Culture minister Margaret Hodge today published a blueprint for England’s public library service, to help ensure it is fit for purpose in the 21st century. The Modernisation Review of Public Libraries: a Policy Statement makes it clear that books – and the right to borrow them and browse free of charge - must remain at the heart of the service. And the statutory responsibility on library authorities to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ service must remain.
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The paper includes proposals to:
* Recommend all local authorities have a ‘national core offer’ for the public, comprising membership from birth, free access to the internet, a right to order any book to borrow (even those out of print), free access to e-books as the market grows, opening hours to suit users, and an opportunity to be a member of all libraries in England;
* Create a ‘local offer’ as well, which could include commitments on bookstock, events programmes, activities and other services like CD and DVD lending;
* Offer best practice guidance to local authorities on consulting their communities about the library service, putting local people at the centre of the service;
* Make all libraries ‘digitally inclusive’ with easier – and free – access to the internet for users, along with advice on how people can get the most from online access;
* Consider establishing a new, strategic body for libraries to provide leadership and development for the sector, and with the formal power to advise the Secretary of State. This body would also run an accreditation programme, awarding a ‘Book Mark’ for the best services, which could be linked to funding opportunities; and
* Look at a radical approach to new partnerships across existing local authority boundaries, possibly linking with other public functions like post offices and private sector services such as coffee shops.
A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »
Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.
A lot of the talk around social media in the last year has been around information overload. Social media has provided us with new and exciting ways to create content. But it has also meant learning new ways to manage and engage with social media tools. Are we teetering on the edge of an information overload precipice?
Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.
What if you had to sort through 3.5 million articles and social media posts a day and try to pull out the most relevant items for your organisation? What if you then had to cobble it all together into something readable for your top groups and executives in your organisation?
Alacra Compliance saves time by aggregating information from both free and fee-based sources and enabling users to conduct an accurate federated search across these sources (coined “simultaneous search” by Alacra).
FreePint Family
Quilting big data threads
The fallacy of information overload
Information overload: fact, fantasy or filter failure? 
