Digital ChangeDigital ChangeCommunities at the heart of service deliveryCommunities at the heart of service delivery

David PottsProject Manager – Libraries

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council

Agenda

• Action Plan for Libraries

• The MLA Library Loans Online Feasibility Study

• Next steps

MLA’s Action Plan for Public Libraries• Five year plan• Four key challenges

– Research and Evidence– Best Practice– Innovation– Digital Change

• Three themes– Excellence– Communities – Learning

Digital Change• Increased bandwidth

– JANET

• Manage digital data environments– PNDS– Web 2.0

• National membership– One card?

• Libraries Online– People’s Network Service– Reference Online– Library Loans Online?

Web scale library-like services

• How many librarians were involved?

• Where are libraries and librarians having web scale impact?

• Could a public libraries killer app help?

Accessing books in your local library • Searching conducted in library by user or

staff

• Search can be conducted at home

• Search across all libraries in the local authority

• Physical visit required

Accessing books from other library authorities• Search conducted by library staff

• Search can be conducted from home

• Charged for service

• Physical visit still required

Union Catalogue

The public libraries ‘connection’

Public Libraries

Divide by 149

Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat. Cat.

149 CataloguesILLLMS

The current system

Good Points• It works!

– Established mechanism

– Staff familiarity

• Clear audit trail• Established

agreement between all library authorities

Less Good• Can take many weeks

to fulfil requests• Back office staff

intensive• Underused• Requires dedicated

transport system• Charging

discrepancies

The changing nature of service delivery

• Quintessential resource– Everyone loans books

• Public association• Core business, but with new competitors

– Out of Print books no longer a USP– ‘Book Rental’

• Is it accessible enough? • Can libraries afford rigid control of core assets?

– What if you could only use the shops/banks/cash machines in your area?

• Could search be controlled by users?– Consumer can bank, shop, book a holiday, buy travel tickets,

rent a DVD from the desktop

What if…?

Public library stock of England(purchased by the People of England)

People of England

Public

Libraries

The Creative Archive License Group (1)

• BBC, CH4, OU, BFI opening up access to their archive material for personal use

• History of controlling assets:– Newspapers/TV listings– Cinemas/Video shops

• CALG as another business model for distributing material

The Creative Archive License Group (2)

“..if we really are going to seize the potential of the digital world then we need to develop entirely new business models for delivering images, information and stories to audiences”

“This time it’s not just ‘revenues’ that are at stake, but a far bigger prize; the whole realm of “public interest” and a chance to radically enhance and enrich the lives of citizens across the UK …That being the case we simply cannot allow the lazy dogma of the past to blind us to the possibilities now on offer to literally transform our collective future.”

“..when public resources have been used to create content, then the overwhelming objective should be to maximise the benefit of that content to the people who helped pay for its creation in the first place”

“..we need to come up with solutions which are “fit for purpose” in a longer timeframe, not just a series of “quick-fixes” which will inevitably amount to little more than a series of messy compromises”

How might this work?

• One interface to national holdings. • One simple search• ‘Borrow now’• Payment

– Standard service– Premium service

• Post Office/other delivers– Nearest library– Home / prepaid envelope

• A service that is shaped around the lives of individuals– Multitude of delivery channels

Potential benefits• A nationally marketable service for all public

libraries• A service that is tailored to the user and modern

lifestyles • A 21st Century style delivery• New ways for library stock to work

– Book prizes– National campaigns– OP republishing?– Windows to stock categories (e.g. large print)

The Library Loans Online Feasibility Study• Two broad sections

– Professional issues– Implementation models

• Stakeholder interviews

• Six month study

• Publishing?

Key Findings (1)

Can it happen?• YES!• Pieces are in place:

– Stock/union catalogues etc.– New ways of accessing live catalogues– Transaction technologies– Library staff– Delivery (PO or other)– Access to internet (People’s Network or home/work)

Key findings (2)

• Total support for a national Library Loans Online system

• LLO to be a ‘charged for’ service• Current ILL costs £15 per item• Membership divide• Need for user research• Need for sub-national pilot• Need for one organisation to lead

Library Loans OnlineBook 1

Book 2

Book 3…

Library Loans OnlineBook 1

Book 2

Book 3…

Borrow Now

Library Loans OnlineBook 1

Book 2

Book 3…

Library Loans OnlineBook 1

Book 2

Book 3…

Borrow Now

Library Loans OnlineBook 1

Book 2

Book 3…

Library Loans OnlineBook 1

Book 2

Book 3…

Borrow Now

Library Loans OnlineBook 1

Book 2

Book 3…

Library Loans OnlineBook 1

Book 2

Book 3…

Borrow Now

Next steps

• Construct Business Case

• User research– Not focus exclusively on library users

• Office blocks etc

– Assess appetite for Library Loans Online• Willingness to pay• How much?

Who might use Library Loans Online?

Core library users

Occasional library users

Non-library users

Will never use libraries

Finally..

• The road ahead– How can we work backwards and redesign

library process around the ‘user in control’ principle?

• ‘Communities at the heart of service delivery’

Contact/Feedback: david.potts@mla.gov.uk