A Higher Education perspective: on collections, visibility and value

1. A Higher Education perspective: on collections, visibility and value J. Stephen Town University of York

2. Welcome to York!

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. The Library & Archives • > 1m items • >100 staff • Traditional divisions • Archives extensive & unique • Developing digital library expertise • Part of a broader Information Directorate

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Possible futures?

12. ARL Scenarios 2030 • What values are assumed in the scenarios? • How does this link to value? • What is the resulting library value proposition?

13. Scenario 1: Research Entrepreneurs • Competition and outsourcing • Information value high • Personality cult relationships • Linking stores and discovery

14. Scenario 2: Reuse and Recycle • Collaboration • Information value low • Relationships across groups • Research management and professional training

15. Scenario 3: Disciplines in Charge • Specialised Universities • Data stores high value • Political skills valued • Research information decoupled & disaggregated

16. Scenario 4: Global Followers • End of Western hegemony • IP looser? • Relations with East critical • Global communal library?

17. Some general conclusions … • Assumptions of elites throughout • Assumptions of competition throughout • Assumptions of quality throughout • Assumptions about values variable • Assumptions about locusvariable • Assumptions about work psychology variable

18. 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

19. The Value ScorecardDimension 1: Relational Capital • Competitive position capital • Reputation • Reach • Relational capital • External relationship development • Internal institutional relationship development • Supplier relational capital

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. Preparing for A Different future?

24. 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

25. York Digital Library Collections (1) History of Art Teaching Collections

26. York Digital Library Collections (2) • Further University Collections: • Archaeology slide collection • Sound Archives • Past Exam Papers • Vickers Collection • Tuke Collection

27. 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

28. 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)

29. 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

30. JIBS AGM Round-up (2010) • Strategic challenges and tactical responses • The value proposition • Working together • Bargaining

31. 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?

32. 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)

33. Strategy or tactics: the context • Resource inflation greater than growth • Service development demands • Quality and expectation demands • Competitive differentiation? • Low staff inflation

34. 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

35. 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

36. Thanks for listening!