Breakout session 3b: UK Research Reserve: Phase 1 outcomes and future development

The UKRR aims, with the British Library, to coordinate, store and permanently retain research material (with emphasis on journals) across UK Higher Education. The project has two phases. Phase I (Jan 2006 – June 2008) aims to develop a prototype of the collection and services using 6 early adopters and aims to de-duplicate 17.6km. Phase 2 aims, if funding is secured, to open up to all libraries who will be charged for joining the agreement.

Imperial College is the lead HEI in Phase I joined by Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, St. Andrews & Southampton universities. They are required to select low use journals, set their own criteria, shelf check & measure, consult and advocate UKRR to their own academics. There is a formal undertaking by project partners not to dispose of material in UKRR. Three copies of the journal will be kept across the UK with the BL providing the access copy and intentions to dispose are recorded centrally. If disposal reduces the number of copies to less than three the third library has the opportunity to retain or pass to another library. A toolkit providing guidelines about selecting titles and how titles are withdrawn by individual libraries is being produced. A critical part of the project is to gain support from the library community and an Advocacy toolkit has been prepared for libraries to use within their institutions with additional guidance provided by the UKRR team.

The UKRR project team expect to bid to HEFCE for £7m by the end of March 2008 for Phase II of the project. In subscribing to UKRR libraries will be able to apply for de-duplication funds - for every metre disposed of the library gets approximately £26. However libraries must a) dispose of material in an environmentally sound way, or can use the funds to shift journals to developing countries and b) be prepared to check the ISSN, titles, title change, publisher and imprint if there is no ISSN. In addition BL needs to know the journals to dispose of, the volumes held and what libraries wish to withdraw.

The project group will know in July 2008 whether the Phase II bid has been accepted and expect the project to begin in September 2008.
Karina