From INSPIRE England to INSPIRE UK

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From INSPIRE England to INSPIRE UK

• Cross-regional and UK roles for academic,
  national and public libraries
• Inspire empowering learners through libraries
• Conference 27/4/04

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Information Sharing Partners in Resources for
Education

• What are we trying to achieve?
• What are we building on?
• Inspire partners
• Inspire context
• Inspire-based ELC Demonstration projects
• What have we learnt so far?
• Inspire-based future plans?
• What are we working on now?
• Questions for new Inspire regions and nations

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What are we trying to achieve?

• Cross-sectoral access pathway to information
  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
• All libraries continue to fulfil current
  responsibilities to users
• Managed reciprocal access and referral to other
  libraries with relevant collections and materials
• LIS workforce development building capacity and
  awareness of LIS resources across the UK

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What are we trying to achieve?

• Widen horizons
• Resource-sharing enhances access for all
• Our staff become more aware of the resources
  available to our primary users
• Standard of resource discovery and information
  literacy enhanced across current users of public
  and academic libraries
• We aim to reach non-users and those currently
  excluded from access to learning opportunities

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What are we building upon?

• Regional National consortia
• Currently 45 regional, national local consortia
  http//www.sconul.ac.uk/SconulAccess.htm
• Significant number include borrowing rights
  across HEIs
• Many cross-sectoral covering public, FE, health,
  some workplace
• Some cross-domain examples (archives/ libraries/
  museums)

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INSPIRE partners

• BL, NLS, NLW
• Learning Skills Council
• MLA Council
• SCL (England, Northern Ireland and Wales)
• SCONUL
• Scottish Library Information Council

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INSPIRE context overview

• British Library Reaching the Regions
• Empowering the Learning Community/ Inspiring
  Learning for All ELC demonstration projects
• Building on LLiL
• Lifelong Learning, Widening Participation and
  Social Inclusion shared focus
• Resource Feasibility Study of Access Mapping
  3/2003
• Framework for the Future Action Plan 2003-06
• WILIP/Routes to Knowledge
• NLS draft strategy Breaking through the walls
• People Flows restoring the balance

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INSPIRE context

• British Library Reaching the Regions
• Programme launched autumn 2002 within the BL's
• Co-operation and Partnership Programme
• Aim
• to increase relevance of BL and its collections
  to a wider public by improving services to users
  in the new political regions
• put the BL on the regional map
• Mechanism working with local partners, through
  the regional Museums, Libraries and Archives
  Councils
• BL as active partner, not merely funder
• Multi-partner programme

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INSPIRE context

• Empowering the Learning Community LIC 2000
• Public and educational libraries in any community
  or region should draw up access maps to enable
  users and learners to reach resources or
  assistance in other libraries on a managed basis
• Training of librarians, resource managers and
  teachers should be coordinated and should include
  ways of developing mutual support
• Public and educational libraries in communities
  or defined geographic areas should establish
  co-operative arrangements to improve services to
  their users

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INSPIRE context

• Building on Libraries Learners in London (LLiL)
• Inspires inspiration
• Launched 5/02 and now enhanced beyond public
  academic to incorporate many special libraries
• Learning from LLiL a major part of the Inspire
  England rollout
• From major metropolitan area to issues of rural
  conurbations, more dispersed populations,
  different transport infrastructure

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INSPIRE context

• Framework for the Future DCMS 2003
• Vision for 2013
• Any member of a public library can also access
  materials held in HE and FE libraries
• DCMS remit for MLA Council
• Create regional capacity for shared resources
  learning
• Regional capacity
• Promote libraries to regional agencies being
  created in England eg RDAs LSCs
• F4F Action Plan 6.1.2
• improve access to resources in academic public
  libraries 40k pa in 2004/5 and 2005/6 for
  Inspire x 8 regions

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INSPIRE context

• Widening Participation
• White Paper The future of higher education
• We must make certain that the opportunities that
  higher education brings are available to all
  those who have the potential to benefit from
  them, regardless of their background. This is not
  just about preventing active discrimination it
  is about working actively to make sure that
  potential is recognised and fostered wherever it
  is found.
• http//www.dfes.gov.uk/hegateway/strategy/hestrate
  gy/fair.shtml

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INSPIRE context

• Aimhigher Partnerships for Progression (HEFCE)
• Direct link to 50 widening HE participation
  target by 2010
• Joint initiative of HEFCE and LSC
• Encourage more better-prepared students to stay
  in education post 16
• Raise attainment participation among young
  people under-represented in HE
• Build on and encompass regional partnerships

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INSPIRE context

• Aimhigher Partnerships for Progression (HEFCE)
• HE Associations in each English region have
  developed Aimhigher delivery plans
• Subregional plans feed into regional strategy
• Focus on 14-19
• Circular letter 07/2004 Aimhigher national
  activity invitation to bid
• National activity defined as activity that takes
  place at local/regional level that would benefit
  from national coordination

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Inspire-based ELC demonstration projects

• Inspire England
• directly funded by DfES Access to Learning for
  Adults team with additional BL support
• Inspire North West and
• Inspire West Midlands
• both regional projects funded by DfES and managed
  as part of ELC projects by MLA Council

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Inspire England Steering Group

• British Library
• Home Nations
• Inspire NW
• Inspire WM
• LLiL
• LSC
• SCL
• SCONUL
• SCONUL/SCL/BL Access Referral Taskforce
• LISU (as consultant)
• MLA WM (as p/t project officer)

• Stephanie Kenna
• Stuart James, SCURL
• Sue Valentine, LNW
• Lesley-Anne Kerr, MLAWM
• Fiona OBrien, LLDA
• Sue OHara, Programme Manager Widening
  Participation
• Andrew Green, Coventry City
• Mary Heaney, University of Wolverhampton
• Elizabeth Heaps, University of York
• Yvonne Hamblin
• Lindsay Tulloch

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Inspire England objectives

• Develop cross-regional library access map for
  adult learners
• Encourage access by adult learners displaced in
  the educational system
• Provide opportunities and access for socially
  excluded individuals and groups
• Guide learners to libraries with collections and
  materials relevant to their needs

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Inspire England objectives

• Secure funding to develop an interactive website
  to facilitate access
• Underpin workforce development by building
  capacity and awareness of resources in the staff
  of libraries across the 3 regions
• Set the pace for fulfilling key aspects of the
  Framework for the Future 2013 vision
• Streamline information about access rights and
  responsibilities in a sustainable format for
  future development

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Inspire England deliverables

• Standard access agreement for learners from
  outside the HE sector agreed with the majority of
  HE Institutions in the 3 regions built from the
  LLiL experience
• Clear referral process to take learners between
  public HE library systems without barriers
  apparent to the learner
• Staff briefing materials for front line,
  technical and senior staff to include
• staff handbooks
• package for staff briefing
• programme for delivering the briefings

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Inspire England deliverables

• Training the trainers programme to empower
  effective local delivery of staff briefing and
  training materials for 66 HEIs 31 public
  library authorities in the North West and West
  Midlands regions
• Marketing strategy to reach library staff and
  users/non-users
• Recommendations on further rollout in England

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Inspire ELC regional demo projects

• Key focus
• Adult learners with skills gaps
• Learners from low participation neighbourhoods
• Assuring procedures that will enable
  disadvantaged learners to access HE resources
• Encouraging learner groups to take up the offer
  of access
• Demonstrating impact on learner skills,
  confidence and intention to progress

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What have we learnt so far?

• Experience with ELC Inspire projects has shown
• Difficulty of attracting short-term
  project/consultancy staff
• Vital need for coherence of approach across
  regions
• Projects need to allow staff working across
  sectors to learn about each others needs and the
  needs of their learners
• Communication across projects is time-intensive
  and not resourced effectively by the current
  project model

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What have we learnt so far?

• Experience with ELC Inspire projects has shown
• Inspire England need to be capable of rollout to
  other home nations
• Need for infrastructure eg website as resource
  discovery tool for access maps and entitlements
• Concern to include other sectors eg FE and health
• Absolute requirement for coherence of training
• Cross project management now emerging as
  necessity

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Inspire-based future plans?

• 2004/5
• East Midlands
• East of England
• North East
• South East

• Other future interest
• An Chomhairle Leabharlanna
• (Irish Library Council)

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What are we working on now?

• Identify source of 2 year funding for national
  Project Manager
• Refocus on facilitating access for learners
  across public, academic national libraries
• Identify source of funding for website
• Establish mechanisms for rollout beyond England
• Establish priorities for rollout to other library
  sectors in association with F4F/R2K
• Establish integration model for access routes
  across domains

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What are we working on now?

• Role of a national Project Manager
• Networking with regional and national projects
• Ensuring coherence of national offer for
  learners and libraries alike
• Marketing service to communities of lifelong
  learners and aspirant HE learners
• Managing development of website as an operational
  service
• Future sustainability of UK Inspire service

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Questions for new Inspire regions and nations

• What infrastructure do you already have?
• What challenges/barriers do you anticipate in
  your part of the cross-sectoral map?
• Where will your funding come from?