BL.

The British Library’s Strategy : 

The British Library’s Strategy Lynne BrindleyCEO, The British LibraryApril 2005

OVERVIEW : 

OVERVIEW 3 main funding streams: DCMS grant-in-aid (£89m) Annual trading income (£25m) Donations (£4m) Generates value to the UK economy each year of 4.4 times public funding Helping people advance knowledge to enrich lives National library of the UK. Serves researchers, business, libraries, education & the general public Collection includes over 2m sound recordings, 5m reports, theses and conference papers, the world’s largest patents collection (c.50m) The largest document supply service in the world. Secure e-delivery and ‘just in time’ digitisation enables desktop delivery within 2 hours Over 250 years of collecting. Beneficiary of legal deposit, and £15m annual acquisitions budget 3 main sites in London and Yorkshire. 2,250 staff Collection fills over 600km of shelving and grows at 11km per year 1.25 Tb of digital material through voluntary deposit

OUR HISTORY : 

OUR HISTORY BL was formed under the terms of the British Library Act in 1972 Formed from a number of diverse bodies – public and private sector organisations Moving into St. Pancras was a key moment in our history

RECENT STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT : 

RECENT STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT Strategy phase 1 2000 CEO appointed Strategy phase 2 Early 2005 New corporate strategy Our approach: Products & services Discipline reviews Property strategy Key themes: Making the case for change Restructuring to enable change Market focus Modernizing our services Managing collection as single entity E-strategy

STRATEGY PHASE 1 – WHY DID WE NEED TO CHANGE? : 

STRATEGY PHASE 1 – WHY DID WE NEED TO CHANGE? Many of our key external stakeholders (the universities, government and business) saw us as ‘old fashioned’ and increasingly irrelevant The world was changing fast – and we were becoming left behind, particularly in terms of electronic information and in our services, where our revenue was in serious decline The Library itself was not functioning well –working in silos rather than as a single organisation In the absence of strong decision making from Library management powerful trade-unions were frequently holding the library to ransom

WHAT DID WE NEED TO DO? : 

WHAT DID WE NEED TO DO? Create a new vision for the library Create shared urgency for change Remove obstacles to change Create the capability to deliver change

HOW IMPORTANT WAS RESTRUCTURING TO ACHIEVING THESE GOALS? : 

HOW IMPORTANT WAS RESTRUCTURING TO ACHIEVING THESE GOALS? Importance Medium Create a new vision for the Library Rationale The Library’s ‘new strategic directions’ were developed with the existing executive team. However, developing a culture change vision was not possible with a team who did not ‘live’ that culture Create shared urgency for change Very high The existing team did not see an urgency for change. To create this sense of urgency, we needed to recruit an executive team who could see the Library as our customers and users saw us, and who had a vested interest in the status quo. This was also true of managers lower down in the organisation.

HOW IMPORTANT WAS RESTRUCTURING TO ACHIEVING THESE GOALS? : 

Very high Remove obstacles to change The British Library had a number of managers, at all levels, who did not see the need for change – and who actively opposed it. Without a senior (and middle) management team committed to change, nothing would happen effectively. Create the capability to deliver change Very high The library had some very capable managers, but also had some serious gaps – such as no marketing expertise, weak operational management capability, and weak IT leadership. In addition, the management team lacked people who had a track record of delivering to time and budget. HOW IMPORTANT WAS RESTRUCTURING TO ACHIEVING THESE GOALS? Importance Rationale

WHAT WERE THE LIBRARY’S AIMS AND APPROACH TO ITS 2000/1 RESTRUCTURE? : 

WHAT WERE THE LIBRARY’S AIMS AND APPROACH TO ITS 2000/1 RESTRUCTURE? Create a corporate team Bring in external expertise where necessary Remove ‘blockers’ Recruit a team with a track-record of change delivery

STRUCTURE I INHERITED : 

STRUCTURE I INHERITED Chief Executive Deputy Chief Executive Director General Director of Estates Director of Information Systems Director of Reader Services & Collection development Director of Public Services Director of Special Collections Director of Collection management Director of Human Resources Director of Finance and Planning

AFTER 2000/1 RESTRUCTURE : 

AFTER 2000/1 RESTRUCTURE Director Scholarship & Collections Director Operations & Services Director Strategic Marketing & Communication Director Finance & Corporate Resources Chief Executive Director E/IS Only one appointment (Finance and Corporate Resources Director) was existing executive team member Of new Directors, only one had experience in the Library sector, rest were from other industries, and three from the commercial sector Director Human Resources

OVERALL CHANGE PROGRAMME TIMELINE : 

Revised vision by market, and ‘culture vision’ announced internally OVERALL CHANGE PROGRAMME TIMELINE Summer 2000 Summer 2003 Summer 2002 Summer 2001 Lynne Brindley started as CEO Restructure announced and posts advertised Phase 1 strategy begins - first part of new vision communicated for consultation New senior management structures for each Directorate announced, to create new ‘senior leadership team’. Mix of internal & external recruitment New Exec Team took up post Individual service and market strategies developed & new brand launched Directorate restructuring to enable delivery of local strategies Summer 2004 Restructuring in service areas to support new service strategies New performance management system launched Phase 2 strategy begins New corporate strategy

RECENT STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT : 

RECENT STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT Strategy phase 1 2000 CEO appointed Strategy phase 2 Early 2005 New corporate strategy Our approach: Products & services Discipline reviews Property strategy Key themes: Making the case for change Restructuring to enable change Market focus Modernizing our services Managing collection as single entity E-strategy

STRATEGY PHASE 1 – KEY AREAS OF FOCUS : 

STRATEGY PHASE 1 – KEY AREAS OF FOCUS Becoming more outward and market focused Modernizing our services Moving towards managing our collection as a single entity Accelerating the BL’s move into the hybrid digital/print world through the successful development and implementation of an e-strategy

STRATEGY PHASE 1 - PROGRESS TO DATE : 

STRATEGY PHASE 1 - PROGRESS TO DATE But still much to do to DELIVER and EMBED More externally focused and market facing Rationalised and modernised portfolio of services Higher public and government profile; better at working with others More effective and efficient management of core functions More integrated view of collections and their management Faced up to endemic HR issues; modernised our people strategy Catching up with our technology infrastructure

STRATEGY PHASE 2 – OUR APPROACH : 

STRATEGY PHASE 2 – OUR APPROACH Focus for Corporate Strategy review APPROACH First conduct in-depth analysis of BL’s strategic context (internal and external) Then focus efforts on developing long-term Vision Ultimately develop Strategic Priorities as first stage of Business Planning cycle Analyse strategic context (both internal and external) Organisational values

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO STRATEGY PHASE 2 : 

CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO STRATEGY PHASE 2 Audiences Disciplines 1st order lenses Products & services Collection lifecycle 2nd order lenses People & organisation Resource model 3rd order lenses Governance & risk Enablers (e.g. estates) Context to be considered Internal and external context, e.g.: Unions Competitors Key govt initiatives (Gershon, Lyons, Brown’s science) Touchstones to check strategy against Public good/statutory remit People values/modernisation agenda Stakeholder needs BL policies (including regional, home countries, EU, social inclusion)

KEY AREAS OF FOCUS : 

KEY AREAS OF FOCUS Discipline-based reviews Science, Technology & Medicine Social Sciences Arts & Humanities Products and Services Strategy Other reviews Property strategy Influencing strategy Regional / home countries / international strategy New corporate strategy: Vision Mission Strategic priorities

QUESTIONS WHICH HAVE SHAPED OUR THINKING : 

QUESTIONS WHICH HAVE SHAPED OUR THINKING What does it mean to be a great library in the 21st century? How can we serve the needs of the impatient ‘Google generation’ who have grown up with the Web and make it their first port of call for information? How do libraries continue to enable the research and learning process when increasingly it is happening in a virtual realm outside the context of the library? How, as only one of a great number of alternatives available to information consumers, do libraries find new ways of adding value?

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & MEDICINE : 

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & MEDICINE External Rapidly changing user needs Digital everything – especially big data sets Electronic journals – bundling New scholarly comms models emerging Internal Document supply volumes declining Scope to strengthen our skills base Key findings Emerging proposition Recognised as a world-leading STM information hub, helping communities of STM researchers advance knowledge to enrich lives Portfolio of free and priced services to store, navigate and provide access to diverse research-level information Underpinned by a thorough understanding of researchers’ needs Work to promote public engagement with science and the BL’s role in STM

SOCIAL SCIENCES : 

SOCIAL SCIENCES External Diverse users including theoreticians and practitioners Research needs vary from big data sets to traditional monographs National landscape dominated by a handful of key players, e.g. LSE Internal Collection has unique strengths but has been less prominent historically Resource discovery challenges Scope to strengthen our skills base Key findings Emerging proposition Collaboration with a small number of key players in UK social science provision in order to meet researchers’ needs Topics to be explored would include: Collection development Access Research skills training

ARTS & HUMANITIES : 

ARTS & HUMANITIES External Not just traditional academic researchers Increasing interdisciplinarity and collaboration Fewer foreign-language literate researchers Changing user needs in digital age – some disciplines ‘going digital’ more quickly than others Internal Strongest, most extensive collection in UK Large number of expert staff Key findings Emerging proposition Blending traditional strengths with new capabilities to ensure we keep pace with the changing information environment Developing our collection to ensure we meet current and future user needs Leadership role in defining the role of a curator in the 21st century

OUR MISSION AND VISION : 

OUR MISSION AND VISION Our mission Helping people advance knowledge to enrich lives Our vision We play a lead role in the changing world of research information. We exist for everyone who wants to do research – for academic, personal or commercial purposes. We promote ready access to the British Library’s collection and expertise through an integrated range of services which are increasingly time and space independent. We also connect with the collections and expertise of others, and work in partnership to fulfil our users’ needs.

STRATEGIC FOCUS FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS : 

STRATEGIC FOCUS FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS Enriching the user’s experience Transforming search and navigation Building the digital research environment Growing and managing the national collection Developing our people Financial sustainability

NEXT MAJOR STRATEGIC REVIEW –(1) COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY : 

NEXT MAJOR STRATEGIC REVIEW –(1) COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Overall question What should be BL’s strategy for non legal deposit collection development, and how can we implement this? Scope In scope: All purchased materials: all disciplines; all formats (print and digital, books/journals/sound etc); all types of materials (e.g. primary/secondary/tertiary); all countries of origin (including purchased British material); all languages; heritage materials. Note that donations policy should be informed by this work but is somewhat different in nature. Out of scope: Legal deposit materials (print and digital)* End-products Fact-base of contextual material about BL’s environment, e.g. trends in research, current HE libraries’ acquisitions spend (intermediate end-product) Fact-base of BL’s current holdings and current CD policy/practice, including current budget allocations (intermediate end-product) Overall collection development strategy for non legal deposit materials and overview of end-to-end implications for the BL (final end-product) Implementation plan including comms approach (final end-product) *There will be some ‘grey areas’ – for example, since e-legal deposit collection development will often require some form of selection (e.g. web archiving) the collection development strategies for legal deposit and non legal deposit materials will need to be aligned. Also, regulations about how we can use legal deposit materials will impact on what we need to buy to deliver certain services.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY: CLARIFYING THE SCOPE : 

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY: CLARIFYING THE SCOPE Questions in scope What should be BL’s overall principles/philosophy for what content we should obtain, including: What should be the Library’s positioning nationally and internationally in collection development? Are we aiming for a broad, thin coverage across everything, strengths in specific areas (which?), or a combination? What depths of collection should we aim for in different areas? Are we still aiming for ‘research level’ material, and if so, what do we mean by this? What should drive what we collect, e.g. usage, ROI etc? How important is historic continuity in collecting? How responsive do we aim to be to changes in the external environment (e.g. Govt-determined research priorities)? What should be BL’s overall principles for how we should obtain this content, including: Is everything we buy for perpetual storage? When will we license, or purchase something just for a finite period of time? When will we just link to materials held by others? When do we need duplicates for service reasons? What materials do we aim to buy in print, which digital, which both? Why? (What implications?) What’s our overall approach to collaborative collection development? What are the practical implications of these principles, including: At a high-level, how should BL allocate its CD budget across: countries; disciplines/subjects; languages; formats of material (e.g. books, mss, journals); types of material (e.g. primary, secondary literature)? Why? How should we select the materials we purchase (plans, item-level selection by BL staff, other)? How should we allocate budget responsibilities within the BL to give clear financial accountability? What systems/processes/MIS do we need to put in place to ensure we can effectively monitor the implementation of the new CD strategy? What’s our approach going forward to refreshing this strategy & consulting on different parts of it? Questions out of scope How much should BL spend on purchased materials vs other parts of its budget? (However, will need a working assumption on this to set context within which this work will take place)

(2) COLLECTION EXPERTS* STRATEGY - DEFINING THE WORK : 

(2) COLLECTION EXPERTS* STRATEGY - DEFINING THE WORK Overall question What should be the organisational model (in the broadest sense) for BL’s ‘collection experts’ and what is the implementation plan to attain this? Scope In scope: All ‘collection expert’ functions, including curatorial as well as STM information expert functions Out of scope: Cataloguing, conserving, reference and other professional functions (except where there is an important interface with collection expert roles that needs to be considered) End-products Fact-base – diagnostic of current organisation, including numbers, skills, grades, years to retirement etc (intermediate end-product) Synthesis of stakeholder views – internal and external - on what collection expertise BL needs (intermediate end-product) Blueprint for BL’s ‘collection expertise’ within the organisation, including: overall vision for skills/capacity required; types of roles required (with job descriptions); no. of each type of role needed; structure of organisation; talent management/career progression/ learning approach; opportunities for strategic collaboration (final end-product) Implementation plan to get us from where we are today to the blueprint (final end-product) *Working title defined to include all curators, STM information experts, and others whose primary skill set is around knowledge of BL’s collection and content/information more broadly

COLLECTION EXPERTS STRATEGY _ CLARIFYING THE SCOPE : 

COLLECTION EXPERTS STRATEGY _ CLARIFYING THE SCOPE Questions in scope What is the make-up of the current collection experts resource in the British Library? Which roles are included in the definition of ‘collection experts’? Which job roles do these collection experts currently fulfill? What are the job profiles and how much time do the experts spend on particular activities? How many collection experts are there? What are the job grades, current organisation structures and reporting arrangements? What is the subject-matter expertise profile of these experts? What are the role and professional competencies for these posts? What is the actual performance and skills-base against these? What is the retirement profile of these posts? Where are the current skills and knowledge gaps in respect of 21st Century collection experts (e.g. digitisation)? What are our stakeholders’ views on the future collection expert skills and knowledge requirements? What will the impact be of the Library’s Collection Development strategy? What options are there for moving to this desired future state? Grow in-house? Recruit? Secondments? Partnerships? Is a transitionary arrangement appropriate or desirable? What is the implementation plan for achieving this future state? What are the current and future skills of cataloguing, conserving and other professional functions? Questions out of scope What are the skills and subject-matter expertise required: approaches to skills development; number of posts required; job profiles; line management arrangements; structures; pay progression and succession planning?

ALIGNING THE STRATEGY WITH THE BUSINESS PLAN, FINANCIAL PLAN, & BALANCED SCORECARD METRICS : 

ALIGNING THE STRATEGY WITH THE BUSINESS PLAN, FINANCIAL PLAN, & BALANCED SCORECARD METRICS The Business Plan for 05/06 has been developed around the key strategic priorities which are a key part of the externally-facing strategic plan under development The Financial Plan attempts to underpin these key strategic priorities, set against a tough backdrop of realistic income expectations The Balanced Scorecard metrics have been developed to try to measure progress against our strategic priorities Strategy Business Plan Financial Plan Balanced Scorecard metrics

Slide 30: 

Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map – Proposed metrics for use from April 2005 onwards Stakeholder S1.1 Face-to-face interactions with key stakeholders Strengthen relations with stakeholders Increase public support for BL Increase volume of use Improve user experience Increase users’ positive outcomes S2.1 Media coverage of key messages C1.1 Items supplied remotely C1.2 Visits to reading rooms C1.3 Visits to exhibitions in St P C1.4 Learners attending workshops C1.5 Individual website users served – content provision C1.6 Searches of the Integrated Catalogue C1.7 External websites linked to the BL website +C2.1 Satisfaction ratings / awareness from reading room/reference users +C2.2 Satisfaction ratings / awareness from doc supply users *C2.3 Customer satisfaction - exhibitions C3.1 Impact of BL on user research – reading room /reference users C3.2 Impact of BL on user research – doc supply users Customer Financial Increase efficiency Effectively manage resources Increase contribution F1.1 Trading contribution F1.2 Fundraising contribution F3.1 Total expenditure against approved forecast F2.1 Total headcount F2.2 Unit cost of operating reading rooms F2.3 Unit cost of document supply Internal Processes Use effective processes to develop the collection Use effective processes to manage the collection* +IP2.1 % items processed by Collection Acquisitions and Description against total items received +IP2.2 Average time taken to process an incoming item Metrics on digital assets will be developed as systems become established Use effective processes to deliver/enhance services (incl. new services) IP3.1 % Doc Supply standard service requests responded to within 48 hours IP3.2 % items supplied in Reading Rooms within 70 minutes IP3.3 % Doc Supply items delivered electronically Employee Learning & Growth Strengthen values Develop relevant skills E1.1 Sickness absence E1.2 Diversity – percentage breakdown vs age/ gender/ geography/ race/ disability E1.3 Measure to demonstrate cultural change – based on people values E2.1 Percentage use of performance management process IP1.1 UK voluntary deposit e-publications received IP1.2 % UK print publications received through legal deposit * IP1.3 Items acquired in all formats through legal deposit, purchase and exchange F2.4 Unit cost of selecting materials F2.5 Unit cost of processing incoming collection items F2.6 Unit cost of raising and processing an invoice Key: Metrics to be measured monthly/quarterly Metrics to be measured annually Metrics to be developed in 05/06 for implementation in 06/07 + Metrics with targets for next year. Developmental work will take place during the year to improve these metrics [there are 4 of these]. * Targets which have been included only because they are in our Funding Agreement [there are 6 of these]. *C1.8 Visitors to BL ‘learning’ website *C1.9 Visitors to virtual exhibitions *C1.10 Learners attending educational sessions from inner city schools *C1.11 Items consulted in reading rooms