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Keywords
Public libraries, Electronic data interchange, Cost reduction
Abstract
This article demonstrates the savings that could be made by UK public libraries through the use of electronic data interchange (EDI). The findings stem from a one-year research project funded by the British National Bibliographic Research Fund during the period December 1998 through to the end of August 1999. The author of this article (who comes from a business/economics background) worked with a prominent academic (in the field of economics, particularly in the book trade) Dr Frank Fishwick, to investigate where cost savings could be made in elements of the library supply chain. The results suggest that wider adoption of EDI could potentially save the sector somewhere in the region of L2 million per annum. Cultural barriers, however, and lack of resources present two major barriers to these savings being achieved. The author acknowledges that further research is needed to qualify such estimates. However, the research does demonstrate that, for those authorities examined, cost savings have been achieved.
Introduction
The public library sector has undergone profound changes in official perception over the last few years and has come under increasing scrutiny from government departments. Important recent developments have included the Audit Commission's Due for Renewal report (1997) and the Library and Information Commission (LIC) report (1998), New Library: The People's Network. The findings of these reports support the Government's policy objective to modernise the service. It might be argued that technology will be a key agenda item, and likely that modernisation of administrative and clerical functions through the use of IT will be a high priority.
A major study was undertaken by KPMG (1998) on the book supply chain. Libraries were omitted from this study. Many library stakeholders felt that the public library sector was hardly more efficient than that of the book sector as a whole. Research into various elements of the public library supply chain, therefore, seemed timely. EDI was selected as an area of study, as good practice could already be referred to, and it was felt that wider adoption by the sector as a whole would lead to substantial savings. However, there were, at the time of the project, no figures available for suggesting how much could...