View from London July 2003

I arrived in London in December 2002, determined to experience the UK information scene. Eight months into my term as Australian Botanical Liaison Officer (ABLO) for 2002-03 how has my view of UK information resource centres be they libraries, records centres or archives changed? There is one thing that stands out clearly for me. The information provision community in Perth and Western Australia is so much more active and interactive than the same community in London or other large centres such as Cambridge. It was a real shock to me not to find a local librarians group of any description operating, similarly for the archive community. I have not been asked one question regarding any aspects of the Australian information community by any professional librarian. Certainly the professionals who have been most interactive are those from the National Archives (formerly Public Record Office). In the case of staff at the NA the archives, records management and education staff have all been willing to engage in discussion on many points of information management. I am not saying that my questions have not been answered by other professionals but there has been zero interactivity.

During this year I hope to visit as many different information centres as possible. As the months tick by I realise that time is running out to get to many of the more obscure libraries and archives. The following is a brief account of the libraries/archives I have visited and the impressions I have after visiting and/or working in them.

Library and Archives, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (workplace)
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was made a World Heritage Site in July 2003. The library and archives are without doubt a world class repository of information. Did you know that most of the information held in the collection, concerning eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth century botanical exploration in Australia is available at a library near you?
Library Service, Natural History Museum London (visited regularly)
The collection includes a magnificent run of natural history journals as well as monographs based on the original collection of Sir Joseph Banks (see photo Botany Library NHM). There is a conflict between the artefact value of the items in the collection and their information value. This appears to be an inward looking service despite the mission statement of the Natural History Museum. Like many collections servicing a specific clientele there has been separation of the information resources from the client base.
National University of Ireland Galway (3 day working visit)
A collection that services the needs of the client base, the students of the Galway campus. An interesting collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century monographs is stored adequately in the basement. This apparent anomaly with respect the collection results from the library being a UK legal deposit library for more than a century. NUI is now a legal deposit centre for the Republic of Ireland along with Trinity College Dublin.
Library Service, Trinity College Dublin (5 day working visit)
An unbelievable collection, TCD has been a legal deposit centre for UK and Irish publications for much of its history. Is the information accessible? That depends upon the century.
The main tourist drawcard for TCD is the 'Book of Kells'. This was one of the treasures sent to Australia for the most successful exhibition at the NLA in 2001. Sadly the item was damaged on its way back to Dublin via a third destination. The restored item will not be loaned again.

Note: the new book about Australia published by TCD

First Fleet to Federation written by Jarlath Ronayne, a past student of Trinity College. The book covers the influence of Irish graduates on law, learning, and politics in 19th century Australia. It describes in detail the Australian colonial story, covering all the major events and characters, offering overall a different perspective on the Irish diaspora in Australia (Noel Phelan personal communication). The book is only available through the TCD shop; it retails at 20.95euro.
National Archives, London (visited regularly)
Three stars and a big elephant stamp!!! If you visit London, visit the National Archives (formerly Public Record Office) at Kew.
Library of the House of Commons Parliament (5 minutes in library)
I was able to sneak a peak at the library during a tour of Westminster. The library is out of bounds during session to visitors. The library is not a public research library. Did you know that the records of Westminster are not part of the Public Record?
Bibliothéque national d'France (4 hour visit)
I made a trip to Paris in February and the Mitterand building was at the top of my list of places to visit. I was able to use the collection via the catalogue (I do not speak French). The worldwide standardization of cataloguing and standard search interface for web-based OPACs make searching for information relatively straight forward (see comment on BL).
I recall quite a lot of 'bad press' when the building was first opened. Four years down the track the library staff I talked with said they were happy with the building and unlike the BL they had space for a further 40 years (depending on the future of publishing).
Business Information Service, Middlesex University Hendon Campus
Middlesex University is similar to Edith Cowan University - many scattered campuses.
The Business School is in a converted technical college but has a very modern information service. A purpose built site will be completed in 2005. There was great relief apparently when the archaeological survey of the building site revealed no evidence of previous occupation. Archaeology is an important hobby in England, to such an extent that the BBC has been involved in a program 'The Big Dig' in which viewers undertake an archaeological survey of their property.
British Library (visited regularly)
This is another of the must visits for the serious library groupie. The building is centred on The Kings Library.
I use the library for research in both business history and science history. The internal catalogue although web-based, takes a little time to get used to. There are a lot of function keys to press to order the books from the stacks- F3 add to list, F7 look at list, F12 Quit (but the message that follows F12 makes you wonder if you will lose your 'order').
Plant Sciences Library, Oxford University (visited regularly)
This is the main indexing centre for the forestry section of CAB. As a result the information resource for forestry is fantastic. At each visit I spent 30-40 minutes sifting through the duplicate bin for monographs, reports and journal issues that had information relevant to my project and for researchers at Kew and Murdoch University
Bodleian Library
This is one of the must visits for the serious library groupie. The library celebrated 400 years of existence last year (see photo Bodleian entrance to main reading rooms).
Like so many of the libraries in this list the first few hours of becoming a user rather than a visitor are taken up with registration. At the Bodleian this involves 'making an application for admission to read in the Bodleian Library'. I am just about to start using the library so I will say 'To be continued'.

Botany Library NHM	Bodleian entrance to main reading rooms

I will continue with my library comments in the next issue.

Lessons for you who wish to use libraries in Ireland and England.

always travel with ID in the form of your passport, staff card and in some cases have a letter of introduction.
look at the website of the institution you plan to visit. Information about the libraries and archives was available on the websites.
make contact if possible with a librarian before travelling to the location. Travel is a costly business in England and you do not want to be caught out by closures, absences of staff and many other situations that can arise.
be prepared to wait for access to be granted. Often you may be provided with a day pass and will have to return to receive the more substantial readers ticket.
if tours of the libraries are provided, do the tour. This recommendation is given for two reasons, the first is that every library is different and the second is that each tour will give you ideas for your library.
clearly understand that although the wording of EU copyright law is similar to that of Australia, the interpretation of the law by libraries and archives is completely different. Fair dealing has a totally different meaning. Also be aware that a copyright fee is payable for any copy of a document supplied that may be used for a commercial purpose, this includes that novel you are writing in your spare lunchtime.

Roberta Cowan
Australian Botanical liaison officer
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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