RESEARCH SUPPORT LIBRARIES

The four UK higher education funding bodies, in collaboration with the British Library and the national libraries of Wales and Scotland, in 2001 established a strategic advisory group to advise on the development of a national strategy to ensure that UK researchers in all disciplines have access to world class information resources. The action was in response to a concern “about the long-term viability of the current pattern of provision in the face of growing external pressures, notably the challenge of electronic delivery of material directly to the desk top along with the rising cost and volume of published research material. These changes fundamentally alter how research information will be provided in the future.” A report has been issued by the advisory group, calling among other things for the creation of a Research Libraries Network. The website also has several responses to the report.