WHELF’s HELP Project Higher Education Libraries in Partnership Elizabeth Kensler HELP Project Officer UC&R Wales 11 th February 2005

HELP Project Brief ‘To define a strategy and a complementary action plan to strengthen resource sharing and deepen LIS collaboration between HE institutions at a local, regional and national level in Wales and with institutions in others sectors, particularly the National Library of Wales’

HELP Project Collaboration Review E-Learning Feasibility Study Journals Case Study Partnership Programme

Collaboration Review History of collaboration in Wales Existing activity Benefits Drivers / Challenges International collaboration Future initiatives

Focus Groups Details of the current state of collaboration in HE libraries in Wales Impact of the external environment on existing collaboration Perceived and real benefits of existing collaboration Potential of future collaborative activities Challenges to collaboration

Collaborative collection management Improved resource discovery Collaborative purchasing Deep-resource sharing E-prints archive Shared storage Access to NLW resources

Service Provision Collaborative inter- lending and document supply Reciprocal access and borrowing schemes

Training/Staff Activities Collaborative staff development & related issues Collaborative Information Skills Data Protection/ Records Management/Copyright Disaster Planning WHELF Development Role

Technical Issues Shared systems Shared MLE/VLE Wales-wide portal

Collaboration Review - future Link to Project’s action plan Live document of collaborative activity in Wales

HELP E-Learning Feasibility Study

Feasibility Study Objectives 1 Sharing of experience and expertise Content driven approach: development of shared portal to digital resources Investigation of extent to which collaborative approach is effective in meeting user needs

Feasibility Study Objectives 2 Identification of advantages/disadvantag es of collaborative approach Relationship of shared portal to library websites, VLEs etc Sustainability and scalability

Feasibility Study Methodology Subject, course and research focus Definition of user requirements Definition of existing and potential resources Development of portal User evaluation

Some Benefits Portal facilitating collaboration Identification of potential resources Wider perspective for academic staff Discounts for joint purchasing Spoon feeding or wider reading

Some Constraints Different subject coverage Authentication issues Inclusion of local information Competition between universities Scalability

Feasibility Study Recommendations 1 Resource discovery: subject-based portals Collaborative liaison with suppliers of electronic resources E-prints: Wales-wide approach

Feasibility Study Recommendations 2 Value added support material: collaboration Cross sectoral approaches Digitisation and rights clearance: Wales wide approach Preparation of toolkit

Journals Case Study Original brief Focus groups UK initiatives: RSLG, SUNCAT Case Study Group

Case Study Deliverables Data Collection Management Action Plan Recommendations

Data Collection Global & title holdings Complexity SCONUL ALS & HCLRG Statistics Title holdings data

Data Snapshots : over £3.8 million on serials subs (Welsh HEIs) Increase of 40% over past 6 years on journal expenditure 16% on library expenditure Swets % UK increase

Policies & Practice Spending percentages Spending trends E-journals Core titles benchmarking Space problems

Recommendations 1 Data collection Resource discovery Access National Library of Wales

Recommendations 2 Collaborative acquisition Collaborative storage Core titles

WHELF Partnership Programme

Environmental Factors Political climate Institutional factors Strategic development Professional landscape

Challenges Physical landscape Professional landscape Resource implications

Opportunities Strategic approach Holistic vision Welsh dimension UK contribution

Strategic Objectives 1 Developing library collections Improving resource discovery Widening access to collections Connecting with the National Library

Strategic Objectives 2 Creating the virtual academic library Promoting the e- learning agenda Delivering a more efficient service

Practicalities Operational detail Organisational capacity Funding Implementation

Next Steps Task Force VALW – Virtual Academic Library for Wales CyMAL