New Hall Cambridge, 7 - 9 July 2003
Presentations
Wednesday, 9th July
11.30 Robin Yeates
Reputation management for libraries: overcoming
reluctance to collaborate
ROBIN YEATES is a Research Fellow developing
LITC (formerly known as the Library Information Technology
Centre at South Bank University) in its new home at the
Dept of Information Science, School of Informatics, City
University, London. Robin began his career in interlibrary
loans at LASER in the 1970s, moving on to develop resource
sharing technologies and systems for both public and academic
libraries. He is currently working on a range of projects
developing intranets, health library strategies, and nof-digitise
learning resources for the People's Network, including the
Moving Here, Sense of Place South East and ThamesPilot projects.
He has spoken and published on library innovation and the
future of library management systems and is a member of
the editorial boards of both VINE and Program
Synopsis
The good reputation of libraries as essential
adjuncts to learning and research is at stake. Learners
are making do with whatever information they can find for
themselves on the Net and ignoring the services that libraries
have to offer, which include providing access to mankind's
recorded culture. Educators increasingly package their own
information resources and rebuild them for each generation
of learners. Even researchers depend on personal networks
rather than traditional libraries for more of their work,
as they seek to improve the relevance of their work within
specific contexts and environments. Those who lack the necessary
digital and information literacy are being excluded from
new communities.
This paper looks at how interlending contributes to social
capital and how ILL staff roles could change as we move
towards the Information Society and increased reliance on
digital information resources. Can libraries continue to
support learners and researchers in the future by providing
access to resources they may no longer own, and will interloans
staff have a future managing the reputation of libraries?
How do individual needs relate to society's needs for information
and is the balance between these going to change in the
future?
It will no longer be sufficient for libraries to collaborate
amongst themselves to provide access to remote stock. New
infrastructures and services are required that take into
account the digital presence of learners on the network
and the autonomic systems that can be created as a result.
Resource sharing staff will need to bring their experience
into the mainstream of library strategic planning, or risk
extinction as library purchased printed media decline in
importance.
What learners think of libraries and library resources and
services will become explicit within autonomous digital
systems and it will become possible to manage the library's
use of these digital opinions to extend and enhance the
library's reputation. ILL staff have highly relevant experience
of encouraging collaboration by improving communication
and defining more explicitly the risks and benefits to all
stakeholders. They must be actively involved in planning
new resource sharing services.
Presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint file, 2040KB)
Paper (Word processor file, 90KB)
|
guidelines