Refer Summer 2015

Table of Contents  

New Members, their Induction and Information Needs Chris Sear, House of Commons Library  

Full Fact: Live Fact-checking and the General Election Will Moy, Full Fact  

Archiving the UK Government: a Perspective from a New Official Publications Librarian Daniel Payne, LSE Library  

How Can You Have Them Hear You When They Won’t Listen: the Challenge of Business Skills Training within MBA Programmes. Chris Flegg, Bodleian Business Librarian, Said Business School, University of Oxford  

Preparing Students for Global Immersion: Partnering for Success Meghan Dolan, Shelby Ikeda and Linda Rosen, Harvard Business School Library  

Business Support in Public Libraries Jonathan Cowley, Haringey Libraries  

Services for Business at City Business Library Esther Greenwood and Wendy Foster  

Extending and Enriching the Official Publications Collection at the UCL Institute of Education: Developing, Maintaining and Enhancing the Digital Education Resource Archive. Daniel O’Connor, UCL Institute of Education Library  

Government Information Sources Provided by The Stationery Office Gareth Vaughan, TSO Bibliographic Services, Williams Lea Parliamentary Press London  

Collecting and Access to Government Information: the Scottish Perspective. Fiona Laing, National Library of Scotland  

Digital Developments: the Scottish Perspective Helen Costello, Scottish Parliament  

Consultations on the GOV.UK Website Ruth Hayes  

The Ongoing Need for Print Versions of Official Publications Donna Ravenhill, Dandy Booksellers  

Copyright Images in Teaching and Research Gillian Dwyer, University of Surrey  

Obituary: John Ouston

Refer, the journal of the Information Services Group of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), is published three times a year and distributed free to members of the Group.

Editor: Helen Edwards

Editorial team: Lynsey Blandford, Ruth Hayes

Cover layout: Jonas Herriot

Contact: Helen Edwards 07989 565739; hogedwards@gmail.com

Copyright © The contributors and the ISG 2015

Online edition https://referisg.wordpress.com

ISG Reference Awards Nominations ISG Reference Award for best reference work 2014 and ISG Special Award for the best information resource for young people. Closing date for nominations 30 June 2015

ISG Walford Award for outstanding contribution to the world of reference and information services Closing date for nominations 31 July 2015

Awards Judging Day: 11 September 2015 at CILIP HQ

Awards Ceremony: 11 November 2015 at CILIP HQ from 5:30 All welcome! Free! Wine and Nibbles.  

New Members, their Induction and Information Needs

Chris Sear

Head of Front of House, House of Commons Library, and member of the General Election Planning Group

 

After the last election, there were 182 new Members of Parliament, all of whom needed to get to Westminster, be inducted, receive their pass, sign up for their pay and expenses, and pick up their IT; and all of this needed to take place within a few hours of them arriving at Westminster. On top of this all new Members were to be given a ‘buddy’ from the House staff, as we knew from interviews with Members that the first few days in Westminster are really difficult; it takes time for Members to be allocated their offices and appoint their staff but nonetheless they are expected to get on with their new job almost as soon as they arrive.

We already had a good idea that a system of buddies would work as it have been used successfully – though on a smaller scale – after the last National Assembly for Wales elections. Although there were some misgivings about using the word ‘buddy’, ultimately none of the other possible names – mentor, adviser, guide – really summed up what we were trying to do; which was to give new MPs someone from the House staff who would take the pressure off during their first few days in the job, who would help them find their feet and most importantly, start work on behalf of their new constituents as soon as they could. And, also, the Member’s ‘buddy’ had to be in front of the Member when they arrived, so there would be no waiting around.

I worked on the coordinating group that was given the task of making this work. We decided early on that buddies would be drawn from across the House service, from all grades and all directorates; that we would not pre-assign buddies but provide a taxi-rank of buddies that would meet the next Member through the door (pre-assigning would be too complicated given the uncertainty over the time Members might turn up); and that we would call all Members over the weekend after the election so we could find out their travel plans and be prepared.

Overall we recruited 120 buddies, and subjected them to a rigorous training programme. Everyone involved was keen (they were all volunteers and did it for no extra pay) but many of them were not that aware of what people in other part of the organisation did. So we set up sessions for them covering all aspects of the House’s business and work; we gave them a ‘getting off to a good start’ training course and tours of the building and areas where, normally, Members only can go. There was a big launch event with Members speaking and a clear focus on customer service, led by Martin Phillips, the head of Virgin Atlantic cabin crew who, again, gave his services for free.

The first floor of one of our main buildings – Portcullis House – was given over to a reception area for new Members. Here they would do all the things they needed to do to get set up for work, as well as meet their buddy. We didn’t have enough volunteers for every buddy to have only one Member, but each buddy expected to have two Members each and we hoped the timing of their arrival would make this reasonably straightforward. So, to determine this, once the election was over and we knew we had 182 new Members to induct, we started calling our new Members.

Most were exhausted having had little or no sleep for weeks; many had not expected to be MPs and now had to get themselves down to Westminster as quickly as they could; and all were grateful for the help we could supply and the travel bookings we were able to make. However, the main benefit of calling each Member was that it quickly became clear that they were all planning to come down to Westminster early on the Monday morning. Buddies were called in as early as possible, but as Members started arriving just after 7.30 we had several moments when we thought we weren’t going to have enough buddies. Luckily, despite at times being down to our last couple of buddies, more and more arrived as the morning went on and we were able to ensure that every Member had a buddy in front of them when they arrived. There was no time to breathe as each Member went off to get signed up with IPSA (pay and expenses), to get their pass and IT, and register with the Travel Office, before getting their locker keys and tour of the building, but by mid-afternoon most MPs had arrived and been inducted. The final few came on Tuesday and the very last one on Wednesday.

We also set up an induction day for New Members, starting with a briefing in the Chamber on Wednesday morning, followed by a ‘new Member’ photograph and induction sessions on setting up an office and complying with expected standards of behaviour. Members’ buddies had a vital in making sure that all Members knew about these sessions and help their Members find their way to the events.   Members do not get offices when they first arrive because these are allocated not by the House but by each Party, so we were supporting people having, in effect, to handle all the workload of being an MP while needing to hot-desk for the first few weeks.

Even though all MPs were inducted by the Wednesday, our buddies found their training to be worthwhile, as they have received a variety of requests from Members since. One extremely popular request was for help with their maiden speeches. The Commons Library (where I am Head of Front of House) drafted 182 emails giving links to each MP’s most recent three predecessors; links to statistics and profiles about their constituency; and various other pieces of information that MPs would want to use for their speech. We managed to do this by the beginning of the week after their induction, in plenty of time for the Queen’s Speech on 27 May when they could start making their maiden speeches.

Also in the Library we have spent the past few weeks giving tours to Members and introducing them to our service, and have started receiving their requests for research or information. (The Library service as a whole received 30,000 enquiries in the year before the election, all of which received a confidential reply.) We received requests for new newspapers (the National, Scotland’s new national – and nationalist – newspaper, – is now in our stock); and all the evidence points to a similarly busy year as new Members settle down, start working at full speed, and, more importantly, use the services they were introduced to in their first week.

The key point of course of any service is that it meets the needs of the customer. In this case we received considerable amount of positive feedback from Members, many of whom took to the press or social media to comment on their induction. Despite the hard work we honestly feel that the efforts of the past year were worthwhile, as they have enabled Members to get up and running in their new roles more quickly than ever before.

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Full Fact: Live Fact-checking and the General Election

Will Moy

Director, Full Fact

On the 31^st March Ed Miliband declared there was an “explosion” of zero hours contracts. “There are now three times as many people on zero hours contracts as there were when this government came to power.”

Independent factcheckers Full Fact sprang into action. We knew — thanks to thorough preparation before the election — that the statistics cannot and do not show an ‘explosion’ because comparisons of zero hours contracts over time aren’t reliable (as the ONS has made clear).

We sent out a press release and soon journalists were tweeting their favourite facts, for example that 66% of people on zero hours contracts don’t want more hours.

We went on Sky News, BBC 5 Live and Good Morning Wales to set the record straight, and our research was quoted in the Mirror, The Sun, Daily Mail, Guardian and Independent.

Labour continued to make their case about employment insecurity, but stopped using the flawed claims about zero hours contracts. Our job was done: the political argument could still happen, but now it was routed in reality.

The Election Centre

That was day three of our election project. Based in King’s College London’s Anatomy Theatre, we monitored claims from the parties in press releases, social media, broadcast, newspapers, interviews and speeches.

The project was conceived as a two-election venture: experimenting in 2015, and scaling up what works for the EU referendum and 2020 general election. Over the 18 months leading up to the election, a set of expert research partners came together including the Health Foundation, the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, the National Foundation for Educational Research, the Migration Observatory and NatCen Social Research. They reviewed and wrote briefings on topics ranging from immigrants and welfare benefits to job options for young people.

Expert organisations and volunteers from the Government Statistical Service, ONS and Ipsos MORI enabled us to respond to new claims faster. For example, during one leaders’ debate, a claim came up that we hadn’t seen before: “We need to build a house every 7 minutes just to cope with immigration into this country”. At 9pm we consulted the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. That night our response was published on Buzzfeed, reaching 28,000 people.

As well as connections to outside experts, live factchecking relies on thorough preparation. One of our biggest challenges was keeping our database of factchecks up to date (and therefore useable). Previously preparation for live-factchecking consisted of putting potential tweets and blog posts into one shared Google document – but often these were lengthy and it was difficult to find the relevant content.

For the last year we’ve been developing a new system: a database of claims and factchecks, and prepared tweets or posts that can be published straight away. As well as storing claims and factchecks, the current database also tracks claims: when they were first made, and where they’ve appeared over the years in House of Commons debates or on Twitter. There’s still a lot of work to do: we’d like the database to track when claims appear in the media, and automatically flag up ‘out of date’ content: sometimes inaccurate claims become accurate when the statistics show changes – for example claims about employment or the deficit.

How did it actually work?

The three main teams were Monitoring, Analysis and Communications. Monitoring produced the raw material for factchecking, trawling through the papers at 6am and listening to hours of radio shows. The election centre could not have functioned without our volunteers, who altogether donated 3192 hours of their time.

Analysis was staffed by experienced factcheckers and volunteers from the Office for National Statistics, the Government Statistical Service and Ipsos MORI. We were able to lean across a desk while investigating a claim and say, “You helped compile these statistics, can you help me find this fact?”

Communications made sure our findings were on the right channels, so that they’d be seen by large and varied audiences or prevent inaccurate claims being repeated in future.

What difference did it make?

We have only just begun to take stock and will spend the next few months analysing the project and digesting the results of an independent evaluation being carried out by NatCen.

That said, we could see the results of the election centre in full swing: the Labour party changing the way they made their argument so it was based on the facts; the Trussell Trust altering their press release and agreeing to work with us in future on how they present their figures; hundreds of positive and thoughtful tweets from people following our live-factchecking of debates; and a correction live on Newsnight for a claim made at the start of the programme.

There is still a huge amount to learn about factchecking future elections in a way that makes an impact on the quality of debate. Despite an expanded team and 1300 individual donations, we didn’t get time to explore everything we wanted to.

But we can see a change in the wind. More and more it looks like live-factchecking is an expected part of serious political discussion. Whether on Twitter, live blogs, instant video clips, or eyeball to eyeball on the BBC, we made sure politicians knew that what they said would be checked. Those 1300 backers show how much people care about whether they’re fed truth or spin: the wind is in our sails.

 

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Archiving the UK Government: a Perspective from a New Official Publications Librarian

Daniel Payne

Official Publications Librarian, LSE Library

Over the past few months I’ve been attempting to familiarise myself with the extensive collection of UK government material we hold here at LSE Library. One of the founding principles of the school was to train social scientists for the betterment of society, and official publications remain a primary source of information to support that aim.

I’ve drawn two conclusions from my explorations thus far:

1. a) Students enjoy sleeping on beanbags and eating Pringles in dark corners wedged between the rolling stacks of the official publications collection.
2. b) The Internet has happened.

What’s been changing over the past decade or so is the UK government’s use of the web to distribute its information. Whilst some information continues to be produced in print, a lot of it is now exclusively online, with some publications existing both in print and online. The format of the information that is found online is also wide – from PDFs, Word documents, multiple Excel spreadsheets, to (increasingly) standalone HTML publications; some but not all of which are available deep within the government’s moderately un-wonderful publications portal.

You sometimes hear rumours that there’s a straightforward vector working its way from the print world to the online world, where in the near future all will be available in a digitally pure environment powered by the heat of a billion printed books burning behind us. The truth is that online and print are going to be existing alongside each other for quite some time yet – and indeed, should be, until and if some problems are solved.

Irrespective of whatever future awaits us in the publishing world, what we have right now is a complex hybrid of information: both in the way it exists (print, HTML, PDF, etc.) and the way it is discovered and accessed (library discovery systems/catalogues, Google etc.). The print formats are susceptible to libraries’ increasing need for space, with many looking to get rid of parts of their collections (and if you’re thinking about doing this, head to SCOOP’s Print Still Matters).

The online formats, on the other hand, suffer from the web’s greatest double-edged sword: its largely unmediated transience. An online government document can be here one second and gone the next. How do we, as librarians, ensure the official documentation produced on the web is available and accessible for as long as it needs to be, when the medium it is conveyed in so easily allows for the opposite?

From my perspective at LSE Library, I think this raises three key questions for our official publications collection:

1. How do we maintain the integrity of our existing print collection?
   At the moment, an information-seeker wandering around our printed collection (side stepping Pringle debris and the unconscious) or perusing the library catalogue will find a series of reports randomly stop at some point in the 2000’s. The integrity is lost. What do they assume at this point – that the collection is missing after that date? That we simply don’t hold them? Is it enough to say “now go off to the web”?

2. How do we ensure the discoverability of official publications produced exclusively on the web?

If an integral part of our collection-interests now exist somewhere on the web, how should our information-seekers discover it? Should we catalogue bits of the web? Should we harvest the documents and make them available in some way on our own systems? Or should we send the enquirer off to the Internet armed with a bit of advice? (“Try gov.uk and good luck”).

3. How do we preserve our collection in perpetuity?

Can we rely on pointing to documentation held on external websites when we know this information is difficult to find, can disappear, can reappear with changes, or move to a different URL? As a library that collects strongly in the area of government publications, is it our role to preserve this information, or do we let the National Archives and the legal deposit libraries worry about this on our behalf?

What are the answers to all these questions?

One possible option for us is to produce a repository of our own, along the lines of the excellent and well-used Digital Education Resource Archive (DERA), which collects government documents published online in the areas of education. Our aim, similar to DERA’s, would be to permanently preserve government documents produced within the remit of our existing collections and to make these available open access in a way that integrates with our own collections and discovery system. I’m very interested to hear from anyone that has thoughts on this, and particularly alternative answers to the questions raised.

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

How Can You Have Them Hear You When They Won’t Listen: the Challenge of Business Skills Training within MBA Programmes

Chris Flegg,

Bodleian Business Librarian, Said Business School, University of Oxford

Academic journals, magazines and trade publications; economic, market and financial flow data; global and regional statistics; earnings estimates; industry and analysts reports; country and business analyses and forecasts; political risk services; and up to date corporate news – compared to other subject fields, the array and quality of the high-cost, high-value information resources that knowledgeable and skilled business school librarians have artfully amassed for the benefit of their users is nothing short of staggering.

But as valuable and extraordinary as these collections might be, they will, most likely, fall victim to a long-standing paradox of business school library information provision: that, for the most part, the MBAs, who sit Golden Buddha-like at the epicentre of the average business school, cannot, and will not, derive from those resources the level of benefit that is commensurate with their inherent value.

This is because most of the world’s MBA programmes appear to be predicated on two things: a crammed teaching schedule which aims to squeeze the maximum quality content into a short space of time, thus validating the eye-watering cost of an MBA programme, and the very high calibre of the teaching faculty who, quite rightly, equate their academic credentials with their strictures on how their subject will be taught – including what readings will shape and map the optimal territory for exploration, discussion and consumption.

If this then begets – as it usually does – a tightly scripted learning experience, the time-pressured MBA will gladly acquiesce by keeping well within the prescribed texts, with the most predictable and monotonous request being for librarians to devise ever faster and slicker ways of leading students directly to the full-text of the stipulated readings (two URL clicks on a reading list being just one click too many). Within this controlled learning environment, the role of the business school librarian can feel reduced to that of water bottle dispenser running trackside of elite athletes competing in an Olympic marathon. Over my years in business school libraries, the bizarrely earnest requests for us to somehow “make this process easier”, has often made me ponder on what trick we are missing here: some clever way of injecting information directly into the effort-adverse brain could surely be the next hot Silicon Valley wonder.

For those working outside the business school library environment, this scenario may seem far-fetched, but it is indeed quite the norm for highly conscientious, dedicated and otherwise sane and rational business school academics to expend inordinate time and effort trimming their reading lists in order not to overwhelm students who would – naturally – regard a long reading list as a “waste of time and effort” and likely to create antagonism with too much material to be processed and absorbed: this challenge being at least equal to the fashioning of a learning platform in such a way as to protect students from straying from the prescribed path, lest they wander, through a gate left carelessly and dangerously ajar, into unchartered and un-sanctioned territory. And for their part, most MBA students would rather be asked to clutch a red-hot poker than move away from the prescribed texts, an act described succinctly by one ex-MBA as “academic suicide”.

Of course there are reasons why this is so, and why it has been this way for decades: for the schools, for the faculty and for the students, it works. But as often happens in situations that are tightly controlled, it works at a cost. Talk to careers centre managers and you will note not a small whiff of despondency: despondency at MBAs being little informed of the market place, little informed about their target industries and employers, and little informed about how to impress at interviews, while librarians bemoan the end of year “I wish I had known before that you had…”.

So where within this constricted information environment can the business school librarian who feels it his or her duty to impart business information finding skills deliver on this key role? Well, most will continue to offer training, even if sporadically, and even if – despite expressions of interest – the actuality typically is of uninspiring rates of attendance on training days. And most will accept training opportunities anywhere they can, which most often will be in the unthreatening and non-disruptive areas for which faculty are prepared to hand over territory: typically, plagiarism, referencing or social media tools, about which Generation X, Y and Z, are already well versed and the new Millennials don’t even consider an area of inquiry.

It was with this sober view of business school life that in 2014 the library team sat down to thrash out how it might “do” induction for the incoming MBA cohort, in a way that was neither boring nor a seemingly waste of effort. Having persuaded the programme director that there was something amiss when our MBAs ended their year unable to use even the library catalogue, we were allowed three 1 ½ hour sessions in the School’s intensive, high-profile and much publicised, 3-week MBA induction programme, in which to tell our story in whatever way we chose.

It was time for us to champion what we believed in, which we determined was as follows:

1. Our resources are not just phenomenal – they are of real and outstanding value and relevance to our MBAs.
2. The library’s value proposition is robust and valid notwithstanding the grip on MBA student time exerted by the prescribed readings regime.
3. Our MBAs are clever enough to master the mechanics of how to use most of our information sources without us having to train them.
4. What they don’t know is what we have and where to find it.
5. But for the MBAs to invest their attention for 1 ½ hours and play ball with the above, we had to find their “sweet spot” – that part of their hearts and minds that said “Yes I want to know that” (and you librarians are not boring).

From these basic assumptions we determined that a) we shouldn’t and wouldn’t bore them with one way conversation; b) we would make them want to find the information because that information related to their “sweet spot”; c) we would fire up their energy levels through their natural competitiveness; and d) we would trust them to rise to the challenge of being left to their own information-seeking devices.

Of course the “sweet spot” here was key, and, based on the motivation for the vast investment of time and money these students make to enhance or advance their careers, we devised a set of career enhancement scenarios, wrapped into a comic strip story, which contained a fact finding competition, ending with a prize of a dinner at one of Oxford’s best restaurants.

The evolution of the comic strip and the multiple job interview scenarios involved considerable buy-in from the team and their active engagement with the concept, with diligent follow-through to make it all come together and work as we wished: a lot of clever work by some outstanding staff included researching 7 company profiles, scripting the text, crafting and building the comic strip images, and working out the logistics for running an event involving 237 students in groups of 4-5 students sent off in all directions to work independently through the questions.

What we learned is that in the time allocated, we didn’t need to speak for more than 5 minutes to explain the deal, give out the paperwork, and point them to the website and information guides. We learned also that students love competitions and will, when in competition mode, take the questions we set to a whole new level we had not required or anticipated, digging out far more detail than we needed to merely establish that they had uncovered the right sources: clearly a case of “build it and they will not only come, but they will commence to build another floor, a pool and some outhouses to boot”.

But what of the outcomes, and did they produce the results we hoped for? Although we have yet to collect the hard data, we can see from the use of the resources and the type of questions that have since come our way – questions that would only come up if acquainted with the databases – that this year’s cohort is comfortable and fluent with our resources. Further, the careers department staff report that, unlike past years, they have not had a single question about how and where to find financial, company, industry or other information when preparing for job interviews – a first for this school. Instead they now appear to be aware that the riches come via the library, and that they are riches indeed.

Most  importantly, we have learned that if we trust in our ability to provide the information tools that can enhance and enrich the way a business education programme is experienced, and if we trust our students to recognise the intrinsic value of our resources when offered, we don’t need to confine our role to water dispenser in someone else’s race – we can support the programmes in the way our faculty and administrators want, but also more powerfully in ways they are not able to envisage: with our convictions, our obstinacy, our cleverness and our experience.

The i-Challenge team comprised of Andrew Kernot who researched the companies, John Pilbeam who produced the artwork and Kornelia O’Leary who worked out the logistics – I am indebted to their energy, their enthusiasm and their outstanding skills in turning the concept into an admirable reality.

Images modified from ‘ANC Exposed: Cases in the Crusade Against Crime’, Vol. 1 No. 9

http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/preview/index.php?did=23345&page=1

(Copyright free, public domain)

‘the toast’, by johnny_automatic

https://openclipart.org/detail/123133/the-toast

(Creative Commons License (CC0 1.0 Universal, Public Domain Dedication): http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Preparing Students for Global Immersion: Partnering for Success

Meghan Dolan, Shelby Ikeda and Linda Rosen Harvard Business School Library 

The questions usually start trickling in early in October- “Where can I find reports on snack food consumers in China?”, “How do I learn about the mobile application market in Cambodia?”, “What immunizations do I need for Ghana?” or “Do I need a visa to travel to Vietnam?”. At this point we know that the FIELD 2 module, which requires international travel and project work for first year MBA students, is in full swing and we are about to enter one of our busiest times of the year. The Curriculum and Learning Services (CLS) team at Baker Library and the Global Experience Office (GEO) team within the MBA Program have partnered to develop many products and services to support students with their FIELD 2 course work- everything from research support to targeted news updates to curation of an international video library. This opportunity to partner across departmental units has not only provided each group with new ways to enhance the student experience during FIELD 2, but has also provided insight into each other’s day-to-day processes and challenges. It also has created a strong working relationship that encourages the freedom to suggest, implement, and improve services for the students. CLS is a team of 10 Information Research Specialists (IRS) all with professional degrees in Library and Information Science.  Many staff members have additional degrees and backgrounds in business and education.  CLS provides support to the Harvard Business School and Harvard University community through on-site and remote research assistance, consultations, and access to resources covering a wide range of business, industry, financial, and market related topics. We also:

• Work with HBS faculty to provide course support to MBA and Executive Education programs at HBS in the form of presentations, web-based resources, research assignment drop-in hours (specific to course assignments) and research consultations.
• Provide research support to HBS alumni to support their career and professional development information needs via consultations and an online research portal (eBaker).
• Curate several news products to keep HBS students and staff up-to-date on important news and events in technology, finance, executive development and number of industries.

GEO was founded in 2010 to enable the logistical delivery of the FIELD 2 module. Comprised of experts from the travel industry and higher education, the office has grown over the years from seven to 15 staff members to support the scale of this new, ambitious program and ensure high-quality execution. FIELD 2 is only one component of the GEO team’s immersion planning. GEO also organizes and coordinates travel immersions for second year students as part of their January coursework. Among the primary responsibilities of the office are:

• Oversee location evaluation and risk management;
• Create relationships with local companies and source projects for student teams;
• Facilitate student, staff, and faculty travel;
• Arrange all in-country logistics required during the Immersion week;
• Work closely with faculty to achieve the academic goals of the course;
• And collaborate with other departments to further enhance the student experience.

The Harvard Business School (HBS) Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is a two year, residential degree program. During the first year of the program, students are assigned to a specific section (typically 90 students per section) and follow the required curriculum (RC), taking 6 courses per semester within their sections. In their second year, students select their courses from a wide range of elective curriculum (EC) offerings. Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development (FIELD) is a year-long, three-part, required course for all first year (MBA) students at HBS. Many components of the FIELD course address the unmet needs^[1] in MBA education that were identified in recent research by David Garvin, Srikant Datar and Patrick Cullen. The FIELD course consists of three modules that each embodies a continuum of thinking, doing, and reflecting^[2].

FIELD 1: Leadership Intelligence Working in small teams, students participate in interactive activities and exercises designed to help them to deepen their emotional intelligence and develop an awareness of their own leadership style. Self-reflection and peer feedback play a key role in this module.

FIELD 2: Global Intelligence After weeks of on-campus preparation, over 900 students are sent to locations around the globe during the month of January to learn about business processes, practices and customers in emerging markets. Student teams are paired with a local company for whom they develop a new product or service concept. Recent FIELD 2 locations have included India, China, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ghana and Morocco.

FIELD 3: Integrative Intelligence The final module challenges students to develop a microbusiness. This isn’t a business plan on paper, but rather a real business that students build- from ideation to launch. It provides students with the opportunity to synthesize everything that they have learned in their first year courses.

Since FIELD launched in 2010, over 3,720 students have traveled to 25 cities in 17 countries worldwide on FIELD 2 Global Immersions supported by GEO. Both CLS and GEO staff have had the opportunity to travel with and support students on location as Program Managers. Between the three authors, we have traveled with students to Vietnam, South Africa, Indonesia, India, China, and Turkey.

The opportunity to be embedded into the program at this level has provided a unique way for us to connect with students and better understand their work in the field. It has allowed us to design services and products (see chart below for an overview) that are closely aligned with and will have the greatest impact on their team projects. Having had a positive experience with library resources and services during FIELD 2, students return to CLS for assistance with their FIELD 3 projects, support for their job search and in their second year, for guidance for course research papers and projects.

As Program Managers, Information Research Specialists have an opportunity to be active participants in FIELD 2, positioning us to work closely with both students and faculty while in the field.  Prior to the actual trip, Program Managers are required to attend an in-depth training program and to participate in several FIELD 2 events (all organized and coordinated by the GEO team).  Highlights of the Program Manager position include attending a country-specific case discussion and joining the faculty for a pre-departure briefing.  We are able to leverage what we learn through these experiences to enrich our student research support pre-travel, in the field and upon our return to campus when we identify additional ways to work with students and faculty in the coming year. The CLS / GEO partnership has strengthened with each new year of the course. In the early years of the program, both teams worked independently to support the students as we tried to figure out the best way to contribute our expertise to the course delivery, but we soon realized that partnering would greatly benefit both the students and our teams. The more we work together, the more we find that we can collaborate, cooperate and contribute to valuable student services, communications and resources.  Meeting regularly and coordinating the timing of communications from GEO and CLS enhances the student experience and ensures that important information isn’t lost or overlooked.  As GEO adds locations and identifies new student projects each year, CLS will have even more opportunities to contribute research assistance, recommend resources and identify new ways to work with students and faculty. The chart below highlights many of the student facing activities or exercises where the CLS and GEO teams partnered to provide academic and logistical support for FIELD 2:

Student activity/exercise	CLS support	GEO support
Site selection /Company research	Country Infographic: identified data sources and pulled the data; recommended additional/alternate variables to maintain data consistency across countries; Company Research: provided company descriptions and data specific to the FIELD 2 partner companies	Country Infographic: worked with faculty to identify economic and demographic data points to highlight and coordinated the design and publishing of the ; Company Research: Identified and selected partner companies for student projects; Panel w/ second-year students: Organized an event in which students could interact with peers who had experience living or working in FIELD 2 country locations
Global dinner (also known as the “Reveal”, when students learn where they will travel in January)	Trivia activity: fact-checked trivia data points	Trivia activity: sourced content from local trivia company, created student materials, provided guidebook prizes
Cultural/business environment knowledge building	Country cases: identified books and films for each “Doing Business in…” country case; Country Postcards: created a postcard that featured an historical image from our library collection on front of the postcard and database recommendations on the back; Fast Answers: created an FAQ type source that highlighted database recommendations specific to each location; Video collection: curated and hosted a selection of videos that cover the range of FIELD 2 locations	Country case experts: Identified and recruited academic and industry experts to present during the country case class session; Video collection: identified a vendor and curated a selection of videos that cover the range of FIELD 2 locations
Academic Support	Situation Analysis exercise: helped students to identify and use library resources during three research drop-in sessions. The drop-in hours were coordinated to align with assignment deadlines	Situation Analysis exercise: publicized research drop-in hours via weekly emails to students
Pre-Immersion & In-country	Research Support: provided research support to student teams as they work on their projects; Program Manager: participated in pre-immersion training, presented to students at pre-departure session Weekly news updates + news archive: curated a weekly news email for each FIELD 2 location	Logistics Support: provided round-the-clock logistical support for faculty students and staff; Program Manager: organized training for all program managers, coordinated all pre-immersion planning, presented to students at GEO overview and pre-departure sessions Weekly GEO emails: sent weekly reminders to students highlighting deadlines and tasks to be completed pre-departure

[1]Datar, Srikant M., Garvin, David A, and Cullen, Patrick G. Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Press, 2010. [2] Harvard Business School, “The FIELD Method- Bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap” http://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experience/Pages/the-field-method.aspx, accessed June 2015.

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Business Support in Public Libraries

 Jonathan Cowley, Haringey Libraries

Public libraries are free, neutral shared spaces – inclusive and open to all. They are vital for sharing information and gaining knowledge – and can be ideal spaces for providing business advice and training.

The British Library’s Business and IP (Intellectual Property) Centre was launched in London in 2006 and has since been used by more than 350,000 people, helping to create 2,775 businesses. The success of the Centre has highlighted the valuable role libraries can play as free and accessible venues to consult business resources, attend workshops, receive business advice and network with other entrepreneurs. To build on this success, the Enterprising Libraries programme was established – a partnership between Arts Council England, the British Library and the Department for Communities and Local Government. The programme funded a number of projects where libraries used their role as community hubs to enhance local economic growth and improve social mobility.

The initial stage of the project involved the establishment of a network of Business and IP Centres in six core cities across England – Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield. The second stage of the project involved a grant programme for ten public library authorities, aiming to spread business and IP expertise into wider communities. These authorities were supported by the British Library and the network of six Business and IP Centres across England.

After two weeks of frantic work preparing a proposal document, Haringey Libraries submitted a bid in the summer of 2013. Our bid focused on Wood Green Library in north London – one of the top 20 busiest public libraries in the country, welcoming over 50,000 visitors a month. We were fortunate to already have a space in the library devoted to business support – The Business Lounge. This had opened in 2006, funded by a European Regional Development Fund grant. We already offered business advice sessions, networking space and dedicated business PCs. Our bid aimed to enhance the service offer, using the additional funding to provide:

• A regular programme of free business workshops, with particular areas of focus including women in business, social media, creative industries and business marketing
• Improved technology including a projector screen for presentations and a SMART board for business workshops
• Improved publicity and the development of a “Business: The Basics” guide for start-up businesses
• An extensive programme of business events for Black History Month in October 2014
• Refurbishment of the Business Lounge including new seating
• An up-to-date collection of practical business books
• An enhanced business advice service, offering additional sessions
• Regular networking events
• Strong local partnerships with business support services and a closer relationship with the British Library

Ten projects were awarded an equal share of the £450,000 fund, and we were thrilled to discover that Haringey Libraries had been successful. Each project supported business in a variety of imaginative ways – for example the project Devon Libraries involved the first “Fab Lab” (fablabdevon.org) to open in a UK public library – a low-cost digital workshop equipped with laser cutters, 3D printers and scanners, where “just about anybody can make just about anything”. The bid from Cultural Community Solutions involved the creation of the London Business Portal website (www.londonbusinessportal.com) which brings the business resources of Ealing, Harrow and Hounslow library authorities together in one place.

Putting our proposal into practice was a challenging and rewarding process. The staff at the British Library were extremely supportive throughout. One of the most rewarding aspects of the programme was to be able to meet with representatives of the other projects – this not only provided inspiration and ideas, but also reassurance that every project faced similar challenges. The British Library Business and IP Centre are experts at delivering relevant, excellent quality business support, and at measuring the impact of that support. We were provided with modified versions of their customer feedback forms, which could then be returned for analysis. The results of this feedback were invaluable in order to highlight to stakeholders the positive impact our sessions were having on the local business community.

One of the core aims of the Enterprising Libraries project was to promote social inclusion and participation of diverse and disadvantaged groups. We aimed to help ethnic minorities and women (groups traditionally under-represented in business) to branch out into entrepreneurship. The results of the analysis of our feedback forms showed:

• The beneficiaries were almost three quarters female (74%)
• 71% of attendees described themselves as Black, Asian or other minority ethnic (BAME) compared with 40% in the general London population

The most popular industry sectors attending Haringey Library events were creative/media (25%) followed by education (18%). Feedback on the quality of our events was extremely positive:

• 94% of workshop attendees returned positive ratings
• 68% on average returned a “very satisfied” rating

Our most satisfying result was the near universal recommendation of the service to others – 99% of attendees stated they would recommend the workshops and clinics to others, the highest rating of all Enterprising Libraries projects. Feedback received included:

• “Extremely tailored to my needs – very clear – comprehensive content – thanks!”
• “It was fantastic to have an expert give her moral support as well as sound business advice.”
• “I enjoyed the session as it was relevant and exactly what I was looking for.”

Our programme of events for Black History Month was a particular highlight, with packed audiences attending our series of inspirational talks by entrepreneurs such as shoe designer Marc Hare and ethical beauty innovator Clare Eluka. We also found there was a “snowball effect” – as more people attended our events, more people volunteered to hold their own workshops covering subjects such as accounting and marketing.

The next stage of the process is to analyse the economic impact of the Enterprising Libraries programme, a project currently being undertaken by consultants Adroit Economics. At Haringey we have created a sustainable model which can continue to offer valuable business advice and training beyond the formal end of the project. Public libraries bring communities together and provide free space for information and knowledge exchange. The success of this project has also demonstrated their important role as drivers of business growth.

 

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Services for Business at City Business Library

Esther Greenwood and Wendy Foster, City Business Library

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The City Business Library (CBL) is a public reference library funded by the City of London Corporation and based in the heart of the City of London. It is open to everyone and provides access to a wealth of free business information resources. In addition the Library delivers many business seminars, workshops and121s ranging from how to use new media for business growth to how to access funding as well as CV and job searching strategies sessions. We also offer affordable desk space and meeting rooms for hire.

The Library specialises in information for people starting and running a business, job seekers and investors. Most of our users come from London and the South East, but many also visit from outside the UK whilst in London on business. All the information is less than 5 years old as people need a clear idea of the present and predicted business environments to make their decisions.

Our biggest area of work is supporting businesses that are starting and growing – start-up, sole traders, micro, small and medium enterprises. Like many library authorities we subscribe to the COBRA database which details the nuts and bolts of starting, running and growing a business; from writing a business plan to employing staff and exporting. This database has two advantages, firstly that we can make it available remotely to those with a City of London library card. Secondly, it is written in clear, every day English which is important when serving a linguistically diverse population.

We have market research databases covering the UK and global markets to help business owners to understand the current and predicted trends in markets for the next 5+ years. They are also an excellent source of demographic and financial statistics with detailed country analyses. CBL subscribes to over 100 magazines which look at different industries from the Petroleum Economist to Drapers. Magazines are often overlooked as a resource, but are invaluable as they have in-depth articles, reviews or interviews with industry leaders.

We hold two company information databases, one covering over 3.3million active UK companies, the other covering 112 million active companies worldwide. Customers can download contact lists and see a company’s last 10 years’ financial details. They are ideal for looking at the finances of potential clients or competitors. There are a number of subject specific databases such as Alf and Brad that look at the advertising markets.

We run database training sessions for the public on our market research and company information databases to help customers get the most out of the time they spend researching. If someone is not used to searching these types of databases it can be quite bewildering and as a result these training sessions are becoming very popular. We also provide guide sheets for using all our databases to assist customers further.

With the exception of COBRA and UK Newsstand the databases can be used only in the library according to the licence agreements. Most of the suppliers will allow downloading within copyright limits.

We host a variety of low cost seminars run by outside speakers on topics which support business start-ups and owners on subjects such as developing a business strategy, Social Media for business, and Search Engine Optimisation. We also run events ourselves such as our series of Doing Business in… which is ideal for people looking to trade abroad. Our most recent seminar on Doing Business in Brazil was supported by speakers from UKTI. We have also held seminars on doing business in China, Germany and India. In March 2015 we hosted Fashion in the City, an evening event attended by over 60 people looking to develop or start their business in the fashion sector. There were two speakers; one spoke about the fashion industry and keeping on trend whilst the other spoke about how she and her partners had set up their online shirt retailing business. There were also 10 stands run by support organisations such as Companies House and Portobello Business Centre. The delegates were from a variety of backgrounds in retail or fashion and design students thinking of self-employment. These events enable us to introduce the library to a wide range of people and organisations who we would not otherwise have been able to reach.

We have recently started a programme of 1-2-1 Business Guidance and social media sessions, spending an hour with each customer providing bespoke support and explaining what resources we have and how they might add value for their business. Customers have been very diverse; one woman was in the very early stages of thinking of starting an events company whilst one man had developed an IT management system and was looking for contacts in his target market and possible sources of finance. In these sessions we discuss issues such as legal status, finance, finding premises, who they need to tell when starting a business (HMRC, Companies House etc.,) intellectual property and forward planning. We refer customers to business start-up agencies in their local area for further business plan advice. There is a small charge for these sessions to cover the cost of time for the research and preparation for the session.

We run CV and job searching sessions for those looking for a new job. These are open to all people whether or not they are currently employed. We work with one of our outside partners who supports people with their CV and library staff run a session on how our resources can help job seekers. We have a LinkedIn group for those who have been on our job search sessions and about 70% have been successful in finding new employment as a result of attending these tailored sessions.

We have a variety of magazines for those looking for investment information including share prices. The magazines range from well-known titles such as Investors Chronicle to more specialist publications such as the International Financing Review. One of our databases contains share price information which is updated every 15 minutes for UK, US and Canadian companies.

We hold current company and stock exchange information for the past 5 years; all historical information is held by our colleagues in the Guildhall Library; this is also a free public library. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/guildhalllibrary

We are always happy to talk to library and information colleagues and their customers about our resources; please contact our enquiry desk on 020 7332 1812 or cbl@cityoflondon.gov.uk

We run free 90 minute tours for library and information staff from all sectors to promote our resources. For a list of dates or to book a place please contact the library cbl@cityoflondon.gov.uk – we would love to meet you!

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/cbl

 

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Extending and Enriching the Official Publications Collection at the UCL Institute of Education: Developing, Maintaining and Enhancing the Digital Education Resource Archive.

Daniel O’Connor

Official Publications Librarian, UCL Institute of Education Library

Introduction

The UCL Institute of Education Digital Education Resource Archive (DERA) is a fully searchable open access digital repository of electronic publications published by government and other relevant organisations in the fields of education, training, children and families. Launched in 2011, the resource now contains more than 23000 documents and is visited by over 240,000 unique visitors every year. This article explains the motivation behind the creation of DERA, examines the challenges that the library has faced and outlines our plans for the future development of DERA.

The Rationale for DERA

The UCL IOE Official Publications Collection is the largest of the special collections in the library, containing printed and digital material related to state education in the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century through to the present day. The collection is also unusual in that its scope reaches beyond what would usually be characterised as an “Official Publication” as it includes material produced by quangos, non-departmental public bodies, political parties, trade unions and pressure groups. The collection has served – and continues to serve as – an indispensable source of materials for researchers, particularly for those working on developments in education policy and the history of education.

The move from print towards digital Government Publications created some significant challenges for the Library in terms of ensuring that the comprehensiveness and coherence of the collection was maintained. In the past, the library catalogue linked to the URL of the digital version of a publication as well as ensuring that a print version was obtained and added to the collection. However, it soon became clear that URLs were a rather unreliable entity. Organisational change, be it due to departmental restructure, merger or even closure, led to an ever increasing number of broken links on the catalogue. Links were repaired where possible but sometimes documents would seem to disappear without a trace and the battle to maintain the integrity of the collection was becoming an increasingly time-consuming and thankless task.

The development of DERA

What eventually became known as the DERA Working Party was tasked with formulating a plan which would address the issues that were threatening the integrity of the collection. A plan for an open access repository built upon the E-Prints software platform was developed. The initial stages involved ensuring that the material harvested for the repository complied with copyright; the terms of the Open Government Licence allowed us to add a large amount of material and further permissions were sought from individual organisations to ensure that the breadth of the printed official publications collection was reflected in this new resource. The resource launched in February 2011 with access to just over 1000 documents. Pivotal to the subsequent rapid growth of DERA was the JISC funded POPE (Preserving Official Publications in Education) project which enabled the addition of 6000 documents retrospectively covering the period between 1990 and 2010. As if to confirm the need for the resource, a significant number of organisations including the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA), the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) closed between 2010 and 2012 and all granted permission to the Library to preserve their born digital content in DERA.

Maintaining and enhancing DERA

Probably the most difficult challenge faced by the DERA Working Party in maintaining the resource has been related to copyright; in particular the use of third party images within publications. In response to this, open source software was used to identify documents within the repository that contained images that might present an IPR risk which was then assessed and redacted where necessary. A further issue, and one which will no doubt continue in the future, is related to the format in which documents are released. The vast majority of documents in DERA are PDF, however an increasing number of departmental communications are now being published in HTML. At present these are being converted into PDF and then added to the repository, but it is clear that the team will need to monitor developments here.

The introduction of a discovery platform for the UCL Institute of Education Library in the form of IOE Library Search now means that the various collections of the Library (including the Official Publications Collection and DERA) are now united through one access point. Researchers are also able to find other resources such as books, journal articles and teaching materials which might help place official documents within a broader context. Interestingly, our work with web analytics indicates that well over 70% of users arrive at a DERA document via a search engine, so it is clear that the decision to create an open access resource was fully justified. The team is now utilising web analytics to understand how we can improve the experience of users still further, focusing upon design and navigability as well as investigating the introduction of additional features for users.

DERA operates in an environment where gov.uk, parliament.uk and the UK Government Web Archive offer access to many of the documents held within DERA, and the question might be asked as to why we continue to work on this project. In our opinion, the specific focus on education and the inclusion of a broad range of materials that lie beyond the usual definition of an official publication means that DERA offers something unique to researchers. Our vision for the resource has evolved and we see DERA as a tool that will enable researchers to view the wider impact of educational policy upon society. This will be achieved through our continued efforts to increase the scope of DERA to include the output of longitudinal academic research projects, think tanks, trade unions and political parties. Consequently we believe that DERA has established itself as a unique and valuable resource for all researchers with an interest in educational policy and practice.

References

Evans, R. (2012), The Digital Education Resource Archive (DERA) one year on – lessons learned, plans for the future. ALISS Quarterly, Vol 7, no. 3.

Scaife, B.M. (2011), From Link Rot to Web Sanctuary: Creating the Digital Educational Resource Archive (DERA). Ariadne, Issue 67, 4.

 

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Government Information Sources Provided by The Stationery Office

Gareth Vaughan

TSO Bibliographic Services, Williams Lea Parliamentary Press London 

TSO is one of the largest publishers by volume in the UK, publishing more than 9,000 titles a year in print and digital formats for a wide range of clients. We are part of the Williams Lea Group, one of the global leaders in corporate information solutions.

The main sources available from The Stationery Office for official information are as follows:

Official Publication Online (OPO) – web based subscription service offering searchable access to the following: Legislation, Command and House papers, Hansard, Bills, Votes and Proceedings, Select Committee Reports, as well as other published materials e.g. Fingermark Visualisation Manual: Home Office (CAST); Fire Manuals and Risk Assessment Guides; World War One Centenary Archive – 100 official government documents relating to WW1.

TSO Shop – this includes a html version of the Daily List and profiles key parliamentary titles published on the day, as well as been searchable for other titles by keyword, ISBN and title.

Daily List – available online via TSO Shop and a pdf via OPO.

Weekly List – brings together all the Daily Lists from one week, available as a pdf on OPO.

London gazette statutory publications supplements (monthly and annual) – lists all Statutory Instruments, Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland, Scottish Statutory Instruments, Public Generals Acts, Scottish Parliament Acts, Acts of the Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly along with explanatory notes for the month or the year, available in print and then via TSO’s On-Demand Service.

TSO Monthly Catalogues – all titles issued by The Stationery Office or on behalf of international agencies published during a particular month, available as pdf via TSO Shop.

TSO annual and agency catalogues – available as print.

UKOP – updated daily with titles from daily list, no longer includes departmental titles not published by TSO.

The Stationery Office itself was taken over by Williams Lea in 2007 and had itself existed since the privatisation of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO) in 1996, an organisation that had existed for over 200 years prior to that date.

The role of Williams Lea has been one of continuity, with the publishing and printing of government information alongside tools to trace and identify what has been published.

Until the growth of the Internet and online services, HMSO and then The Stationery Office published titles from across government departments. Although TSO works with many departments providing information management solutions, a great deal of government departmental publishing now appears online which can be accessed through https://www.gov.uk/.

The bibliographic information included in the above resources is catalogued via an in-house system called BDMS or the Bibliographic Database Management System and follows the cataloguing standard of AACR2 with some local variation.

Bibliographic catalogue information is also provided through feeds and various outputs such as UKMARC, MARC21, ONIX and Dublin Core to outside organisations such as libraries and the book trade.

All the above sources of information rely on the Bibliographic Department to catalogue and update the BDMS system so that the bibliographic records can then be extracted and used to produce the catalogues, lists and feeds as appropriate.

Therefore all official publishing for which The Stationery Office is responsible will appear in the above information sources. Although HMG (Her Majesty’s Government) publications produced by contract between Williams Lea and The National Archives are only printed and published for Parliament and supply to the Copyright Libraries. A TSO equivalent for many of the HMG issued titles (excepting the majority of annual reports and accounts) are produced with a TSO ISBN for supply to customers and resale.

Statutory and Parliamentary titles are the main titles in terms of quantity printed and published by The Stationery Office, but there are still a number of government departments and agencies that also have titles which we print and publish. For example the Drivers and Vehicles Standards Agency. DVSA produces theory tests and DVD guides to driving. Also The Stationery Office still publishes the Highway Code, from the Department of Transport, which was first issued in 1931.

The London Gazette is also still published by the Stationery Office, one of the oldest surviving English newspapers having being originally published as the Oxford Gazette in 1665 and celebrating its 350^th anniversary this year.

Some publishing statistics by type.

Publication types	2014 calendar year
Primary legislation	133
Secondary legislation – printed	2,520
Secondary legislation – non-prints	2,089
Parliamentary*	2,529
Northern Ireland Assembly	275
Gazettes	1,236
Client	252
HM Government	619
International sales agency	976
Correction slips	(98)
Total (excl. correction slips)	10,629

• includes unnumbered act papers, TSO versions of official publications, Scottish PP – type publications, PGA/SI bound vols etc 

Electronic publications	2014 to date
CD/DVD/USB (including mixed packs)	57
PDFs**	672

** Include Vote, Daily/weekly list and other titles for OPO

With Official Publications Online or OPO, searchable access is provided for official publications, and PDFs can be downloaded for titles. The OPO Library is updated on a daily basis with official materials published by TSO and also House and Command Papers as released by TNA. Some recent OPO statistics:

There are currently 41,932 documents on OPO:

Pre 2000           272

2000-2007         601

2008                 1001

2009                 6044

2010                 5702

2011                 6267

2012                 6093

2013                 6604

2014                 6483

2015                 2865

The above shows the total publishing output of The Stationery Office in 2014, covering all types of publication. There are still a lot of titles printed and published, although online provision of information is the direction of publishing particularly in respect of official information.

The developments of online access to information has led to the provisions of the Open Government Licence as delivered by The National Archives and developed by the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office which enables information providers in the public sector to licence the use and re-use of information under a common licence.

The impact to publishing companies, in the way government information is provided and accessed will naturally change publishing practices. Also the volume of publishing by government itself means that as a business, Williams Lea (Public Sector) will print and publish to supply their clients and customers as required. All Parliamentary and Statutory titles (excepting HMG) once the print run has been completed and publications supplied are then made On-Demand and are available to order through this service.

 

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Collecting and Access to Government Information: the Scottish Perspective

Fiona Laing

Curator of Official Publications, National Library of Scotland Chair of the Scottish Working Forum on Official Publications

There is no doubt that the political landscape in Scotland has changed after the 2015 General Election: the way that government information is created and delivered in Scotland has been changing for many years; and the 2014 Referendum on Scottish independence has created a greater public interest in Scottish politics as never before. By increasing the use of digital technology government departments can make their publications more widely available in various formats and of course reduce their expenditure.

The Scottish Government back in early 2012 was the first UK Government administration to make an official publication available in digital download format for devices such as iPad and Kindle with the publication of Your Scotland, Your Referendum as an e-book.

These changing formats have put pressure on the Legal Deposit Libraries who aim to collect, preserve and make accessible this information.

As the Scottish Government was producing e-only publications well before the Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations came into force in April 2013 the National Library of Scotland, under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Scottish Government, worked closely with its Digital Team to ensure that all of its e -publications were collected and accessible through the National Library of Scotland’s Online Public Access Catalogue.

The Scottish Parliament, as part of its current Digital Parliament Project, will be aiming for all its business publications to be published in digital format only from mid 2015. These will all be archived and made available via the National Library of Scotland as well as being available on the live Scottish Parliament website.

As the Curator responsible for ensuring that all of this material is collected comprehensively by the NLS, my experience is that it is crucial to liaise with the bodies involved at an early stage in their transition from print to electronic. This ensures that the process of receiving this material can be as automated and seamless as possible. Once collected we can then make this material available to the other legal deposit libraries throughout the UK.

As well as collecting individual digital publications we are harvesting web sites as part of the UK Web Archive project, which has unrestricted access as well as the Legal Deposit Web Archive which is accessible in any of the Legal Deposit Libraries.

Due to the disparate nature of official publishing these days, there is more of a need than ever before for networking groups for information professional working with government information. The Scottish Working Forum on Official Publications (SWOP) and the CILIP ISG Standing Committee On Official Publications work to ensure dissemination of information amongst the profession, respond to consultations and provide training and support across libraries in the UK.

SWOP was formed in 1989 to produce a directory of holdings of official publications in Scotland. The Directory still exists in an updated format and is available on the SWOP website. Our SWOP Blog provides a mechanism for sharing a diverse range of news items connected with government information. We also hope to produce short training guides to assist those working with government information which we intend adding to our website in the future.

As well as our website we have a twitter account, a closed discussion group on the Knowledge Hub and a JISCmail email account in order to connect with a wide range of audiences. Membership of SWOP is open to anyone who has an interest in official publications. It provides a great opportunity for professional development or portfolio work for Chartership. Please do contact SWOP if you would like more information about the group or get involved in any of the work that we are engaged in.

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Digital Developments: the Scottish Perspective

Helen Costello, Information Officer, Scottish Parliament 

The Scottish Parliament has recently developed a variety of digital working practices that are designed to transform current approaches to many of the organisations core business activities. The main aim is that anyone will be able to consume services digitally, enabling them to connect, communicate and collaborate more successfully with others.

A number of recent innovations are already in place aimed at realising some of the core benefits of the ‘digital by default’ philosophy not least of which is the Open Data project, now in its first phase.   The objective of the Open Data Project is to open our parliamentary business data so that you can freely re-use it with no restrictions other than attributing it to the Scottish Parliament.   The Scottish Parliament Open Licence enables you to do this and the approach to opening our data is consistent with methods applied by the UK Government as set out in the Open Data White Paper.   The ultimate objective is that parliamentary information can be linked to other third party data allowing for participation through multiple online channels. It is hoped that this approach will eventually lead to the publication of parliamentary business in an open, standardised, machine readable format in a way that means it can be easily linked to other data and used in new and innovative ways.

Underpinning the standardisation of this information is the development of a common data model which the data architecture project has recently put in place.   This, in turn, enables consistent, good quality information that can be used across business systems and rendered to different platforms including mobile. The Official Report (the substantive verbatim account of plenary and committee business) is a good example of how a core business publication has benefited from digital functionality with extra features that allow convenient ways for people to share links to parts of the OR on social media. The Official Report PDFs now have clickable links on the contents page and bookmarks which make searching quicker and easier. Research briefings have also become more graphically interactive, with the recent Commonwealth Games briefing specifically designed in an ebook format.

As in many organisations, mobile working is certainly a major focus for the Scottish Parliament; and a move towards facilitating this reflects behavioural changes across society. The ‘self-service’ approach for the submission of Motions, Questions and Answers introduced in 2012 enables a much more accessible, transparent and ‘real time’ overview of current business. Anyone can get accurate and up-to-date information using the MAQA search facility on the website; and the extensive filtering options enable the end user to search in a variety of ways that suit them. Other digital services are completely new such as Live Chat managed by the visitor services team which offers the chance of instant interaction. Not only does this offer members of the public an additional way to engage with the Parliament in a real time context, it acts as a measure of how important it is to facilitate access that helps to circumvent the limitations that sheer geography would have hitherto presented. People from all over the world have been asking questions (from Edinburgh to Delhi to Toronto) about the Parliament on all types of topics; from parliamentary motions to questions about the Parliament’s architecture and some simply messaging to say hello.

Digital consumption is certainly high on the agenda for government departments, agencies and parliaments alike, and the Scottish Government service MyGov.Scot is a high profile example of this approach to service development.   MyGov.scot, launched earlier this year, is a place for people in Scotland to access public services that are easy to find and simple to use. Available 24/7 via the device of your choice whether that be a tablet, mobile phone, laptop, games console or desktop computer, the site even hopes to offer motion sense technology for mapping and exploring content. The transactional services it provides such as paying a fine or registering a birth completely replace traditional face to face interactions, and present cost effective benefits both for the organisation and the end user.

Offering digital first has many benefits. Decreasing paper consumption has contributed significantly to the Scottish Parliament achieving its environmental targets. But a move towards a print on demand service also ensures that those who choose not to use digital for whatever reason are not excluded; and inclusiveness, at all levels, remains at the heart of service delivery.

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Consultations on the GOV.UK Website

Ruth Hayes. ISG 

The GOV.UK website has established itself as the place to go to find anything and everything relating to a current government administration’s work. It should therefore prove more straightforward for us as library and information professionals (and for our users) to find and comment on the things that concern us that government wishes to do in our name.

The section on Consultations (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?publication_filter_option=consultations) lists “Publications: all consultations”, most of which at the time of writing (early June 2015) were “first published during the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government”. Here you can “use the filters to show only results that match your interests” – by keyword, publication type, topic, Department, official document status, and whether published before or after particular dates. A very few of the publications date – probably exceptionally – from the 2005 to 2010 Labour government. It is now more usual to find policies and publications from a previous government of different political complexion on The National Archives (TNA) website (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/adv_search/), which will also be suggested, should you misspell, offer an incomplete spelling or enter keyword(s) not included in the 2,500+ items.

For this article, I looked at a few examples of Open consultations as on the day of the Queen’s Speech of the new Parliament, Wednesday 27 May 2015. Published on that date by the Ministry of Defence was ‘Changes to MOD armed forces personnel statistics’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-mod-armed-forces-personnel-statistics). Although I am interested in sources of official statistics, I was more intrigued by the announcement about the consultation process: “This consultation originally ran from 20 March to 16 April 2015. Due to restrictions associated with publishing consultations during the pre-election period, MOD has decided to re-open this consultation from 27 May to 18 June 2015, to allow further time for users to comment”. The document states that this consultation process is in line with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Official Statistics Protocol 1 (which relates to user engagement; (see: http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html); and the Civil Service Consultation Principles (July 2012; replaces the Code of Practice on Consultation, 2008) (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255180/Consultation-Principles-Oct-2013.pdf).

The Consultation Principles do stipulate at the start of the section, Practical Considerations, that “Consultation exercises should not generally be launched during local or national election periods.” However, it goes on to state that “If exceptional circumstances make a consultation absolutely necessary (for example, for safeguarding public health), departments should seek advice from the Property and Ethics Team in the Cabinet Office”.

One recent consultation on the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) database, Social Care Online (SCO) (http://www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk/search) illustrates the “exceptional circumstances” perfectly. ‘Consultation on the implementation of the recommendations, principles and actions set out in the report of the Freedom to Speak Up review’ (Department of Health)

(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/412171/Freedom_to_Speak_up_consultation.pdf) was first published on 12 March 2015 under the general title ‘Measures to help staff speak out about patient safety’ on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/measures-to-help-staff-speak-out-about-patient-safety) . This item follows on from review of recommendations by Sir Robert Francis published on 11 February 2015 (and following on from the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry in 2013) “to ensure that we honour the spirit of what Sir Robert has recommended but also avoid unnecessary layers of bureaucracy or financial burden.” In this instance, it was more important to continue with the consultation, and to have a reasonably long period for receiving responses (until 4 June).

Another consultation which has run during the election period has been ‘Creating a secondary annuity market: call for evidence’ (HM Treasury, Department of Work and Pensions; Cm 9046) (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/creating-a-secondary-annuity-market-call-for-evidence). This was first published 18 March 2015, closing 18 June 2015, and “seeking views on the government’s proposal to remove barriers which currently deter annuity holders from accessing the value of their annuity” – an announcement on which had been made by George Osborne in the 2014 Budget. Also named on the document is Steve Webb who at the time of publication was Minister of Pensions (and an expert on his ministerial brief).

What happens after a consultation has closed? Eventually a “Consultation outcome” is published, such as ‘Explanatory notes for bills: new format: consultation outcome’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/explanatory-notes-for-bills-new-format). The Cabinet Office and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel published the consultation on this on 21 November 2014. Summarised responses to the consultation were published on 15 May 2015 as ‘Explanatory notes pilot: Office of the Parliamentary Counsel response to consultation’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/427779/explanatory_notes_response_to_consultation_on_pilot.pdf). This topic is certain to be of interest to those of us who try to impart knowledge about the Parliamentary process and how a Bill becomes an Act.

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

The Ongoing Need for Print Versions of Official Publications

Donna Ravenhill, Dandy Booksellers

Dandy’s have been library suppliers for the past 22 years and have specialised in the supply of official information.  During this time we have seen many changes that have made the information more difficult to manage.  Now that the Public Library Subsidy, supporting the purchase of print government materials, is under threat libraries will have more difficulty finding this content so that much official information will just disappear from stock.

Take ONS as an example. Since approx 2005/06 ONS decided to put many of their publications up electronically via their website.    If we look at the following:

Environmental Accounts 2009 (Pdf 115Kb)
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/environmental/environmental-accounts/2009-edition/environmental-accounts.pdf

Environmental Accounts, 2010 (Pdf 412Kb) http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/environmental/environmental-accounts/2010/environmental-accounts–2010.pdf

Environmental accounts, 2011 (Pdf 1066Kb) http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/environmental/environmental-accounts/2011/environmental-accounts.pdf

To begin with nice user friendly (library friendly) pdfs appeared; then from 2012 a statistical bulletin appeared with data tables.; 2014 appears to have 22 tables however once opened, these contain multiple tables. In total there are 83 separate data tables for 2014.

UK Environmental Accounts, 2012 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/environmental/uk-environmental-accounts/2012/stb-ukea-2012.html

UK Environmental Accounts, 2013 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/environmental/uk-environmental-accounts/2013/stb-ukea-2013.html

UK Environmental Accounts, 2014 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/environmental/uk-environmental-accounts/2014/stb-stat-bulletin.html

We spend our day downloading this information, formatting and checking, printing and binding. We have a team of 10 people working on this.

Titles like, Annual Abstract of Statistics (477 tables 4 months work), The Civil Service Yearbook (4 months work) and The Army List take us many months to compile using numerous government websites.

Please also note this amalgamating of data also refers to Oral and Written evidence of Parliamentary Material (all formerly printed as House of Commons/Lords papers).

If you look at the recent report:

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education and Sex and Relationships Education in schools HC 145:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees‐a‐z/commons‐select/educationcommittee/inquiries/parliament‐2010/pshe‐and‐sre‐in‐schools‐inquiry/inquiry‐publications‐page‐/

4 oral evidence PDFs and 431 written evidence PDFs, over 435 separate PDFs were used to make the book.

House Building Statistics and Planning Application Statistics now only have “live tables”.  Prior to 2011 a statistical bulletin and corresponding tables were released every quarter.  After 2011 DCLG moved to “Live” tables meaning the data is constantly changing and updated. If you were to look today, you would not be able to see the 2012 as it would have been when the statistical bulletin was released. This is difficult as you may look at a figure today and it might be totally different in 3 months time.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical‐data‐sets/live‐tables‐on‐planning‐application‐statistics

We like to offer our customers both hard copy and soft copy.  Many of our customers have now stopped taking hard copy and subscribe to our database www.publicinformationonline.com where we put everything up in PDF format.   However, we do still get a lot of hard copy orders and believe the demand is still there and libraries should have the choice of how they wish to get official information.

 

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Copyright Images in Teaching and Research

Gillian Dwyer, University of Surrey

If you engage in teaching or research activities, or give advice to those who do, you need to be aware of copyright issues. As soon as a work is created, it is automatically protected by copyright: this applies to digital as well as print material. The Internet makes copying very easy but, unless there is an explicit statement to say otherwise, works on the web including images such as photographs, film stills, diagrams and illustrations are covered by copyright, and you will usually need the permission of the copyright owner to make use of them.

Who owns copyright in a work?

The creator, such as the person who takes a photo, is generally the original copyright owner. If the work was created in the course of employment, copyright is owned by the employer unless a contract specifies otherwise. The owner can ‘assign’ (transfer) the copyright, or allow another person or organisation to license the work on their behalf, often in return for payment and/or on certain terms and conditions. Regardless of ownership, the creator also has moral rights, such as the right to be acknowledged as the person who created the work, and to object to any treatment deemed derogatory, which can include altering an artwork in any way without permission.

An image can have more than one copyright owner. For instance, a cartoon might be created by a number of artists and illustrators. Photographs of artistic works involve two separate copyrights: the artist’s work and the photographer’s. It is often difficult to trace the copyright owner of photographs, but in UK law such ‘orphan works’ are still under copyright. If you manage to contact the copyright owner and obtain permission, you will usually need to negotiate separately for every further use of the work. However, there are ways to make legal use of copyright material without the need to seek individual permissions.

When can you copy without permission?

When the copyright has expired

You do not need permission to copy material which is out of copyright. Copyright lasts for the lifetime of the creator plus an extended period following his or her death. In UK law this is usually 70 years.

When the work is used for specific acts permitted by law

The law recognises that students, teachers and researchers have a legitimate need to make use of copyright material: the ‘fair dealing’ exceptions in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allow limited copying under certain circumstances. The extract should be accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement.

Fair dealing is not defined in law: it is a matter of judgement. You need to consider

• Does using the work affect sales of that work? Could it act as a substitute causing the copyright owner to lose revenue?
• Is the amount copied reasonable and appropriate? Usually only part of a work may be used and you should be able to demonstrate that it was necessary to use the amount taken.

1. Private study and non-commercial research

It is generally accepted that one copy or print-out of an image may be made for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study.

1. Criticism, review and quotation

This exception permits you to use an extract from a published work for criticism and review purposes, and in 2014 it was extended to cover quotation in general. The extent of the quotation should be “no more than is required by the specific purpose for which it is used” (The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Quotation and Parody) Regulations 2014). Taylor Wessing LLP (2014) comments: “with some works, such as paintings and photographs, the only use possible may be of the entire work so this could presumably fall within the exception.” The use must be illustrative and not purely for decoration.

1. Illustration for instruction

You may make use of copyright works for teaching or examination purposes. Before last year, this exception was limited to non-reprographic copying, for example drawing on a blackboard, but in 2014 it was extended to encompass contemporary practice such as inclusion in PowerPoint presentations. The use must be illustrative not decorative and not be for a commercial purpose.

When the material is licensed for the intended use

Educational establishments hold collective licences and contracts from organisations such as the Copyright Licensing Agency, the Educational Recording Agency, NLA media access and the Ordnance Survey, which allow staff and students to copy protected works for educational purposes without having to seek individual rights holders’ permission. You must observe the relevant terms and conditions.

With the potential for creators to offer their works directly to the public via the Internet, use of Creative Commons’ licences is growing. Via a Creative Commons notice, creators specify the rights they are prepared to convey to others, such as the right to copy, distribute and adapt their work, provided attribution is given. You may make free use of appropriately licensed images. For further details refer to the Creative Commons website, www.creativecommons.org.

There are a number of specialist websites which offer copyright-cleared images for educational purposes. The JISC Digital Media website offers an online tutorial on finding a vast range of images for use in teaching and learning; see www.vtstutorials.ac.uk/tutorial/imagesearching/, plus a detailed written guide on Finding Video, Audio and Images Online; see www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/guide/finding-video-audio-and-images-online/.

Wikimedia has an extensive list of sources of copyright-free images; see meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Free_image_resources. Check the websites’ terms and conditions to make sure that the licence covers your intended use. There are also a number of stock photo agencies, such as Getty Images, which license the use of images in return for payment.

When do you need to seek permission?

Unless your use falls into one of the above categories, you will need to ask permission from the copyright holder to make use of copyright images. In the case of images from books and journals, your first course of action is to contact the publisher. Look on the publisher’s website for information on rights / permissions / copyright clearance. If the publisher does not hold the rights to the work they should forward your enquiry to whoever does. In the case of images on websites look for the owner’s contact details: bear in mind that not all images have been uploaded legally.

In your request, be as specific as possible about the use you wish to make of the image(s). You should allow plenty of time: it can be difficult to track down the right person and it may be several weeks before you get a reply. Also bear in mind that the rights holder may impose conditions or charge a fee. Make sure that you get permission in writing and keep it for future reference. If the rights holder does not reply, you may choose to contact them again. Please note that a lack of response cannot be taken as permission to go ahead.

References

The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Quotation and Parody) Regulations 2014. SI 2014/2356. London: The Stationery Office.

Taylor Wessing LLP. 2014. Fair dealing with quotations. [Online]. [Accessed 22 April 2015]. Available from:

http://sites.taylor-wessing.vuturevx.com/12/810/landing-pages/fair-dealing-030412.asp#top

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015

Obituary: John Owston

John Owston (or “Johnny O” as he was known to many friends and colleagues) worked as librarian at the Oxford and Cambridge Club from 1994 to 2004 and in library and information services at the BBC World Service from 1979 to 1993. John was an “old school” reference librarian with a love of books and literature and a passion for learning. He relished enquiry and research work and his extensive general knowledge and conscientious approach meant that he was both trusted and respected by all who dealt with him.

John was a long-serving and engagingly affable member of the CILIP ISG (London and South East Section) committee. His work at the BBC World Service and his various career moves meant that his knowledge of London’s network of institutional, learned society and specialist cultural libraries was considerable. It became a major source of potential destinations for the ISG’s programme of library visits.

As well as contributing to the design and content of the Section’s one-day training courses, John frequently provided a pair of ‘willing hands’ on the day. As the Section’s representative on the ISG national committee he could always be relied on to give a succinct report on its discussions via his ‘alternative minutes’.

He died in Ealing Hospital on 11 April, a few months short of his 80^th birthday, following a massive heart attack. He will be much missed.

Ian Van Arkadie and David Baynes

(A fuller version of this obituary is published in CILIP Update)

For a number of years John was a valued member of the ISG Reference Awards judging panel.  His contributions to the discussions on the nominations were thorough, considered and astute. His knowledge on subjects was wide ranging but he always gave his opinions in a quiet, unassuming way.

John also represented ISG SE on the national committee where he gave interesting and detailed reports on the activities of the Section, as well as joining in other discussions.

Amanda Duffy, ISG

 

Refer 31 (2) Summer 2015