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A
national strategy should be laid down to provide infrastructure and create
opportunities for all types of libraries and information services to become more
involved in national and regional/metropolitan networks. It is suggested that
the proposed Library and Information Commission should be made responsible for
this task. [see 3.3.1] above and recommendations in
the Follett Report for support of projects relating to the development of
networking.]
The
Working Party endorses the recommendation of the Follett Report that library
directors should become more involved in the strategic planning processes of
their organisations, and urges that this should in fact apply to managers of all
types of library.[see 3.3.2]
In
strategic planning statements, libraries should take account of likely changes
in the balance of service provision (both from holdings to access, and from
document supply to information services such as current-awareness), and clarify
their policy regarding direct delivery to end users. [see
3.3.1 and 4.2]
Government action is needed to ensure that the public always has access to
information through the public library system regardless of the medium used
(i.e. the use of electronic media should not impede public access to
information). This and other issues raised in this report should be considered
by the Review of Public Library Service, currently being carried out by the
Aslib Consultancy Service on behalf of the Department of National Heritage. [see 3.7.4 and 4.7]
Professional bodies should ensure the establishment of a forum in which
librarians, information workers and network specialists could seek ways to
address the deficiencies of existing subject access tools and develop effective
methods of organising and structuring the universe of information and data which
is held on the networks. [see 3.7.3]
The
relevant funding agencies should ensure that a coordinated programme of research
is undertaken into the feasibility of developing standard interfaces for
information retrieval systems, especially in the case of software supplied with
CD-ROMs. [see 3.7.5]
In
view of the need for a system for legal deposit of electronic publications, the
Department of National Heritage should initiate action leading to the
establishment of such a system. This should be linked to the setting up of a
national archive service for electronically published material, as recommended
in the recent STM report. [see 3.5 and
4.7]
Publishers, authors, library and information service managers) should engage in
discussion to clarify and agree what constitutes 'fair dealing' in the context
of electronic publications. It is suggested that the Copyright Licensing Agency
could initiate action on this recommendation. [see
3.9.4 and 4.3]
Departments of information and library studies should review their curricula to
ensure that their programmes match anticipated future needs in relation to the
management and exploitation of electronic publishing. [see
3.3.3 and 4.9]
Professional bodies (especially the Library Association and Institute of
Information Scientists) should take account of the above issues in their
accreditation of information and library studies courses. [3.3.3]
Professional bodies should take steps to ensure that their members are kept
aware of the legal and regulatory environment with reference to the use of
electronic publications. [see 3.3.3]
Providers
of LIS in-service training should improve their provision in key areas, such as
instruction/presentation skills and project management techniques. [see 3.3.3]
The
British Library should take a lead in establishing an agreed set of descriptive
standards for electronic publications. [see 3.4.2
and 4.8]
Greater
urgency should be given to the development of technical standards to facilitate
the transmission of electronic publications such as databases and multimedia
information. [see 3.6]
Publishers
should establish a code of practice governing the quality of scholarly
publications in electronic form. [see 3.6.2 and
4.8]
Funding agencies should commission research to enable both libraries and
publishers to develop models for costing different types of electronic
information provision and document delivery. [see 3.10
and 4.5]
Research funding agencies should support studies of developmental aspects of
electronic publishing, including the integration of facilities (such as enabling
users to search an electronic database, identify the location of retrieved
items, and then request copies from local or external sources, with automatic
accounting and billing procedures); and the use of technology to control access,
monitor usage, and to organise printing and billing.
Guidelines regarding licence agreements between suppliers and users of electronic publications are given separately in Appendix 5.
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