June 2007Management and institutional contact SCONUL Access The largest borrowing scheme for higher education in the UK and Ireland

Management and institutional contact2 SCONUL Access The intended audience for this presentation is library senior management and SCONUL Access institutional contacts

Management and institutional contact3 SCONUL Access! From 1 st August 2007 SCONUL Research Extra and UK Libraries Plus will merge to form SCONUL Access library members Covering all parts of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales Offering access to –Staff –Researchers –Taught postgraduates –Part–time, distance learning & placement students

Management and institutional contact4 Moving Forward Institutions can –Maintain existing offer –Extend existing offer Reciprocal agreement –Bands of offer Your users get what you offer to others!

Management and institutional contact5 Bands Band A –Staff and research students Band B –Part time, distance learning and placement students Band C –Taught postgraduates

Management and institutional contact6 Why be involved? Gives users easy access to a large number of academic libraries Reduces the need for multiplicity of local access schemes Provides a single set of procedures for all participating libraries Requires a standard SCONUL Access card for clear identification

Management and institutional contact7 Benefits to academic institutions Resource sharing: better use of public funds Recognition of resource sharing: –suggested link between membership of scheme and research funding Strengthens links within higher education community

Management and institutional contact8 Benefits to users Single rules for joining; same method of identification required Individuals will not be required to negotiate access to each library service No barriers to research trail; users can move easily from one library to another

Management and institutional contact9 Responsibilities of library staff Become familiar with SCONUL Access procedures Provide a named contact for SCONUL Access Staff guide lists the responsibilities of –senior staff –the institutional contact –library systems managers –front line staff

Management and institutional contact10 Making the scheme work Be aware of the agreements enshrined in the constitution and operating principles Consistent approach will help users and library staff to make the most SCONUL Access

Management and institutional contact11 Making the scheme work Acknowledge the responsibilities of membership thus removing barriers to access Essential that participating institutions take responsibility for any defaulting users

Management and institutional contact12 SCONUL expects Eligible users to be given information about the SCONUL Access scheme –Publicity documentation –Web site links –Staff referrals –User’s library inductions

Management and institutional contact13 SCONUL expects Frontline library staff to be aware of the scheme –Staff training in registering users for the scheme –Staff training in receiving users from other institutions under the scheme Library and institutional security staff to be aware of the scheme –Outsiders must be able to gain access to the library!

Management and institutional contact14 Interim Measures Valid UKLP forms and SRX cards should continue to be accepted until their expiry date BUT encourage your users to exchange them for a SCONUL Access card

Management and institutional contact15 SCONUL expects Appropriate staff to –Liaise with academic departments to publicise the scheme –Liaise with staff training officers to publicise the scheme –Include the scheme in library induction sessions for users

Management and institutional contact16 SCONUL expects Institutions to designate a borrowing entitlement for SCONUL Access users –Senior Managers are free to define borrowing entitlements –As a minimum should be the same as given to external borrowers

Management and institutional contact17 SCONUL expects Library systems managers to –Provide appropriate borrower profiles encoded to differentiate between bands –Provide statistics that reflect these differences

Management and institutional contact18 SCONUL expects Home institutions to take responsibility for any users in default –Closed ing list can be used for confidential communications between participating libraries

Management and institutional contact19 Implementing the scheme Easy to achieve: –Registering new users –Library staff training –Publicity to borrowers Could take time: –Establishing a system for generating statistics based on the three bands of users –Redefining current external borrowers to reflect the requirements of scheme

Management and institutional contact20 Implementing the scheme If necessary, work towards full implementation of the technical aspects of SCONUL Access Making sure that the borrower records of new users reflect the requirements of the statistics Identifying current borrower records to be edited Moving current borrowing records to new user profile as soon as possible

Management and institutional contact21 SCONUL Access Please contact –Susan Baker –Maria Hiscoe at if you have any queries More information and documentation supporting the scheme is available from [ ‘Using other libraries’]

June 2007Management and institutional contact SCONUL Access The largest borrowing scheme for higher education researchers in the UK and Ireland