£3 million national framework for UK research information announced

Citation

(2004), "£3 million national framework for UK research information announced", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 32 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilds.2004.12232dab.021

£3 million national framework for UK research information announced

£3 million national framework for UK research information announced

A new national initiative, the Research Libraries Network (RLN), is set to transform the way research information is collected, organised, preserved and accessed across the UK. The RLN will bring together the UK’s four higher education funding bodies, the British Library, the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales and the eight members of Research Councils UK to develop the UK’s first national framework aimed at addressing the information needs of researchers. The RLN aims to provide the unified and focused strategic leadership needed to address these demands. Set up following the recommendations of the Research Support Libraries Group (RSLG), and endorsed by the House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills, the RLN will:

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  provide strategic leadership for collaboration between publicly-funded research information providers and their users – to develop effective, efficient and integrated information resources and services to support UK research;

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  co-ordinate action to propose and specify solutions to meet researchers’ changing needs – building on the earlier studies into UK researchers’ needs carried out by the RSLG; and

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  act as a high-level advocate for research information, across the UK and internationally.

The RLN will be set up in autumn 2004, initially for three years up to the end of July 2007. It will be led by an executive unit, with a budget of up to £3 million, which will be based at the British Library and take strategic guidance from an advisory board. Key positions in the executive unit and on the advisory board will shortly be advertised nationally. Initially the RLN’s work is likely to include feasibility studies and market research to shape the longer-term programme. Early emphasis is likely to be on improved knowledge of and access to existing resources (for example, by developing search tools and “union catalogues” which give a single point of access to a number of different collections). Future potential work streams include collaborative work on developing and preserving digital archives, maximising access for professional researchers to key collections, and working towards collaborative development of collections to ensure access to the widest possible range of research materials.

Source: British Library press release, 29 July 2004.