Value Added DFID Example - supporting overseas staff

Issue

The Department for International Development (DFID) had an increasing number of staff based overseas and/or working more flexibly from home. All staff required access to information and library services but as DFID Library services were print UK based it was difficult for staff overseas or who worked more flexibly to access much needed core information, development resources and material.

What the information service did?

DFID undertook an internal information review. This review resulted in all information and library services moving to electronic delivery via an eLibrary on the internal DFID intranet (to which all staff both in the UK and overseas have 24/7 access).

Information professionals carried out a review of information needs, consulting DFID staff, and assessing how these could best be met. A list of core resources, which would be delivered via the eLibrary, was drawn up and approved both for access via the DFID intranet and the overall costs to the Library budget.

To get the core services online, eLibrary staff negotiated contracts with online suppliers and liaised with its own internal IT department to ensure that staff anywhere in the world, at any time, would have seamless access to all services and material available on the eLibrary. Staff also worked with a local charity to ensure that its print based resources, which were no longer required, were appropriately relocated.

Outcomes

All DFID staff now have access to core development material 24/7. Feedback from staff has been positive especially around access to core electronic journals and statistical information. Staff also regularly contact the eLibrary staff to request electronic material via the eLibrary.

The move to an eLibrary fitted in with both the needs of DFID and the overall strategy within DFID for all its core services and information being available to staff from their desktops. It has proved popular with staff and raised the profile of staff working on it.