The UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) has published a report, which says sharing business information more effectively - particularly through colleges, universities and reference libraries - could help recession-hit companies out of crisis and stimulate innovation. The JISC report, undertaken by the British Library Research Service, states that libraries may not be an obvious source for all start-ups and small businesses but the business information they hold can help organisations plan their growth and development; make funding applications; get hold of up-to-date statistics and legal advice; and research new developments. These are seen as essentially key information to help them thrive.
JISC and the British Library are calling for an integrated service model with universities, colleges and public libraries working in partnership to help businesses obtain the information and knowledge they need. Entrepreneurs, business owners, leaders of community, cultural and charity organisations could all benefit if a more coordinated approach was adopted. For instance, an online hub could enable small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and others to access the full range of resources. Universities and colleges are ideally placed to help turn information into serviceable knowledge.
Higher and further education institutions are seen to possess a rich range of knowledge and expertise resources. There is an opportunity for them to take a leading role in enabling improved access to this knowledge and expertise as well as the supporting information services, to enhance innovation. Working in partnership with public libraries and other agencies, institutions can play a key part in a structured service model which offers tailored support and guidance for business sustainability and development.
Building on good practice, and combining a mixture of online resources and physical support, the study calls on publishers to investigate the opportunity to sell packages of data through an online hub within the proposed integrated service model.
JISC is to fund demonstrator projects exploring how universities can help facilitate the flow of information and knowledge resources to a much wider community, under a new call on access to resources.
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