Do you want to keep official publications available to the general public? or can you rely on finding what you need online without any need for print? We believe print is essential for the following reasons:
• Large documents being hard to deal with online, e.g. Leveson Inquiry, Mid Staffs Report
• Users who are older who are not used to using computers
• Users who have poor computer skills – we can get out a book for them, but we do not have much time to show them how to find things online
• People who don’t have computers who want to take things home to read – if they had to print off the documents, it would be very costly.
• People who are studying and want a pile of books to browse and to have open at the same time – much easier with a pile of books than with lots of computerised documents
• Some information is much easier to find in a book than it is online – e.g. Annual Abstract of statistics – the spreadsheets are huge and very difficult to manage online, but once it is distilled down to A4 pages it’s much easier to use
• You cannot inspire people if you just say “it’s online”, whereas if you can show them a pile of books and they can instantly see the format – e.g. House Of Commons Papers which have verbatim reports and oral and written evidence – they can see how accessible they are – and they’re excellent as primary evidence for students
• Many of our catalogue records already have links to the online documents – yet people still choose to borrow them, which speaks for itself
For a lot of authorities, the only way they can afford the materials is by taking advantage of the subsidy.
Please sign this petition if you are in agreement - we will then send it to the National Archives in the hope of stopping this cut.
Full details of the changes can be found at -http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/pls-changes-letter-march-2015-website.pdf
Updates
April 9, 2015
The feedback from local librarians about the print resources has been overwhelming. I am organizing these stories to present to the board.
April 9, 2015
The momentum is incredible. It is clear that print access remains a priority for our community.
22 Comments
Paper copies held in physical archives and libraries are an important resource for researchers. I know from experience how difficult it is to find official publications that are more then a few months old unless a paper copy can be traced
With an estimated 11m people in the UK stuck in the 'Digital Divide' it's crucial that the public have access to hard copy official publications. Further cuts to the subsidy would mean that many libraries would be unable to satisfy this demand/need.
Access to print is essential since online resources can be difficult to locate and have no guaranteed permanence. Also online governmental publishing is currently chaotic and documents and resources can be difficult to find.
I would reiterate the sentiment that making something available online is not the same as making it accessible. Deflecting the cost of this subsidy back onto public libraries is not helpful at this time as we struggle to make citizens more aware of their rights and responsibilities and to make Westminster seem more relevant to their everyday lives.
I would reinforce the accessibility issue. Some users cannot use the documents online. Printing a large report for them generally works out more expensive than purchasing it with the library subsidy.
Not everyone has access to computers ( even with visiting their library - limited pc's and staff to assist) so some form of hard copy is still required. If we wish to keep people informed it needs to be in both formats.
This will have significant impact on libraries ability to provide government information to all.
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Do you want to keep official publications available to the general public? or can you rely on finding what you need online without any need for print? We believe print is essential for the following reasons:
• Large documents being hard to deal with online, e.g. Leveson Inquiry, Mid Staffs Report
• Users who are older who are not used to using computers
• Users who have poor computer skills – we can get out a book for them, but we do not have much time to show them how to find things online
• People who don’t have computers who want to take things home to read – if they had to print off the documents, it would be very costly.
• People who are studying and want a pile of books to browse and to have open at the same time – much easier with a pile of books than with lots of computerised documents
• Some information is much easier to find in a book than it is online – e.g. Annual Abstract of statistics – the spreadsheets are huge and very difficult to manage online, but once it is distilled down to A4 pages it’s much easier to use
• You cannot inspire people if you just say “it’s online”, whereas if you can show them a pile of books and they can instantly see the format – e.g. House Of Commons Papers which have verbatim reports and oral and written evidence – they can see how accessible they are – and they’re excellent as primary evidence for students
• Many of our catalogue records already have links to the online documents – yet people still choose to borrow them, which speaks for itself
For a lot of authorities, the only way they can afford the materials is by taking advantage of the subsidy.
Please sign this petition if you are in agreement - we will then send it to the National Archives in the hope of stopping this cut.
Full details of the changes can be found at -http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/pls-changes-letter-march-2015-website.pdf
Updates
April 9, 2015
The feedback from local librarians about the print resources has been overwhelming. I am organizing these stories to present to the board.
April 9, 2015
The momentum is incredible. It is clear that print access remains a priority for our community.
22 Comments
As former University Parliamentary Papers Library Retrieval System Assistant, it is essential we have hard copy available.Valid reasons in the petition.ers
Paper copies held in physical archives and libraries are an important resource for researchers. I know from experience how difficult it is to find official publications that are more then a few months old unless a paper copy can be traced
With an estimated 11m people in the UK stuck in the 'Digital Divide' it's crucial that the public have access to hard copy official publications. Further cuts to the subsidy would mean that many libraries would be unable to satisfy this demand/need.
Access to print is essential since online resources can be difficult to locate and have no guaranteed permanence. Also online governmental publishing is currently chaotic and documents and resources can be difficult to find.
I would reiterate the sentiment that making something available online is not the same as making it accessible. Deflecting the cost of this subsidy back onto public libraries is not helpful at this time as we struggle to make citizens more aware of their rights and responsibilities and to make Westminster seem more relevant to their everyday lives.
I would reinforce the accessibility issue. Some users cannot use the documents online. Printing a large report for them generally works out more expensive than purchasing it with the library subsidy.
Not everyone has access to computers ( even with visiting their library - limited pc's and staff to assist) so some form of hard copy is still required. If we wish to keep people informed it needs to be in both formats.
This will have significant impact on libraries ability to provide government information to all.
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As former University Parliamentary Papers Library Retrieval System Assistant, it is essential we have hard copy available.Valid reasons in the petition.ers