library services of the economic recession. The results of the first study came out in October and the second will be published in the New Year. Together they will give a clear view of the economic challenges facing libraries.
"Given the vital contribution of SCONUL members to the higher education sector and the wider information environment, we were pleased to be able to champion the work of our libraries this year. Perhaps the best coverage received was a Guardian article which looked positively at the changing nature of a librarian's role."