The Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) and JISC have signed a three year partnership agreement to bring together the knowledge of UK library professionals with JISC’s expertise in digital technologies.
The two organisations will work towards a vision of everyone having equal access to the widest range of resources supporting world class research, learning and teaching.
Themes to be explored by SCONUL and JISC will include:
• The changing library systems landscape – ‘a road map for strategic development of UK library systems’
• Policy and strategic development for digital content and related infrastructure for libraries
• Access and identity management
• The changing scholarly communications process and
• Supporting the user experience.
SCONUL represents higher education libraries in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Professor Jane Core, Chair of SCONUL and Director of Library and Learning Resources at Northumbria University said: “Higher education has become globally competitive and universities need to demonstrate their worth. SCONUL’s expertise in strategy for library services, combined with JISC’s leadership in ICT for learning, teaching and research, will together provide innovative knowledge resources to maximise the offer of UK higher education.
“An informal relationship has been in place between SCONUL and JISC for many years, but formalising the arrangement will allow us to combine resources more effectively.”
Dr Malcolm Read OBE, JISC executive secretary said: “JISC has a strong history of working with the higher education library community and we are pleased to be able to strengthen it further with this partnership agreement. Library services have a crucial role in promoting online resources, supporting researchers and learners as well as putting previously unseen resources online – all of which JISC supports through its funding calls to maintain the UK’s position as a world leader in education and research.”
SCONUL and JISC have worked on a number of joint projects and initiatives, including JISC’s recent report on the ‘Impact of the economic downturn on University Library and IT services’. The report looked at librarians’ key concerns during the economic downturn. Such reports allow SCONUL to better understand the thoughts of members, a process that is integral to SCONUL’s effective representation of the profession.
Find out more about SCONUL at http://www.sconul.ac.uk
Read more about JISC’s partnerships at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/aboutus/partnerships.aspx
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