Print
Send to friend
RSS feedsThe concerns of Oxbridge university librarians about the risk of losing information forever to a fire or natural disaster have been allayed after the British Library (BL) and the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL) confirmed that their proposed NationalResearch Reserve (NRR) would stock more than a single copy of journals.
The NRR aims to provide university libraries and researchers with a document delivery service for rarely used physical journals, helping out universities suffering from a shelving shortfall.
“Having just one copy at the British Library is not enough,” said Peter Fox, university librarian for the University of Cambridge . Fox and his Oxford counterpart Ronald Milne raised initial concerns about the risk of the UK losing journals entirely if the NRR depository was destroyed.
“The concerns are greater in institutes with the longest history,” Jan Wilkinson, BL ’s head of higher education, said. Clare Jenkins, CURL’s chair, offered reassurance that rare journals would not be pulped and that more than one copy of them would be made available.
Low-use journals taking up shelf space have become one of the top three concerns for CURL members. “You have to ask yourself, does it make sense to clog shelves in some of the most expensive real-estate in London?” Jenkins asked. The medical faculty of Imperial College , where Jenkins is director of library services, seldom came into the physical library any more, she said.
All CURL members indicate that STM has a very low use due to electronic access. Wilkinson said that the Higher Education Funding C ouncil had agreed to fund a pilot NRR project. A major viability study is now taking place to flesh out the service model, governance and business model for the NRR with a final plan being published in May. “All the concerns raised have been recognised and accepted,” Jenkins said ( click here for more HEFCE news).
All Science
del.icio.us
Digg this
reddit!
