LIBRARY COMMITTEE Wednesday 10 February 2016 Library Strategy

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1 LIBRARY COMMITTEE Wednesday 10 February 2016 Library Strategy escription of the paper The paper details the Library s investment in the Information Services Group 10 year plan in regards to the theme Library: national and international leadership. The paper outlines opportunities for the Library to deliver on this theme. Action requested The Committee is asked to comment on the Strategy document and consider whether they agree with the priorities identified for Library activity over the next 10 years. Recommendation The Committee is asked to indicate their support for the on-going implementation and development of the 10 year plan. Background and context 1. Information Services Group is as part of the current planning round exercise developing a ten year plan to provide context for future annual planning submissions. In the past thinking and decision making was often short term. The University must develop a longer-term plan for sustained investment if it is to respond effectively to the current challenges facing the HE sector, given the scale of the challenges. 2. The ISG 10 year plan has been organised under four main themes accompanied by a change management programme. The theme which has been allocated to the Library team to develop and deliver is Library: national and international leadership. 3. This theme does not include all the work the Library will be involved with to deliver change and transformation. Library staff will support the development of the Research IT theme and the Teaching and Learning theme. 4. The work plan which is detailed as part of the Library: national and international leadership strategy complements the work we currently deliver through our flat cash budget. The interaction between the funding streams will enable us to deliver savings and efficiencies. Library: National and International leadership 5. The Library Management Team have in the early part of this academic year been considering carefully where there should be investment and where there are opportunities for the Library to deliver a vision of national and international leadership. The University has an ambition to remain within the top 20 of the 1

2 international universities league table. We want to ensure we are able to deliver a Library service which can support this ambition 6. uring our planning process, we have interpreted national leadership as a challenge to us to ensure all the key areas of our service can match the quality of the services being delivered by comparator UK institutions. We have used the challenge of delivering international leadership to identify where we believe the University of Edinburgh can develop a reputation for being one of the leading institutions working in a particular area of Library work. We can already point to examples of international leadership. The management of our heritage collections, their promotion and the use of technology to interact with collections is one of our strengths. Our work on all aspects of research data management is also recognised inside and outside the UK. 7.The investment we want to make over the next 10 years to allow key areas of our work to be brought up to national standard will in turn provide opportunities for us to develop skills and knowledge to become recognised as a leader in these areas of work. Key areas of work 8. In our strategic plan, we have identified three areas of work which sit under the Library: National and International leadership theme: Library Space: support for University leadership in learning and research eveloping the unique Edinburgh offer: digitisation Engagement 9. Under each of these themes, we have identified strands of work which, once implemented, will address any weaknesses in our current service provision compared against our UK peer group and will allow us to take a leadership role. 10. Throughout the planning process, we have been very careful to ensure all the developments we are planning to bring through can support the key themes identified in the University s planning guidance documentation for We believe the changes we are proposing will support the key University themes of student experience, growth in student numbers, partnerships, online learning, fundraising, efficiency and especially data science. Library Space 11. The programme of investment in Library spaces which was started in 2005 with the Main Library Redevelopment Project has delivered significant improvements in the quality of space offered by the Library across the campus, in particular to the student community. Library study space is at the heart of the student experience on campus and the demand for good quality, supported library study space continues to grow. We need to allow the Library to continue to meet demand, to respond to changing patterns of learning and research and to provide new opportunities to make 2

3 it easier to exploit our rich resources. Under this theme we have identified the following work strands: On-going short to medium term investment in the Main Library building with a focus on more study space Provision of new Library space in the George Square area to meet growing demand and provide opportunities for new learning and engagement spaces Additional study space facilities on the King s Building Campus to respond to the KB Masterplan and growing student numbers New facility to support increased investment in developing and cultivating philanthropic giving Upgrade of Library facilities at Moray House/Holyrood campus Upgrade of the University Collection Facility at South Gyle. 12. Although most of our Library study spaces are good at the moment, they are under significant pressure. The occupancy of the Main Library building is at or close to capacity at points throughout the semester and not just around the examination period. The belief is building up in the student community that it is difficult to find a place in the building and it is not able to meet their needs. Our current ratio of one Library seat to every ten students does not compare well to our comparators. In the recent student focussed surveys, complaints about the lack of study space are the most frequently raised concern in the free-text comments. 13. The University is planning to grow student numbers on campus over the next ten years and make significant investment at King s Buildings. The current facilities at KB are good but would be put under severe pressure if student numbers grow and the planned transfer of students from the Central Area takes place. The current Moray House Library is the last site library which has not seen any significant investment and is no longer fit for purpose. 14. We are being asked to consider how we can increase philanthropic giving to the University. The Library and evelopment and Alumni recognise there is the potential to encourage greater giving to support Library projects. We need good facilities fitted out to a high standard if we are to develop a programme to cultivate potential donors. We need space where the richness of our collections can be appreciated by potential donors and individuals can feel valued. 15. We need to invest in our storage facilities to ensure the valuable heritage items in our care can be preserved securely for the long term. Changes on the University campus will increase the demand to find more cost effective ways to store collections currently housed in prime locations. 16. Investment in our spaces will not only ensure that we maintain the quality of our offering to our community, it will also give us opportunity to develop new types of facilities. As the University increasingly changes its curriculum towards a student led approach, with investment, we will be able to adapt our spaces to provide appropriate accommodation to support this change. As an example, there will be an 3

4 opportunity to introduce maker spaces. We will also introduce spaces where it will be easier for people to interact with our rich heritage library and object collections. 17. A lack of investment in Library space over the next ten years will bring significant risks. As we are a key part of the student experience, any sense that the quality of what is being offered or that we are not keeping up with competitors is likely to impact negatively on our NSS scores. If we do not improve the storage facilities for our heritage collections, they will remain at risk of damage or theft. eveloping the Unique Edinburgh Offer: igitisation 18. Over the next ten years, we expect the way learning and research will be carried out will become increasingly digital. Learners and researchers will expect most of the materials they want to access will be available online in digital format. Increasingly many of the processes and activities which support learning and research will be carried out in an online environment. ISG across all its ten year strategic themes is promoting a digital first approach. 19. The University of Edinburgh holds large collections of unique material available to support and enrich learning and research. These historic collections built up by the University are part of the identity of the institution and help differentiate the learning and research experience we can offer to our students. 20. The goal of our digitisation programme will be to make, where possible, a high proportion of the unique material we currently hold in our heritage collections available online over the next 10 years. We will achieve this through: A digitisation programme using in-house and outsourced options. A metadata programme to ensure the material we have digitized can be found. A digital preservation programme. A physical preservation programme. Sustained funding to allow us to continue to develop our heritage collections. 21. Although across the UK, investment in digitisation by the larger research libraries is still at a development stage, Research Libraries UK (RLUK) have identified a review of their digitisation strategy as a major theme for We are seeing more major holding institutions putting their collections online such as the New York Public Library. Closer to home the National Library of Scotland has included an ambitious goal of having one third of their collections available in digital format by 2025 in their current strategic plan. 22. The creation of an effective digital preservation process is an important part of any major digitisation strategy. The services we develop through this project will allow us to develop an infrastructure which can be used across the University to preserve digital content. A stable, funded physical preservation programme will ensure our on-going ability to loan material outside Edinburgh. Investment in 4

5 conservation will also provide opportunities for placements and leadership in the community. 23. The University of Edinburgh has made a significant commitment in its planning to the development of more online learning both to support distance learning and students on campus. The creation of unique digital content from our Edinburgh collections will support this work and provide opportunities for new collaborations 24. The University is investing heavily in data science and is establishing itself as a world leader in this discipline. The Library is already liaising closely with colleagues working in the field of digital humanities and informatics to understand how we can use content in digital format to develop new disciplinary approaches. The strength of our rich digital collections, combined with the breadth of research in the academic community, offers the potential for the University to be a leader in this area of work. Engagement 25. The need for effective engagement with all the stakeholders who interact with the University is a topic which is regularly discussed throughout all levels of the University. The Scottish government is interested in understanding better how universities deliver value back in to the Scottish community. The Library and the Museum collections are well placed to support this agenda given our existing strong track record of delivering engagement activities and our ability to generate interest in the wide variety of material in our collections, particularly through the Centre for Research Collections. 26. We want to make sure we do not fail to engage our own student community in the work of the Library and Museum Collections. We fail if we do not make them aware of the rich range of services and collections available for them to access. We want to continue to develop our varied student placement scheme which has provided opportunities for over 70 students over the last five years in support of the University s employability theme. 27. The key work strands we want to develop under the engagement theme are: Recruit Staff to run St Cecilia s Hall and deliver the commitments made by the University in the Project Plan. Expand the Engagement and Exhibitions Team to put our exhibition programme on to a sound financial footing, and provide more opportunities for student and public interaction with collections and research outputs across the campus and across the world. Provide more resource for the Open Access Publishing Team to support existing open access publishing activities and new publication models such as open textbooks and monographs. Increase the size of the Academic Support Librarian Team to allow them to provide better support for student learning and enhance their provision of support for staff and students about our collections and services. 5

6 Invest in the Course Collections and Resource List Team to embed this new service across all schools. 28. St Cecilia s Hall when it opens in November this year, will be a centre for an extensive programme of exciting engagement activities with the University, the local community and the wider city. The University in its applications to external funders for money to support the project has made commitments to deliver this programme. No additional resources have been allocated to the project to run the building once it is open and deliver this planned programmes. 29. The current exhibition programme delivered by staff from the Centre for Research Collections has been very successful in bringing the public in to the University and getting people to engage with our collections. Our Festival exhibition on olly the Sheep attracted nearly 12,000 visitors and was an excellent example of the kind of impact our exhibitions can make. The existing Exhibition staff have coordinated our involvement in other external events such as the Festival of Museums and manages our programme of student placements giving our students opportunities to work with collections and develop new skills. Much of this work is funded with soft money and will come to an end in 2018 without new investment. 30. We know from our conversations with Schools from all the Colleges that there is strong interest in using our collections to foster greater interaction with the public. Within the King s Buildings Masterplan there is a desire to make more use of the scientific collections. Projects underway such as the Paolozzi murals (Art Collections) and Amazing Bodies (Anatomical Collections) will ensure University of Edinburgh leadership in the UK and worldwide in these important areas. 31. The current Academic Support Librarian (ASL) Team, which sits in the User Services ivision, is stretched with key Schools such as History, Classics and Archaeology having to share their ASL with Social and Political Sciences and Biological Sciences sharing with MVM. The Team does not have the time and resource to provide the support which is needed to enable our students and staff to make full use of our collections and services. 32. We are making good progress with the roll-out of the Course Collections and Resource list service to Schools across the University. Improving the quality of information that students have about their recommended learning materials and being able to use the Course Collection process to ensure key material is ordered quickly are key components in our campaign to reduce on-going student dissatisfaction with access to their learning materials. 33. Our model of shared management of Library and Museum Collections has proved successful in ensuring we get the most from our limited resources and is proving to be of interest to institutions elsewhere in the UK and the world. The creation of a larger team has provided an environment where innovative thinking and the development of creative solutions takes place. The Team are already international leaders in the areas of manuscript cataloguing through the use of the ArchivesSpace, and in musical instrument museum management through the MIMO 6

7 project ( international.com Musical Instrument Museums Online). Our collections-based work has provided us with opportunities for international collaboration and joint funding bids. 34. We have been watching the development of University-based publication initiatives very closely over recent years. We already support more than a dozen journals through our publication platform. We have noted that more University based initiatives are appearing at major research institutions (e.g. the White Rose consortium of institutions in Yorkshire launched their service for journal and monograph publishing in January). We believe we should allocate resource to give us the scope to explore with our academic community ways in which we can better support their publishing activities, offering services such as open access textbooks and monographs. Vision for 2020 What will we look like in 2020? 35. Library Space: The Main Library will provide vibrant, attractive accommodation at the heart of the campus, where students will be able to find the variety of comfortable and secure spaces they need to support their studies. New spaces will have been created where learners and researchers can interact easily with library and museum collections through exhibitions and using new technologies. There will be spaces where they can work both collaboratively and individually. The University will be seen as a leader in object based learning. 36. We will be mid-way through creating a second large library study complex on the central campus. Investment in the King s Buildings and Holyrood campuses will have delivered more, higher quality library space to meet the growing demands of students on these sites. There will be continuing rounds of investment in other site libraries to accommodate growing and changing demand. The Library will provide secure and environmentally controlled surroundings to ensure the long term preservation its heritage collections. There will be space to locate and manage collections currently stored on campus - at the new University Collection Facility as the University Estate plans develops. 37. eveloping the Unique Edinburgh Offer: igitisation: A significant proportion of the Library and Museum Collections unique material will have been digitised. It will be used to provide content for the University s growing collection of online modules. The Library will, having worked closely with colleagues from Informatics and the schools within CHSS, provide a digital scholarship support service for researchers wanting to use data interrogation techniques to carry out research on the new corpus of digital content. The Library will be the lead partner on a number of international projects relating to digitisation. As a result of the programme to digitise and catalogue the University s unique collections, demand to access items in the collections will have doubled, and more items will be loaned to exhibitions in global institutions, increasing awareness of the University of Edinburgh as a major research leader. The Library will be providing a full digital preservation service available across the University. The 7

8 Library conservation studio will support an enhanced student placement scheme delivering training and research into new conservation techniques. Library fund raising will have increased by 400% over the figure. 38. Engagement: St Cecilia s Hall will operate as a vibrant cultural space and as a key venue for the University to engage with many different communities both within the city and beyond. Our student and local community engagement activities will be transformed by innovative and extended collections-based programmes. We will see more use of Library Services and Collections as our new Academic Support Librarians are better able to promote services and resources available to academic staff and students. All essential resources on resource lists will be available from the Library, and student satisfaction with the Library Service will increase. The Library will have supported the publication of a number of open access text books and a wider range of University published open access journals, allowing high quality Edinburgh academic research to be made freely available to the wider world. Resource implications 39. The Library will bid against the Estates capital plan for the cost of the space enhancement work. The remaining activities will be funded by an increase in the ISG budget. We expect the plan to deliver some operational savings. A proportion of the work outlined will be supported by income from increased philanthropic giving and grant applications. Risk Management 40. If the Library does not receive the funding to carry through this programme, we will not be able to provide a Library service which matches the needs of a University with ambitions to be a world leading teaching and research institution. The student experience of using the Library service would suffer with an inevitable knock-on effect on student satisfaction. Without this investment, our heritage collections will be at risk from poor environmental conditions and theft. 41. In order to mitigate risk, we will continue to bench mark our performance against our peers, we will introduce KPI s for each strand to ensure the programmes are delivering, we will survey our community to ensure the services we deliver are fit for purpose and we will conduct audits of our existing work practices. Equality and iversity 42. EqIA is pending the final inclusion of the Library strategy in the ISG Strategy ocument. Next steps/implications 43. The Library will provide a report on the outcome of the planning round at the next Library Committee meeting in May and the implications for the 10 year plan. 8

9 Consultation 44. This paper is being circulated to Library Committee and the relevant College Library committees. Further information 45. Author/Presenter Jeremy Upton irector of Library and University Collections February 2016 Freedom of information 46. This paper may be included in open business 9