***This event is open to all. Instructions for joining the meeting will be emailed directly to attendees the day before the event***

Under its strategy, Reshaping Scholarship, RLUK seeks to support its members to navigate the changing nature of the research library. Libraries have long been adapting to the digital environment, introducing new ways of working, accessing and using collections, and engaging with wide and diverse audiences.

In order to formulate a vision for the research library and the digital shift, and to build a coherent programme of activity around this, RLUK convened a working group of colleagues drawn from its five member networks in August 2019. Based on these diverse perspectives and drawing on feedback from across the RLUK community, the group prepared a ‘manifesto for change’, a vision of the research library in 2030 and a programme of activity to support research libraries in this transition.

This webinar will outline the challenge, introduce the work of the group and present a manifesto for the digital shift in research libraries. Building on the manifesto’s contents, this webinar will include a more in-depth reflection on the document and its implications. It will place the manifesto’s aspirations within the wider context of the UK’s Digital Research Infrastructure, and against the backdrop of the information and research communities’ recent experience of the Covid-19 crisis. It will also explore the opportunities for cross-institutional, -sector, and -disciplinary collaboration in order to realise its ambitions.

A manifesto for the digital shift in research libraries

13:45 - Virtual registration opens

Delegates are welcome to join the meeting whilst making their own refreshments.

14:00 - Welcome and housekeeping

Matt Greenhall, Deputy Executive Director, Research Libraries UK

Introduction to the digital shift

Masud Khokhar, Director of Libraries and Archives, University of York and RLUK Board Member

14:20 - A manifesto for the digital shift in research libraries

Torsten Reimer, Head of Research Services, The British Library, and chair of the RLUK digital shift working group

14:40 - ‘The Digital shift’ and the UK’s Digital Research Infrastructure

Commentary by Dr James Hetherington, Director of Digital Research Infrastructure, UKRI

15:00 - comfort break

15:10 - Questions to the panel

Facilitated questions to the panel

Chaired by Sarah Thompson, Head of Collections, University of York

15:30 - The digital shift in action

Delegates are invited to participate in a series of interactive exercises that will explore the impact of the digital shift on their organisations and communities. This session will also explore how the Covid-19 crisis has witnessed the digital shift in action across research, information, and cultural sectors.

Facilitated by Lorraine Beard, Associate Director, University of Manchester, and Michelle Blake, Deputy Director, University of York

15:45 - Moving forward

To conclude the webinar, RLUK will issue a ‘call to action’ to delegates, inviting them to join it and its members in the delivery of the manifesto.

Facilitated by William Nixon, Assistant Director, Digital Strategy, University of Glasgow

15:55 - Closing remarks