Envisioning the library of the future

Involve and Dialogue by Design (DbyD) have been commissioned by the Arts Council England (ACE) to explore with citizens the purpose and value of public libraries. Over the course of September we will be running a series of deliberative workshops across England and an online consultation to gather people’s views – as citizens and taxpayers – on what the library of the future should look like.

Libraries have long played an integral role in the lives of many people and communities. They are an important source of information and knowledge, playing an important role in the ongoing education of citizens. Beyond this, they provide a shared public space where people meet and interact and can play a role in the development of communities. But while libraries have helped to shape, define and celebrate communities, they have also had to evolve and innovate as communities and society has changed around them.

Public libraries are going through a period of intense uncertainty and transition. With public funding being decreased considerably, the new financial context in which libraries now have to operate has created the need for libraries to demonstrate their public value, increase their reach and explore new models of delivery, including partnering and/or sharing services with other organisations, integrating library services with other community facilities, providing other public services, and/or involving library users in the governance and running of library services.

The pressure for libraries to innovate and adapt has, however, been around for much longer than the financial crisis. Social, economic, demographic, cultural and technological changes have meant that the number of people borrowing books has decreased and the way many people choose and expect to access and consume information has changed considerably over recent years. Libraries have had to respond to this by offering digital services and content, and identifying new ways in which to engage people. As a result, libraries have taken on much more of a role as a community hub and social space.

It is within this context of change that ACE embarked upon its programme of research to inform the development of a vision for the library of the future. We are excited to be working with ACE and DbyD to ensure that the ideas, views and values of citizens form an important part of that vision.
More News at :http://www.involve.org.uk/envisioning-the-library-of-the-future/

British Library unveils online collaboration with Qatar

By Li-mei Hoang

LONDON | Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:12pm IST

(Reuters) - More than half a million pages of historic documents detailing Arabic history and culture are to be made available online for the first time, as part of the British Library's plans to make its content more accessible.

Among the works is J.G. Lorimer's Gazetter, considered by many to be one of the most important sources on the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, which was originally compiled in the early 20th century as a handbook for British agents and policymakers in the Middle East.

The 8.7 million pound ($14 million) project will feature more than half a million documents from the East India Company and India Office as well as 25,000 pages of medieval Arabic manuscripts depicting the Arab world's science and medicine.

These materials could previously only be viewed by visiting the British Library's Reading Rooms in London.

The partnership between the British Library and the Qatar Foundation was announced on Wednesday and is aimed at expanding people's understanding of the history of the Middle East, and the region's relationship with Britain and the rest of the world.

"This is an opportunity for us to really make all these manuscripts available online and to describe the information ... and make it accessible to a wider public," British Library Curator of Middle Eastern Studies Colin Baker told Reuters.

The three-year project will involve various stages which include photographing each item, enhancing catalogue records in English and Arabic as well as adding geographic locations of origins for further research use.

The British Library's collection includes more than 150 million items such as the Magna Carta, Leonardo da Vinci's notebook and The Beatles manuscripts. It receives 3 million new items each year.

The records will be fully searchable and available online for free for the public to use and includes maps, photos, reports and correspondence relating to British and the rest of the world's involvement in the Arabian Gulf.

British Library director Oliver Urquhart Irvine told Reuters the plans to digitize these works are part of a bigger picture to put the library's entire collection online.

"We are blessed with a particularly large collection, so that would take a very long time. But this is part of a plan of the library to do that."

(Reporting by Li-mei Hoang, editing by Paul Casciato)

More News at :http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/18/net-us-britain-qatar-archives-idINBRE86H0XA20120718