Working to promote best practice across museums, libraries and archives, the MLA works to raise standards and develop support, new programmes and quality research across the three bodies.

In efforts to streamline these processes across all non frontline sectors, it is hoped that this will increase transparency and reduce costs.

But in removing this regulatory body, how will individual authorities be able to manage funding and the procurement and dissemination of information?

In uncertain times across the library sector, these are not easy questions to answer.

The initial hope is that without the MLA, the library sector will be able to function quicker and develop projects independently. Being able to focus on regional and library-by-library requirement will hopefully, in time, increase relevancy and therefore increase public usage.

However, being able to plan programmes relies on the ability of libraries to secure long term funding. The capability to respond to demand requires an degree of restraint to steer clear of subscribing to trends and fads- a costly danger. Much of the wealth of research conducted and provided by the MLA derives from a well oiled nationalised scheme. Bringing people together and consolidating resources under a national umbrella.

Despite this, there is hope that although the MLA will not exist in its recognizable form, the benefits will not be lost.

Andrew Motion (MLA Chair) and Roy Clare (MLA Chief Executive) said they were “confident” that the “various important capabilities” of the MLA would be found new homes, and stressed their determination to,

ensure that there continues to be sources of robust advocacy for museums, libraries and archives, and for the people and places that depend upon them; with provision of experts, know-how, advice, specialist resources, detailed research and evidence and informed guidance

Get the full Bookseller article

Listen to an interview with Roy Clare

Bibliotheca is Europe’s leading RFID supplier to the library market providing state-of-the-art solutions via Bibliotheca’s SelfCheck range, serving over 1,000 libraries globally to date.

Currently in use by Manchester City Council, Bibliotheca’s RFID technology has allowed libraries to offer concise solutions to stock tracking, issuing and 24-hour access to information.

So, what is RFID?

‘Radio frequency Identification’

Similar to a barcode, but more advanced. The RFID ‘tag’, as it’s known, stores and tracks information on a much broader and more logical format, making it easier to manage library systems. It also allows you to adopt a supermarket-like self-checkout, allowing for quicker customer service with the possibility for 24 hours access.

In techy terms: ‘RFID tags are intelligent bar codes that can talk to a networked system to track every product’

Johannes Rogg, Managing Director of Bibliotheca UK, explains:

“libraries are turning to RFID as part of their drive towards self-service, to increase security and for more efficient stock management. 24 hour, 7 day support is crucial for many of our library clients who are offering their customers a round-the-clock service”

Richard Charkin, Executive Director of Bloomsbury publishing, suggests that closing branch libraries isn’t going to solve the problems in the library sector but making “savings in management and efficiency” is the way forward. Perhaps RFID could provide this solution for your library?

Find out more about RFID

Find out more about Bibliotheca and the IBM Award for Innovation

Listen to Richard Charkin on BBC Radio 4- 2:23 – 2:29

Bibliotheca will be going ahead with plans to develop it’s UK base in Castle Donnington, Derbyshire. Find out more about Bibliotheca

“An excellent resource that is simple to use and that fills a gap in the market for online resources at a competitive price”

Josie Butterworth, Bolton Library

This summer, we asked our library subscribers to participate in a Theory Test Pro case study.

The questions covered two main areas: What do you think of our product and what pressures are you facing both in terms of budget and wider Government pressures?

In respect to Well Informed. The campaign raised two interesting service points:

• How do libraries effectively promote online resources to their users? and,
• How do libraries show off Theory Test Pro to prospective users?

These are problems that we are very conscious of. Following this campaign, we have been working to develop downloadable resources for library users to take advantage of. We’re hoping these will be useful additions to our existing online badges.

In addition, we’ve started adding How-To’s to our FAQ pages. We’re also looking to develop a how-to that illustrates product features from start to finish. This will detail Theory Test Pro in a walk-through scenario that you can show to prospective users.

But we also wanted to know what the sentiments were at the grass roots of public libraries. What are the core concerns at the moment? Here’s what we found out:

• How can you coordinate national and regional leadership so that resources and investment creates the best opportunities?

• How to build a successful online range of services?

• Budget, budget, budget. Getting on and making more with less. Making ends meet with poor funding.

• Making sure libraries maintain their crucial role in developing access to education in the community.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey. It’s all about communicating with our customers so always get in touch.

We also took this opportunity to ask librarians about their experiences with Theory Test Pro. We hoped it would be a positive campaign- and, thankfully we weren’t disappointed.

“Definitely value for money. The theory test CD-ROM software I used to buy had a habit of not loading, breaking and even disappearing from stock!”

Anne Coulson, Manchester Library

“Almost 1,200 of our library users registered to use Theory Test Pro in the first year – I’m happy with that”

Michael McBride, Leicester Library

“One of the most useful and used online products we have bought – a win-win for both customers and the library service”

Lucy Cross, Luton Library

“Good customer service.  I feel that any comments and queries I have raised have always been answered promptly”

Rita Musa, Wigan Library

“The customer response to the product has been excellent. Everyone has found the application easy and straightforward to use and has recommended it to their friends”

Andy Tomkys, Wolverhampton Library

If you’ve got any thoughts, we’d love to hear them.

Although a ‘timely initiative’, the Library Users Charter has come at a time when budget  cuts are at the top of everyones list. Despite this, the charter allows libraries to look toward their community to help appropriate funding. In turn, it means that services can be tailored to local demand.

Roy Clare, MLA Chief Executive explains that the charter…

“recognises that library users and the wider public are the first and principal stakeholders in the library service… The more that the public is involved in decision-making through a variety of groupings of their choosing, the better”

So, what does this mean? Let’s look at the positives:

• Local libraries won’t need to prioritise programs that users aren’t interested in.
• Increasing the ability for libraries to react to the public makes them more relevant.
• Increased relevance brings people back in to the library.
• Through focus groups, the charter encourages the community to become a fundamental driver of change.
• It also allows libraries to justify spend and measure success.

One of the main drives for the MLA is to improve library technology and e-Learning. The new charter offers a great opportunity for libraries to to get to grips with online resources and developments.

Developing an online presence also allows:

• Greater community access.
• Through forums, libraries can get a feel for what people want and how people think.
• Interact over learning development skills and gauge where the gaps are.
• If libraries can respond to the needs of the public, libraries become a force for change and a greater support platform for lifelong learning and community action.

Freeing libraries to engage with the public about local services can only be a good thing- to see how the public charter might effect your library community, take a look at: MLA & the Library Users Charter

There are lots of accessibility toolbars available, all of which have different features and benefits. Here’s what the University of Southampton aimed to achieve:

The concept behind JISC Techdis Toolbar is simple: One toolbar to provide all of the functionality you would usually get in many different products, and which will run in any desktop web browser.

The end result is an impressive feature set that many libraries may find useful.

• Text size: increase or decrease the size of text. If text resizing makes the site unreadable you may wish to use your browser zoom feature to increase both the image and the text sizes.
• Font: allows you to choose a different type of font for the text and increase line spacing.
• Spell Check: while writing in a plain text form, suggestions are shown below the text-area after a pause. Disable the checker by selecting the button once more. Note that this may not work with rich-text editors that already have spell checkers.
• Dictionary: highlight a word in the web page and a definition from Wiktionary will appear.
• Text-to-speech: choose whether you want the whole page read out loud, or just the highlighted text. And yes, you can highlight a portion of text before selecting the Text-to-Speech button to have only that text read out. Wait for that section to finish before highlighting a new section of text. Note that large pages, such as Facebook pages, may require you to select smaller portions of text at a time.
• Referencing support: automatically scan the page for referencing information – it will collect as much as it can linked to authorship, dates, title of the page, name of the website and the URL. Once you have selected the green tick you can highlight the text and copy it into any notepad or word processor.
• Colour customisation: Alter the colour of the JISC Techdis Toolbar toolbar, change the web page colours – background, text and links or choose pre-made page styles. Some web page colour changes also impact on the toolbar.

How to get started

• Watch a short introduction video about the toolbar and it’s features.
• Read download and installation instructions for the toolbar
• More information about JISC Techdis

It’s a pity to see that the Library Modernisation Project has been shelved. The £12m fund would’ve enabled many libraries to take advantage of many new opportunities – it seemed 2010 was the year for change. But now it looks like libraries will have to do more with less.

Libraries have told us that budget was the major obstacle for bringing in more diverse online services. Fortunately for us, Theory Test Pro and GoCitizen were reported as highly cost effective programs and represented excellent value for money.

If what libraries need is budget, and what has just been slashed is money, well, it doesn’t look overly promising.

The impact here is that the momentum built up from the possibility of being able to offer great online and digital services through the public sector may be lost. The drives and initiatives taken up by libraries could be stalled and eventually, we’ll could all be back at square-one wondering “what happened there then”? The same five copies of out-of-date theory test question manuals on the shelves when unlimited numbers of people could remotely access fully updated versions online with Theory Test Pro.

Engaging traditional library services and printed text with digital, online content is vital to growing a strong library community structured around learning for all.

I hope that libraries are still able to embrace the principles of the modernisation program  as best they can. Free, unlimited, 24/7 access to online resources is at the core of our product. And it’s nice to have it confirmed that we’re doing pretty well in terms of price too- surely this is great news for libraries looking to stretch the budget.

[Their] numbers show that 10 million people in the UK today have never used the internet and of this figure 4 million are from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

This is the first time I’d read about Race Online 2010 and Martha’s role in it. If you have five minutes it’s worth reading up on their research. If these stats are correct then that’s a huge challenge but an incredibly important one. Many would agree that we’re now truly in an information age. To thrive in this, the whole of society must be equipped with the skills and knowledge – that society must be digitally inclusive.

Update: This position is now filled. Thanks to all candidates who applied. More news on our latest team member soon.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic, energetic and entrepreneurial marketing assistant to join our team and help us market our existing range of successful online services. Think you might fit the bill?

One of the main aspects of this job will be assisting the Marketing Director with new projects and marketing campaigns. However, you’ll also get the opportunity to plan and manage your own marketing campaigns. To do this job well, you’ll need to be well organised and have excellent business sense. If you’ve got a few years experience in a marketing role and like the idea of working in a small team (where your ideas are valued and your contributions make a difference) then this job could be for you.

We’re offering:

• a competitive salary, generous bonus and holiday allowance,
• a relaxed and creative work environment and a desk with a lovely view over Haggerston Park, and
• excellent promotional prospects into senior product management and senior marketing roles.

For more information download the  job description. If you’d like to apply then email Henry Dillon at jobs@wellinformed.co.uk with a cover letter and CV.

N.B. No queries from agents, please.

Here’s what the government says it’s all about.

Informal learning can help people gain personal satisfaction, development and fulfilment. For the low skilled and with poor experiences of formal education, informal learning can be an important stepping stone to further learning, qualifications and more rewarding work. It can help keep people mentally and physically active and independent into old age. It can also bring people and communities together.

What I thought was interesting about this was the impact this has on public libraries.

An ‘Open Space’ Movement. We want a broad choice of learning options to be available, including traditional classes, activities in museums, libraries and other settings, as well as opportunities to learn online. Self-organised learning is an important part of the mix. Many people are already doing this. We want to empower more people to organise themselves to learn, with opportunities designed by communities for communities. But we know that starting a group can be difficult: it can be particularly hard to find low cost space locally, and people need more expertise and tips on how to build a successful learning group.

We want to sow the seeds of an ‘open space’ movement where organisations throw open their facilities for informal learning at low or no cost. DIUS, DCSF, CLG, DH, and DCMS will work together with partners to open up spaces for informal learning in schools, colleges, libraries, community centres and healthy living centres, whether this learning is provided by the public, voluntary or self-organised sector. We will also develop a toolkit on how to set up, support and maintain a self-organised group.

I’m already starting to see the momentum for these flexible open spaces in some libraries today. This seems to chime well with the modernisation report released a few months ago too.

We created the Topic Testing feature to provide users more control over the areas they study.  This allows users to focus on areas that need special attention, resulting in a more personlised learning experience. Some of the features are listed below.

• Selecting Practice questions by topic
  • Displays all the topics a user will be tested on.
  • Allows users to easily determine areas that need focus.

• Selecting a specific topic
  • Displays the total number of questions for that topic.
  • Displays the number of questions the user has answered correctly in that topic to date.
  • Provides the user with options to answer single questions, take a short topic test, or take a full topic test.
  • Allows users to track their progress within each topic.

• Answering single questions
  • Results are immediately displayed.
  • The user returns to the question they just answered in the list of questions.  The question is highlighted so the user can easily determine their place.
  • Correctly answered questions are notated with a check mark.
  • Allows users to easily spot areas that need special attention.

• Completing Short /Full Test
  • Results are immediately displayed upon submission of final answer.
  • One-click review of correct or incorrect answers.
  • Correctly answered questions are notated in the list of questions with a check mark.
  • Allows users to manage their study time better, as they can spend less time on areas of strength and more time on areas of weakness.

As you can see – Topic Testing is loaded with great features and benefits.  We are confident that Topic Testing will greatly add to the success of all our users.