Seven years of working at the British Library has led me to believe that libraries are in fact the original LinkedIn.

Should I be surprised that people naturally gravitate to libraries? They are after all places of neutrality, openness and intelligence, where everyone is welcome and is able to find a nook or cranny to sit, read, wonder or discuss. But one thing I have been surprised by is that I’ve had so many encounters with personal acquaintances over the years, much more than any previous job.

These encounters have ranged from the bizarre (a telephone call and coffee with my football coach from secondary school) to the coincidental, (a passing meeting with a colleague of my sister’s from Australia, who knows someone who works here) to the professional (reading copies of filming contracts bearing my father’s television company’s name that related to the filming of some ancient manuscripts in 2001). And plenty of other connections made from all walks of my work and personal life.

Our working life today is one of networks, likes, connections, endorsements and updates. The boxes we tick, swipe and click on an almost daily basis on our mobile devices in many ways guide our professional outlook and lives, but will then blur with the personal more often than not.  Today we are always up to date with who has moved where, who’s doing what, what someone’s skillset is and who they work with. 

MIT Sloan Management Review released an interesting paper last year which argued that to get to the right information you need to overhaul your personal knowledge infrastructure. Some argue that having the right data is relevant and important to help you make decisions at work, while others say that the best solution to staying knowledgeable is in fact developing a structure that allows you to ‘stay in the know’.

This is never more apparent than when working in a place like the British Library. People are drawn to libraries to not only research and work, but to connect, to meet, to enjoy.  There are few genuine community spaces left in today’s technologically advanced world that allow us to develop our own personal knowledge infrastructures, if you want to use that phrase, but libraries are certainly that – the original LinkedIn.

Miki Lentin

Head of Corporate Affairs

 

Today authors and illustrators have gone online to discover how much they have made on Public Lending Right from July to June 2015. It’s a kind of pay-day and birthday rolled into one.

In terms of hard cash the figures may not match the multi million pound bonanza of last week’s lottery winners and the truth is they never will as, even for the most successful authors, this carefully and cleverly formed Scheme has adopted the democratic approach of capping top earnings at £6,600 to ensure the money is shared as widely as possible. But, whatever the actual value, for every author and illustrator the 7.67 pence that is handed out for every library loan is much-welcome additional income.

Cartoon by Children's Laureate Chris Riddell in support of Public Lending Right. (Image courtesy of Chris Riddell)

It is also evidence of proper respect for the work of an author or illustrator not just at the point of creation but in perpetuity – or at least until copyright runs out. And behind the pounds and pence lies what authors value even more: the knowledge that their books are being borrowed from the libraries.

Libraries promote and celebrate new books making sure that borrowers have as quick access as possible to the books that readers are buying. Equally importantly, they keep back lists alive stocking titles which may not be readily available in most bookshops. As a result, PLR statements tell authors and illustrators just how popular all their books are which can throw up interesting variations to best-seller lists.

Today authors have been taking to Twitter to express their feelings about PLR and, in some cases, heads have been turned by it: “Totting up my PLR_UK stats for last year, hubby informs me I had ‘nough loans to fill Wembley Stadium’. Rock n roll” a more common response is rather more modest but just as heartfelt; a warm thank you for PLR as part of a general celebration: “Always a special day in the author’s year. PLR keeps pro authors in business & connected with readers”; “There’s just celebration; @PLR_UK statement day today; aka Writers Second Christmas”; “Happy PLR statement day book makers! May the loans be ever in your favour”. And some do that in verse: “#PLR is money for free Oh author, just apply. Hasten, hurry, is my plea. There’s something in my eye.” The payments are also used as a moment to praise the libraries: “Today I send a big thank you to @PLR_UK and the librarians who try to find the right book for each reader.”; “Nice to see more people reading books & using libraries”.

Library borrowing, even as the figures decline, remains strongest for children and children’s authors are vocal in their delight at the thought of all those readers: “There are a lot of authors thinking of all the children who use libraries today & recognising the value of those libraries.”; “Nice thought that my PLR statement includes loans to kids whose families can’t afford books.”; “So happy to find out that 38,500 children took home my non-fiction bks from the libraries last year” and, more personally, “For everyone who borrowed Trouble or Remix from their local library: THANK YOU and thank @PLR_UK”.

Libraries joined in the celebration too with Wakefield Libraries tweeting "Happy @PLR_UK statement day to lovely authors all over the country! Today you find out how much our library customers value your work."

Julia Eccleshare

Head of PLR Policy and Engagement

 

Follow @PLR_UK on Twitter. 

 

In January and February 2016 the Library is hosting a series of open days for first year PhD students. Always popular, these events are a staple of our postgraduate programme, and an important component of the Living Knowledge vision to support and stimulate research of all kinds. The series is now into its 9th year, with some 667 researchers from both UK and European universities attending in 2015. Places at the 2016 events are already being quickly snapped up!

The British Library is a large – albeit fascinating – building with an even larger collection. We know it can be rather overwhelming when visiting for the first time as a new researcher.

Our Doctoral Open Days provide a helping hand. They enable research students to find their way around the collection, both physical and digital, and to make best use of our resources and expertise. They play a particularly important role in highlighting content and collection areas that may be less familiar to many students, such as sound and vision, datasets and web archives, as well as our international collections.

Each day is also a valuable opportunity to network with the Library’s experts and fellow early-career researchers working on related topics and with shared research interests.

Here’s the schedule for 2016:

• Asian & African Collections – 18 January 2016
• News & Media – 25 January 2016
• Pre 1600 Collections – 01 February 2016
• Music – 05 February 2016
• Social Sciences – 12 February 2016
• 17th & 18th Century Collections – 19 February 2016
• 19th Century Collections – 22 February 2016
• 20th & 21st Century Collections – 26 February 2016

Each day offers a rich interdisciplinary perspective on a specific area of the Library’s collection and research resources. Sessions feature presentations from guest speakers and ‘hands on’ advice from Library experts, including our digital curators, current collaborative doctoral students and the reference teams.

Further details and registration instructions.

To whet appetites for these events (and to provide some support to those who cannot attend) here are some useful links for anyone carrying out or planning doctoral research:

• Explore the British Library – our main catalogue
• Archives and Manuscripts catalogue – for further unique collection items
• Electronic resources and databases – browse online by subject and format
• Digitised Manuscripts – digitised copies of manuscripts and archives, with descriptions of their contents

• EThOS – access over 400,000 PhD thesis records online for free

You can discover more about our collections and resources online on our Subject Pages, through our dedicated Collections Guides, and across our full range of Blogs. And finally, if you have not already done so, make sure to Register for a Reader’s Pass and learn how to use our reading rooms.

Many thanks to everyone, from inside and outside the Library, who is contributing to the Doctoral Open Days in 2016. And thanks too to everyone who is registered to attend. We look forward to meeting you and to supporting your research over the years ahead.

James Perkins

Research and Postgraduate Development Manager