a higher education perspective: on collections, visibility and value j. stephen town university of...
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A Higher Education perspective:
on collections, visibility and value
J. Stephen TownUniversity of York
York: collections in view
• York Minster Library• King’s Manor Library• The Yorkshire Philosophical Society
Library• The York Explore Library and the City
Archives• The Railway Museum
Search Engine (National Railway Museum)
• Railway related books and journals
• Railway archives: technical drawings, company records, publicity materials, maps, plans and timetables
• Catalogued through York University
York Minster Library
• The oldest and largest Cathedral Library in the country
• Operated under a unique partnership between the Dean & Chapter and the University of York
The University of York
• Founded 1963• UK top ten; RAE 8th;
World 81st; 94 Group; WUN
• 14,000 students• >30 departments in
humanities, social sciences, science
• Campus growth• Collegiate and
inclusive
The Library & Archives
• > 1m items• >100 staff• Traditional divisions• Archives extensive &
unique• Developing digital
library expertise• Part of a broader
Information Directorate
University of York Distinctiveness
• Excellence• Growth … but preservation of
community• Global focus and reputation• Commitment to partnerships• Commitment to the locality and region• Making significant & increasing
investments in information systems & services
A perspective on strategic challenges
• Articulating the value proposition • Translating what we understand about
changing need into strategies and plans• The transformation and sustenance of our
services into a different social, technological and economic future
• To demonstrate that our value proposition encompasses a contribution that transcends narrow and local assumptions about the library’s role
Developing values exercise (2009)
• Library as a “real tangible physical expression of knowledge”
• “Intellectual heart, a collection of knowledge made without fear or favour”
• Exaltation of solitary study - deeper understanding by “conquering the stuff alone”
• Organisation of knowledge reflected in how things are laid out; browsing and walking through physical objects
• Browsing; overview of knowledge by the way it is structured; ‘to steer thinking”; density tells you what’s important
• “A real physical existing thing where I can see the celebration of scholarship”
Professor John Robinson
ARL Scenarios 2030
• What values are assumed in the scenarios?
• How does this link to value?
• What is the resulting library value proposition?
Scenario 1: Research Entrepreneurs
• Competition and outsourcing
• Information value high
• Personality cult relationships
• Linking stores and discovery
Scenario 2: Reuse and Recycle
• Collaboration• Information value
low• Relationships
across groups• Research
management and professional training
Scenario 3: Disciplines in Charge
• Specialised Universities
• Data stores high value
• Political skills valued• Research information
decoupled & disaggregated
Scenario 4: Global Followers
• End of Western hegemony
• IP looser?• Relations with
East critical• Global communal
library?
Some general conclusions …
• Assumptions of elites throughout• Assumptions of competition throughout• Assumptions of quality throughout• Assumptions about values variable• Assumptions about locus variable• Assumptions about work psychology
variable
Some conclusions for value …
• Value likely to be a differentiating factor in preparing for success (change and strategy)
• Change will be rapid and mitigation will be difficult
• Quality will be a constant requirement• Value measurement needs to assume
greater import alongside quality … hence the need for a values scorecard
The Value ScorecardDimension 1: Relational Capital
• Competitive position capital– Reputation– Reach
• Relational capital– External relationship development– Internal institutional relationship development– Supplier relational capital
The Value ScorecardDimension 2: Library Capital
• Tangible capital– Collections – Environments– Services
• Intangible capital– Intangible assets formed around the above (meta-
assets)– Organizational capital– Human capital
The Value ScorecardDimension 3: Library Virtue
• Social Capital developed beyond the Library– Contribution to research– Contribution to learning– Contribution to employability– Contribution to professional and vocational intent– Contribution to inclusivity– Contribution to other common goods
The Value ScorecardDimension 4: Library Momentum
• Capital saved or gained by progress– Capital assets developed early– Facilitation of research capital– Facilitation of learning capital– Facilitation of quality– Capital saved by sustainability
York Digital Library
• Online library enabling access to digital collections• JISC funded through
SAFIR and YODL-ING projects• Developed as an Open
Source project, contributing to the Fedora Commons community
York Digital Library Collections (2)
Further University Collections: • Archaeology slide collection• Sound Archives• Past Exam Papers• Vickers Collection• Tuke Collection
Enabling Projects: LIFE-SHARE
• Collaboration between Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York as the White Rose Consortium• Investigating institutional and consortial
strategies and infrastructure for the creation, curation and preservation of a variety of digital content• Two year JISC funded project, providing
valuable advise for digitisation projects
Cause Papers
• Records of cases heard between 1300 and 1858 in the Church Courts of the diocese of York• Funding from Andrew
W Mellon Foundation for creating catalogue• JISC funding to digitise
records• Collaboration with HRI
Online (Sheffield University)
Court, Country, City and OpenART
• Sources and tools for the history of art in early modern Britain• Collaboration between
UOY Digital Library, History of Art and Tate Britain• AHRC funding for
Court, City, Country Project• JISC funding for
OpenART• Paul Mellon funded
editor
JIBS AGM Round-up (2010)
• Strategic challenges and tactical responses
• The value proposition• Working together• Bargaining
Lessons from the past?
• Avoid “lose-lose” situations• Don’t get caught in the middle: “blame-
blame”• Avoid “fight” nor “flight” reactions• Don’t reward negative behaviours• Failure to influence scholarly
communication at any point? Giving it all away?
• Collecting counter-productive evidence?
Cost and Value
“focusing on cost without being able to demonstrate [service] value and quality … leaves the initiative to people whose chief concern is cost-control or profit: the funders and the vendors”
Whitehall, T (1995)
Strategy or tactics: the context
• Resource inflation greater than growth• Service development demands• Quality and expectation demands• Competitive differentiation?• Low staff inflation
Conclusions 1
• Costs must be controlled– Individually– Institutionally– Collectively
• Purchase choice must shift to value– Quantitative measures insufficient– Qualitative evaluation critical to debate– Understanding and influencing of new user
behaviours
Conclusions 2
• Maximising return– Better awareness– Active exploitation– Intermediate guidance
• Minimising overheads– Licensing, compliance and bureaucracy– Active engagement with publishers at all levels– Charging back for University contributions?– Managing expectations