The previous post on this blog was by Ben Showers last October and given that there has been no activity here for the last 9 months, you could be forgiven for thinking that the National Monograph Strategy Roadmap must have ended up (unloved) on a dusty Jisc shelf.
However, appearances can be deceptive!
Ben waved farewell to Jisc last November and is now doing exciting things in the vicinity of Whitehall. What he left behind, however, was not a dusty old report that no-one at Jisc looks at any more. Quite the contrary in fact. Not only do some of us look at it quite regularly to remind ourselves of the specific recommendations it makes in a number of areas; but we also look at it because it is the culmination of a very thorough community consultation exercise. It synthesises the discussion of a large group of experts and it is a document that helps us to keep thinking hard and clearly about the best way of tackling the range of challenges that researchers, libraries, institutions, publishers and vendors continue to face in relation to monographs.
The components of the NMS vision as of October 2014
My name is Neil Grindley and I’m the Head of Resource Discovery at Jisc. I now have responsibility for thinking about how Jisc should address the questions that the NMS poses and to work with strategic partners and practitioner groups. I’ve restarted using this blog because I think we need – above all – to be clear about who is planning on doing what in this space; how far they have got with it; and conversely … who doesn’t need to do stuff.
I say that because two things have become more and more obvious to me over the last 9 months as I have been trying to work out what the practical implications are for implementing the NMS Roadmap. The first is mostly because of the second.
1. It is difficult to take action without a lot of discussion (“it’s complicated”)
2. It is difficult to take action that no-one else is also trying to take (“it’s crowded”)
So, we’re going to try and keep people informed about what Jisc is up to as we continue to follow up the NMS work. That might hopefully give others a better chance of working out what they want (or need) to do; or indeed how we might work together to solve some pretty big problems.
I will resist the urge to try and say too much in my first NMS post. There are some upcoming opportunities to discuss the NMS and related work. If you aren’t there in person you might catch something on twitter. Feel free to follow me @neilgrindley.
- 7 July 2015 – Collections Management: Share the Experience @ York – An event organised by the University of York in association with Jisc, RLUK & SCONUL. #CM4Lib
- 8 July 2015 – SCONUL Access Contacts Conference – I am giving a presentation entitled “Collaboration and Access to Resources: the National Monograph Strategy
- 21 July 2015 – Copac Bibliographic Services Review Workshop – A request for practitioner input. (If you act quickly you may still be able to participate by sending an email to david.kay@sero.co.uk).