News from the British Library
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News from the British Library
British Library launches regional access initiative
A new scheme has been launched to make the British Library's collections more accessible and relevant to people across the UK. Partnering the library in its Reaching the Regions initiative will be the new regional agencies for museums, libraries and archives.
The expertise and local knowledge of the regional agencies will help everyone in the UK take advantage of the British Library's resources. The first region to join the programme is NEMLAC (North-East Museums Libraries and Archives Council). Reaching the Regions has funded the appointment of a project officer, with the remit to gather proposals for activities with a wide range of partners to work with the British Library over the coming months.
Projects within the programme will range from digitisation and interpretation of materials, to development opportunities for staff, and finding means to use the British Library's resources to fill collection gaps within the UK regions. The British Library is also keen to assist in programmes to ease referral of users from one library to another, as well as new programmes for school children and adult learners. It is hoped that the programme will be extended to other regions across the country.
Sue Underwood, Chief Executive of NEMLAC (www.nemlac.ac.uk)said, "For our North-East users, this initiative from the British Library will enrich their local facilities. As the first region within the BL's reach we shall enjoy the opportunity to find innovative partnerships to improve the way we serve our public. Colleagues at the BL turned to us as experts on our regional users and their needs". Hazel Dakers, the British Library's Reaching the Regions Programme Manager, said, "This is a rare opportunity to invest modest sums to reach new users of the British Library in the North-East and across the UK. By bringing partners together, we can serve the regions far better than we have managed before. This programme aims to ensure that the national library does in fact serve the nation".
British Library and Ex Libris sign contract for an integrated IT solution
The British Library has awarded a £1.2 million contract to library software suppliers Ex Libris to provide an integrated solution to its major information systems requirements. The Integrated Library System (ILS) will replace the library's main existing systems for acquisition, cataloguing and catalogue access within reading rooms and via the Web. It will ultimately result in work being processed more rapidly between different areas of the library as well as supporting better efficiency and co-ordination, helping staff to maintain and improve quality of service for readers and remote users.
Based on Ex Libris's ALEPH and MetaLib software, the ILS will provide the British Library's main requirements from a single "off the shelf"solution – using the same system across a wide variety of library activities and offering the ability to link to external systems and exchange bibliographic records with other organisations. It will also support other services such as remote document requesting.
Ex Libris was selected from a field of competing suppliers after demonstrating that it could offer a system with a comprehensive range of functions that had been implemented successfully in other large libraries.
Currently the library uses a mixture of custom-built software and a variety of different software packages – most of which have had to be heavily modified as they do not support all the library's unique requirements. This customisation frequently meant the library could not take advantage of new facilities offered by the package suppliers. The "off-the-shelf"solution provided will allow the incorporation of new features as they are developed by Ex Libris.
During 2003 the library will concentrate on the preparatory work essential for such a major change. This includes changing the organisation's internal processing, converting data from its existing systems and a major staff training exercise. Implementation of the system will be in phases starting in early 2004.
Clive Field, the library's Director of Scholarship and Collections commented,"While the British Library is unique in many ways, our basic system requirements are similar to those of other libraries – only on a much larger scale. I am delighted to announce that Ex Libris will supply us with the ILS and look forward to the programme of testing, training and implementation that will take place during the course of 2003". He added, "By allowing us to work in a more integrated way the ILS will ultimately result in an improved service for our many readers and remote customers."
The Ex Libris group is a worldwide supplier of software solutions and related services for libraries and information centres. The company's flagship product,ALEPH 500, isamarket leader in the field of library automation for higher education as well as for public, national, and research libraries, consortia and national networks, and large corporations. The initial version of ALEPH(Automated Library Expandable Program) was developed 20 years ago at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, and became the first automated academic library system in the country. Since then the product has undergone several generations and continues to be driven by the needs of libraries and librarians worldwide.
The ALEPH system is currently installed at over 700 sites in 50 countries. Customised for each library's language and culture, the system offers 20 interface languages that use many character sets, and interfaces in additional languages and character sets are under development.
For further information please contact: Press and Public Relations, British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB, UK. Tel: +44(0) 20 7412 7111; Fax:+44(0) 20 7412 7168; E-mail: ben.sanderson@bl.uk;URL: www.bl.uk
