Visit to Eton College Library, 12 May 2016

The following post has been kindly supplied by Jeremy Crumplin, who joined other members of CILIP Thames Valley on a visit to the Library at Eton College.

A group of 15 library staff met early on a Thursday morning at Eton College to visit the library. We met the Librarian, Rachel Bond, and her colleague Mandy Smith, who introduced us to the library and some highlights from its collections.

It is unusual to have a rare books library in a school – this was originally the private library of the Provost and Fellows, and boys were not admitted until the early 20^th century. (There is another library to support day-to-day teaching; some departments also have their own libraries.) Eton College was originally a religious foundation, so the early collections were largely theological. The library was initially chained, with the books physically attached to the premises. It moved to its current space in the late 17^th century, and grew thanks to donations from generations of Provosts and Fellows. By the end of the 18^th century, the library included around 20,000 volumes and the book stacks were full. Consequently there was little change for around 150 years. In the 1960s, the library began collecting again, focusing on Old Etonian authors and items with an Eton connection, as well as material related to Thomas Hardy. The library also began to actively support the curriculum; there is now an optional sixth form course relating to the library collections. There are now 4.5 (full-time equivalent) staff, all rare books specialists, supplemented by periodic visits from project conservators.

A selection of items from the collections was on display, including: 
 

• The oldest western manuscript in the library, an anthology of Latin poetry dating from around AD950, written on poor quality skins with occasional irregular holes.

•   The original manuscript of Thomas Gray’s poem Elegy written in a country churchyard, including numerous amendments and sections which were not present in the finished work.

• A book featuring the earliest known image of Eton and Windsor, dating from the reign of Henry VI.

• A book from the original chained library, still retaining its paper label protected by a translucent horn shield.

• The first one-volume edition of Tess of the d’Urbervilles with a letter from Thomas Hardy.

• An original manuscript letter from Lord Byron, and a forgery purporting to be written by him.

•  The original manuscript of Susan Hill’s novel The woman in black.

•   The oldest manuscript of all, a fragment of a 9^th-century Koran. This was a recent acquisition, and relevant to the curriculum as Arabic is taught at the College.

•  Artefacts from the First World War collection, including a trench map, scrap books and letters from the trenches. These are used to support the teaching of history; a new teaching course has been introduced this year based on this collection.

• A lock of Sir Isaac Newton’s hair.

• A manuscript including the only English Medieval reference to Robin Hood (all the other Medieval sources are Scottish).

On the floor above the library, there is a small gallery space, currently housing an exhibition of Shakespeare-related artefacts, marking the 400^th anniversary of his death. The display includes examples of the first four folios and several other early editions, as well as the first folio edition of the work another Elizabethan playwright, Ben Jonson and an 18^th-century forgery of a play purporting to be written by Shakespeare. Also on display were artefacts relating to Shakespeare’s plays and characters throughout the last four centuries.

We were very grateful to Rachel Bond, Mandy Smith and their colleagues for showing us around and preparing the displays. The library is open to readers by appointment and details can be found at http://www.etoncollege.com/CollegeLibrary.aspx.

Professional Registration event

On Wednesday 3rd June, CILIP TV held an event about Professional Registration, lead by our Candidate Support Officer, Nicola Beer. She and fellow CSO Matthew Wheeler have given permission for the slides used to be made available to those who may not have been able to join us. Hopefully they will be useful!

Click here to see slides

Changes in Copyright Law 4th June 2014

This month's report is by Marion Harris

This month’s speakers were Emily Stannard and Ross Connell from the University of Reading. They gave us an update on changes in Copyright and Licensing law following the 2011 Hargreaves Review, and the potential implications for library and information services. The event was well-attended as this is clearly a topic of considerable concern and interest for professionals at the moment.

Copyright exceptions

Emily Stannard (Risk Management and Business Continuity Officer @copyrightgirl) began the session by outlining the copyright statutory instruments which came into force in June 2014 as a result of the Hargreaves Review. The main points of interest for library and information services were as follows:

Library privilege

There are now far more extensive guidelines about the copyright exceptions which are allowed for libraries and archives.

• Librarians can now copy all kinds of works for non-commercial research or private study, subject to fair dealing.
• It is now permissible to copy works such as monographs for inter-library loan purposes, providing that the receiving library is non-profit and that the copyright holder has been consulted if they can be reasonably found.
• It is permissible to make resources such as digitised works available via dedicated PC terminals (provided users cannot print or save the work to USB)

Preservation copying

Legislation changes in this area provide very welcome news for archivists and special collections librarians.

• The preservation copying exception now applies to all copyrighted material, not just literary and dramatic works.
• It is now permissible to create multiple preservation copies, provided that a replacement cannot be reasonably be purchased and that the copies become part of the library/archive’s permanent collection (e.g. non-loanable).
• This change will be especially useful for film archives, as it will now be possible to convert older footage into more modern formats.

Disability

Greater flexibility has now been added to the copyright exceptions for people with disabilities.

• Following the Marrakesh Treaty, a wider range of disabilities are now covered, such as hearing impairments and dyslexia.
• Accessibly copies can now be made of any material regardless of contract, providing that an alternative is not reasonably available for purchase and the user is not charged more than the cost of production.
• Libraries nonetheless are required to notify the copyright holder or collective rights organisation that they have created an accessible copy.

Illustration for instruction

Legislation in this area has been clarified, and essentially can be seen as a legalisation of what many teachers were already doing.

• Copyrighted material can be used in instruction, subject to fair dealing, providing that it is for non-commercial purposes and that the copyright holder is acknowledged ©
• An interesting section is Exception 35, which allows for broadcasts to be put in Virtual Learning Environments (unless subject to an ERA license).

Other legislative changes which may occur in future

At present there are no copyright exceptions for personal use (e.g. ripping CDs to an iPod), or for quotation and parody purposes, due to pressure from copyright holders. It is hoped that legislation for these issues may come into force in October 2014.

Licensing

Ross Connell (Copyright licensing co-ordinator) then gave an update on the current situation regarding licensing. In contrast to copyright exceptions, licensing allows institution such as libraries to obtain affirmative legal permission to copy materials by paying for a license.

The Hargreaves Review was very favourable toward the concept of licensing, and made several recommendations. Extended legislation about Collective Licensing schemes and the use of Orphan Works is currently in draft. If accepted, the likely changes will be:

• Collecting societies will apply to the Secretary of State for the right to grant licenses for a particular type of work (e.g. dramatic works), providing they represent a significant number of affected rights holders.
• Collective licensing schemes could become opt-out, rather than opt-in as at present.
• For orphan works, providing a diligent search for the rights holder has been carried out, libraries will apply to the Intellectual Property Office for an orphan licence.
• Orphan licenses will be issues for a fixed term of up to 7 years, subject to the payment of a fee which will be held on trust for the rights holder if they are later located.

Advocacy: Let’s shout about Libraries!

For November’s Cilip in the Thames Valley event, we had Barbara Band, CILIP Vice-President, to talk to us about advocacy in the library profession.

To start off the talk, Barbara updated us all with changes going on in CILIP. To start off with, CILIP are keeping with their original name, despite the big re-branding project that saw us vote for a range of new names for the organisation. A new website has been made, and new changes made to the chartership and certification processes. Barbara was keen to note that chartership does differ from an academic qualification in Librarianship – the idea being that through certification and chartership, everyone can be at a certain level, regardless of whether they have degrees of postgraduate qualifications.  The revalidation process has also been updated – it’s free, and involves 20hrs of recorded CPD, and a 250 word statement. Finally, Barbara emphasised the need for members of CILIP to vote in presidential teams and councils, and to take an active role in organisation.

Next is on to the main topic of the evening – advocacy. Barbara spoke about the different interpretations as to what this mean, and its relative terms – petitioning, arguing, promoting, and defending. This can mean speaking out on behalf or someone or something, but also to argue for a cause, policy or idea. It should not always be a one-off thing, but a continual process. Barbara noted that library professionals are not always good at self-advocacy, but it is important for us to speak out about our jobs, and support the profession as a whole.

But why is this so important? Well, Barbara noted that the image we present affects how other people view us (we all know the stereotype of the woman in a twin-set shushing people). It is important for us to inform and educate people about libraries and the benefits of having good library services, and broaden our profile as a profession.

So, what is the best way to advocate the library profession?

An important and obvious way is through social media, particularly Twitter. Barbara spoke about the best times to tweet to get particular messages out (send the message out 4 times in a day – in the morning, lunchtime, after work, and late at night before bed).  We all know how quickly messages can spread through Twitter, and you never know where your Tweet will end up! Although not everyone on your followers list will be a librarian, sending library-related messages out will be advocating to people who aren’t in the profession. Also – the simplest message is often the most powerful!

Barbara also noted that it is important to think about target audience when advocating – for example, your approach to speaking to students will be often be very different when speaking and advocating to governors.

It is equally important to advocate yourself in the workplace as well, especially if you are part of a larger organisation, e.g. a school or college. It is important to keep others in the workplace updated as to what the library staff have achieved, targets that have been met, new projects introduced etc.  Don’t let the library be overlooked!

Finally, Barbara spoke about how advocacy is a two way process – CILIP can advocate for all sectors and need to do their bit – likewise, librarians and information professionals need to get involved in CILIP, through branches and groups, and play an active role.

At the end of Barbara’s talk, we had a brief chat from Sarah, from the Federation of Children’s Books Group – a national charity that holds a book prize every year, in which children are the only judges! They aim to support and encourage reading for children of all ages, through local reading groups, author visits to school, the Red House book award, and local events. Sarah brought some of the winning books from this year’s awards event, all of which engrossed the group! To find out more about the FCBG, visit http://www.fcbg.org.uk/.

Overall, a good event was had by all, with inspiring talks by Barbara and Sarah. Thanks to both speakers for a great evening!

That's just what we do

This is the first post of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the Thames Valley (happily shortened to CILIPTV!) sub-branch blog. This opening post is just by way of an introduction to who we are and what we do. As a sub-branch of CILIP South East, which is in turn a regional branch of CILIP, we represent librarians and information professionals on a very local level, hopefully providing members with networking opportunities regularly and on their doorstep.  

The Great Expectations pub in Reading
where we hold our monthly events

We hold monthly meetings (so far usually in Reading, but our first in Oxford will be June 6^th) where there tends to a core crowd of very friendly faces working and/or trained in all branches of the information profession. At these meeting we have talks by professionals with varied experiences and specialities so that members benefit from a wealth of knowledge from across the profession. For those of you working towards a CILIP qualification we even provide a handy-dandy certificate to go in those portfolios!

We hope to post reports on our monthly events so that those who can’t make it know what they missed and also serve as a basis for discussion - CILIP members are welcome to comment! Perhaps after the event thoughts may occur to those present which they want to share with other info people rather than boring the socks off their loved ones.  Guest posts from info professionals around the Thames Valley about their work are also welcome so if you feel the urge to shout about what you do then please be in touch. Contact details and further information on events and the committee can be found on the website. We are also on Twitter and Facebook. Watch this space for the low-down on the 5th May event when Mark Taylor from CILIP HQ spoke to us about staff experiences when they went 'back to the floor'.