On Trends, Libraries, Archives and Museums

Posted on September 15, 2009 by drlynrobinson

Trend spotting is easier said than done, but it is smugly satisfying when you get it right; purple, dim sum, and champagne bars have been some of my better predictions. I am always fascinated by the question of who sets trends. I recall reading that fashion forecasters scour Camden market, sniffing out edgy cool which can be translated into highstreet merchandise. To me, everyone in Camden market looks as if they dressed in the dark in someone else’s clothes – but then maybe that’s just because my time of edgy cool was a very long time ago. Meanwhile, this season’s thigh high boots and sequined jackets were spotted way back, and I imagine everyone heading to north London is already wearing something completely different. The point about trends is that you often need to be ahead of them.

An idle search for the term “trending” on Google returns pages of hits about twitter. In this context, a trend seems to be what a lot of people are talking about in the twittersphere. And I guess if you were really dedicated, you could track back to the first tweet on any subject and see who started it – but then I still wonder what it is that gives some topics a really loud voice, whereas others fade into silent obscurity. Perhaps it is a mixture of reasons; perhaps some ideas spark mass interest randomly. Others may engender a feeling of “oh me too …” on the basis of that’s how a lot of people feel right now. Or it could be a conspiracy – someone deliberately starting and propagating a trend – “barbeque summer” for example.

From a professional stance, I am keen to understand trends in library and information science. To know what skills employers are going to value, what services our continuum of users will require, and the modes of communication. It would save a lot of time to know how to spot emerging trends –how to identify which trends will be over before Christmas – and to be able to see the difference between something which is trending (i.e. changing and being talked about) and something which has already become mainstream (sooo yesterday).

Which brings me to the trend for the convergence of library, archive and museum (LAM) services. I noticed this theme on the agenda at ALA this summer, and again in the dedicated meeting at the National Gallery, that I am writing about now. As a long-time fan of LAMs, I admit to a feeling of “oh me too…” and have therefore, in a tiny way, doubtless contributed to this particular trending being on the ascendant.

Last Thursday’s meeting at the National Gallery was on the role of librarians and archivists in museums. It was attended by around 180 people, from a wide variety of galleries, museums archives and libraries – all keen to increase awareness and use (and hence funding) of their collections by focusing on collaboration (single entry portals to shared services), digitization (scan everything and make it available over the net), indexing (how should this mix of items be described so they can be found via common portals), contributions from the public (get free helpers), and the associated regulatory issues (standards, accuracy, copyright, data-protection and privacy, moderation etc.). Everything information professionals love to do in fact.

Gunter Waibel (OCLC) outlined the transformation from cooperation to collaboration, published in the report “Beyond the Silos of the LAMs” (haha…) which also provided the title for the (then) upcoming CILIP executive briefing.

Digging back in time (Google search) led me to information consultancy Acumen, which, in reference to work undertaken for libraries, archives and museums stated that:

“….. since 1999, the government has tried to bring the domains of libraries, museums and archives closer together. To achieve this, they created Resource, now re-launced as MLA: the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.”

So – this trend is a government conspiracy then – and one which is still chuntering away 10 years on (see Digital Britain Interim Report – Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (MLA)). Some trends last longer than others.

The meeting attempted to answer the question of why LAM convergence is worth pursuing, and I distilled the following from the presentations as a whole:

To unlock the benefits of LAMs
To support life long learning
For research
To help identify items and objects
To reach new audiences
To engage and inspire

Taken individually, some key points from the sessions are listed below:

Gunter Wailbel talked about the OCLC collaboration continuum, where we move from additive activities, (contact, cooperation and co-ordination) to transformative activities (collaboration and convergence). Transformative activities being exemplified by:

Access to Smithsonian photograph collection on Flickr commons

Single point of access to all Smithsonian collections; information for staff and single point of entry access to all public digital collections

“Projects may fail but visions provide the context in which obstacles can be overcome.”

Ruth Crumey (National Archives) talked about the issues around both choosing a wiki and subsequently allowing the public to add their contributions (Your Archives) – some good (i.e. great input), some harder to address (varied content, issues of accuracy, length, what is it related to, copyright, moderation).

Digitization and indexing (LCSH) of the holdings (naval logs, diaries, photographs, films) at the National Maritime Museum was discussed by Eleanor Gaune and Fiona Romeo. They talked about the new space and opportunities for increased reader accommodation offered by the new Sammy Ofer Wing, and the plans to offer wi-fi. Interest in finding new partners to support the work raised the problem of commercial involvement with public records, which of course, need to remain accessible by the public. Regulatory issues again. And also the use of Flickr as a platform for photos and the need for volunteers to help with describing items.

From the perspective of “is professional training meeting the changing needs of LAM convergence”, the excellent and logical Nicola Franklin from Sue Hill Recruitment asked the fundamental question of whether, in fact, the ‘new services’ envisioned actually demanded new skills.

Are our skills enough?
What training is available (City University’s IMCS course …)
Is there a gap?
If so, how can we address it ?

She pointed out that from looking at employers requirements, nobody mentioned web2.0 skills per se, but that skills on influencing and networking (not covered well in university courses on the whole) were mentioned, along with skills such as photoshop and web design, and collections management.

To conclude, I think this trend is not yet mainstream, and it is worth considering how information professionals can best be equipped for working in the (very pleasant!) environment of museums, archives and galleries, alongside libraries and other organisations. Those of you interested in this area should look out for papers describing projects involved with access to LAM collections.

This photograph is of another, unrelated trend; that of posing on an empty plinth for everyone to watch you. Somebody, I guess will have to archive all these guys.

Kew Gardens – Herbarium, Library Art and Archive

Posted on August 13, 2009 by drlynrobinson

Many of you will be familiar with London’s Kew Gardens, but I am keen to draw attention to the fantastic herbarium (classified collection of preserved plants), and the wonderful botanical library, with its collection of art and archive, which are perhaps less well known. In fact, Kew do not often publicize their extensive library, due to lack of reading space – an issue which will be alleviated by the imminent move of the library to its new building within the new herbarium complex, which will provide more space for holdings, and seating for 30 readers. Anyone with a legitimate reason will be allowed access. Kew does run tours of these lovely collections however – they currently cost 5.00 GBP per person, and you need to book in advance as places are limited to 10 – if you have a couple of hours to spare I urge you to go along.

Kew Gardens Hunter House

We began outside Hunter House, where the library began its formal life in 1852, when the Reverend William A. Bromfield bequeathed his herbarium and well-chosen library of about 600 volumes to Kew.

Kew Gardens New Herbarium Complex

Around the corner, is the new herbarium and library complex, which will open soon and provide much needed extra space and facilities. I am always content to know that every collection outgrows its space – not just mine ..

Victorian Herbarium

The new complex is linked in to Hunter House, which was itself extended several times. We wandered through the vast, victorian herbarium (1853), with its fine cabinets and tables, designed to house the 7 million examples of preserved plant and fungi materials. Each specimen is identified, labelled, dried and mounted on card before being stored. Huge piles of examples were lying on tables, waiting to be processed. Specimens not suited to mounting on card are stored in jars of preservative. Of the collection, there are 350,000 “type specimens” – some dating back to the eighteenth century. These are the original specimens on which new species descriptions have been based, and they define the exact species name and provide standards for taxonomy and systematics of plants and fungi. The herbarium contains the collections of many well known scientists, including Charles Darwin and David Livingstone. Around 30,000 new specimens are processed each year. The herbarium supports research, and works with customs specialists to formally identify plant material coming into the UK – one area of expertise is in the identification of plants used in chinese medicine – sometimes, in dried form, it is difficult to be sure what materials really are, and this can have consequences if they are used in medicines of any kind. The Kew Herbarium collection is worldwide, in comparison to other herbaria, where the focus is on a particular type of material or locality.

We moved on to the digitization section – an innocuous room filled with PCs and large scanners. Here a team of around 20 people work on creating the electronic herbarium catalogue, containing high resolution images of the specimens. Each team member aims to create around 100 records each week (image plus data transcribed from original labeling), so the size of the project, supported by the Mellon Foundation, is considerable – with only 7 million to process. … the catalogue can be accessed from Kew’s website by anyone and saves many the need to spend on travel to London (alas for them …). I tried searching for Darwin’s specimens – lovely clear images – and another way to spend hours in cyberspace – and I am not even a botanist …

Then on to the mounting room – here the specimens are laid out and glued down to the card, pressed slightly by sandbags to ensure they stick. The cards are lovely in themselves – reminding me of making collages for the long lost topic of ‘nature studies’ in primary school. When finished, they are sent to the herbarium for storing.

Herbarium – specimens awaiting collection

Herbarium – mounting room

Herbarium – finished mounts

And finally to the library, which I mentioned is moving from its current location, which opened in 1969, to the new complex over the summer 2009. The library “contains more than half a million items, including books, botanical illustrations, photographs, letters and manuscripts, periodicals, biographies and maps.” (Kew Library website 13/8/09). There are some lovely things amongst this collection and my images show some of the earliest books, with their hand painted illustrations, (florilegiums). The art of botanical illustration is still alive and thriving, as the human eye captures detail, and regard for the subject, in a way that a camera never can. A modern florilegium of the plants in Highgrove gardens has recently been published at a cost of 11,ooo GBP … there is one in the Kew Library – but I wasn’t allowed to touch it.

Tractatus de Herbis – Ortus sanitatis c1490

Hortus Sanitatis 1491

Letter from Hooker to Darwin 1848

For further reading see: Ward M and Flanagan JF (2003). Portraying plants: illustrations collections at the royal botanic gardens, Kew. Art Libraries Journal 28(2) 22-28.

La Mediatheque – Institut Francais

Posted on June 5, 2009 by drlynrobinson

It was my pleasure to visit the library (La Mediatheque) at the Institut Francais in South Kensington yesterday, and to meet Anne-Elisabeth Boxtorf, the head librarian. The Institut Francais opened in London in 1910, moving to its present location in 1939. As well as a cafe and a cinema, the Institut has a lending library comprising a large collection of French language and cultural material, available to Institute members (annual fee £45).

The library facility is extremely pleasant, and contains a wide range of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, videos and CDs.

Additionally, and perhaps less well known, are the archives, comprising documents from 1910 through to 1945. These papers are stored in several grey box files, shown towards the center of the image below. The papers are listed in an inventory, currently in a Word document, and the library is hoping to work with us in the Department of Information Science on a project to transfer the inventory to a web-based database, with digital images of the documents indexed using an appropriate meta-data format. Hopefully, this will involve some of our dissertation students next summer, or student volunteers throughout the year. Any City students interested, please let me know. Meanwhile, francophiles, do go and see the lovely library.

Dr Lyn Robinson

Tag Archives: libraries

On Trends, Libraries, Archives and Museums

Kew Gardens – Herbarium, Library Art and Archive

La Mediatheque – Institut Francais