‘Put Your Library on the Map’ is a campaign led by the Collections Trust, with the support of the Society of Chief Librarians and Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) to encourage people to show their support for their local libraries, and to find out about the exciting range of services they offer.

Using the cross-platform ‘Find a Library’ app (http://www.findalibrary.org.uk), people go to their local library with their mobile, click ‘Use my Location’, select their library and then ‘Put Library on the Map’. This will ensure that their library is included in the national database of public libraries, which is freely available to all Internet users and includes information provided by the BBC and the national UK Online initiative.

Speaking about the initiative, Culture Minister Ed Vaizey MP said, ‘This campaign is a great way to encourage people to make use of their public library services. Libraries provide invaluable opportunities for literacy and learning and I really hope that people get behind this campaign and put their local library on the map. I will certainly be doing so for my local library.’

‘Find a Library’ includes basic information for 4,300 libraries in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Notes to Editors

‘Put Your Library on the Map’ is led by the Collections Trust, with support from library organisations including the Society of Chief Librarians and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).

‘Find a Library’ is a website optimised for smartphones, which allows users to find libraries by location. It is free to use, and the information is kept up-to-date by UK librarians. It can be accessed online at http://www.findalibrary.org.uk.

The Collections Trust helps make museums, archives and libraries more accessible for the public to use and enjoy. We have developed online apps and websites which open up the richness of UK collections. For further information, visit http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk.

To arrange to interview Nick Poole, Collections Trust CEO, please contact Katie Smith on 0207 942 6080 or by email at katies@collectionstrust.org.uk.

In this kind of environment, managers have to make a simple calculation – things which contribute to the bottom-line of the organisation and enable it to make the most of new opportunities come to the fore. Things which do not are ‘restructured’, reduced or removed entirely.

Museums, libraries and archives depend on a seamless cooperation between front and back-of-house. None of the rich online or offline experiences they create is possible without effective stewardship of the collections. Stewardship of the collections has no purpose if it is not driven by delivery.

Collections managers everywhere find themselves challenged to demonstrate that their role is to power the progress of their museum, library or archive. We must recognise that some of our colleagues perceive standards and processes as a constraint on creativity, rather enabling it.

Our challenge as a community is to find ways of expressing the value and impact of collections management, not in terms of what we do, but of why we do it and of what we can deliver both in terms of greater efficiency and greater public value for our organisations and their users.

There is a view in today’s sector that investment in ‘infrastructure’ detracts from investment in delivery; that we ought to focus on exhibitions, display, interpretation and outreach. These things are important, but failing to invest in infrastructure is failing to invest in the future – we do not want to look back in 20 years time and look on this period as a ‘dark age’ in which collections were lost, the chain of knowledge was broken and the sector as a whole failed to record the progress of science, industry, art and society. We cannot afford to buy short-term stability at the expense of our relevance to future generations.

The key themes of OpenCulture 2012 (the annual collections management conference from the Collections Trust) are ‘Sustainable Collections’ and ‘Sustainable Organisations’. There is a deep intrinsic connection between these two factors – no organisation will be sustainable without a relevant, engaging, well-managed collection. No collection can be sustainable in a context of continued organisational constraint.

Collections management is not about process, or standards, or protocols, it is about delivery. It is about ensuring that all of the resources of the organisation, whether physical , digital or intellectual, can be harnessed effectively to create rich, meaningful personal experiences for audiences. Find out more about how the international collections management community is finding new ways of delivering value at OpenCulture 2012 – http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/openculture2012.

OpenCulture 2012 takes place on the 26th and 27th June at the Kia Oval, London. For more information please call 020 7942 6080 or e-mail events@collectionstrust.org.uk

To help get the message out to your library users, we have provided a Participant’s Pack and some images for you to download and use. We would love it if you could print out the ‘Put Your Library on the Map’ poster and put it up in your entrance/on the front gate/at the desk.

If you are interested in hearing more about the PYLOM campaign, why not like our page on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/PYLOM) or follow us @PYLOM2012.

GIVE IT A GO!

Why not put your own library on the map? It only takes a few seconds, and it will ensure that the ‘Find a Library’ app takes your users straight to your front door:

1. Get your smartphone out
2. Open www.findalibrary.org.uk
3. Click ‘Use my location’
4. Click ‘Put library on the map’
5. Click ‘I am at the library’ to confirm

Commissioner Neelie Kroes sets out the EC Open Data Strategy

The Collections Trust has published a new Briefing Paper looking at the implications of the changes to the Public Sector Information Directive (2003) proposed by the European Commission.

Among the proposals is an amendment which would remove the current exemption for museums, archives and libraries. This proposal has raised some concerns for cultural institutions, particularly where they are engaged in or planning Public/Private Partnerships or commercial arrangements for the licensing and use of their content.

The Briefing Paper uses the working of the amendments to assess the extent of the risk, and puts the proposals in the broader context of the European Commission’s Open Data Strategy.

Download the Briefing Paper now from Collections Link

ENUMERATE will provide strategic intelligence about digitisation to inform future policy and funding priorities across Europe. The research will focus on digitisation, digital preservation and the costs of making digital heritage openly available for re-use on the web.

Museums, libraries and archives are now being invited to participate in the first annual ENUMERATE survey, which can be completed online at http://tinyurl.com/enumeratesurvey and a full set of the questions can be downloaded from http://tinyurl.com/enumeratequestions. The deadline for responses is the 1st March 2012.

From Spring 2012, survey participants will be able to access a Google Analytics-style dashboard which allows them to view their own responses alongside information provided by other institutions.

Speaking about the programme, Collections Trust’s International Development Manager Gordon McKenna commented, “The work of ENUMERATE in gathering intelligence about the state of digitisation in Europe is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to affect policy and funding in European Member States. It will also provide participants with detailed statistics which they can use both to advocate for digitisation funding in their own organisations and to celebrate their achievements in putting their collections online. I encourage you to complete the survey today.”

Further information about the ENUMERATE Programme, and the participating countries can be found at http://www.enumerate.eu. Further information about the Collections Trust’s work with the European Commission can be found at http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/programmes/european-projects.