Co‐operation in Action. Collaborative Initiatives in the World of Information

Citation

Jorna, K. (2003), "Co‐operation in Action. Collaborative Initiatives in the World of Information", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 59 No. 1, pp. 111-116. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410310458064

Cooperation and collaboration within the library and information sector (i.e. including museums and archives) has always been essential for the provision of a wide range of services to a wide range of users. Formal and informal initiatives between institutions have led to core well‐established self‐sustaining and mutually beneficial library co‐operations and many more short lived but equally successful projects within and across information domains. While these continue to be essential, two new factors allow for a wide range of alternative forms of collaboration: information technology and external funding. It is therefore a good time to review the advances made so far and to give some outline of what future collaborative projects and institutions may bring.

Co‐operation in Action attempts to do just this in nine original articles by 12 different authors, including the editors. The book includes a foreword by Tessa Blackstone, Minister of State for the Arts, a comprehensive glossary of acronyms, an equally comprehensive list of relevant Web sites and an alphabetical index. Neither the glossary of acronyms nor the list of Web sites explain what the institutions listed are responsible for. On the whole, the book is easy to read and provides overviews of the current state of affairs. It is probably in the nature of a collection of overviews that they may lead to deep insights or to a shallow feeling of superficiality. This collection includes examples of both. With the exception of the last chapter, the editors decided to focus on activity within the UK. This is legitimate and welcome, given the dominance of US literature in the information sector, but it makes the US spelling read rather uncomfortably at times (especially the hyphenated “co‐operation” which “re‐occurs” in most chapters).

The editors claim in their introduction, “The book can be read as whole, providing detailed and comprehensive insight to the overall scene, equally, each chapter stands alone and can be read separately” (p. x). It is true that the chapters can be read separately, and indeed their order seems almost random. Their independence leads to some repetition of problems, which could be taken as an opportunity of offering different viewpoints on the same topic. However, viewpoints and deeper insights, inspiration and even criticism are lacking in most parts of the book. Whether this is due to lack of editorial guidance or to the individual authors is difficult to say. A concluding chapter by the editors may have left readers more content, for as I shall show, there are points which all contributors appear to agree on. The book may further have benefited from more comparisons to alternative (non‐British) ways of collaboration. In the following few paragraphs I shall review each of the chapters individually:

1. 1.

   (1) “The view from the British Library: the national library perspective” by the editors Stella Pilling and Stephanie Kenna is a disappointingly descriptive chapter, advertising rather than analysing the British Library’s viewpoints. “The BL believes that it is no longer realistic, or even logical, for any major library in the world to work alone to achieve its goals and ambitions. Co‐operation is not an option, but an imperative, informing the BL’s strategy and approach in a number of key areas” (p. 2). Despite its first heading asking: “Co‐operation: new trend or old modus operandi?” the chapter does not go back any further than 1998, the date of the BL’s strategic review. The other sections offer an overview of current programmes under three main headings:

• •

  “The British Library’s co‐operation and partnership programme”, a useful overview of the BLCPP including sub‐sections on the BL’s cooperation fund and Concord.

• •

  “Working with others”. One would assume that co‐operation and collaboration means working with others, and this section is confusing as it reads as if it should have been part of the introduction to the book as a whole, referring as it does to other chapters. However, its distinction between different types of co‐operation is useful: cross‐domain and cross‐sector (Research Support Libraries Group, National Grid for Learning, Resource, links to museums and archives, full disclosure, CURL and LINK); regions; public libraries; higher education; digital programmes, preservation, and the international scene.

• •

  The final section, “Looking ahead”, merely re‐iterates the BL’s commitment to collaboration and co‐operation on all levels.

1. 1.

   (2) “Mapping the British co‐operative landscape” by Nick Moore and Julie Carpenter is by far the most informative and insightful chapter of the book, and if one wanted to read about cooperation in the UK in only a few pages, this chapter would be an excellent introduction. Moore and Carpenter offer an intelligent and well argued overview based on the Education for Change and Acumen report (2000). They combine the facts with analysis and insight into their possible causes. These include politics and constitutional factors as well as simple facts such as size of individual institutions and of consortia. This is followed by the analysis of five models of cooperation and the clear optimistic conclusion, that, generally speaking, “co‐operation is alive and well in the UK” (p. 26), that it “will continue to be a powerful means of meeting service objectives in a cost‐effective way” (p. 27) and that “The prospects for future developments, therefore, look positive. The foundations are secure, there is no shortage of ideas, creativity or innovation, nor is there any lack of opportunities” (p. 28).

2. 2.

   (3) “The view from resource” by Vivien Griffiths and Neville Mackay continues in the same optimistic vein. The chapter begins: “Imagine it is the year 2010”, describing a scenario where three generations of a family are using information technology to access museum, library and archive services in their daily routine. Griffiths and Mackay elaborate on two positive examples of new services: the Naval Tradition project in Plymouth and the Buckinghamshire Local Studies Library. These examples are followed by a section on access as technically achievable but practically often insufficient due to different requirements by public and academic users, the disabled and the socially disadvantaged. The chapter concludes that IT development and distribution, digitisation, cooperation at all levels, and finally, a change in mind set have to be achieved in order to reach the utopian information family presented to us at the beginning of the chapter.

3. 3.

   (4) “The regional perspective” by Stuart Brewer begins with a very interesting historical account of the concept of “region” and of the changing boundaries of regions within the UK. This is followed by a broad description of institutions and programmes relevant to cross‐sectoral library and information services, including regional, national and cross‐domain programmes and a closer description of the West Midlands libraries. The chapter includes two maps and a detailed chart of the relations between The Libraries Partnership West‐Midlands, the ten types of libraries included in the partnership, and the respective relevant regional and national councils and state departments. In conclusion, Brewer argues that “Regionalism is to be welcomed because it recognizes, and at best celebrates, diversity”. Here, a reference to EU support of cultural diversity would have broadened the issue and comparison with regions in other countries would have been welcome. However, this chapter is to be recommended to anyone requiring an introduction to regional issues.

4. 4.

   (5) “Co‐operation in academia” by Bernard Naylor describes several difficulties and opportunities specific to academic libraries. These can possibly be reduced to a conflict of interest between the highly specialised nature of their stock, required to support individual departments’ or professors’ research areas on the one hand, and their opening up to the public and to a broader range of students on the other. This conflict is deepened by the fact that limited funding and accommodation do not allow the equal supply of resources to all research staff at the university. Co‐operation and collaboration as high profile themes are seen as opportunities for new initiatives, and for the consolidation of old ones. Even if they do not last because interest and hence funding are likely to decrease again at some point, i.e. “Even if the surge turns out once more to be temporary, it will probably be possible to look back and see that it has delivered significant benefits, some of which will be as near permanent as anything in an impermanent world” (p. 83).

5. 5.

   (6) “Co‐operation in preservation” by Stephanie Kenna and Helen Shenton is a well researched description of the challenges particular to preservation, which is marred by several vague and almost nonsensical statements. For instance, “Collaborations costs. While often undertaken with the aim of resource sharing, it has its own direct, and indirect costs” (pp. 85‐6) or “Successful collaborative preservation projects are both practical and transferable” (p. 97). The main insight of this chapter, however, is useful: “The elements of success for strategic initiatives are more complex and diverse than for projects and organizational mechanisms. Political considerations play a greater role … Collaborative preservation projects are easier to organize and execute … than strategic initiatives” (p. 105). Also, this is the only chapter clearly concentrating on archives and museums, with examples ranging from the Mellon Microfilm Project, via regional and international emergency services, to Stonehenge, and it is one of few chapters including several references to projects abroad, including a description of the Delta Plan of The Netherlands.

6. 6.

   (7) “E‐co‐operation” by Derek Law is an insightful chapter on the opportunities and changes brought by ICT, focusing on academic library collections. Law emphasizes especially conservative forces who oppose the sharing of collections or the adoption of electronic journals and hence contribute to the fact that “Deep sharing of collections, which allows for the material in a group of libraries to be treated as a single entity, has not really happened” (p. 111). Other insights include the consequences of the change from students using their own university libraries to the majority of students using other libraries, especially in the case of distance learners. Finally, Law thinks that e‐cooperation could facilitate to creating reliable portals, the importance of which cannot be emphasized enough, given the still naïve attitude of many of today’s Internet users.

7. 7.

   (8) “Joined up funding: promoting and facilitating collaborative work” by Ronald Milne perhaps includes too many rhetorical questions and exclamation marks. Also, there is significant overlap with the chapter by Moore and Carpenter, which of course is not Milne’s fault. The relevance of top‐sliced funding is elaborated on, and again, it is said that the political climate is generally positive even if funding could be better organised: it is currently split into different bodies, which moreover differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Milne’s main insight, however, is worth remembering: “The success of the current, rather ad hoc, arrangements for co‐funding cross‐sectoral projects and services really depends on the goodwill of the funding agencies, their committees and officers. We can continue in this way and much will still be achieved; but, in the future, collaborative cross‐sectoral work will be regarded as the norm, not because it is politically correct, but because it makes sense” (p. 134). Milne, therefore, asks for joined funding in support of joined library programmes.

8. 8.

   (9) “The international dimension” by Graham P. Cornish shows that there is no one political agenda which might further or hinder progress when it comes to international collaboration. Geographical and sectorial divisions play as much a role as international organisations such as FID, IFLA, or UNESCO. Cornish describes several local, regional, European and global institutions, organisations, programmes and projects, including CoBRA (now MACS), Telematics, and TEL at European level. He rightly believes that cooperation becomes “international co‐operation par excellence” (p. 144) when non governmental organisations collaborate, as for instance, in the founding of the International Committee of the Blue Shield. The chapter leads to two carefully phrased visions of the future:

• •

  He agrees with “many people [who] claim that technological developments will ensure that international barriers come tumbling down. Information can be transferred so easily that the concept of a ‘national’ library service will soon become meaningless”.

• •

  “The globalization of trade should ensure that the library community in its widest sense benefits. Information as a commodity ought to be more easily traded and libraries should be in a position to share not only skills and expertise but also their actual collections” (p. 151). In his own conclusion he adds that co‐operation should be of benefit to all who take part, or it would be benevolence, rather than cooperation – hence, that cooperation for its own sake is no good at all.

Conclusion

Even after two readings, I am not sure what the book is trying to achieve. With few exceptions the chapters lack structure and argument. Lists and descriptions of different programmes or institutions may be useful as an illustration of the state of affairs, but lack of critical analysis means that readers are left uncertain about the examples given. Are they to be followed or merely logged? And should any aspects of existing forms of co‐operation be part of a larger strategy of cooperation? Essentially, the book lacks editorial guidance. Lack of guidance, however, makes it the more surprising and perhaps meaningful that the different contributors appear to agree on the following four points:

1. 1.

   (1) Issues are defined by a network of interests: the institution’s own agenda and resource limitations, local, regional and national agendas as well as personalities of senior staff.

2. 2.

   (2) The political climate favours collaboration and co‐operation and that funding is fairly generously made available (though never, of course, being able to meet all targets).

3. 3.

   (3) We have reached a stage where ICT can be used as a tool rather than as an end in itself by all levels of users: for institutional employees it may help overcome the barrier to genuine sharing, while to end‐users it may overcome the access barrier.

4. 4.

   (4) Enthusiasm and commitment of individuals cannot be underestimated, be it at the level of politics or, more importantly, as driving forces from within. Given that, as the editors rightly say in their introduction, an increase in collaboration and co‐operation is the only “logical” way forward for the information sector, it is perhaps almost paradoxical that success largely depends on the least logical trademark of people, namely, their individual enthusiasm.

The book as a whole is neither insightful nor enjoyable. Individual chapters, however, are useful introductions to specific aspects of collaboration in the world of information and, provided they are followed up by further reading, can be recommended.