Collaboration and liaison: the importance of developing working partnerships in the provision of networked hybrid services to lifelong learners in rural areas

The concept of lifelong learning is one of inclusiveness and flexibility and the emerging idea is that education will come to the people in their own communities, no matter where they are located. Reviews the implications and challenges for management and staff as they strive to implement changes which will support students studying courses in remote, rural communities who previously had little or no library support provision. In particular, it focuses on the need for increased interaction between all sites and staff involved in the implementation and provision of networked resources – senior management, academic staff, lecturers, technical and library staff and the increased use of technology to facilitate this. It examines their changing roles and the implications for staff development and training in a distributed networked environment such as the UHI Millennium Institute. In addition, the potential benefits of forming partnerships with outside public bodies such as the local authority public library are considered.