Libraries and Information East Midlands Regional Council
Minutes of the meeting held at the Nottinghamshire Archives Office
Monday 25th January, 2010
Present: Jaci Brumwell (Derbyshire), Mary Dawson (Chesterfield College),
Anne Dixon (British Geological Survey), Mark Dorrington (EMRAC), Peter
Gaw (Nottinghamshire), Robert Gent (Derbyshire), Lynn Hodgkins (LIEM),
Gwen Isherwood (Nottingham), Ruth Jenkins (Loughborough University),
David Potts MLA), Chris Powis (University of Northampton), Adrian Wills
(Leicester).
LIEM’s Chair, Jaci Brumwell began by welcoming Anne Dixon, Ruth Jenkins
and Mary Dawson as new members of Council and Gwen Isherwood
(Nottingham City) and David Potts, MLA as visitors to the meeting.
1.
Apologies for absence were received from: Brian Ashley (MLA),
Paul Chapman (Leicester College), Robert Clayton (Rutland), Nuala
Devlin (Nottingham Trent University), Christina Dyer/Natalie Sellears
(Nottingham), Susan Lansdale (EmmS), Graham Matthews
(Loughborough University), Gary Porter (Lincolnshire), David Potton
(Derby), Nigel Thomas (Leicestershire), Jo Webb (De Montfort
University)
2.
Minutes of previous meeting were agreed as a correct record
3.
Matters arising
LH had attended the retirement party for SK at BL. The attendance
and tributes paid were a testament to SK’s contribution to the
profession over many years.
4.
Secretariat report
LH spoke to her report, which had been circulated.
The 2010 AGM would take place on 13th October and would be
combined with a brief meeting of Council.
Bad weather had resulted in postponement of the proposed
presentation by John Hicks on alternative models of public library
governance to Wednesday 10th February. The event would be held at
Derby Quad, and although aimed primarily at public library senior
colleagues, representatives from other sectors were very welcome to
attend.
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Forthcoming training events on teaching skills, delivering excellent
customer service, influencing skills and handling conflict were well
subscribed. Excellent feedback had been received from recent
courses.
Ransom Hall Hospital had been recruited as a new member as a result
of their participation in training events.
A new Inspire leaflet would be produced for the region, in partnership
with the South West. LH had met Jerry Shillito, Head of Reader and
Visitor Services at the BL at the last national Inspire Management
Board meeting and would invite him to a future meeting of Council.
Action: LH
The CONARLS non-English language fiction collections database had
received a number of new additions, including material in 72 languages
from the London Library, 16 of which were not previously represented
in the database.
JB congratulated LH on the work she had carried out to map provision
on health and well-being across the region.
LH had submitted a response from LIEM to Empower, Inform, Enrich,
the DCMS consultation on the future of public libraries. The response
focused on the five key challenges posed by the Minister.
Action: LH to circulate a copy of the response.
5.
Job evaluation outcomes for Regional Secretariat
JB reported that the posts of Regional Librarians and Regional
Assistant had been evaluated as part of Derbyshire County Council’s
single status exercise. This was a statutory obligation on all local
authorities. Council noted the revised gradings, which would entail a
full year cost of £1,849, plus on-costs. This could be met from the
existing revenue budget.
6.
David Potts – New developments with JISC/JANET
JB welcomed David Potts, Project Manager Libraries at MLA.
DP described recent cooperative work between MLA and JISC to
develop the idea of a shared broadband network for public libraries and
the education centre. It had not been possible to pursue this as part of
the original People’s Network implementation, but connectivity costs
had reduced and acceptable use policies had become less restrictive.
MLA had been able to announce before Christmas that public libraries
could consider JANET as an option when developing their ICT
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infrastructure. Connection would be through the regional broadband
consortia. The contact number for any public library that wants to
discuss connections to JANET is 0300 300 2212 service@ja.net
Case studies from Leeds and Shropshire had shown the potential for
improving access for users and reducing cost.
DP was investigating what content would be available to JANET
subscribers but there was unlikely to be much that was not already
freely available via the Web.
Reference Online was an MLA initiative which had enabled public
libraries to acquire online resources at favourable rates.
The
framework agreement would end in 2012 and JISC Collections had
been commissioned to:
 Identify online resources not currently available on Reference
Online and offer them through JISC Collections;
 Examine different cost models, moving away from population-based
charging to reflect new ways that people were accessing public
library services;
 Identify the issues which would need to be addressed to arrive at a
unified service
The Society of Chief Librarians was being involved in this work.
Authentication was a major issue that would need to be resolved.
RJ drew attention to the need for pupils and students to have seamless
access to resources, regardless of the location of their study and the
device they were using. A number of local authority services were
offering wi-fi access but networked resources were not joined-up at
present.
LH has mapped provision of online resources across the region and
had identified wide variations. It was not clear at present whether
future arrangements would create greater consistency. DP felt that
there might be greater scope to negotiate joint contracts for public and
education libraries.
Some universities in the region were offering walk-in access, subject to
acceptable use agreements.
DP described recent developments in relation to music copyright with
the Performing Rights Society and the Phonographic Performance
Licensing Association. Meetings were continuing.
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7.
Regional updates
MLA
Brian Ashley had sent a written report as he was unable to attend the
meeting. DP drew attention to the Culture Grid middleware which
would enable cultural content to be harvested and re-purposed. The
report listed three YouTube links which would provide greater detail.
Action: LH to circulate the report electronically.
EMRAC
MD reported on recent EMRAC discussions.
Ancestral and Literary Tourism in the East Midlands was a two-year
Renaissance funded project to establish three networks in Lincolnshire,
Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire, with an emphasis on eating
online resources. Cameron Taylor had been appointed as Network
Coordinator.
The Government policy document Archives for the 21 st Century had
now been published; a joint action plan was awaited from NAO and
MLA.
EmmS
EmmS was meeting on 26th January. There was no report.
8.
Impact of the efficiency agenda on library and information
services in the region
JB invited members to share experiences on a confidential basis.
Common approaches included introduction of self service,
rationalisation of premises.
Demographic pressures and emphasis on safeguarding was placing
increased pressure on community services.
Academic colleagues were digesting the impact of Peter Mandelson’s
letter which promised extensive cuts to HE budgets.
9.
Any other business
a)
RG urged members to vote in the OCLC global elections for the
Europe, Middle East and Africa region. The Combined Regions had
nominated Rob Froud for the regional committee.
Action: LH to circulate details of online voting arrangements.
10.
Date and venue of next meeting
Thursday, 22nd April 2010 at the British Geological Survey, Keyworth.
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