Terms of reference for a study on the long term future of the legacy collections of the British Library's document supply centre

Background

The British Library provides a document supply service, which is used by every university in the UK. It has an extensive collection of older material (the "legacy collection"), much of which is not in regular use, and it offers to add surplus material from other libraries to its collections. It performs a national role in providing a central facility, which other libraries can draw on for material outside of their core holdings.

Charges for the British Library’s document supply services have increased over the years in order to achieve full cost recovery. For example, the cost of a standard document supply request has risen from c£1.40 in 1980 to c£5.00 today. The BL provides a wide range of other services and it relies heavily on government funding for many of these. It is not possible to guarantee long-term levels of funding.

University libraries are faced with a growing demand for their services, and physical constraints on their premises. Often, readers are reluctant to sanction the disposal of older materials, and substantial capital sums are spent in building library extensions to accommodate growth in collections, as well as a growth in user numbers.

The British Library and the UK Higher Education Funding bodies believe that there is an opportunity for a new partnership approach to the management of a national collection (which may be distributed in a physical sense, but would build on the facility at Boston Spa) in which the users of the service become more direct stakeholders in its management. Both parties recognise that the current document supply service for older material also serves libraries in other sectors and a wide range of individuals and other organisations. It is important that any new framework for managing the service respects the needs of other users and provides them with an adequate level of involvement. A HE/BL taskforce therefore wishes to commission a study, which will investigate and report on this issue.

The feasibility study

The feasibility study will examine the opportunity for improvements in the interlibrary loan service, and in particular:

• Explore whether the "legacy collections" at the Document Supply Centre, coupled with similar collections in HE libraries and elsewhere might jointly be administered.

• Examine various funding and governance models, recognising the need to represent adequately all the major stakeholders, which include representatives of the public library sector and of business and industry, in addition to those from the education sector.

• Examine how the boundaries of any jointly administered service might best be defined e.g. what is the definition of “legacy collections”? (Our initial suggestion is that it is material beyond its half-life). Is there a valid and workable distinction to be made between such collections and material in current use?

• Estimate the size of the "legacy collections" in BLDSC and other major research libraries in the UK.

• Consider whether the service should be involved in both the loan of originals and the supply of surrogates, and consider the issues involved in supplying both.

• Examine how performance of the service in terms of ease of access, timeliness, fill-rate, quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness can best be achieved. Examine the issues, which arise in these areas both with respect to a distributed service and to a centralised service.

• Examine the legal issues which may have an impact on the viability of some of the models explored, and clearly identify any legal implications.

• Look at the political acceptability of the models identified, and consider appropriate strategies for securing acceptance from stakeholders.

• Recommend a model or models, which hold out the prospect of being more effective than the current model, or alternatively conclude that the present arrangement, despite its imperfections, is as effective as any.

The successful applicants

The successful applicant should be able to demonstrate:

• An understanding of HE user community priorities and needs

• An understanding of the current document supply mechanisms in the UK

• A track record in successfully completing feasibility studies of this type

• An understanding of the relevant legal and regulatory issues, and of business models for joint ventures

Deliverables

The deliverable will be a report that is suitable for circulation to the HE community, the British Library and to other interested stakeholders. A draft of the report must be submitted for independent review within five months of the award of contract. It should be amended if necessary in the light of reviewers’ comments. The Higher Education Funding Bodies and the British Library will jointly own copyright in the report. The report must also be made available to the sponsors in electronic form suitable for Web publication.

Funding

The maximum value of the contract is expected to be no more than 40,000 GBP excluding VAT.

Method of working

Those appointed to carry out the study will be expected to identify and interview the appropriate key decision makers in DCMS, DFEE, DTI, the British Library, the HE Funding Bodies, HE libraries, Public Libraries and other sectors.

Timetable

It is intended that the contract will be awarded in order to allow a start by June with completion and delivery of the report by early November.

Bids

Bids must include a description of the work to be carried out, timescales and milestones as appropriate and a budget breakdown. CVs of the staff carrying out the work should be attached to the bidding document which should be no longer than five sides of A4. Bids will be evaluated on the following criteria:

1. Demonstration of understanding of the problem

2. Suggested approach to carrying out the work

3. Qualification and experience of staff involved

4. Value for money

Enquiries relating to this document should be addressed to: Malcolm Smith, Director, Public Collections, British Library, Tel: 01937 546157 or email malcolm.smith@bl.uk ; or Charles Oppenheim, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, Tel 01509 223065 or email C.Oppenheim@lboro.ac.uk

Enquiries relating to the administration of the tendering process should be addressed to:

Gill Davenport, Programme Administrator, RSLP, Tel 0131 651 1516 or email gill.davenport@ed.ac.uk

Interviews will be held in central London in the afternoon of 31 May 2000.

The deadline for submission of bids is 12 pm on 5 May 2000. 7 copies of each bid should be sent to Ronald Milne, Programme Director, Research Support Libraries Programme, Main University Library, George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LJ.

Content: Gill Davenport
last updated 31 March 2000