International perspectives on e-books in libraries

A gathering of over 80 international delegates met in London to discuss the current barriers, challenges and some of the successes in integrating e-books in library services from around the world. There was much common experience, but also a few surprises along the way. Karen Gibbins, Chair of CILIP Cymru Wales and I were fortunate to attend the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) seminar in London on 21 February 2013 organised in partnership with CILIP. This is potted summary of key points as they struck me, from a very full, information rich and stimulating day.

IFLA Ebooks - some of the speakers.
(L-R: Yasuko Inoue, Michael Dowling, Chloe Vincente de Billion, Klaus-Peter Bottger)

E-Books in Libraries: a global question of survival?

Phil Bradley opened the Seminar by challenging delegates to see e-books as an opportunity. Libraries and librarians have endured across time, and will do so into the future. We have power. The power to find information using technologies  and resources that are available to us (books, online, eBooks).  Other professionals come to us for our expertise, and e-books provide opportunities for us to expand our horizons.

The Challenges?

Adapting to change. Too many libraries have already met their downfall. Will libraries become merely museums of books, or will they embrace challenges in order to become vibrant organisations providing different offers to all of their users? The pace of change is significant.  eBook markets are still very fluid and evolving.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change” Charles Darwin

 Stance of Publishers? Business models and pricing. Will publishers arrive at suitable business models that address the very different needs of the markets for printed books and for eBooks?  Are publishers / aggregators  and the large online players (e.g. Amazon) forcing the return to an online equivalent of the subscription library?

Stance of Publishers? Piracy and Intellectual Property Law. “Many publishers view library provision of eBooks as a direct threat to their and their authors’ economic interests, and they therefore withhold library sales of [eBook] titles”[i]. Libraries have been branded as government sponsored outlets for piracy [ii]and of being “cannibals” to the publishing industry. African publishers are reluctant to develop eBooks because of fears over extensive piracy.

Stance of Publishers? Timeliness / Availability. Publishers currently withhold or embargo eBook titles for supply to libraries.

“It appears that at the moment the collection building policy may be decided by the publishers and not by the library, which could mean a threat to access to information, and by extension to democracy”[iii].

Stance of Publishers? Libraries are without rights (with respect to eBooks). The terms and conditions of usage are determined by the publishers in licensing, and are affected by intellectual property laws. Where present, laws providing statutory frameworks for public libraries may be dated, and offer no levers for the acquisition, dissemination, long term storage and preservation of eBooks and online content. Libraries respect and advocate for intellectual property law but wish for current exceptions for hard copy formats to be extended to eBooks (e.g. long-term preservation, provision in formats suitable for people with disabilities, rights to lend). Digital deposit legislation may assist here.

Public Awareness. Library users / members of the public are not aware that eBooks may be available to borrow from libraries. Those members who are aware, but find our eBook collections inadequate, probably don’t understand that this is because of publisher restrictions / pricing.

Technology / Affordability. Many areas of the world still have inadequate access to technology and network capability, and / or this may be beyond the financial reach of all. However, budget tablet / smartphone devices, and improving mobile telephone network capacity might provide viable and cost effective solutions for the not too distant future. Affordability of individual eBook titles around the world may be subject to international currency exchange rate variations, disfavouring weaker currencies.

Platform / Standards. eBooks should be available to libraries in the formats that their patrons wish to use. In the UK Kindle users are not able to use eBooks from public libraries.

Cultural challenges.  In Japan, a technologically advanced society, eBook usage is very low. The most popular eBook material is eManga (digital graphical novels) bought and accessed by younger people.  Japanese librarians are reluctant to accommodate this genre of digital literature within their services. Japanese script is read vertically and this may be an additional detraction from using eBooks in Japan.

International challenges.  The international eLending picture is extremely complex. For instance, within Europe there is no aggregated source of eBook loans statistics;  the extent of provision for eLending from Public Libraries varies significantly between the European member states, as do levels of usage. Quantity and quality of available eBooks may be limited in some minority languages (with parallels for Wales here). Differential tax regimes may apply. Some states exempt eBooks from value added tax along with printed books, whilst other states exempt VAT on books, but not on eBooks.

The changing concept of the book.  The concept of the book is becoming increasingly irrelevant:

• where users can pay for access to a paragraph, page, chapter or whole work;
• the experience of eBooks on tablets will be completely different, with increased interactivity, multimedia content etc; and
• the rise of self-publishing, circumventing the traditional publishing routes. 

Phil Bradley suggests that these are of greater concern and challenge to publishers than they are to librarians. Librarians think in terms of fulfilling information requirements. The vehicles for information transmission are therefore of lesser concern.

Data protection. Provision of eBook services via aggregators is in effect outsourcing part of your service, and allowing your aggregator access to information about your users and their reading preferences.  How can we adequately ensure that eBook services won’t sell-on user information to third parties, or barrage our users with unhelpful advertising or excessive recommendations?

National Campaigns / Initiatives – stuff of fairytales?

South America. Chloe Vincente de Billion described a “library fairytale” in eLending, charting successful direct partnership with academic textbook publishers, ignoring the aggregators. This approach recognised how vital textbooks sales are to publishers’ viability, and that the extent of illegal copying of hard-copy resources was already problematic. Working with publishers to understand their needs and ambitions enabled a win-win solution to be arrived at through affordable eLending solutions.

In New Zealand, one aggregator, Wheelers, have developed a purchase model for eBooks to libraries. Work by the National Library in New Zealand and the Library and Information Association in New Zealand have led the way in these developments. Of specific interest to Wales, this arrangement has enabled delivery of eBooks in libraries in Maori and other indigenous languages.

United States.

•  The American Library Association has developed a toolkit to raise awareness of range of issues relating to eLending, identifying the need to promote eLending via public libraries to members of the public and to support library staff.
• Some State Library Associations have been vocal when publishers are unhelpful, whilst the ALA has published open letters to specific publishers when they take action that disadvantages libraries. However, the ALA is cautious of only focussing on negative stories, but also encourages celebrating  positive developments in eLending.
• “One eBook to prove them all”. Extensive promotion of a single eBook title within libraries to identify what the positive spin-off for publishers are.
• Direct engagement: Talking directly with publishers about their concerns. Is there evidence that provision of eLending from libraries is causing an increase in piracy? If not, then why not expand the provision with libraries!  Taking different approaches for different sectors (e.g. school libraries). Also talking directly to authors. Do you find it acceptable that you book is embargoed (withdrawal period)  in eBook format for sale to libraries?

Sweden.  In Sweden the existing model of eBook supply to public libraries was expensive, with limited titles because of withdrawal periods, and was monopoly controlled through a single aggregator owned by the publishers. Talks to change this marketplace, between the Library Association and the Publishers Association in Sweden, broke down. The SLA stressed:

“Access to eBooks in libraries is not only a question of freedom for borrowers in choosing their preferred reading format, but it also affects the library’s core mission: to increase reading and provide citizens with free access to information. .[...] We want a long-term model that weighs publishers’ commercial interests in newly released books with the libraries’ mission to freely make available current information and knowledge.”

Image (c) Swedish Library Association, 2012.
http://www.biblioteksforeningen.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Say-hello-to-yor-new-librarian-120906.pdf

The SLA undertook a brave campaign to force publishers back to the table: “Say hello to your new librarian” with a picture of a chief executive of a Swedish publishing company.  In dire circumstances don’t be afraid to upset some people. Rough times are sometimes required in order to achieve change! The Swedish Government are now on-side strengthening the understanding of libraries core mission with the Swedish publishers. Work is underway on a National eBook Machine – digitizing, storing and making accessible the widest range of content possible.

The context of Sweden is significant here. There is a small, geographically confined market for Swedish language books with a limited number of big publishers in Sweden. Libraries and publishers are therefore undeniably reliant upon each other. Governmental / statutory support for libraries is also strong. The likelihood of success for a similar campaign for eBooks in English, for example, is doubtful.

Denmark. The Danish Library Association worked with two of the largest publishers in Denmark to successfully start publishing eBooks, and to provide a pilot scheme for eLending (eReolen.dk).  Attempts to extend the scheme with the original publishers failed, but in their stead a wider range of publishers have now joined the eLending scheme. Coincidentally, the collapse of the pilot project provided opportunities for very positive media coverage of the role of libraries within contemporary Denmark, and additional support from the Danish Government.

Ways forward?

Take publishers by the hand. Libraries can help publishers to develop new business models, but we can only do this when publishers and libraries meet at “eye-level”.  Should this be achieved by carrot or stick? Probably a combination of both!

Libraries don’t usually recognise that we have appropriate sticks. However, in this case, we have. Libraries have been a shop window for publishers. The gains for publishers in working with libraries are significant. Libraries also have an advantage. At present finding, purchasing and using eBooks isn’t easy or straightforward. Libraries can provide a trusted partner to support wider use and access to eBooks, and this will benefit publishers and authors in the long run.

Public opinion can also be changed and used to influence publishers.  US examples at local level of news stories about publishers preventing access to the full current catalogue of eBooks by libraries has grown in momentum. At more extremely level is the example of Sweden, and the “This is your new librarian” campaign.

Inform, lobby, influence. Immediate need for joint actions in effective:

·         flow of information between IFLA, EBLIDA and national library associations and societies. All of these organisation need to be aware of what is happening, what has been achieved, and where problems continue to arise.

·         lobbying  of national and European parliaments, WIPO.

·         Influencing change in international and national copyright frameworks.

·         Influencing / raising awareness of issues with the media and informing public opinion.

Several bodies have formulated principles for eLending (see “useful resources”  below). These can be helpful in establishing points for negotiation, evaluation and review of eLending services in public libraries. There is, of course, no requirement to adhere to any of these Principles documents but they provide a framework for future negotiation with key stakeholders including publishers.

Useful resources

Speakers' Presentations are available via the CILIP web site

IFLA - eLending http://www.ifla.org/e-lending . Provides access to the IFLA Background Paper, Think Piece (providing a wide range of perspectives), and the IFLA Principles for eLending (February 2013).

ALA - Transforming Libraries http://www.ala.org/transforminglibraries/ . Includes the E-Books and Digital Content page, which in turn includes E-book Media and Communications Toolkit - Resources to help start and continue the conversation regarding library e-book lending, access issues, and general public awareness. Tools include press release and op-ed templates and guidelines for using them with editorial and news media contacts, news hooks you can use locally, tips for relationship building with media contacts, and links to examples of e-book-related editorials and news stories.

EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations) E-Books in Libraries Campaign (launched Summer 2012) http://www.eblida.org/e-books-in-libraries.html . Includes a link to the EBLIDA Principles on the acquisition of and access to eBooks in libraries (November 2012).

CILIP’s response to the DCMS Consultation on eLending in Public Libraries in England. Including four key recommendations, and access to the full consultation response and a briefing paper. http://www.cilip.org.uk/news-media/pages/news121117.aspx  

A TweetDoc capturing tweets with #IFLAebooks is available (PDF, 16 pages - can be slow to load). 

With apologies for any errors, significant omissions, or misrepresentations – these are all of my own making.

 

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[i]  Gerald Leitner, Chair IFLA MLAS

[ii] Peter Wilcke, Swedish Publisher “Public libraries which now have sites for downloading of eBooks to computers and mobiles can become a sort of  “legal marketplace for piracy””. (Quoted by Niclas Lindberg, Secretary General, Swedish Library Association).

[iii] Gerald Leitner, Chair IFLA MLAS

Could you benefit from the Kathleen Cooks Bequest?

The legacy of Kathleen Cooks lives on. In 2012 the Kathleen Cooks Fund made awards totalling just over £5,400. Might you benefit from Kathleen's generous bequest in 2013?

In 2012 the Fund provided financial assistance for the following events in Wales:

·         Conversations with Cataloguers

·         Forum for Interlending

and enabled individual CILIP members to attend training events including:

·         Training the trainers

·         DARTS3 conference (blogged about here)

·         University Science & Technology Libraries Meeting

·         Day delegate attendance at CILIP Cymru Wales Conference in 2012 (blogged here)

The Fund also supports the Welsh Books Council in the annual awards of the Tir na n’Og prizes for children’s books published with genuine Welsh background in English and Welsh.

The legacy of Kathleen proudly lives on. Will you join those in benefiting from Kathleen’s generosity in 2013?  Applying for financial support is straight-forward!

Who can apply?

·         Welsh Library Authorities

·         CILIP groups in Wales

·         Individual members of CILIP in Wales

Awards are granted where applications meet at least ONE of the following criteria:

·         Result in a new or improved service to users of library and information services in Wales

·     Add to knowledge in Welsh libraries and information services

·     Improve professional knowledge among members of CILIP Wales

·     Assist in the production or purchase of specific items or collections of permanent value to Wales

Awards are typically in the region of £500 - £1000, but may on occasion be greater.  Decisions are usually made within 10 days and the process is very straight-forward.

What have you got to loose, and think what you could gain!

Health Libraries Group Wales event- Tuesday 26 March 2013

Great news! The recently reformed Health Libraries Group in Wales have announced the programme for their Spring Study Day  to be held on Tuesday 26th March 2013 at the Royal College of Nursing in Cardiff.

The day will provide a fascinating insight into:

• using smartphones to provide access to key medical texts
• the open-access debate, and how Cardiff University are responding
• a video conferenced session with colleagues from the University of Sheffield School of Health and Related Research
• the virtual enquiry service provided for RCN members in Wales

This event will also provide lots of useful networking opportunities and time to find out more about HLGW. Please support this event! Further details are given below.

Health Libraries Group Wales (HLGW)

Spring Study Day & AGM - Tuesday 26^th March 2013

RCN Wales

Ty Maeth

King George V Drive East

Cardiff

CF14 4XZ 

10.00am to 4.00pm - including lunch – cost £15.00

 (Please make cheques payable to ‘Health Libraries Group Wales’)

Programme for the Day

10.00                    Coffee & Registration / Welcome & Introduction by Joint Chairs

10.30                           iDOC Team - Smartphones on the ward?

foundation doctors' experiences of using electronic texts to support workplace learning – Prof Alison Bullock and Dr Rebecca Dimond - Curemede, Cardiff University

11.30                          The Finch Report and Open Access Publishing 

                              Sonja Haerkoenen – Cardiff University

                                     

12.30                          Lunch

1.30                                       A Free Web Toolkit for the Modern Library

                                    Andy Tattersall & Claire Beecroft – SCHARR (School of Health & Related Research) University of Sheffield (presentation delivered remotely from Sheffield)

2.30                       Virtual Enquiries at the Royal College of Nursing 

                                    RCN Library, Archives and Information Services

                                     

3.00                             Coffee

3.30                         HLGW Annual General Meeting

4.00                             Close

I would like to attend the HLG Wales Spring Study Day

Name:

Job Title:

Organisation:

Work address:

Postcode:

Tel:                                                  Email:

I am/am not a member of the Health Libraries Group Wales

Please indicate whether you require a vegetarian/non-vegetarian meal 

Any other special requirements:

Please return booking form (with payment cheque) to:

Pat Duxbury

p/t Care Sciences Information Librarian

University of Glamorgan

Glyntaff Campus LRC

Treforest

CF37 1DL

Tel: 01443 483151

Email: pduxbury@glam.ac.uk

‘Exploring Spaces’ - understanding the learning spaces that libraries provide



Martin Edwards attended the Experiences of the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) conference on ‘Exploring Spaces’ (Orlando, Florida, January 2013) with financial support from the Kathleen Cooks Fund. This is Martin's overview of a project to review learning spaces at the University of Wales Newport and some of his experiences of attending and delivering a paper at the Conference.





The location for HETL’s ‘Exploring Spaces' conference depicting part of the university campus at the University of Central Florida, Orlando



Background

 

Back in May 2012, the Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) called for papers on the theme of ‘Exploring Spaces’ for a conference to be held at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. At the University of Wales, Newport, staff in the library service had received a ‘learning and teaching’ grant to try and understand the learning space the libraries provides for its users, with an original remit to:

• To gain a better understanding of space (physical and virtual) and how this meets the learning and research needs of our learners (staff and students)
• To investigate whether teaching can be supported with our learning centre resources
• To investigate whether there is a difference between a learning centre and a library and if so, how this impacts on the learning experience.

The rationale for this came on the back of a university restructuring process which laid more emphasis on learning centres and less so on libraries.  We were also keen to see how much the notion of an information commons had progressed in a decade or so since its inception.

The Conference Experience

The conference itself was hugely different to both the library-specific and non-library conferences I had attended in the UK.  The scale of it (both the size of the campus and the number of delegates and speakers) may at first have appeared overwhelming, but I was impressed with the efficiency of the organisation, the structure of the programme and the pace of the change from keynote speakers to symposia to roundtable presentations and panel discussions.  HETL was a new association to me and I was impressed with its global coverage and the commitment of staff from across the world (who were mostly present at the conference).



UWN Newport City Centre - The Learning Centre including an information point, some of the IT study spaces and (towards the back) a social space.



My presentation focused on the qualitative and quantitative methodologies we had employed at Newport to try and identify a relationship between the learning styles of our students and the study spaces we provide. It is clear that there still needs to be a demarcation between the silent / individualised and the group / blended learning areas.  Strong support was also shown for more IT zones and bookable study rooms.  This has largely been achieved at our new campus in the city centre, but is something we are still working on at our older campus at Caerleon.  Other points raised in the presentation noted the need for social spaces, and this is something I am starting to look at in conjunction with the Newport Riverfront Arts Centre, aiming to deploy techniques from the commercial and non-education sector into higher education libraries.

I was also part of a roundtable group identifying the relationship between learning spaces and student experience. This involved attending other presentations on library themes including:

• the design of a bespoke ‘Learning Ground and Sandbox’ at ‘Portland State University’
• non-linear approaches to teaching students information literacy / fluency from ‘To The Point Research/Google, Inc’, and
• managing media technology and services (both on-demand borrowing and service support) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

It was good to gain an insight into what other higher education libraries in other parts of the world are doing and the Q&A session at the end reinforced the notion that we share the same issues and problems, including:

• how to support research in higher education (whether through faculty or a dedicated graduate research centre);
• bridging the digital divide and avoiding disintermediation (both for users and front-line staff), and
• the growing role of marketing and use of social media.



A ‘snapshot’ of some of the findings at Newport, with a demand for improved spaces of all types, replete with improved environmental factors.  This is something we have started to address by laying less emphasis on printed stock and opening up floor space and study rooms.



The role networking plays in such a large conference is invaluable and it was really useful to have informal discussions with academic staff from a wide range of disciplines as well as library people. For instance I had a good dialogue with the Head of Service at Bishop’s University, Quebec and it would be invaluable to continue communications with him to learn about the outcomes of the design and construction of their new library.

The Future

In relation to HETL, I would like to stay informed and become involved with activities in the future.  In relation to the work done at Newport on learning spaces, as mentioned above, I am embarking on a research investigation at the Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre as part of a Strategic Insight Programme and aim to bring ideas about space from another sector and service back to the library to increase the engagement we have with our learners and researchers.  Part of my presentation will also be delivered at the forthcoming event ‘Learning Spaces and the Student Experience: Do Spaces Matter?’ at the Senedd, National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff on March 11 2013. 

Acknowledgements

It is with sincere gratitude that I acknowledge the funding from the Kathleen Cooks Fund which made my visit to the HETL Conference possible. Thanks to Dr Bela Arora, who also participated at the conference and has been instrumental at setting up a learning spaces forum at the university.  Thanks also to Angharad Evans and Madeleine Rogerson for all the work and research they performed at Newport when we initially received the learning and teaching grant.  As the university mergers with Glamorgan University to become the University of South Wales, then this is an ideal opportunity to re-examine the learning spaces we provide across multi-campuses.

Martin Edwards is Team Leader in User Services, Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the University of Wales Newport.

CILIP Cymru Wales is grateful to Martin for providing permission to publish this report.

Welsh Minister announces extra £150,000 for tackling child poverty through cultural institutions

Speaking in the National Assembly for Wales yesterday (5 February 2013) the Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage, Huw Lewis AM, pledged an additional £150,000 to help museums, libraries and archives in Wales adopt and enhance initiatives to help eradicate child poverty. This additional funding is earmarked for work that will widen access and participation, providing a step-change in increased participation in museums, archives and libraries by the poorest families in Wales. Museums, archives and libraries open minds and open doors to previously closed areas of society.We must work to preserve library services in these very difficult financial times, but that we should simultaneously and pro-actively work to ensure that no one is excluded from using these services.

The Minister's statement is available via the attached Senedd.tv clip and runs for approximately 30 minutes including questions. Full transcript of the Senedd item will of course be available via the Record of Proceedings.  Below I have tried to summarise key points from the session for wider dissemination.





In brief overview the Minister noted [points in bold emphasised by me]:

• Museums, archives and libraries (MAL) do play an important role, along with other aspects of Civil Society and the Government in Wales, in working towards the eradication of child poverty. MAL provide gateways to knowledge, lifelong learning and increased understanding. They collectively work to reduce inequalities by being open to all, helping to improve life chances, developing skills and improving quality of life. The sector nurtures aspiration. These results arise not just because of financial resourcing for the sector, but result through the committed attitude of staff and volunteers.
• Commended the development of Child Poverty strategies by the National Museum for Wales and the National Library for Wales. By working in partnership with Communities First and Families First schemes both organisations have recently involved an additional 600 children and young people.
• Looking specifically at public libraries the Minister noted that they provide safe, welcoming environments with free access to resources - vital within the context of helping to eradicate child poverty. The Minister drew special attention to:
• the Incomplete field guide to wellbeing and libraries - recently launched (see this blog entry)
• improving literacy levels in Wales is central to the national strategy Libraries Inspire, emphasising the importance of sharing books and reading with children
• multi-agency approaches: delivering Book Start which now reaches 95% of families ; Flying Start now frequently use public libraries as venues for their activities and meetings.
• investment in children's public library services which can lead to increased number of children's visits to libraries of  an additional 50%.
• essential work in supporting adults - work that will have implications for eradicating child poverty. For example, assisting with job searches, improving and helping internet use - especially crucial where government services are increasingly only delivered online.

The additional £150k announced yesterday comes on top of the previously identified funding of £2.9M, and is specifically earmarked for work that will widen access and participation, working towards a step-change in increased participation in MAL by the poorest families. In this way MAL can enrich the lives of the poorest children and help them out of poverty. 

Museums, archives and libraries open minds and open doors to previously closed off areas of society.          Huw Lewis 5/2/13

Questions in the Chamber broadly supported and welcomed this statement, but there were some concerns and challenges:

• How will success be measured? How will this extra funding be directed - overcoming transport barriers, on broadband internet? Not directly answered by the Minister, but he noted:
•  the increasing thirst for accessing Welsh Culture, noting the free entry policy for national museum sites, and increasing availability of online access. 
• where investment has been made in children's library services then 50% increase in usage is seen. Wales is the only part of the UK where we still continue to see increasing numbers of public library visits.
• Given current public sector budget cuts how can we ensure viable public libraries, given the tendency to cut cultural services before other things? In response, the Minister said:
• In Wales cultural budgets certainly aren't the first targets for cuts. The Minister noted the situation in England where there is almost daily news of significant cuts to libraries, including reports of mass closures. The Minister is determined that this will not happen in Wales. Yes, these are times for imagination and investment; solutions such as co-location may work well.
•  his commitment to the public library service in Wales, again re-iterating that all powers will be used, and measures taken in order to ensure "comprehensive public library services" as required by the Museums and Public Libraries Act 1964.
• There was concern and doubt whether this additional money would need to be spent within the current financial year. If so, this may only give a couple of months for expenditure to occur.
• Jenny Rathbone AM (Cardiff Central) noted the recently announced cuts in Cardiff Public Libraries of £22M, but that no library will close. Libraries will be open on 5 days per week including Saturdays, instead of 6 days. The importance of story times, rhyme time, language and play sessions in deprived areas was noted, especially given that books aren't a central feature in many homes in of the poorest families. But how will the money be targeted?
• The Minister noted that the emphasis must not be on just preserving library services in very difficult financial times. The additional funding announced demonstrates the Welsh Government's desire to embark on an historic shift of who benefits from cultural organisations. We need to be pro-active in ensuring that no one is excluded.

Update

Welsh Government published the related news story on 7th February 2013 http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/cultureandsport/2013/130207changingcultures/

Walk-In Access Wales Event

The Carmarthen Campus of University of Wales Trinity Saint David played host to an excellent event reviewing progress and experience gained in providing walk-in access to members of the public to subscription electronic resources within university libraries. A wide range of librarians, mostly from higher and further education and public library authorities, attended the event providing lively and informed debate.

I tweeted during the event using the hashtag #wiaw and a record of these and associated tweets is available in this TweetDoc. 

It seems that many university library services have had Walk-In Access (WIA) on their agendas since the publication of the SCONUL / UCISA  HAERVI (HE Access to e-Resources in Visited Institutions) report in 2008. However, only in more recent times have factors coincided to enable some university library services in Wales to establish pilot WIA schemes. Recent focus on open access to the published outputs of public funded research  and the Finch Report have perhaps helped to swell the impetus for open access more widely, and in this context WIA too. 

Coincidentally, I think that most would agree that WIA isn't an ideal solution, and it most certainly isn't a desired end-point for open access. Enabling non-HE Library members on-site access within a University Library to e-resources still doesn't make it really easy for members of the public to access and use these  electronic subscriptions. But this is one stage further forward, and the learning  gained will be invaluable in devising and adopting easier, more ambitious solutions for the future. There will also be additional bonuses of  helping universities with goals of greater community and alumni engagement, improving usage and return from costly subscriptions, marketing and promoting the institution, and building on links with other library and information providers within their region.

Three sessions from colleagues at the University of Wales, Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University did much to discount some common myths relating to WIA and to highlight some different technical solutions used in providing access. 

Some myths: 

• Subscription licenses won't allow us to offer WIA. True in some cases, but also several large subscription deals such as NESLI and EduServ do allow access. Even some big publisher packages such as EBSCO allow WIA as a standard condition in their licenses. The list appears to be expanding. Check with other WIA schemes to see what they are providing and then double-check your equivalent subscription's license agreement.  (For instance: SWRLS - Libraries in the South West of England; or Scotland SCURL Walk-In Access Project). 
• Purpose of usage may be a problem as WIA is generally restricted to educational /  non-commercial use only. All walk-in users are asked to agree and sign a terms of use document. With appropriate documentation, support, training and guidance then this process should minimise the risk of infringing WIA use to the host institution.
• HE Libraries will be inundated with WIA requests, and that these users may  pose challenges to staffing / service standards. However, the reality is that WIA users are likely to be very low volume: tens per year, rather than hundreds or thousands. (In many cases university library services haven't yet actively marketed WIA arrangements, preferring to take a  "soft launch" approach for these pilot projects). Furthermore, the majority of the most likely WIA users will be ex-higher education students, and so will already have lots of search experience and knowledge, and so may not require extensive support. Institutions may also be able to control access times and manage user expectations by asking potential users to contact the organisation in advance. 

Some technical stuff:

• Most pilots WIA schemes have focused on providing access to IP authenticated resources. The   control of appropriate access via IP authentication guarantees to database providers that the resource has been used "on-site" and so is a straightforward access criterion to us. Other authentication systems, such as ATHENS or Shibboleth, haven't been successful for WIA so far.
• In many cases WIA users are provided with guest accounts to access to OPAC machines or other specified quick-use machines. These tend to be sited in libraries, close to service / help points. 
• All have developed local and different routines for allocating guest access, verification / ID checking etc. It would be good to standardise these in the future for the benefit of users. Similarly, some allow access with printing, whilst others allow downloading to USB memory sticks, and again consistency may be beneficial in aiding users' expectations and usage experience.
• Buy-In and support from Institutional IT Services has been essential. 

These are only very quick notes, and I hope that the presentations will be available via the project's blog shortly. There were also two parallel sessions in the afternoon which I haven't commented on here. Again the blog may provide notes from these. One output from the project will be a WIAW Toolkit which will help other institutions to roll-out WIA in their organisations. 

Some concluding thoughts:

• WIA should only be considered as a way-marker, and not an end in itself. We should also think about where we would like to be going in the future. A Utopian dream?  A wide range of HE subscription e-resources collaboratively procured for HE, FE and public use across all of Wales? Compare this with E-Books Wales or Public Libraries E-Resources offers and perhaps this isn't so Utopian! We should capitalise on our small nation status to provide such innovative, resource sharing solutions.
• Need to focus on user experience: reducing barriers and hurdles to usage wherever possible. This means standardising as far as possible. Standardisation would also enable economies of scale through pan-Wales marketing, evaluation, metrics etc.
• We should continue to use WIA as a  opportunity to develop an improved understanding of our local partner services, their collections and resources, and their user groups. Perhaps we can easily identify key user groups where initiatives may provide big wins. For WIA might this include U3A groups, local alumni, local historians / local studies experts? Similarly WIA could form a useful topic of continuing bilateral discussion and action between the Welsh Higher Education Libraries Forum (WHELF) and the Society of Chief Librarians in Wales. 

This was an excellent event and I know that this blog is far from a complete summary of the key learning points from the day. But this may spark comment, further debate, or links to other reports and accounts from the day. 

My thanks go to Alison Harding and Bronwen Blatchford for organising the event, and to the speakers who provided fascinating accounts of their own experiences to date.

Community managed libraries and Wales

CILIP Cymru Wales wholeheartedly supports the press release issued by CILIP  in London on 25 January 2013 – “Chartered Institute warns of dangerous “headlong rush” to create more community managed libraries”. However, despite being in the enviable position of having a national libraries strategy, and associated public library standards, we recognise that Wales is not immune to the realities of library closures and increasing likelihood of volunteer-assisted and community-managed services. We argue that the characteristics of geography and economic deprivation in Wales will mean that many community–managed library services in Wales will be unsustainable.

CILIP Cymru Wales share and echo the concerns identified by CILIP on the recent publication of the Arts Council for England report into community-managed libraries. We concur that:

·         “Good public libraries need the expertise  and knowledge of skilled staff to provide quality services”. The implication that community managed libraries will provide a similar level of service to properly staffed libraries is incorrect. Volunteers should only complement and not displace paid staff, as enshrined in CILIP statement on volunteering in public libraries.

·         Many volunteers in libraries are in the horrid position of having to manage their library or to lose it entirely. The recent report from the National Federation of Women’s Institutes demonstrates that the experiences of volunteers in community managed libraries are not always positive.

·         Community managed libraries raise the spectre of a two-tier public library service. CILIP’s vision is for a fair and economically prosperous society underpinned by literacy, access to information and the transfer of knowledge. A two-tier service is far from our vision for equity of access for all.

·         The call for publication and dissemination of the research used in the production of the ACE Report is also supported by CILIP Cymru Wales. We need access to as much research and evidence about volunteer / community managed libraries as possible.

In Wales public library services are fortunate in being underpinned by the Welsh Government’s strategy “Libraries Inspire” and the Welsh Public Library Standards. We also appreciate the direct Ministerial and Departmental (CyMAL) support and recognition for the value that public library services provide to communities and their social, educational, health, cultural and  economic wellbeing. (For instance, see this earlier blog). The tradition of political support for public libraries in Wales is a long and proud one. Nevertheless, Welsh unitary authorities are facing increasingly difficult budget settlements, coupled with increasing demands on their statutory services. A as a consequence we are beginning to see library closures in Wales.

CILIP Cymru Wales recognises that in some areas the landscape of public library service delivery needs to change. Improved public library services may result through partnership working with other agencies and bodies,   through relocation to shared buildings, to locations that are easier to access, and to buildings that can be maintained  and run more cost effectively, whilst also meeting more of the needs of the communities that they serve. We also recognise that Wales is not immune to the prospect of increasing numbers of community managed libraries . However, as the ACE report records:

“evidence suggests that low-income communities are likely to find it harder to play pro-active and sustainable role in managing their local libraries”.

This is particularly relevant to many areas in Wales, especially in these difficult economic times. The likelihood of sustainable community managed  library services within rural and sparsely populated areas is also very doubtful, and another key factor in Wales.

CILIP Cymru Wales will be doing all that we can to lobby against a “headlong rush into community-managed libraries”. Such a solution would, in most instances, not be fit for Wales, and so would have negative implications for the people of Wales. The status quo is not in itself sustainable, and so we recognise that change in the library landscape of Wales should and must happen. But we will be seeking to work with others to ensure that creative partnerships, collaborations and solutions result in  the provision of  sustainable, vibrant, effective and enriching public library services that are available to all in Wales.