Inspire

1

• Inspire
• Connecting the East of England
• ACER Learning Resources Managers Forum
• 9 March 2006
• Linda Berube
• Co-East Regional Manager
• linda.berube_at_cambridgeshire.gov.uk

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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

3
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

4
What are we trying to achieve?

• Cross-sectoral access pathway to information and
  knowledge for learners
• Link across 875 HE, 4610 public and 3 national
  libraries
• Interweave current network of successful access
  partnerships into single pathway irrespective of
  geography or sector
• All libraries maintain prime responsibilities to
  core users but add managed reciprocal access and
  referral to other libraries with relevant
  collections and materials
• LIS workforce development building capacity and
  awareness of LIS resources across the UK

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Inspire Partners and Steering Group

• The British Library (BL)
• CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and
  Information Professionals)
• Learning and Skills Council (LSC) 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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How will Inspire achieve its objectives?

• Inspire builds upon experience gained from
• Existing national and regional consortia many
  cross sectoral and some cross domain
• LLiL up and running for almost two years
• Inspires demonstrator projects in the North West
  and West Midland regions
•  

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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 - 1

• As a minimum, to give library users reference
  access
• Publicise Inspire within the library and
  information service and to the wider community
• Provide information for the Inspire online
  gateway on
• collection strengths and special collections
• access details and referral terms
• Reflect your commitment to cooperative working
  with Inspire partners in your service plans
• Help to demonstrate Inspire usage and impact by
  gathering statistics, written comment or verbal
  feedback

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INSPIRE kitemark criteria - 2

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

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Benefits for libraries and library staff

• Participation can
• Help libraries achieve government targets and
  raise their profile -
• with their parent organisation
• within the region and
• with the public
• Enable library staff to give a better service to
  their core users enhancing national, regional
  and local resource awareness
• Support a wide range of CPD activities

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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
• find the resources needed by users
• support users in accessing the relevant libraries
• Provision of an easy to use online gateway to
  information
• where subject specific resources can be found
• access details such as location, opening hours
  etc

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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 allstaff, including
  security, teaching and others as appropriate
• Training package
• Expectations managed via website and referral
  process

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Inspire East of England

• Project directed by EEMLAC, managed by Co-East
• Steering group, representing public, HE, FE, and
  health libraries
• Phase 1 objectives registration, identifying
  collections, identifying potential sub-regional
  co-operatives
• Pilot group
• Planning for Phase II

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• Inspire East of England - contact
• Sue Hughes, EEMLAC
• sue.hughes_at_eemlac.org.uk
• Linda Berube, Co-East
• linda.berube_at_cambridgeshire.gov.uk
• FE Steering Group contacts
• Andrew Barker, City College Norwich
• A3BARKER_at_ccn.ac.uk
• Sally Dawson, North Herts College
• sdawson_at_nhc.ac.uk

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Useful websites Useful websites

• Inspire
• http//www.inspire.gov.uk
• LLiL Libraries and Learners in London
• http//www.londonlibraries.org.uk/servlets/llil/a
  boutllil
• AddLib Cumbria
• http//www.addlibcumbria.co.uk
• SYALL South Yorkshire Access to Libraries
  Learning
• http//www.syall.org.uk
• MK Inspire
• http//www.mkinspire.org.uk/