The British Library Social Science Collections and Research

1
The British Library Social Science Collections
and Research

• Jude England
• Head of Social Science Collections and Research
• 5th November 2007

2
Social Science and the BL

• British Library role as national library,
  research library and information hub
• Scope and potential of the collections for social
  scientists
• Your views priorities, usefulness, ideas for
  development and future directions

3
Foundations

• Founding Act 1753
• Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) Collection
• Harleian Manuscripts (1st and 2nd Earls of
  Oxford, who had employed Humfrey Wanley)
• Library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631)
• Royal Libraries (George II, Kings Library George
  III)
• Thomas Grenville Library 1827

4
Growth..

• 19th Panizzi universal collecting
• 20th Research level materials
• 1962 Patent Office Library / National Reference
  Library of Science Invention
• National Central Library (1916-) and National
  Lending Library for Science and Technology
  (1961-) to form British Library Lending Division
• 1982 India Office Library
• 1983 British Institute of Recorded Sound
• 1998 Opening of St Pancras

5
Now. size and scope

• Top five in world 150 million items 625 km
  shelves 12 km p.a.
• Most known languages 300 BC to today
• Newspapers grey lit Patents
• Official Publications Chinese oracle bones wax
  cylinders sound
• oral history IOR Fanzines

6
And

• Manuscripts e-publications
• Websites Punch archive IGOs
• Bread books Maps and atlases
• Paintings Photographs Picture poems
• Guns music scores Artefacts
• Exhibitions BIPC Talks

7
The future is e.

• Active programmes to digitise books and other
  material
• But in 2015, storage need still 7-8 km p.a.
• And, Legal Deposit Act 2003
• Future challenge of e and print
• - choice and researcher preference
• - preservation and conservation
• - museum of book or research resource

8
BL Priorities, Audiences, Services

• Priorities
• Enrich users experience
• Build digital research environment
• Transform search and navigation
• Grow and manage the national collection
• Develop staff and guarantee financial
  sustainability
• Audiences
• Researchers
• Business people

• The library network
• Schools and young people
• The general public
• Services
• Supporting research
• Supporting lifelong learning
• Professional services
• Public spaces
• Publishing

9
Scholarship and Collections
10
British Library Content Strategy

• 21st C information mountain, accessed by a click
  whither libraries?
• BL dual role as keeper of cultural, scientific,
  intellectual memory and responsibility for
  research resources
• Continue legal deposit, international
  collections, heritage acquisitions
• Focus on discipline, connecting, partnerships,
  digital collecting
• Focus on economic and political environment e.g.
  priority to China, India, Africa, plus key issues
• Mss and archives traditional, e, key literary,
  political and scientific figures
• Strengthen social science collections and
  proposition

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Social Science in the British Library

• Strong foundations Social Policy Information
  Service, Official Publications, grey lit, reading
  room
• International, contemporary and historical
  material
• Format neutral, virtual collection
• Primary and secondary data source
• Multi-disciplinary, content focused team
• Untapped audiences many academics,
  non-governmental organisations, government
  researchers

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Aims
13
Scope by discipline and theme
14
Aims in practice
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Current activities

• Government e-publications
• Electoral registers and ONS
• Welfare Reform on the Webs 100th edition
• ESRC scoping study, ad hoc user research
• On-line dictionary, email harvest, Web 2.0
• Public programmes, exhibitions
• Oral history of social researchers
• Boreham papers
• Opie collection

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Some observations.

• Wealth of information but vs loss of dedicated
  information services
• Move of government publications to the web
• Scoping study alarming, depressing, encouraging
• Behaviour and expectations of E-generation
• Web 2.0 cult of amateur or knowledge enhancing
  tool?
• Ensuring methodological rigour and quality

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Some questions..

• What would you like from BL?
• Use of Web 2.0 what, when, where?
• Notion of hub views?
• Type of events
• - research community
• - public
• - young people
• Use of secondary and qualitative sources
• Use of historical and geographical sources