Transformational Change?
The Potential Impact of ICT on
Museums, Libraries and Archives
Bob Sharpe, Director of ILS,
University of Plymouth
Liz Lyon, Director of UKOLN,
University of Bath
Outline
• Introduction and Context
• Government Agendas
• Where are we now?
• Our users’ world in 2014
• ICT Developments in next 10 years
• Impact on LMAs
Introduction and Context
• SWMLAC is preparing an ICT Strategy
– Employing consultants
– Board members, staff and key players
working together
• Issues discussed at the SWMLAC Board
• Not SWMLAC policy
– Personal views
• Beware futurologists…
• Controversial?
Government Agendas
• Lifelong Learning
• eGovernment
• Social Inclusion
• Widening participation
• Adult and Community based learning
• Work based learning
Our users’ world in 2004
• Jane – not yet born
• Alice - an 8yr old
• David - a 17yr old
• Bob - a senior manager
Where are we now?
• The concept
• The physical environment
• The virtual environment
• Three domains
• How are they linked?
Brand name
Brand concept
Branded
environments
Lifelong learning
A
Idea Store
Idea net
B
Idea card
Idea Cafe
Branded
products/services
Idea pod
Learn direct
Idea mobile
Specific
communications C
D
E
F
G
Bow – Pilot site: Facts and Figures
• 3 fold increase in visitors compared to the
two libraries it has replaced
• 40% increase in issues
• CD loans have doubled
• Membership has doubled
• Enrolments for lifelong learning have
doubled
• Refurbishment costs £1,500/sqm
Our users’ world in 2014
• Jane – a 7yr old
• Alice - an 18yr old
• David - a 27yr old
• Bob - just retiring
……Introducing Jane
Introducing Alice……
Introducing David……
Introducing Bob ……
ICT Developments in next 10 years
• Draw on developments outside the cultural
heritage sector
• IT
• eBusiness
• eScience
• Moving towards the Vision of:
“a single virtual shared collaborative space”
Pervasive technology
• Ubiquitous access
• You will be able to access information at
anytime and anywhere
• Trusted systems
• You will be able to perform online
transactions in a secure environment
Autonomic computing
• “Intelligent” systems which are:
– System-aware
– Self-configuring, Self-healing, Self-optimising, Selfprotecting
– Environment-aware
– Highly distributed
– Open and collaborative
• Your computer systems will manage themselves
Distributed eResource banks
• Trusted repositories
• Automatic generation of metadata
–
–
–
–
At source
For curation and preservation
For management
For discovery
• Semantic interoperability
• You will be able to find rich resources using your
own words and language
eUtilities: Software tools and services
• Off-the-shelf tools
–
–
–
–
–
–
Integrated
Personalised
User-friendly
Collaborative
Intelligent
Extensible
• Assistive agents
• You will have a sophisticated toolset to allow you to
analyse, mine, model and visualise a truly vast array of
digital data
Impact on Museums, Libraries, and
Archives – Key Issues (1)
• Funding
– Projects
– Sustainable income streams
– Declining revenue
• Rights management and licensing
• Digital memory management
– Digital born data
– Preservation and Curation
Impact on Museums, Libraries, and
Archives – Key Issues (2)
• Standards
– Infrastructure
– Preservation and curation
– Metadata
• Technology drives change
• Opportunities to reach non users
• How far will it go?
Impact on MLAs
– Large / Medium Organisations
• New Focus
• New business / operational models
• Embed new services
• Change balance of operation
• How?
– STOP doing something
– Invest to change
– New eServices units to kick start change
– Partnerships
Impact on MLAs
– Small ‘Organisations’
• Can’t do it all yourself
• Key areas
– Shop window
– Catalogue
– Collaboration and partnership
• Sub-regional / regional co-operative venture?
• Large and small together?
• Shared catalogue and website?
– New sources of funding??
To rise to the challenge we need
• Creative leadership
• Development of people, services and
facilities
• Access to expertise
• Adoption of global standards
• Investment in change not short term
projects
To rise to the challenge we need
• Models for business change
• A willingness to collaborate
• To work ‘outside the boxes’
• Transformational Change….
Questions and Contacts
• Contacts
– Liz Lyon
e.lyon@ukoln.ac.uk
– Bob Sharpe bob.sharpe@plymouth.ac.uk