British Library Research Research Articles

Grains of Gold – Compiling an Historical Anthology of Occitan Literature

Grains of Gold – Compiling an Historical Anthology of Occitan Literature James Thomas Some endeavours are so foreboding they might be considered acts of folly. The compilation of a 780–page anthology of Occitan literature with English translations could be — to those with an interest in such matters — a prime example. Most scholars and researchers of Occitan from English-speaking nations are, so the argument goes, medievalists, for whom whatever happened after 1400 to the first Romance language of the French Midi is of no real concern. There is some truth in this assertion. Each year produces new monographs on troubadour culture, multilingualism in southern France during the Albigensian Crusades, gender and religious dissent in Provence or — periodically —annotated editions and bilingual anthologies of courtly lyric poetry before 1300. If scholars stray into the Baroque period, little-known Eighteenth Century, or post-Revolutionary era, it is usually as social or economic historians studying the development of a particular city, industry or profession or — closer to the contemporary age — sociolinguists charting bilingualism or language shift and Romance philologists concerned with dialectal or morphological variation. The situation in France — and, to varying degrees, Catalonia, Italy, and Germany — is very different. Despite the path-breaking work of a small, disparate collection of literary historians and translators — William Calin, Catherine Aldington, Rosemary Lloyd, and Patrick Hutchinson, among others — the late twentieth century saw very little institutional change in the idea prevalent in and around Anglophone French Studies1 that Occitan literature died around 1300 — with the miraculous nineteenth-century exception of Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914). In fact, francophone social historians, such as Robert A. Schneider and William H. Sewell Jr., have often shown greater affinity with later Occitan writers — for Schneider, the Toulousain [End Page 127] poet Pèire Godolin (1580–1649), for Sewell, the Marseillais chanteur Victor Gelu (1806–1885) — than their literary confrères in post-medieval French Studies. It was thus with some trepidation (though great enthusiasm) that, in 2010, I embarked on Grains of Gold, a five-year project to produce a comprehensive — though evidently non-exhaustive — bilingual anthology of Occitan literature from the tenth century to the present day. My own credentials for such an undertaking were (hopefully) sound, having, since 2005, completed two successful Masters Degrees in Occitan-related matters. The first — a research M. Phil (University of Bristol) supervised by Catherine Léglu and externally examined by Peter Davies (University of Glasgow) — was a comparative study of two iconic nineteenth-century Occitan figures: Ganges-born savant and poet Antoine Fabre d’Olivet (1767–1825) and the afore-mentioned Victor Gelu (1806–1885). The second — an MA in Translation (University of Exeter, 2010) — included a well-received dissertation on French and English translations of medieval Occitan troubadours during the Age of Romanticism. This grounding in medieval and post-medieval Occitan would soon be buttressed by a trilogy of published chapters on the Occitan reception of Dante in the nineteenth century. At heart a dix-neuvièmiste with a penchant for translation, I was able, through this research, to contemplate a bilingual anthology emanating from a core of medieval studies, romantic medievalism, and social romanticism. From one angle, Bernart de Ventadorn and the Comtessa de Dia: from another, Frédéric Mistral and the Agen hairdresser-poet Jacques Jasmin (1798–1864): from a third, the history of Anglophone reception of Occitan. Robert Lafont and Christian Anatole’s important Nouvelle histoire de la littérature occitane helped set broad generic and temporal parameters as well as identify major authors whose exclusion would be unthinkable. This led me to the more concentrated, period-specific Occitan-French anthologies such as Lafont’s Anthologie des baroques occitans, Pierre Bec’s Le Siècle d’or de la poésie gasconne, and Jean Eygun’s Camins dubèrts: [End Page 128] Anthologie bilingue de poésie occitane contemporaine. Jean-Claude Rixte’s indispensable online database Li Tèxts literaris occitans en anglès was a hugely stimulating resource for charting prior historical translations and receptions of Occitan in the Anglosphere. Peter Ricketts — whose British Library research contributed to this database — had previously offered generous assistance and support for my research on Fabre d...

Mentorship matters: the value of graduate internships

In this article, three recent graduates in book and paper conservation report on the value of graduate internships and advocate for more opportunities. They reflect on their personal experiences of internships at the British Library, Chester Beatty and Getty Research Institute. Results from a survey and questionnaire on graduate internships in the UK and Ireland between 2010 and 2020 are shared and discussed. In particular, the authors note a lack of longer-term recurring internship programmes. Four main aspects shared across the graduate internship experience are highlighted: projects, mentorship, continued professional development and interdisciplinary collaboration. Conscious integration of these elements within an internship structure increases learning potential. The authors conclude that there is an ongoing need for paid graduate internships as they are a key entry route for emerging conservators joining the profession and offer significant benefits to host institutions.

Converting the British Library’s Catalogue of British and Irish Newspapers into a Public Domain Dataset: Processes and Applications

This paper describes the production of a title-level list of British, Irish, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies newspapers (1621–2019) held by the British Library, and its potential for reuse and research. The data was extracted from the British Library’s catalogue of over 24,000 British and Irish newspaper titles, cleaned, and published on the British Library Research Repository, an open access repository for the research produced by staff and research associates of the British Library. Bespoke versions of the data have been made available to specialist users, notably the British Library/Alan Turing Institute’s ‘Living with Machines’ project, enabling greater historical analysis of nineteenth-century British news and selective digitisation.

Making Everything Available. British Library Research Services and Research Data Strategy

The way that researchers generate, analyse and share information keeps evolving at a rapid pace. To ensure that it is well equipped to serve its global user base for years to come, the British Library is transforming the way it works too, from the physical buildings to its digital service portfolio. One key programme, Everything Available, will ensure the Library’s continued support for research with services to enable access to information in an open and timely manner. This paper will describe the activities planned within Everything Available, with a particular focus on the aims of the Library’s recently refreshed Research Data Strategy. It will give an insight into the challenges and opportunities faced by a National Library in providing relevant services in an ‘open’ world.

Franchising courses, library resources: the view from both sides

The provision of higher education through franchised courses has increased rapidly in recent years. Such courses are usually based at relatively small colleges which have libraries designed to support further, rather than higher, education. At a time when university libraries are having difficulties
 supporting their own students, it is not surprising to find that the franchise situation, where students have to rely on much smaller libraries stocked for lower level courses, is a cause for
 concern. The impact of franchised courses on library and information services from both the franchiser and franchisee perspective is currently being examined by the British Library Research and Development Department funded project: Library Support for Franchised Courses in Higher
 Education. The following discussion presents some of the findings of two national surveys - one of libraries in FE institutions and one of libraries in HE institutions - examining the theory and practice of the provision of library support for franchised courses in higher education.

Benchmarking - BLRD&D funded research at Loughborough University of Technology

Benchmarking is a term which is being used increasingly in the media. The language and trends of the commercial world often pass into common usage in this way. The problem with the term 'benchmarking' is that it is concrete, not abstract (unlike 'quality'), so it is easier to perceive in terms of products and industry, but less easy to imagine in the context of a service environment Benchmarking smacks of industrial practice. It connotes production lines, inspection, and above all a tangible product which can easily be improved with
 practical results. Consequently, there are many definitions and descriptions of benchmarking. In the light of the increasing interest in the field of benchmarking, the Department of Information and Library Studies at Loughborough University is currently conducting research into the potential role of benchmarking in library and information services. The duration of the project is one year
 (December 1994 - December 1995), and it is funded by the British Library Research and Development Department.

IT POINT: A public library IT demonstrator project

IT POINT was a 21-month project that brought public access to information technology and networks within a public library. Chelmsley Wood Library, Solihull, West Midlands, hosted the project under the guidance of the Libraries and Arts Department of Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. The British Library Research and Innovation Centre (formerly BLRDD) funded the project.
 This article presents the research methodology employed for the evaluation of the project both internally and externally. It will examine the preparatory research, the initial evaluation methodology, the work of the external Evaluation Team and their difficulties and successes and how the evaluation
 techniques might have been refined.

Preface: Setting the scene for the commemorative workshop

The unexpected and premature death of Brian Perry, former Director of the British Library Research and Development Department (BLR&DD), in January 2006, stimulated discussion on the best way to celebrate the work of Brian in particular, and of the British Library Research and Development Department and the Library and Information Commission in general, on research in this field. There was also recognition of the strongly emerging view that future priorities for library and information research should be debated.

Technological advances and information education 1982–2007: Some perspectives

The paper considers technological advances in relation to information education over the 25 years of existence of the journal, Education for Information. Some key developments before 1980 such as the appearance of MARC and library co-operatives are mentioned along with key post-1980 developments including networking, the World Wide Web, and digital image capturing. The introduction of these developments into the National Library of Scotland is briefly described. Reference is made to publications on activities arising from the sponsorship of research in information studies by the (then) British Library Research and Development Department in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Relevant articles in Education for Information are mentioned and particular reference made to the thematic issue on the Internet published in 1995. It is suggested that the editors should consider creating thematic issues on digital libraries and future online catalogues.

Using Business Information Services at the British Library

Describes the work of the British Library in its current and planned provision of information services for business researchers, where particular importance has been placed on making these services accessible and easy to use. The diversity of the British Library’s collections and the range of resources currently available to the business researcher are illustrated by means of a case study based on a review of the information sources for the alternative health care industry available to researchers using the British Library reading rooms and to those using the research and document delivery services. Pays particular attention to the work of the British Library Research Service, which offers expert research across the areas of business, patents, engineering and technology, medicine, chemistry and official publications; and can also organize the delivery of documents identified by the research, providing a one-stop shop for cross-disciplinary research and document delivery. Points to the way in which the British Library has focused on the development of collections to offer more material of value to business researchers. The case study illustrates how to find out what the British Library holds in its collections; examples of what is held on alternative health care; how the British Library can carry out research for users; and how documents may be ordered. Reviews some of the specific information resources provided, including: the business enquiry service; free online sources available via the World Wide Web; examples of information sources on alternative health care in the collections; electronic sources; market research reports; trade journals; directories and dictionaries; annual reports; trade literature; textbooks; official publications; and intellectual property.

A Place for Children: Public Libraries as a Major Force in Children’s Reading20013Judith Elkin and Margaret Kinnell (Eds). A Place for Children: Public Libraries as a Major Force in Children’s Reading. London: Library Association Publishing 2000. 198 pp., ISBN: ISBN 1085604‐320‐7 £34.95 British Library Research and Innovation Report 117

A Place for Children: Public Libraries as a Major Force in Children’s Reading20013Judith Elkin and Margaret Kinnell (Eds). <i>A Place for Children: Public Libraries as a Major Force in Children’s Reading</i>. London: Library Association Publishing 2000. 198 pp., ISBN: ISBN 1085604‐320‐7 £34.95 British Library Research and Innovation Report 117

Citizenship information research at the School of Information and Media

Discusses recent and current research into citizenship information needs at the School of Information and Media, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. Reviews the most important results from two large‐scale, nation‐wide surveys (funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre) of the citizenship information needs of the UK public, highlighting those occasions where the response in Scotland differed significantly from national trends. Outlines a current project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, studying the impact of the use of information and communication technologies on the communication of parliamentary information in the UK, with particular attention being paid to the situation in the three new devolved legislatures – the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly of Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly. The paper summarises the aims and objectives of the current project and provides a preview of the methodologies to be used, including the development of a novel interactive, electronically assisted interview technique.

The impact of social class and status on citizenship information need: the results of two national surveys in the UK

This paper reports the key results of the Citizenship Information research project funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre. This research comprised two large-scale surveys of the citizenship information needs of the UK public. The paper focuses upon the detailed analysis and examination of the results as they related to issues of social class and status. The research revealed that social class and status had an impact upon information need and information seeking behaviour, although the pattern emerging was not a simple one. Certain social classes and status groups were not exploiting public library information resources as effectively as they might; equally, certain groups were less willing (or able) to take advantage of new technologies to access information and participate in democratic activities. Those groups most willing to use a range of information sources were more conscious of disadvantage resulting from a lack of information. The paper concludes that there is a real danger of exclusion for certain groups of the UK population and that information policy must reflect an awareness of the most appropriate patterns of information dissemination in order to overcome barriers to access for each of these.

BOPAC2: A New Concept in OPAC Design and Bibliographic Control

This paper describes a Research Project, funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre, from September 1996 to January 1998.1 The Project developed and extensively tested and evaluated a World Wide Web front end called BOPAC2 that allows access to a number of library catalogues via Z39.50 either simultaneously or individually. BOPAC2 is designed to make access to large and complex retrievals simpler. Similar records are clustered together and retrievals may be sorted in a number of ways and by different criteria. The design, development and evaluation of the system are described along with suggestions for future work.

Supply and demand

Reports results of a questionnaire survey of 888 UK chief librarians, conducted as part of a British Library Research and Innovation Centre research project, to identify and analyse the personal qualities demanded by Library and Information Service (LIS) employers and those personal qualities that new graduate entrants are perceived to lack. Reviews the literature on the changing role of information professionals and the importance of personal factors in library and information recruitment and presents a comprehensive list of 50 desirable personal qualities arranged under five headings: characteristics needed for a user centred approach; characteristics needed for effective team work; thinking orientation; attitude to work; and style of working. Concludes that the ability to accept pressure, deal with a range of users and respond to change, are most essential for information work. The significant overlap between those qualities felt to be most essential and those perceived to be lacking raises the concern that qualities that are high in demand are also in short supply.

Exploring models of information behaviour: the ‘uncertainty’ project

This paper reviews a number of models of information behaviour and introduces a model based on the goal-directed behaviour of problem solving. A key part of the problem-solving process is held to be that of ‘uncertainty reduction’ and this aspect of the information seeking and searching process is currently being explored in a project supported by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre. Preliminary results from the pilot phase of the Project are presented which suggest possible lines of further investigation.

Building the digital library on solid research foundations

The digital library is a socio‐technical concept of great significance. It redefines the relationships between information providers and intermediaries and, potentially, transforms the way that services are delivered to users. This article, based on a British Library Research &amp; Innovation Centre funded study, reviews current themes and directions in digital library research and scholarship. It locates the digital library in a simple work‐oriented framework emphasising its social as well as its systems and informational dimensions. The article highlights differences in understanding of the digital library construct between the library and computer science communities and identifies some critical areas for further research.

Strategic information management in the UK retail banking sector

Reports results of a British Library Research and Innovation Centre funded questionnaire and interview survey project to investigate the role of information and its relationship with strategy formulation in the UK banking sector. The choice of focus was due to the acceptance of information as playing a pivotal role in retail banking, not only in terms of externally collected data (traditional business information), but also in terms of the information processes involved in strategy formulation. The sample consisted of 15 retail banks and five large retailing organizations with financial services arms (the latter included to reflect the provision of retail banking outside the traditional banking sector). The second stage of the project involved the investigation of strategic information from the viewpoint of information managers. Results indicate the importance of accurate, current and high quality information as a critical input to strategy formulation. However, information gathering and analysis activities are viewed increasingly as an element of all managers, work within retail banking and the concept of an information professional, serving the information needs of other managers, is perceived as being increasingly archaic.

A national survey of the citizenship information needs of the general public

This paper reports the results of a survey of information needs and information seeking behaviour of a national sample of the UK population. The survey was the first stage of the Citizenship Information project, funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre. In total, 1294 responses were received giving a valid and demographically representative response rate of 45.7 per cent. Major findings include: that the majority of respondents had sought information in the past (59.4 per cent) and that an even greater number predicted a future need for information (78.4 per cent). Over three quarters of respondents said that they would use public libraries and between half and three quarters would approach Citizens Advice Bureaux, Post Offices, Government departments or family and friends. Face‐to‐face communications and reading a book were the most popular means of accessing information, but a wide variety of other preferred options were cited. Only a small proportion expressed a preference for using a computer to seek information, and there was a clear emphasis on public libraries as an appropriate location for accessing electronic information. A highly significant majority (79.2 per cent) believed that access to information was very important for exercising their rights as a citizen.

New Library - New Measures: A Social Audit of Public Libraries

Bob Usherwood, Professor of Librarianship at Sheffield University's Department of Information Studies,is widely experienced in the practice and teaching of librarianship and information studies. Before joining the Department at Sheffield he was Chief Librarian in the London Borough of Lambeth. He started his career with Devon County Libraries and has also worked for the London Boroughs of Havering and Sutton, and the Polytechnic of North London. Over the years he has presented papers to many conferences and courses in the UK and abroad. His international work has taken him to various parts of the world, including Singapore, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Ethiopia, Poland, Canada, Russian Federation, Scandinavia, Swaziland and Hungary. He served on LISC's predecessor, LACE (the Library Advisory Council for England), the Library Association Council and many professional working parties and committees. He was Chair of the Library Association's Working Party on Ethics that led to the LA adopting a Code of Professional Conduct in 1983. He was presented with an Honorary Fellowship of the Library Association in 1992 and made a Fellow of the Institute of Information Scientists in 1993. He was President of the Library Association in 1998. He obtained his Doctorate as a result of undertaking research into the role of elected members in the operation of public library services. His other research interests include the social impact of library services, public policy issues, interpersonal skills for LIS workers, the role of total quality management in public libraries and public library expenditure in the private sector. He is also responsible for the Centre for the Public Library in the Information Society (CEPLIS), at Sheffield University's Department of Information Studies. Mr Usherwood may be contacted at the Department of Information Studies, Sheffield University, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK (fax: +(44- 114) 2780300; e-mail: r.usherwood@sheffield.ac.uk). Rebecca Linley received her first degree in politics from Newcastle University. After this she worked for several years in the civil service, most recently in the R&amp;D Directorate of the Department of Health. She completed her MA at Sheffield University in 1996, and since then has worked on two British Library Research and Innovation Centre (BLRIC) projects- the social audit project at Sheffield (October 1996 until January 1998), and from February 1998 until the present at Leeds Metropolitan University on "Education and Training for Information Work in the Voluntary Sector", with four other co-workers. Ms Linley can be contacted at the School of Information Management, Leeds Metropolitan University, the Grange, Beckett Park, Leeds LS6 3QS, UK (e-mail: r.linley@lmu.ac.uk).