Inspire England: Inspiring learners through libraries

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Inspire England Inspiring learners through
libraries
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What is Inspire?

• Inspire is a national programme that seeks to
  support learning at all levels by providing easy
  access to all libraries regardless of sector or
  of geography

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All Libraries ?

• Inspire is funded to work with public, academic
  and national libraries but is keen to involve
  libraries from any other sector as their
  inclusion will strengthen and enrich the offer to
  learners

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Inspire England

• What is Inspire trying to achieve?
• Inspire context why Inspire and why now?
• Inspire background
• Achieving our aims
• Inspire Kitemark
• Benefits of joining Inspire

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What are we trying to achieve?

• Create a cross-sectoral access route to
  information and knowledge for learners
  
• Link 860 HE, 4624 public and 3 national
  libraries
  
• Build on the current network of successful access
  partnerships to create a single pathway
  irrespective of geography and sector
  
• Reach non-users and those currently excluded from
  access to learning opportunities
  
• Widen horizons for learners and libraries

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Widening Participation
Raising learner aspirations
LIS workforce development
DCMS Framework for the Future
BL regional programme
Inspire England
Young participation in Higher Education
Routes to Knowledge
Aimhigher Partnerships for Progression
Social Inclusion
Resource sharing in the Knowledge Economy
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Inspire context overview

• Lifelong Learning, Widening Participation and
  Social Inclusion shared focus
  
• Framework for the Future Action Plan 2003-06
• WILIP / Routes to Knowledge
• People Flows restoring the balance
• Widening Participation ? Aimhigher
• British Library Reaching the Regions
• Empowering the Learning Community

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Empowering the Learning Community LIC 2000

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

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Framework for the Future DCMS 2003

• Strategic vision for 2013
• Any member of a public library can also access
  materials held in HE and FE libraries
  
• Anyone seeking opportunities for learning and
  training can be guided to a course through a
  public library
  
• F4F Action Plan (revised)
• improve access to resources in academic and
  public libraries 70k over 2004/5 and 2005/6 for
  Inspire x 9 regions
  
• MLA in partnership with SCL and CILIP
  implementing action plan

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Aimhigher Partnerships for Progression

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

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Inspire Partners and Steering Group

• The British Library (BL)
• CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and
  Information Professionals)
  
• Learning and Skills Council (national Widening
  Participation programme)
  
• MLA Council and regional MLACs
• SCONUL
• Society of Chief Librarians (SCL)
• Inspire Directors
• Mary Heaney (SCONUL University of
  Wolverhampton)
  
• Andrew Green (SCL Coventry City Council)

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Inspire supporters

• Committee on Library Co-operation in Ireland
  (COLICO)
  
• National Library of Scotland (NLS)
• National Library of Wales (NLW)

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What are we building upon?

• Experience gained from national and regional
  consortia many cross sectoral and some cross
  domain http//www.sconul.ac.uk/SconulAccess.htm
  
• LLiL Inspires inspiration
• Inspires demonstrator projects in the North West
  and West Midland regions

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Key lessons from LLiL and pilots

• Participating libraries will have concerns that
  need to be addressed
  
• Timescale it will take longer than you think
• Need for an operational group to support
  development in each region or sub-region
  
• Importance of involving staff at an early stage
• Need for a marketing/awareness raising strategy
  both for providers of the service and for
  potential users

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Building on experience concerns

• That there would be overwhelming demand for scant
  resources
  
• Loss of income from external borrower schemes
• Security worries
• Extra demands on staff
• Unrealistic expectations amongst users

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Building on experience solutions

• You will not be overwhelmed
• Borrower schemes can remain and there are
  alternative options
  
• Visiting users unlikely to create problems
• Important to involve staff from an early stage
• Briefing sessions to include all staff, including
  security, teaching and others as appropriate
  
• Training package
• Expectations managed via website and referral
  process
  

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How will Inspire achieve its aims?

• Make it as easy as possible for libraries to sign
  up to Inspire kitemark criteria
  
• Request minimum access - to hard copy materials
  for reference purposes only
  
• Enable libraries to set their own access
  conditions
  
• Provide support for participating libraries in
  three key areas
  
• Training and awareness raising
• Publicity and marketing for staff and users
• Inspire collections and access gateway - a
  resource discovery tool that makes it all possible

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Achieving our aims - the Inspire Framework

• Provision of a set of kitemark criteria in order
  to create a coherent national offer
  
• Enrolling all public and HE libraries in England
  to these criteria and to expand this group to
  include libraries from other sectors
  
• Managed referral between all libraries
• Support registering libraries by providing
• an easy to use online resource discovery tool
• publicity materials for all participating
  libraries
  
• a training toolkit for all staff involved

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Inspire kitemark criteria

• The kitemark criteria create a coherent national
  offer for learners and libraries alike
  
• The criteria have been endorsed by
• British Library
• MLA Council
• SCL
• SCONUL

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Inspire Kitemark criteria

• Libraries agree to the following
• To accept managed referrals
• As a minimum, to give referred visitors reference
  access to hard copy materials
  
• To provide collection mapping information for
  Inspire web site
  
• To publicise Inspire throughout their library
  service and to the wider community
  
• To collect information to monitor the impact/
  usage of Inspire
  

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Inspire Kitemark criteria

• Libraries to ensure that
• An appropriate member of staff is nominated as
  Inspire key contact or activist
  
• Designated staff receive in-depth training
  (supported by Inspire) and cascade information
  about the scheme to other staff
  
• All staff are briefed on Inspire scheme
• Inspire is included in induction and on-going
  training programmes

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Benefits for users and potential users

• Opening up access to libraries previously
  unavailable to them
  
• Creation of a national service so the
  recognisable minimum standard of access will
  apply everywhere
  
• Enhancing the knowledge and skills of library
  staff to
  
• Direct people to the resources they need
• Provide whatever form of referral is needed
• Provision of a user-friendly online gateway to
  information
  
• Where subject specific resources can be found
• Access details such as location, opening hours
  etc

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Benefits for libraries and library staff

• The creation of the website/portal showing local
  and national collection strengths will support
  resource discovery for staff and users
  
• Provision of publicity materials which can be
  tailored to local needs will be designed by
  Inspire and made available
  
• Participation will help libraries and their
  parent organisations to achieve government
  targets and raise their profile with the public
  

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Benefits Enhancing staff development

• Awareness raising for all staff, including
  security, teaching and others as appropriate
  
• A national briefing/training programme will be
  developed which will enhance staff skills and
  contribute to CPD. CILIP approved status will
  be sought for this training
• Development of co-operative training, locally and
  within the regions will be encouraged
  
• Staff will be able to provide an improved
  service
  
• to core users

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Useful websites

• Inspire
• http//www.inspire.gov.uk
• LLiL Libraries and Learners in London
• http//www.londonlibraries.org.uk/servlets/llil/
  aboutllil
  
• AddLib Cumbria
• http//www.addlibcumbria.co.uk
• SYALL South Yorkshire Access to Libraries
  Learning
  
• http//www.syall.org.uk
• Milton Keynes Learning City Libraries Network
• http//www.mkweb.co.uk/MK2Dlibraries2Dnetwork/
  /

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Inspire England - contact

• Sally Curry
• National Partnerships Manager
• T 0191 222 8655
• E sally.curry_at_ncl.ac.uk