Living Knowledge: Networks in a digital age Liz White Head of Strategy Development April 2016 #livingknowledge

2 Our Mission To make our intellectual heritage available to everyone for research, inspiration and enjoyment

3

4

5 Over 150m items More than 1.6m visitors came to the BL in 2014, 10% more than in 2013 Over 16,000 people use the collections and online services each day We have on-site space for over 1,200 Readers Nearly 400,000 people visit our 11 Reading Rooms every year The economic value the Library delivers for society is £5 for every £1 invested

6

7 The role and purpose of libraries is under intense debate

8 We’ve found that 4 things hold true The value of data and ideas Increasing openness Importance of people Importance of spaces

9 The value of data and ideas: knowledge, inspiration, creation and re-creation

10 Increasing openness – of content, and institutions

11 Importance of people and creativity: advice, collaboration and knowledge networks

12 Importance of spaces: digital and physical

13 CUSTODIANSHIP RESEARCH BUSINESS CULTURELEARNINGINTERNATIONAL

14 Purpose 1: Custodianship We build, curate and preserve the UK’s national collection of published, written and digital content

15 Web Archive Archive & a dataset

16 We support and stimulate research of all kinds Purpose 2: Research

17 Digital Research Cross-disciplinary mix of curators, researchers, librarians and technologists supporting the creation and innovative use of British Library's digital collections:the creation and innovative use 1.Getting content in digital form and online 2.Collaborative projects 3.Offering digital research support and guidance 4.Events, competitions, and awards (BL Labs)

18 Getting content online Mass digitisation of 19th Century Books- discoverable and downloadable through our catalogue but metadata can be sparse and browsing difficult. The Wikimedian crowd is providing additional insight through building a Synoptic index: /wiki/Commons:British_Library/ Mechanical_Curator_collection /Synoptic_index /wiki/Commons:British_Library/ Mechanical_Curator_collection /Synoptic_index Book images put on Flickr are being tagged & provide a fresh way of browsing the collection

19 Competitions & Awards

20 Library of Birmingham Newcastle City Library Purpose 3: Business We help businesses to innovate and grow

21 Economic Impact Analysis of Enterprising Libraries: April March 2015

22 Knowledge Quarter

higher education institutions 13 cultural institutions 21 museums and galleries 27 libraries and archives Multiple research institutes Within a one mile radius… 3,000 scientists 12,000 academics 50,000 staff 77,000 students 10,000,0000 annual visitors 180,000,000 catalogued items

Knowledge Quarter Our Vision: A world-class knowledge and business hub for the 21st century Our Mission: Encourage openness, innovation and opportunity by making the facilities, collections and expertise of our members understood, available and used as widely as possible for the benefit of researchers, creative people, students and the whole community

Purpose 4: Culture We engage everyone with memorable cultural experiences

Cultural engagement

27 Poetic Places

28 Poetic

29 Burning Man Festival David Normal created light boxes around the Burning man, using the British Library’s Flickr Images

30 Purpose 5: Learning We inspire young people and learners of all ages

31 Discovering Literature

32 Purpose 6: International We work with partners around the world to advance knowledge and mutual understanding

33

volunteers, from 39 countries and counting

35

36 “Living Knowledge Network” Reciprocal sharing of activities, resources and knowledge across the UK

37 The concept: build on local knowledge and national convening power…. “One neighbour… talking to another neighbour”“It’s about using public libraries which are a trusted place in people’s hearts and minds to help with economic development in local communities” …to develop a mutually supporting and self-sustaining network

38 Our vision is of a mutually supportive network of major libraries in significant urban centres, working together to reinforce the idea of the library as a transformative and accessible public space and public service A new kind of partnership

39 Knowledge Exchange Partnership Working Joint and Reciprocal Offers Areas of mutual benefit

“Providing access to knowledge is absolutely essential to the whole nature of our civilization” Robert Darnton

Any questions?

42 Getting in touch Web: Blog: or #LivingKnowledge Web: Twitter: Web: Blog: Twitter: #bldigital

Living Knowledge: Networks in a digital age Liz White Head of Strategy Development April 2016 #livingknowledge