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Open for business
Despite some concerns, there is much to be gained from an Open Data approach when it comes to sharing the wealth of data libraries hold.
Through loans, libraries have great potential for collecting and making sense of the borrowing data created by library management systems. The Department for Culture, Media & Sport, on its blog in 2019, noted that the “thorny issue” of library data (central to its action plan in its report Libraries Deliver: Ambition Plan for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021) has meant we do not necessarily take full advantage of analysing or sharing the data that we collect. Lack of knowledge and staff time all contribute to this, along with data produced by our library management systems not being “Open Data ready”.
Despite some of these barriers, there are many reasons why we should be embracing the Open Data movement.
The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act entitles citizens to know and enquire about information around public services. The Open Data movement advocates that best practice should have this information ready and available to citizens, both publicly and transparently. There has been some good practice built over the past few years where local authorities have already published library data, including to set standards. Local campaigners and journalists represent some of those that have used FOIs to collate data relevant to local events, such as service cuts, Covid-19 lockdown loan performance and equalities representation in collections. These citizens and journalists need to know how to ask the right questions in the right way to get the information they are looking for. Public library services, if they do not have the data ready and available, can spend copious amounts of time collating data from various sources and platforms to gather the correct information to present. If services have the capability to have Open Data readily available to citizens, this will not only free up staff time, but also showcase the work that they do, what they deliver and how it can be used for advocacy.
Sharing our loan data with the wider book world may encourage more partnerships and reduce barriers and, in turn, we hope that publishers may begin to share their own data if they believe it to be mutually beneficial
An example of shared data being used for advocacy would be to improve and enhance e-book and audiobook collections. During lockdown, public libraries saw an increase in the use of digital library collections as people were unable to visit libraries. The high demand revealed how unsuitable the license models for digital content were, and continue to be, with long waiting lists on popular titles. Making available this loan data, so that publishers can assess the impact that public libraries have, would put us in a better position to negotiate more beneficial download models (simultaneous use, and owning titles to grow an e-book library, rather than limited by downloads or time frames), encourage those publishers who do not allow public libraries to access their catalogue to do so, and to have more newly released titles.
Sharing our loan data with the wider book world may encourage more partnerships and reduce barriers and, in turn, we hope that publishers may begin to share their own data if they believe it to be mutually beneficial.
Telling the right story
However, there is some apprehension when it comes to sharing library data. “Covid recovery” is a term often used when we discuss rebuilding audiences and there is a fear that, as usage figures haven’t entirely returned to pre-Covid-19 numbers for some libraries, leaders are hesitant to share data that may make services appear to be underperforming. Also, using data to make decisions about stock buying and outreach has to have certain considerations—visits and physical book loans were down significantly in this period and are still continuing to recover. E-books comparatively had a boom. Leaders may worry that Open Data exposes their perceived areas of low performance and does not tell the right story. This is fair: data has to be considered in context.
Local government initiatives around Open Data have begun to build policies which contribute to transparency about local government activity. And now, with a Public Libraries Data Strategy led by Libraries Connected planned, staff will have the necessary tools and guidance emphasising why it is important to continue to collect and share our data. The strategy will hopefully build standards, schemas and ultimately useful national information we all can use.
