1. 1 Playing an ACE Access, Collaboration and Engagement in the British Library Jude England Head of Social Science Collections and Research March 2009

2. 2 Once upon a time……. “Extraordinary, mummified late-Victorian world” - Angus Wilson Top hats in the Round Reading Room as late as 1929 Restricted access and little collaboration Gatekeepers to Collections ©The British Library Archives Superintendent, L C Wharton caricature from The British Library Archives

3. 3 Abracadabra…… “ We exist for everyone who wants to do research – for academic, personal or commercial purposes” 150 million items, 625 km, 12 km pa: books, journals newspapers, magazines, comics, oral history, maps, IGOs, IOR, mss, world collections, ©British Library Photographic

4. 4 Some attitudes persist……. ©The British Library Archives Newspaper cuttings from a scrapbook complied by George Knottesford Fortescue (1847-1912), Keeper of Printed Books, 1899-1912. From The Times April 21, 2008 When Karl Marx created the tenets of Marxism in the British Library’s Reading Room and Charles Dickens worked at one of its desks, they did not have to endure queues, a lack of chairs and tables, and rooms closed by crowd control…… Speaking to The Times yesterday, Lady Antonia said: “I had to queue for 20 minutes to get in, in freezing weather. Then I queued to leave my coat for 20 minutes [at the compulsory check-in]. Then half an hour to get my books and another 15 minutes to get my coat. I’m told it’s due to students having access now. Why can’t they go to their university libraries?” ………… Ms Tomalin described the crowds as intolerable: “It’s full of what seem to be schoolgirls giggling. I heard one saying, ‘I’ve got to write about Islam. Can I have your notes?’ It’s what you expect to hear in a school.”

5. 5 External context Scope of Social Science and growth in multi-disciplinary research UK Research Council and Government themes Funding regimes = competitive and time-poor researchers Concern about cost and value of research; emphasis on re-use of research Wide range of researchers, behaviours and expectations Long-term research capacity More emphasis on dissemination, public value and economic impact The future is digital……

6. 6 Researchers’ attitudes Google, Google, Google and our digital lives Distant from libraries - actual and metaphorical Access and availability: ‘need for speed’ Competitive and selfish Focus: primary data gathering, remote access, contemporary material Need for ethics, authenticity, trusted sources Forgotten relevance, usefulness and potential of libraries and archives

7. 7 Social Science Collections and Research: Aims and Strategic Priorities Aims:  Provision, management, transfer, generation of info  Ideas hub  Capacity building, especially for new researchers  Build, develop, exploit content and collections  Promote value of research Strategic priorities:  Team creation and development  Defining and developing a social science collection  Relationship and awareness building  Improving accessibility  Working with the research community to build capacity

8. 8 Issues…….  Counter-cultural to BL: collecting and keeping vs connecting and using  Building internal relationships and awareness  Getting the team right: IPS, professional skills, digital understanding  Interest and enthusiasm varies by discipline; can be hard to reach, find, talk to  Heterogeneous audience: academics, third sector, government  Defining content: format, discipline, theme, location?  Managing scale and finding a way in…… and partners……  Catalogues and digital issues (local vs corporate responsibilities)  Resources: staff and finance

9. 9 Lessons learned….  Seed, seed and seed again  Network, network and network again  Persuasive, patient, adaptable, tenacious, flexible, innovative, passionate, ambitious team members are essential  Need awareness of world of researcher and access to a common language; ideally understand research methodology  Need awareness of digital world and digital skills, plus IP, copyright and permissions  Find doable and manageable tasks, and many ‘hooks’: entice, inspire, excite  Social scientists ‘do’ history…….  Support dissemination and knowledge exchange

10. 10 In practice……  Linking with social science research community: academic, government, third sector  Developing tailored resources e.g. Business and Management studies website personalised portal; Olympics web resource; Welfare Reform on the Web; collection guides and bibliographies; mapping resources  Partnerships (formal and informal): ESRC; LSE and OUSSL; ESDS; TNA  Research collaborations: Voices of the UK; Children’s play in the media age; henstock; second wave feminists  Active support to knowledge exchange e.g. ESRC-funded CSR and multi-modal seminar series; University of Sheffield SERX; ESRC Interns; collaborative Phd  Hub: Welfare Reform on the Web at 10; TNA/BL events programme; ESDS seminars; ESRC Festival of Social Science; hosting events (SRA, UKES, SCOLMA, GLIG, AcSS, BSA, ESRC)  Capacity building: Postgraduate training days; census 2011; public events ©Clive Sherlock

11. 11 An ACE invitation and challenge! The oldest profession or the ladies of the night: complied by Richard Cullen, 1993

12. 12 An Oral History of Prostitution

13. 13 The words of the respondents… Lauren Karl

14. 14 Conclusion and Contact Jude England (0)20 7412 7670 Alt extn: 7487 Email: jude.england@bl.ukjude.england@bl.uk Head-Social Science Collections & Research The British Library 96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB Available at www.bl.ukwww.bl.uk ©British Library Website