Support for the Inspire initiative is growing in the South East following a joint meeting in December 2004 between members of the Society of Chief Librarians – South East (SCL-SE) and the South East University Librarians (SEUL). The meeting aimed to share information about current developments and encourage further partnerships to improve access pathways.
The Inspire initiative aims to provide a seamless cross-sectoral pathway for learning by adults across public, academic and national libraries. It is led by SCONUL (the Society of College, National and University Libraries), and the Society of Chief Librarians (public librarians in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) in partnership with the British Library, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), both nationally and regionally.
The joint SCL-SE and SEUL meeting started with a joint presentation by Mary Heaney (representing SCONUL) and Andrew Green (representing SCL) which provided the background to Inspire – England. While set up to implement the recommendations of the Empowering the Learning Community (ELC) report, Inspire - England also draws on the Libraries and Learners in London scheme and the 2 pilots run in 2004 in the North West and West Midlands. Inspire - England objectives are to:
- Create a cross-sectoral access pathway to information and knowledge for learners
- Link across 875 HE, 4610 public and 3 national libraries
- Interweave current network of successful access partnerships into single pathway irrespective of geography and sector
- Allow all libraries to continue to fulfil current responsibilities to users
- Manage reciprocal access and referral to other libraries with relevant collections and materials
- Contribute to LIS workforce development: building capacity and awareness of LIS resources across the UK
The second presentation was provided by Alison Baud, University of Bath who has led the ‘Tap into Bath’ project. This has created a searchable database of significant collections in museums, art galleries, archives and libraries in Bath. UKOLN was a partner in this pilot project and contributed expertise in metadata and RSLP standards. The other key benefit for the LIS community is the development of the open source software which is now available for other collaborative groups to use.
Since that meeting, Inspire projects have been developing at different paces in the region. Please download the update below to find out what progress has been made.
