1

A feasibility study into the possibility of creating an online-

networked resource for the libraries at County Cricket Grounds in

England and Wales

A study submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Arts in Librarianship

at

University of Sheffield

by

Alison Skoyles

September 2006

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Abstract

This piece of research was designed to determine if librarians at the First

Class County Grounds in England and Wales thought that developing an online

resource to network their libraries would be feasible.

The methods of investigation used in this study were a literature review

examining themes of collaboration between libraries, “social software” technology,

and the skills of librarians, special libraries and the game of cricket. Observations

were made of all the Clubs’ websites to determine how the libraries were promoted,

and to gather contact details for the interviews. The interview schedule was

constructed using the themes from the literature, and it was intended that

participants be able to express themselves freely. Eight of the twelve County Club

librarians were interviewed for this project.

It was found that there was no collaboration between the cricket libraries.

Each librarian was aware of the others, but they only contacted them when they had

a specific query. The majority of the librarians thought that an online-networked

resource would be beneficial to their library and users, and they would be willing to

maintain their contribution to it. However, they felt that overall management of the

resource should be in the hands of an organisation like the ECB. The librarians

thought that a networked catalogue would be the most useful resource for them, but

that this would require a lot of work as not all of the libraries had a catalogue. The

librarians’ technological skills varied widely. All of them received email enquiries,

but whereas that was the limit of their interest in IT for some of them, others were

responsible for their Club’s websites. All of the librarians stated that they would be

willing to receive further training to acquire new technological skills.

The conclusion reached in this piece of research is that the libraries and the librarians

could benefit from being formally networked, and that an online resource could help

do this effectively. Recommendations for further study include interviewing other

stakeholders in a possible venture such as the Chief Executives of the Clubs as well

as users and the IT departments. In addition it would be interesting to create a pilot

resource for the cricket librarians to try out.

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Acknowledgements

Firstly I would like to thank the librarians who took part in this study. They

were all very helpful and accommodating, especially as the interviews took place at

their busiest time of the year! I would like to thank my dissertation supervisor,

Jonathan Foster, for supporting my research and pointing me in the right direction.

And finally I would like to thank my family and friends who have been so

supportive throughout this entire year.

Thankyou.

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Contents

Chapter 1 – Introduction 1

1.1 History and Context 1

1.2 Aims and Objectives 3

Chapter 2 – Research Methods and Methodology 5

2.1 Data Collection 5

2.2 Literature Search Strategy 6

2.3 Methodology 7

2.4 Methods of Investigation 9

2.4.1 The Interview Schedule 11

2.5 Data Analysis 14

Chapter 3 – Collaboration 16

3.1 Library collaborations 16

3.2 Establishing a collaboration 18

3.3 Benefits and drawbacks to collaboration 20

Table 1 23

3.4 Libraries at County Cricket Grounds 24

Chapter 4 – Technology 26

4.1 Social software 26

4.2 Email reference services 27

4.3 Networked catalogue 29

4.4 Wikis and Blogs 32

4.5 Information portals, Intranets and Websites 33

4.6 Digital Libraries 34

4.7 Cricket libraries and technology 35

4.8 The librarians’ skills 36

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Chapter 5 – The Online Networked Resource 39

5.1 Users 39

5.2 The benefits and drawbacks of an online resource 42

5.3 What should be included on the resource? 44

5.4 Implementing the resource 45

5.5 Sustainability 48

Chapter 6 – Conclusions 51

6.1 Findings 51

6.2 Recommendations for Further Study 54

Bibliography 56

Appendix 1 – The Interview Schedule 65

Appendix 2 – Glossary

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Chapter 1 – Introduction

1.1 History and Context

Cricket is a game with a rich history stretching back over two hundred years.

It is also a game which has been written about extensively – books on the laws of the

game such as the Wisden almanack, to books and articles on the players themselves,

to records of the matches and events through the history of the game. As well as the

books that have been written there are also newspaper articles, journals, scorecards

and ephemera and memorabilia such as cricket bats, balls and paintings. Twelve of

the eighteen First Class Cricket Counties in England and Wales have libraries and

museums that store, preserve and make this material accessible (Gregory 2004). The

libraries based at the Clubs vary considerable in size from collections ranging from

15,000 items to a bookcase holding just over a hundred books. The staffing

arrangements for the libraries also varied between Clubs, with most libraries being

staffed by solo, usually retired, volunteers. All of the librarians are very user-

focused, and are enthusiastic about and dedicated to their work.

Most of the libraries only loan materials out to the members of the Clubs they

are attached to. This is understandable because the majority of libraries have limited

or no budget and so their resources are precious and often irreplaceable. Despite this

all of the libraries welcome enquiries from members of the public, and are more than

happy to let researchers use their facilities within the physical library.

Special libraries can be loosely defined as having a specialisation in a subject

or on having a limited clientele. Both of these are true for the cricket library. Even

though the loaning of materials is limited to the members of the Clubs, the users of

the cricket libraries include researchers, genealogists, journalists, students,

schoolchildren and writers. Cricket is a popular sport with a large following, and the

cricket libraries are not reaching out as effectively as they could to potential users,

due to their absence on the Clubs’ websites. The libraries and museums do not have

a great deal of presence on the Clubs’ websites. In some respects this is surprising as

many of the Clubs have histories over a hundred years old, yet this is not apparent

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from the websites. This is not the case for cricket libraries in Australia and New

Zealand; the libraries and museums at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the

Tasmanian Cricket Association have extensive web pages promoting their facilities

and collections, and there is a National Cricket Museum in New Zealand that

produces a quarterly newsletter and promotes its services (New Zealand Cricket

2006). But despite their impressive online presence these libraries and museums do

not have any formal network with other cricket libraries, something they share with

the libraries at Clubs in this country.

Collaborative ventures enable “staff to get to know the holdings of the other

institutions and to exchange information” (Hedegaard 2004: 295). Collaboration can

lead to sharing costs for materials and infrastructure as well as offering a wider

public reach for campaigns and projects (Turner et al 2004). There are numerous

examples of libraries collaborating with each other in the literature, as well as with

other heritage organisations such as museums and galleries. The benefits to the

libraries include the ability to raise their own profile, mutual support, joint projects

and shared costs (Craig and Norman 2004), and sharing know-how and knowledge

with other organisations. There is also the possibility that a network of libraries

could share information about the profession; for example, it would be difficult for a

solo volunteer to fund a place at a conference or workshop, or find the time to go, but

if there was a network of libraries one librarian could attend and share the

information with the rest of their colleagues.

New technologies are enabling collaborative ventures to be set up between

organisations that are geographically dispersed with relative ease, as they enable

quick electronic communication and the ability to send large quantities of

information anywhere in the world. Not only does the new technology enable

librarians to communicate and share information more efficiently, but it also

provides new ways of obtaining information for the library users: “librarians no

longer stand as physical links between information and users. Individuals are

increasingly able to obtain information directly” (Wittwer 2001: 223). With regards

to cricket, sites like Cricinfo and CricketArchive provide a lot of the statistics and

player biographies that were once exclusively available in the cricket library.

Without an online presence cricket libraries are not going to be able compete with

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these sites to provide up-to-date information at the user’s convenience. The

information at the cricket libraries is naturally focused on the Clubs they are attached

to, and this comes in the forms of books, archived newspaper articles, scorecards and

ephemera such as paintings and memorabilia. This information is not so readily

available on the Internet, and could be an area the cricket libraries wish to exploit.

Libraries have made use of technology to network theirs and other

organisations’ information for years in the form of union catalogues, and online

reference – “by no means a neglected topic in library literature” (Sennema 2003: 258).

And librarians are now utilising new “social software” such as wikis and blogs to

provide services to users, and to share information between themselves. It is

becoming easier to use these kinds of technologies and, perhaps more importantly,

users are becoming more familiar with the technologies and expect information to be

readily available from their own homes.

1.2 Aims and Objectives

This study was set up to determine whether the librarians at Cricket Grounds

thought at an online-networked resource was a feasible idea for the services they

provided. It would be important to determine whether they thought an online

resource was necessary, if it would enhance their services and if it would attract

more users into the library.

The objectives for this study are:

• To examine the feasibility of creating a networked resource (such as a

website or a portal) that would provide a link to the libraries in the First

Class County Grounds in England and Wales.

• To identify how individual libraries could contribute to such a resource.

• To identify any enabling or constraining factors to creating such a

resource.

• To identify possible sources of funding and technical expertise for

establishing a networked resource.

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The topics considered for discussion are: Technology, Collaboration,

Librarians’ skills, or skills needed for implementing the online resource, and the

actual Implementation of the project. This study will provide an overview of the

themes discussed by participants in relation to how they see an online resource being

developed for their libraries.

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Chapter 2 - Research Methods and Methodology

2.1 Data Collection

In order to collect data for this piece of research a number methods were

adopted. Firstly a literature search was undertaken to investigate a number of

themes that would be taken up during the interview stage, and also to determine

what research had already been carried out in this area. This search included

looking at collaborative projects involving several libraries and heritage

organisations and “social software” and its uses in this area. This provided essential

background information when compiling questions for the interview schedule.

When deciding on which of the First Class Counties to visit it was decided

that the size of the library’s collection was not important to the study because it was

felt that every library could contribute to a networked resource, whether it be in the

form of technological expertise or financing or by some other contribution. The

Clubs to be visited were chosen using the reference tool in Gregory (2004)’s An

Investigation into Cricket Libraries, which lists those Clubs with libraries, the size of

their collections and their opening times. Observations were also made of the Clubs’

websites to see how the libraries were promoted and what use they made of the

online facilities.

Once the data was collected it was analysed by picking out themes from the

answers given in response to the interview questions, and these were compared to

each other and analysed with reference to the literature. Throughout the entire

process contact was maintained with the dissertation supervisor to provide valuable

feedback on how the project was progressing, and to ensure that all the relevant

themes and data were being analysed correctly. It was always understood that the

researcher was responsible for the project and ultimately accountable for the analysis

and findings.

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2.2 Literature Search Strategy

The literature search strategy focused on collaborative ventures between

libraries and other heritage organisations such as museums and art galleries to

determine what enabling and constraining factors were involved in partnership

working. In particular it was felt that the setting up of digital libraries would be

useful to this study as such projects often face sustainability issues once the initial

source of funding has run out, and this was an important question to address in this

piece of research. Other collaborative online ventures, specific to libraries, were also

explored in the literature such as email reference services and union catalogues, and

using collaborative software such as wikis in a library context was also looked at.

Exploring such areas gave the study more depth and provided the researcher with

examples to offer the interviewees, which they might not otherwise have thought of

themselves. Other areas looked at were special libraries themselves, as it was felt

cricket libraries came under this categorization, and also how volunteers were

utilized in the library sector, as most of the librarians involved in this study are

volunteers.

The books used in the literature review were found in the University of

Sheffield online catalogue using the keyword search facility, or the advanced search.

Some sources were found using the reading lists from the Research Methods module

on the MA in Librarianship in particular, as well as the Academic and Special

Libraries module. Searches were also undertaken on other academic libraries’

OPACs, and the public libraries in Southampton were used to find various texts on

cricket itself.

To search for relevant journal articles databases such as the Library and

Information Science Abstracts, Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar were used.

These were particularly useful with reference to the themes of both collaborative

ventures and technology, as up-to-date examples of libraries making use of wikis

and blogs were very useful, though there was not much available on cricket libraries.

The most useful resources with regards to cricket and the libraries themselves were

websites. The BBC website was particularly useful for news items relating to cricket,

as well as providing information on the games being played. The England and

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Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ‘site was also useful as it provided links to all the Clubs’

websites. These sites were used to find contact email addresses and telephone

numbers, as well as to determine the level of promotion and recognition given to the

libraries by the Club on their site. In addition to these domestic sites cricket libraries

abroad were looked at to see if they were part of any collaborative ventures, and if

they were more heavily publicised than those in this country. The Melbourne

Cricket Library, the Tasmania Cricket Library and the National Cricket Library of

New Zealand were looked at, as they were well promoted on their Clubs’ websites.

By investigating other cricket libraries it was felt that this could be mentioned to

interviewees to demonstrate firstly a genuine interest in the topic, and secondly

enable prompts to be given on certain topics.

2.3 Methodology

It was decided that an inductive approach would be most appropriate for this

project, because the aims and objectives state that the piece of research is looking into

people’s views on the subjects under investigation. As Westbrook suggests, if so

little is known about a subject that what is not known is the problem than the

“naturalistic approach with its more qualitative methods might be used” (Westbrook

1994: 242).

Initially it was suggested that the project follow the Soft Systems

Methodology approach because it “can be used to move thinking forward in a

particular area, or to clarify the current position with respect to strategic issues as it

provides a structured series of stages allowing issues, that seem to be discordant

with the “research problem” to be considered in the discussion of strategic issues”

(Chilvers 2000: 171). It is a very structured approach, and can be used to make sense

of complex and messy problems; it also leads to a greater understanding of people’s

views and perspectives. However, it is also time-consuming and complex, and the

researcher had never used the methodology before, and the concepts and

methodology of the approach are “difficult to acquire simply from books or a one-

day course. Training courses should be at least one week and it would be useful to

work with an experienced practitioner before tackling a major study alone”

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(Mongers and Taylor 1992: 330), as this was not possible due to time constraints this

methodology was not chosen for this study.

A vague theoretical framework was established in that themes were drawn

out from the literature and the interview schedule was largely based on these. It was

felt, though, that the participants should be free to express any views they had, or to

bring up any points they might want to make. Therefore, enough flexibility was

incorporated into the questions and the interview schedule to allow for any other

themes or concepts to be expressed and used in the research. There is no hypothesis

for a qualitative investigation, unlike a quantitative study, but in the case of a loose

theoretical framework there are likely to be judgements made on the part of the

researcher. It was therefore important to be aware of this when conducting the

interviews and allow the interviewees to express their views on each issue without

the researcher influencing their answers.

It was important, due to the reasons stated above, and because this was the

main form of data collection, that the right type of interview was chosen for this

study. “Interviews facilitate the collection of a large quantity of rich data in a

relatively short space of time, as most of us can talk much more quickly than we can

write” (Gorman and Clayton 1997: 125). Gorden (1975) differentiates between an

interview schedule and an interview guide. An interview schedule follows a specific

list of questions, whereas an interview guide provides only “an outline or checklist of

topics and subtopics to be covered but does not specify a sequence” (Gorden 1975:

64), and leaves the interviewer free to change the sequence of topics to fit the various

situations, but also allows them to omit questions if they have already been

answered. It was felt that this method gave a great deal of flexibility to the

interview, and gave the participants more opportunity to express themselves fully

and freely because they did not have to follow a strict schedule. It was felt that

interviewing the participants in their own libraries would enable a sense of trust to

be built up and would ensure that they were as at ease as they possibly could be.

One of Berg’s (2001) Ten Commandments of Interviewing is to interview in a

comfortable place. It was felt that interviewing in person would elicit more honest

and complete responses than over the telephone or via email, because it would give

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the interviewer an opportunity to read nonverbal signs and prompt the interviewee

with smiles and nods if they got off track.

Westbrook (1994) states that reproducibility is a minimum standard for data

analysis; Punch (1998) agrees stating that the methods for analysis need to be

transparent, it needs to be obvious how a researcher came by their results. “The

central aim of any data-gathering methodology is to improve both the reliability and

the validity of the information obtained” (Gorden 1975: 5). Reliability relates to the

idea that if a different researcher carried out the study again, but that all other

extraneous factors remained the same, than the same findings and conclusions

should be reached. And validity refers to the extent to which the data conform to the

facts (Gorden 1975).

The University’s Ethics Review Procedure via the Information Studies

Department at the University of Sheffield ethically approved this study. Informed

consent was vital to the project, and each participant was given a consent form to

sign explaining that they could pull out of the project at any time, refuse to answer

any question, and assuring them that their anonymity would be preserved. Each

participant was also given an information sheet to read through before the interview,

stating that it was their choice as to whether they took part in the study, and that

they could still withdraw from the study at any time without having to give a reason

for the withdrawal and assuring them that there would be no repercussions. Any

personal information collected during the study was kept strictly confidential. And

anonymity was guaranteed to every participant, and none of them will be able to be

identified in any reports or publications.

2.4 Methods of Investigation

In this study two main methods were used to collect data. Firstly the

websites of all the Cricket Clubs were observed to determine the level of promotion

the libraries received, and whether any of the Clubs were already engaged in any

digitalisation projects. Alongside this the websites of Clubs in Australia and New

Zealand were observed. This was done for two main reasons; firstly, these Clubs’

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libraries had more of a presence on the website than libraries based at Clubs in

England and Wales, and secondly to determine if there was any precedence for

collaboration between Cricket Club libraries. These overseas libraries were contacted

via email to determine whether they had any formal or informal links with other

cricket libraries in particular.

Initially it was hoped to interview a selection of participants from the

majority of the eighteen First Class Counties in England and Wales. To prepare a

plan for implementing an online-networked resource the potential users of the

resource will need to be consulted at some point, and their views are all important as

to what should be placed on the resource. As well as users it was hoped that

interviews could be held with some Chief Executives of Clubs to see if they would

support such a resource. It was also agreed early on that it did not matter if the

Clubs did not have a library, as it was possible that they could contribute to a

resource in other ways such as providing information technology or financial

support. However due to time and financial constraints, it proved impossible to visit

all the Grounds, and it was decided that the study should concentrate on whether the

Club librarians thought such a resource was feasible, as their collections and

expertise would be the focus and at the forefront of creating and implementing it.

Gregory (2004)’s pro forma lists the Clubs with libraries, how much stock

they hold and the opening times. This very useful resource identified twelve of the

eighteen First Class County Clubs as having libraries. It was, therefore, these twelve

that were contacted by email and asked if they would like to participate by taking

part in the study. It was important that, if possible all libraries should be included in

the study, regardless of size, because all perspectives were crucial in discovering

how feasible these librarians thought an online-networked resource would be. Eight

librarians agreed to participate, and it was felt that this was a good sample out of the

possible twelve. Of the other four contact proved difficult to establish despite emails,

phone calls and messages left on answer phones. All the librarians that the

researcher managed to speak to were very helpful and cooperative. The time

arranged for the interviews (June) was exceptionally busy for the Clubs and the

libraries, as it was the middle of the cricket season, but the librarians all made a

concerted effort to fit the interviews into their schedules.

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When planning this piece of research it was hoped that a focus group could

be arranged with the librarians to discuss the themes that had emerged from the

interviews. As the librarians themselves have found, the logistics of getting them all

together in one place at the same time is no easy task – especially in the summer.

The focus group proved unfeasible, though for this project to go ahead it is

appreciated that a meeting for the librarians will have to be arranged at some point.

It was decided to use interviews rather than questionnaires because “the

interview provides more opportunity to motivate the respondent to supply accurate

and complete information immediately” (Gorden 1975: 77). The participants were given

the option of having the questions sent to them in advance so that they could prepare

for the interview if they wished. This was done because it was felt that many of the

questions, particularly those relating to what form the resource could take and how

it could be implemented, would benefit from a considered response after some

thought, rather than on the spur of the moment when some of the terms and phrases

might be unfamiliar to some participants.

2.4.1 The Interview Schedule

The interview schedule was based on themes found in the literature on

collaborative ventures between heritage organisations, particularly libraries. There

were also questions more directly aimed at the individual library and librarian. It

was understood that the participant’s answers to the questions would be compared,

but the schedule was designed to allow a certain amount of flexibility so that the

participants could express themselves freely.

The first section of the schedule concerned the online network resource, and

in particular whether the librarians thought that it would be useful and if there was a

need for it. This would provide the context in which the rest of the questions could

be asked, and indeed this proved to be the case as the librarians often referred

answers to later questions back to the idea of an online resource. Examples were

given to the participants when they were asked what form the resource could take;

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these were a union catalogue, an email reference service and wikis. It was hoped

that the first two examples were services the librarians had come across themselves,

whereas wikis were included to give an example of a new kind of technology that

libraries in other sectors are beginning to make use of. Not all of the librarians

picked one of the given examples, but gave their own ideas, as they were encouraged

to do. The participants were then asked what should be included on the resource;

again examples such as digital materials and contact details were given, and again

some librarians had their own ideas that they wanted to include. It was important to

determine what benefits the librarians saw to having an online resource, and if they

did not see any benefits why this was so. As it was known that the majority of the

users of cricket libraries are the members of the Clubs to which they belong, the

librarians were asked whether they thought such a resource would encourage more

people to use the library’s services and who these users might be. Finally for the

online resource, the librarians were asked what they felt they or their libraries could

contribute to the resource and whether maintaining it should be a librarian’s job. It

was felt that it would be interesting to compare the answers to these questions and

see what each library was prepared to offer the resource.

Implementing the resource was an area the librarians might not have given

much thought to, as it would probably have to involve their Clubs and outside

agencies. They were specifically asked what they thought their Club could

contribute to the resource, either financially or staffwise, to see how supportive the

Clubs would be of such an idea. Sustainability of digital and electronic projects over

the long term is a major theme in the literature, so this was addressed in the

interviews.

As this project revolved around the networking of the cricket libraries, it was

important to establish what experience each librarian had of collaboration. They

were asked if they had had any informal or formal contact with other cricket libraries

to determine if there was already some sort of network to build upon. The librarians

were asked to think about any benefits or drawbacks there might be to working with

other cricket libraries to see if there were any possible barriers within some of the

libraries to collaborating, or indeed to prompt them to think about benefits they

might not otherwise have considered. Collaboration with other departments within

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the libraries’ own Clubs was discussed, because the establishment of an online-

networked resource would need the collaboration of at least a couple of IT

departments based at the Clubs. It was recognised that the smaller Clubs might not

have an IT department as such, and this was also a useful section for determining

what facilities were at each Club. Finally the librarians were asked if they had any

connection with the ECB; as the authority of cricket in England and Wales it was felt

that maybe the ECB could provide a leadership role in establishing a networked

resource between the libraries.

The technology available at the cricket libraries was discussed, particularly if

the librarians had access to the Internet and email, as an email reference service was

one of the examples put forward for an online resource. It was important to discover

what each librarian used the Internet for, and whether they used it for similar

activities. They were also asked how many email enquiries they received to ascertain

whether some libraries received more than others, and how quickly such enquiries

were dealt with.

Finally, the librarians were asked about their own technological skills. It was

felt that there would be little point in trying to network the libraries online if some of

the librarians did not use computers or felt intimidated or ambivalent by new

technologies. The librarians’ skills could vary , as it was known that some libraries

employed full-time paid staff whilst others were staffed by retired solo volunteers, so

they were asked whether they would be prepared to go on any training courses to

develop any more skills.

The interview schedule was used more as a guide than a strict schedule by

the researcher. The sequence of themes and questions was followed, but it was

hoped that the participants would engage in conversation, and it was assumed that

during conversation they would answer questions that had not been asked yet.

Although there are some closed questions in the schedule these were used more as a

prompt for the interviewer to ensure that the information was discovered. It was

hoped that the written questions would act as starting points for wider discussions

on topics and themes so that these could be explored in more depth. It was hoped

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that by interviewing the librarians in a place of their choice (usually their own

library) they would feel more comfortable and talk more freely.

2.5 Data Analysis

Punch (1998) points out that there is no single correct way to do qualitative

data analysis, there is no single methodological framework.

Themes were extracted from the literature in order to provide a loose

theoretical framework for the study. This was done to provide context for the

questions in the interview. The themes extracted were technology, collaboration and

the skills of the librarians, and the questions were arranged around these (see

Appendix 1 for interview schedule). The interview was constructed in order to

guide participants through the themes, whilst also being flexible enough to

accommodate their own ideas. This semi-structured approach helped with the

analysis of the data, as blocks of data could easily be grouped together. Gorden

(1975) points out the dangers of arranging the interview in a way that seems logical

to the researcher and makes for ease of coding, as the paramount concern should be

the effect upon the respondents. This was taken into consideration, and the schedule

was constructed so that hopefully the questions should lead on from one another in a

comfortable, flowing manner.

Westbrook (1994) points out that data analysis is an ongoing process in a

qualitative piece of research that feeds back into the research design. This certainly

proved the case in this piece of research as the answers and ideas raised by

participants fed into other interviews, such as the idea of having the Cricket

Memorabilia Society becoming involved with the project, which was an idea raised

by one participant that could then be referred to in other interviews.

Gorden (1975) advises that the interviewers “should transcribe and code their

first interview as soon as possible so that subsequent interviews will benefit from the

experience”. This ensures that the researcher is aware of the lengthy process that is

transcribing and can plan for this throughout the project. It also provides familiarity

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with how people talk in interviews and whether anything could be done slightly

differently to get better and clearer results, such as placing the tape recorder closer to

the interviewer or taking more comprehensive notes.

Interviews provide the researcher with a rich, voluminous source of data, and

in order to analyse such a vast quantity of material the data must be reduced: “data

reduction acknowledges the voluminous nature of qualitative data in the raw. It

directs attention to the need for focusing, simplifying, and transforming raw data

into a more manageable form” (Berg 2001: 35). This can be done by creating displays

of data in table or diagram form – and this certainly was a helpful technique when

arranging codes of data, because it enable patterns to be spotted more readily.

The majority of the findings for this research are based on the interviews,

though the websites of the Clubs were also looked at to compliment the data

gathered from the interviews. This study was concerned with finding out the views

and opinions of individuals on a proposed idea. Therefore, it was not necessarily

important to record the frequency of data. The integrity of the comments made was

ensured exploring themes thoroughly with the librarians and clarifying any

unfamiliar phrases or words. The literature review has been dispersed throughout

the study with the findings from interviews and websites. It was never intended for

this piece of research to make sweeping generalisations about the cricket libraries or

their views on the feasibility of creating an online-networked resource, as it was

more important to discover each interviewee’s perceptions and individual ideas.

Where there are overlaps and consensus between the librarians this has been

recorded, as have the disparities and different ideas.

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Chapter 3 - Collaboration

3.1 Library collaborations

“We live in a global society. It is no longer effective for organisations

to work alone” (Wildridge et al 2004: 3). Collaboration is seen as particularly

important for organisations such as libraries that operate as service providers and

therefore need to validate their existence to their various stakeholders. “The

tradition of cooperation is well established in the library sector, but developments

within the ICT sector and the application of new technology have brought a greater

interdependency between libraries” (Modigh 2005). Libraries can utilise these new

technologies to more easily form collaborations and partnerships; and collaboration

can take many forms: “it can be strategic or operational; formally at the institutional

level, or informally between groups; on the regional, national or global scale. It may

involve email, video conferencing, use of attached documents, information sharing

through intranet etc” (JISC 1998).

Special libraries in particular have a long-standing voluntary network of

cooperation “and they interchange non-confidential information and material, as

well as sharing experience on library techniques … Thus, while each library has its

own narrow area of subject interest in which it attempts to be comprehensive, it

always has access to information on topics which are marginal to, or outside the field

of, its own specialisation and can cover them to a high level of expertise by calling in

aid from colleagues in other libraries on a reciprocity basis.” (Ashworth 1979: 26-27).

This is certainly true of some of the libraries investigated for this piece of research, as

many of the librarians stressed that they had informal voluntary contact with one or

more cricket libraries. Many of the librarians felt that they were experts in their own

Club and County’s history, and would therefore call on a librarian at another Club if

they had a query relating to that County. “In the library world it is not unusual for

groups of institutions with common concerns to get together for mutual benefit,

particularly if the libraries concerned are of a similar size, with common staffing

levels and roughly the same funding levels” (Craig and Norman 2004: 58). None of

the participants interviewed had any formal links with other cricket libraries. In

22

terms of informal links these would normally take the form of phoning a librarian or

archivist at another Ground for some advice, but this was rare. Links seemed to be

informally established if the libraries were geographically near each other, or

libraries seemed to be aware of other facilities if their collections were large or well

established. “Occasional contact in respect to specific enquiries. But there is no regular or

recognised collaboration between us.” None of the interviewees had ever worked in

collaboration with other cricket libraries on any projects. One mentioned a large

project taking place in Australia to which they were contributing an artefact and

some public talks; in this venture they were working with the Melbourne Cricket

Club and some state museums but “we’ve never actually done anything like that in

conjunction with anybody else”. Also this library and museum had been visited by

representatives from other organisations wanting to start up sports museums to see

how this particular Club organised things: “we did have visits from St Andrews and

Henley and Wimbledon – they’ve all been along to see how we do things.” On the museum

side another interviewer noted how other cricket clubs’ archivists or librarians had

visited when they wanted advice on setting up their own museum, stating that one

library has “got a bookcase, and they’ve got some stuff in their pavilion, and I’ve been

working with them, I’ve done a lot of work with them.”

“It is important … to recognise that libraries have a very long and productive

history of collaboration within their own culture, and it is this history that enables

them to be so successful now with partnerships of various kinds” (Wilding 2002:

195). Libraries in all sectors collaborate with other organisations, and other libraries,

to provide a more effective and efficient service to their users. But, as Berube (2004)

notes, there are also benefits for the libraries involved: “with the establishment of

EARL (Electronic Access Resources in Libraries), the national public library network

consortium in 1996, collaborative delivery, not only of digital reference, but also of

collection description content, made eminent operational sense” (Berube 2004: 30).

In terms of links with other libraries or institutions in their local area four out of the

eight librarians interviewed stated that they had informal contact with one or more

of a public library, a local archive or a museum. This was usually in the form of

reciprocal query answering; for example, one librarian stated that the local public

library “tend to ring me up when they’ve got cricket questions. And I do ring them up when

I’m trying to dig out some information I think they might have.” Another participant is

23

lucky enough to be on friendly terms with the librarian at the Local Studies

Department of his public library, the Record Office and a Museum. This has led to

the cricket library acquiring stock because “if anyone contacts them and says … we’ve

got all these cricket books are you interested – they say no, but we know a man who is.” This

demonstrates all too clearly how beneficial collaboration and networking can be.

One participant who did not see the need for collaboration between the libraries at

cricket grounds had extensive connections to other museums in his local area: “we do

it on a much more general heritage basis … it’s very inward looking just to be continually

talking to cricket museums, we tend to look rather more on a wider spectrum.” This

indicates that there is some experience with collaboration at the libraries, and if the

benefits could be shown to be worthwhile the effort, partnerships and networking

could take place.

3.2 Establishing a collaboration

Childs and Dobbins put forward the idea of “The Developmental Process of

Successful Partnership Working” (as quoted in Wildridge et al 2004). This involves

three main stages: firstly, starting the process involves finding a champion (in the

case of the cricket libraries this could be the ECB or the Cricket Memorabilia Society),

forgetting about any history, and ensuring equality; secondly is achieving

agreement, which involves finding additional champions in partner organisations

such as the cricket librarians, recruiting a practical implementer, gaining the trust of

top management – the Chief Executives of the Clubs, emphasising the benefits to

stakeholders (the members, researchers, journalists), and developing an

implementation model; the third stage involves evaluating partnerships using

criteria such as effectiveness, efficiency, equity, acceptability, accessibility,

appropriateness, accountability, ethics, responsiveness and choice, implementation

and roll out, and this could involve a pilot stage involving just the librarians and the

Chief Executives before rolling out the resource to a wider userbase. Wildridge

(2004) adds that partnerships are not the soft option, and that they require a lot of

work, and that they take time to develop and succeed.

24

The concept of a champion to oversee a collaborative venture is mentioned

frequently in the literature. The librarians interviewed also observed that an

organisation would have to take charge of the project as they themselves were often

volunteers or solo librarians and could not be responsible for coordinating the project

as individuals, and they suggested that “the ECB or the MCC has to take control” for

any collaboration to be effective. CHILL has thirty-five different members from

widely differing institutions, and it demonstrates the need for a champion to kick-

start such a partnership (Craig and Norman 2004). Not only do the champions have

to maintain contact between themselves and the collaborating librarians, but they

also have to coordinate meetings and “be seeking to open channels of

communication and to secure future funding” (Henry and Marley 2004: 31), which

means this post is a full time job in itself as the champion liases with the librarians

and external bodies.

Another issue mentioned with regards to successful collaborations is how to

ensure all partners remain equal. The “key to facilitating equity in a partnership

setting is that there must be recognition of the strengths each member brings to the

work of the group. It is not necessary for each member to have the same level of

power, but it is crucial that the expertise the person brings is respected” (Henry and

Marley 2004: 30). With regards to the All Wales Health Catalogue it was made clear

“from the outset, there was no overall directive that each library had to join” (John

and Wright 2004: 35), it depended on each library’s circumstances and local IT

facilities. “Ensuring smaller parties are seen as bringing equal value to the

collaboration, through resources such as knowledge and local legitimacy, is seen as

helpful” (Wildridge et al 2004: 7), particularly in the case of cricket libraries where so

many of the libraries are run by solo volunteers and therefore cannot contribute as

many man hours as other, larger libraries. Henry and Marley (2004) state that it is

important for each library to be honest about its commitment and what it can

contribute to the project. Berube (2004) points out that communication is essential to

any collaborative venture, not just between the librarians but also between the

project and the clubs, the IT departments and the users.

A few authors recommended the use of a formal document outlining the

rules the collaboration was to operate by was a good idea so that all parties knew

25

how they were to contribute to the venture and what was expected of them. It is

important to establish how decisions are to made, and how a consensus is to be

reached if there are disagreements. “We learnt that having a basic set of rules helped

in discussing contentious issues” (John and Wright 2004: 37). And Wilding (2002)

stated that an agreement was essential to deal with questions that might arise such

as: How will the decisions be made and by whom? What are the time limitations?

This might seem over formal for a collaborative venture that will probably initially

entail a networked catalogue or an email reference service, and it could be off-

putting to potential partners, but establishing a formal semi-contract as early as

possible ensures that there are fewer misunderstandings in the future. One of the

interviewed librarians acknowledged that “if before you collaborate you get everything

down in terms of agreement” then any issues that might arise should not be

insurmountable.

3.3 Benefits and drawbacks to collaboration

Craig and Norman point out that the benefits of collaboration include mutual

support, joint projects, resource sharing and shared costs. Reasons for cooperating

include the “increased mobility of the library user, who cares less about which

library he or she is using, and more about the level of service provided (Modigh

2005). From the viewpoint of the user collaboration offers “easier access to a range of

collections, more consistency, and a more user-friendly interface” (Henry 2000: 42).

Things that can be done on a collaborative level to defray costs and minimise

workload include developing a single site which acts as a gateway to the websites

and web catalogues of individual libraries, and basic information about each library

including new events and services; incorporating, on a single site, professionally

selected links to quality web resources (for cricket libraries this would include sites

such as Cricinfo and CricketArchive) with the maintenance of the links being shared

across member libraries (Hildebrand 2003).

CHILL is the Consortium of Independent Health Information Libraries in

London, and “few of its members can, individually, make their voices heard in a

26

national forum, but together they are a force to be reckoned with” (Craig and

Norman 2004: 60). Turner et al (2004) point out that collaboration on major, national

projects can reap benefits such as the avoidance of duplication of effort, sharing ideas

and experience and maximising the effect of the campaign at a local level, and

“rather than promote national and local services separately, an integrated approach

enables a wider reach for publicity campaigns and offers economies of scale” (Turner

et al 2004: 263). Collaboration in itself can provide the opportunity to initiate a

national campaign, thereby increasing awareness of the library and its services, and

it can also “function as a means of marketing the library to both decision-makers and

patrons” (Modigh 2005: 5).

The benefits of collaboration include the ability to search for material with

more ease because “the lack of common standards makes it difficult to search

material at the same time in different institutions and to coordinate communication

efforts” (Hedegaard 2004: 291), and also “funding bodies favour collaborative …

work” (Cox 2004).

Barriers to possible collaboration “cluster around institutional

competition, lack of understanding of user needs and rapidly changing technology”

(Cox 2004). With regards to collaboration between the cricket libraries in the creation

of an online resource, the computer skills of the individual librarians could be seen as

a barrier, as could discovering what the needs of the users would be – particularly

those who are not members of the Cricket Clubs. Wildridge et al (2004) add that

under-resourcing, lack of appreciation for the work involved in a partnership,

reluctance to fund administration costs, perceived imbalance of power between

partners, culture clashes – particularly on how to resolve problems, different

organisational structures, and geography can also be barriers. John and Wright

(2004) agree that the geographical distribution of individual libraries could be a

barrier, and they add that collaboration inevitably means that organisations involved

will become dependent upon one another for the smooth running of the project.

And Berube (2004) adds that with large scale collaborations in particular training

staff can become an issue; and it is important that staff are trained to deliver a

uniform, quality service. It is vital to conduct a pilot phase of the project and

evaluate the progress regularly to determine how the new service impacts on other

27

services, the users and the librarians themselves. Not only is this necessary to enable

improvements to take place, but it also provides stakeholders with an opportunity to

see how the service is developing. “An immediate problem that is encountered

when suggesting a collaborative approach is that some of the technology (library

catalogues) and some of the workload eg. retrieving materials and facilitating

delivery, are only available, or would need to be done, at a local level” (Hildebrand

2003: 145); this is certainly true of the cricket libraries at present because each library

has its own catalogue and email account – and it would take a lot of work to create

any kind of integrated resource.

Berube (2004) points out that even if there is a collaborative spirit

amongst the participants a service can be difficult to manage because there needs to

be a common web interface, the maintenance of a website needs to be taken into

account as this is a major part of the project, the administrative and technical hosting

of a service needs to be worked out, funding needs to be secured and sustainability

assured, in an email reference service the scheduling of libraries and distribution of

questions needs to be worked out, communication needs to be facilitated, and data

collection and analysis needs to take place. This demonstrates the need for a

champion, either an individual or an organisation, to oversee the project and

facilitate communication between internal and external partners.

“Perhaps the most significant impact of partnering is the loss of

control … In order to work together it is essential that there be some give and take”

(Wilding 2002: 201). This loss of control can lead to resistance from staff and the user

community because they do not see collaboration as best for the library – particularly

if their library is smaller than some of the other libraries that can contribute more in

terms of technical expertise or financial support. The SOPSE [Sense of Place South

East] consortium brings together five organisations as main partners and a number

of associate partners who are working locally on projects” (Yeates and Guy 2006:

141). Within this project was the constant issue of how to provide leadership

without disempowering less experienced partners. This is an issue that could arise

between the cricket libraries, especially if one of the larger libraries (in terms of staff

numbers) assumes the leadership role. However, if an organisation such as the ECB

28

or the Cricket Memorabilia Society were to manage the project then all of libraries

should be able to work on more of an equal footing.

DeGroote et al (2005) point out that any solution to the issues

surrounding collaboration need to take into account the different levels of staffing

and the physical dispersion of the individual libraries.

Table 1 – the librarians’ benefits and drawbacks to working with other

libraries

Benefits with working with other libraries

Drawbacks with working with other libraries

• To learn from one other. Pool

ideas

• Standard catalogue, so everyone knows where items are.

• Shared experience. Someone on

the end of a phone. Establish a group of people who knew each other’s names and could talk to one another.

• Exchange of information.

• Exchange arrangement for

duplicates.

• Economies of scale. Four or five County Clubs banding together could afford more and rarer books and collections.

• Good to have another point of

view to prevent library becoming too inward looking.

• Libraries not being prepared to

share books.

• Ownership, lines of responsibility, insurance.

• Clubs wanting the same artefact

for a display.

• Bulk of the work being passed to the library.

29

When asked if there would be any benefits from working with other libraries,

particularly cricket libraries, only one participant stated that there would no benefits

at all. Two stated that the only benefit would be the exchange of duplicate materials.

Drawbacks included lines of responsibility and terms of ownership; because at the

moment each Club owns its entire collection and is responsible for it, but if Clubs

collaborated to purchase items then it might lead to issues of ownership. But one

participant said: “if before you collaborate you get everything down in terms of agreement,

those are not insurmountable”. Even those participants who did not see many or any

advantages to collaborating with other libraries could not see many drawbacks: “I

couldn’t see any drawbacks. And there could be advantages, but they would be very limited.”

One participant expressed concerns that the bulk of the work undertaken on a

collaboration might pass their library’s way, as it was perceived that they had the

greater resources, but they also said that, “our aim has to be to encourage people to come

and use our collections. If I was to turn around to you and say it would make the library

busier, that can’t be a bad thing.”

3.4 Libraries at County Cricket Grounds

The participants were asked if the library they worked in had close links with

any other departments at their Ground, particularly IT as this department in

particular could contribute to an online resource. The responses were varied,

members of staff in other departments might not have had much connection with the

library, but they knew of the librarian, such as: “I am heavily involved with everyone at

the Ground, for all sorts of reasons relating to my overall responsibilities, but not specifically

as a library.” Another library provided information for scorecards: “the only very

minor thing we do … because I design the scorecard, we’ve got … previous results … And

that comes from the library.” Other libraries are physically isolated from other

departments on the Ground and therefore do not collaborate because of this reason:

“I don’t really have a lot of dealings with other people with regards to the library itself.” One

library plays a much more integral role in the Club:

“We are a resource for other people, of course, particularly for example the

Communications Department who are always putting out press releases and that

30

sort of thing … We have close links with the Marketing Department, because so

much of our material is of use to them on their tea-towels and all the different things

that they do … we provide all the decoration right around the Ground … in terms of

paintings and displays, so that’s ongoing as well, talking to each department about

what they want.”

Three participants mentioned explicitly that enquiries, particularly with regards to

past players, would get referred to them if they came to the wrong department by

mistake, or if they thought the library could provide a more comprehensive answer:

“if any query comes into the Club … it almost invariably gets passed on to me.” One

participant mentioned that the maintenance of the facility the physical library was

housed in could count as collaboration: “they’re helpful in maintaining this area we’re

sitting in now, the pictures and the storage.” Two of the participants were in charge of

the websites for the Club, stating that they were in effect the IT department at their

Ground!

31

Chapter 4 - Technology

4.1 Social software

Collaborative software tools are often referred to as social software, and, as

Chang (2004) states, they are changing the way people use Websites. It was felt that

one of these tools could be used to network the cricket libraries. An online

application would be the easiest way to achieve networking because all of the

librarians interviewed have access to the Internet, and they are geographically

dispersed, making this type of collaboration the most viable because social software

is “more than just a connection and has a dimension where individuals can self-

organize and set social conventions and norms for their groups” (Fichter 2004: 45-46).

Depending on the IT skills and confidence of the users, a collaboration toolbox could

include wikis, email, mailing lists, bulletin boards, instant messaging, Web

conferencing, learn rooms, Weblogs, RSS feeds, and FOAF (Friends of a Friend)

(Fichter 2006). For this project it was felt that as there was no online-networked

resource available for cricket librarians it would be most appropriate to recommend

concepts that were familiar to the librarians such as a networked catalogue or an

email reference service. Wikis were also recommended as an example of a more

advanced type of collaborative tool that they may wish to consider.

Many of the librarians stated that they received email enquiries from other

parts of the country or abroad; it was not just their own members that used their

service. Even though the majority of libraries would not loan items to anyone who

was not a member of the Club, members of the public would often email enquiries to

the librarians, demonstrating that “it no longer makes sense to demand that patrons

come into the building in order to get assistance” (Kawakami 2002). It was

important to ascertain whether the librarians thought that a “single service could

replace multiple services that were previously disparate … and independently

controlled by dispersed libraries” (De Groote et al 2005: 437).

The online-networked resource would be built from scratch, which would

mean a lot of work for those creating it, but would also provide the opportunity to

32

decide upon what form it should take. The examples of the form an online resource

could take given in the interview were a networked catalogue, an email reference

service, or some sort of wiki; participants were also asked whether they had any

suggestions. One interviewee noted that “if there was a networked resource … at least I

could go on to that database, whatever, and say I haven’t got something but I can see that …

Nottingham’s library, or Lord’s might have something.” Another participant thought that

a resource similar to the National Archive index at Kew would be useful, “backed up

by an email service as a sort of helpline”. While yet another simply stated that: “anything

where you could get the information quickly and easily would be fine by me”.

4.2 Email reference service

Online reference can refer to “everything from placing a contact email

address on the Website to an instant messaging (IM) reference service offered 24/7”

(Sennema 2003: 258). Email enquiry services are a useful tool because they can be

“piggy backed using existing workstations, software (eg. email systems), and

network capacity.” (Kawakami 2002: 80). This kind of service requires librarians to

monitor the resource because, as Sennema (2003) points out, failure to do so can lead

to emails not being answered for days. As well as providing a one-stop service for

users via the convenience of email, this service could benefit the librarians and lead

to “a deeper appreciation of the specialized skills of their colleagues from other …

library sites” (DeGroote 2005: 451).

The Ask a Librarian Service – an email enquiry service available via public

libraries – enables a wider coverage of service without placing an extra burden upon

the librarians, and participation at a national level allows librarians to answer locally

based questions. If the librarian on duty that day receives a difficult question “they

can circulate it to their Ask colleagues via a closed discussion list …” (Berube 2004:

33).

The number of emails received by the cricket librarians varied widely. One

librarian stated that they received three or four a week, two librarians claimed they

received half a dozen a week, and one added “it would be seasonal, though. Bizarrely we

33

get more in the winter than we do in the summer”. Two others estimated at about twenty

enquiries a week. Another librarian stated that they received ten enquiries a month.

One library did not have its own email address and the librarian received ten a week

in his home account. The last librarian claimed he received a couple of email

enquiries a year.

An email reference service could provide one point of contact for all email

enquiries received by the libraries. As Berube (2004) states, this kind of service offers

another form of access for users, and this would be beneficial because some of the

libraries are staffed by solo volunteers and so they are not open at all times. Other

librarians also act as scorers for their Clubs, which means the libraries are often not

staffed on match days. If the librarian is absent from the library, and does not have

access to the email account, then emails can be left answered for long periods. A

regulated email reference service would ensure that emails get answered or passed

on to the appropriate recipient promptly because it would be part of the librarian’s

job to monitor the account on their appointed day. Sloan (1998) notes that often

email reference services are informal operations, run by a single member of staff who

has initiated the service themselves; the librarians offer their own version of email

reference at the moment by replying to email enquiries, but a collaborative effort

could enable greater promotion of the service, a higher profile for the libraries, and

an increase in the number of people using the libraries. Because the cricket librarians

are geographically dispersed, and not all the libraries are staffed all the time, there

needs to be a consensus as to how email enquiries are answered: whether there is a

standard form to be sent out in replies, the language that is used, and probably most

importantly, whether a deadline be set for when librarians have to respond to a

query. Berube (2004) point out that any information service offered through email

should include at least privacy, data protection and liability statements.

Some authors have reservations about the use of email to answer enquiries

because it does not have the benefit of non-verbal cues, which help the librarian, and

can be seen as impersonal. However, advantages include more time to devote to the

information search, the risk of transcribing inaccurately is reduced when you can just

print off an email, and it is a twenty-four hour, seven day a week service (McCreo

2004), and for enquiries relating to whether a player played at the Club email

34

provides an opportunity to provide a thorough and detailed response, and it is a

cheaper way of communicating with enquiries from around the country and from

other parts of the world. Kawakami (2002) points out that personal issues could be a

complicating factor, in that some librarians might be comfortable and confident

communicating electronically, whereas others might prefer to communicate via the

telephone or by letter, and it is not suggested that an email reference service should

take the place of any other enquiry service the libraries already provide; rather it

should be in addition to these established services.

Sloan (1998) suggests that there are a number of forms such a service could

take ranging from it being limited to quick, ready reference and basic information

queries, to in-depth answers, to research for users and bibliographies, to a Web-

based service or a simpler form such as email. Considering the limitations of staffing

and budget constraints on the cricket librarians it might be more feasible to have this

resource as a back up to the services offered in the physical library.

4.3 Networked catalogue

Networked catalogues have existed between libraries for years in the form of

the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). Such resources provide users with the

ability to use on interface to search multiple catalogues, rather than searching each

catalogue separately. As well as being beneficial to users, it can be just as useful to

librarians. The cricket librarians do not at present have any formal links and an

online catalogue could be an initial step in establishing formal contact and

encouraging collaboration.

The most popular form of networked resource amongst the librarians was a

catalogue that included records of the holdings of each library. Such a resource “will

help overcome future duplication of efforts … and save time, human resources and

money.” (Yang 1999: 233). Hedegaard (2004) found that it is an advantage for staff to

know of the holdings of other institutions and exchange information. The two

examples of union catalogues are firstly the traditional union catalogue, in which

records from multiple sources are incorporated into a single database, which might

35

be too much work for the cricket librarians at present, or the alternative model of the

virtual union catalogue, in which each catalogue remains distinct, but they can be

treated by the end-users as a single resource (Cousins 1999: 97). One concern put

forward by the librarians was that any catalogue should “be done by a cricket

specialist”, and include more than just author and title. One participant gave an

example from the Pathe News archive to illustrate why this would need to be so:

“There was stuff there from 1948; I mean for example Don Bradman, Don Bradman’s

last match at the Oval, I looked at the entry there and it didn’t actually say this is the

footage of Don Bradman’s final match. Now a cricket specialist would appreciate

that”.

Another librarian advocated using the Padwick reference books – “because

that’s the standard work” – which list every cricket publication published up until

1990 and allocates them a reference number. Another interviewee was concerned

about the “substantial amount of work” involved in getting a catalogue online, and

Yang (1999) agrees that this can be a problem which can lead to some libraries

refusing to take part, citing a lack of human resources and budget constraints as

reasons not to join the project. This could be of particular concern to those cricket

libraries staffed by a single volunteer because, as one interviewee noted, not all of the

libraries have a catalogue to begin with, and creating one would be a lot of work –

“we’d have to hope that all the other Clubs had a catalogue of sorts before that [the resource]

became viable”.

Of the libraries visited two had catalogues on Microsoft Access databases –

one of these had two databases: one for the books, and one for the three dimensional

objects such as bats, balls and pictures; one had just started recording the collection

on an Excel spreadsheet; three stated that they had lists on “a floppy disc” or just on a

computer hard drive; and one used a Library Management System. One library was

in the process of sourcing a Library Management System. There was a large

disparity between those who were methodical and kept their records up to date, and

those that had rudimentary records; and this disparity was not related to the size of

the libraries’ collections.

36

When asked if putting the catalogue online had ever been considered one

librarian replied: “if we were confident it was a fair reflection then I don’t see why we

couldn’t consider doing that.” The librarian also noted that: “I think a lot of the members

have no idea just how many books we’ve got,” adding that making the catalogue

available online would help with this. Another librarian stated they were waiting for

a Library Management System to be installed to see if an online catalogue would be

an option. An online catalogue was already being planned by one librarian: “As part

of the website, the online, the virtual museum. … we’ll also have online the catalogue to say if

you want to obtain items this is what we have … It’s more of an SOS saying, look, this is all

we’ve got can you please help us?” Another librarian saw no reason to put the

catalogue online “because given that the reference library dose not leave here, and the

members’ library is restricted to members, and members are aware of the facility, and if they

want to use it they use it and if they don’t want to use it they don’t.”

Security was an issue for two of the librarians with regards to making the

library’s catalogue available to the public: “The slight worry we have with it is that

putting a catalogue online makes you susceptible to theft … We have suffered thefts in the

past … And we now do have a security system, but we are still discovering what we don’t

have.” Most of the other libraries do not have any security systems specific to the

library, so making the collection public knowledge is a step that would be taken with

extreme trepidation. “There is also a security aspect insofar as we’re not totally

comfortable that if we put everything online people can see and then that may encourage them

that if they want to come in, so that’s the other aspect, the security point.”

4.4 Wikis and Blogs

Wikis were suggested in the interviews because as Fichter (2006) notes the

network-level collaboration on a wiki is usually based around a topic or subject, and

users “do not need to possess sophisticated web skills to take part in developing a

wiki” (Clyde 2005: 55). A few of the librarians were unfamiliar with wikis, although

most had heard of Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, a resource that

“demonstrates that it is possible to create an information source – and a source that

at least some consider to be useful and to contain quality information –

37

collaboratively and publicly” (Pomerantz and Stutzman 2006: 204). The concern

amongst those that had heard of wikis was that a public wiki could obviously be

altered by anyone; one participant stated that: “ a regulated wiki would be good, but an

unregulated wiki you’re asking for trouble”.

Wikis might be a useful tool for establishing an informal network between the

libraries because they are “ideally suited to certain types of lightweight collaboration.

They are an excellent tool for building knowledge bases that are dynamic and fluid”

(Fichter 2006: 31). “The private wikis are known as Gated Communities”, for

example schools or organisations (Clyde 2005: 55), and these can be limited to a

particular group, ensuring that only the librarians can have access to and edit the

contents. Few of the libraries have a substantial budget so purchasing wiki software

might not be an option; but there is the option to utilise Wikiforms, which are

“servers that run a wiki engine as a service … these WikiForms provide the software

for creating and maintaining a wiki, and they also host wikis. They do make it

possible for people with limited “server-side” skills to create and manage a wiki”

(Clyde 2005: 55). But Chang (2004) points out that a potential hazard of using

freeware/open source applications is that the licensing policy will change and it will

no longer be available.

Weblogs, or blogs, can also be beneficial to libraries; indeed, Carver (2003)

states that big or small, libraries stand to benefit from the open information sharing

that is facilitated by blogs. A Refblog is a way for staff to share experiences, sources,

news items and other information as they do not see each other regularly (Sennema

2003). Once the librarians have become familiar with social software it might be

worthwhile trying to encourage them to start their own blogs and create a cricket

librarians’ blogosphere: “a blogosphere is an interconnected network of weblogs, of

varying size” (Pomerantz and Stutzman 2006: 202), which would not only provide an

online network for the librarians but would also be a good source of archived

information and best practice initiatives.

4.5 Information portals/Intranets/Websites

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Information portals, intranets and websites can hold a large amount of

information with regards to libraries, and it could be a direction the cricket libraries

wish to move toward after establishing an online-networked resource, “because …

libraries must now focus on their virtual online portal presence even as they

maintain physical environments and operations” (White 2002: 224).

Academic libraries utilise portals because they enable users to customise the

information there. Van Brakel (2003) explains that a portal includes a single access

point (a single gateway or logon to identify approved users); Internet tools eg.

calendars, Website and content builders; collaboration tools such as email, threaded

discussions, bulletin boards; user customisation; channel information (user-defined

channels from external and internal information sources); pushed information such

as news, events and special memos. These dynamic services are unnecessary for the

cricket libraries at this stage of sourcing an online-networked resource. In the longer

term “bringing together various collections and access points into one integrated

Website” (Alamsy 2005: 625) could provide users with a one-stop cricket heritage

service.

Van Brakel (2003) points out that intranet technology was supposed to

provide a one-stop solution to the various access routes to information that were

available, but that in practice Intranet homepages often become cluttered with

regulations, staff directories and links to external Web documents. It is important

that whatever form the online resource takes, and whether it is utilised by the public

or just the librarians, that it does not suffer from this “clutter syndrome”.

“Very few libraries … have attempted to create their websites as unique

branch libraries where visitors can undertake a variety of transactions that are not

necessarily hampered by a lack of social or physical human interaction” (Hildebrand

2003: 140); indeed, most libraries use their web pages to supplement the physical

library, and to provide information such as opening times and location of the

physical library. It is likely that library web pages will continue to offer online

services that compliment those offered in the physical library, but the opportunity to

provide a branch of the library that it totally virtual should not be overlooked as a

future possibility.

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4.6 Digital Libraries

Although the cricket libraries investigated are a long way off developing any

sort of digital library the groundwork has been laid in a couple of the libraries. One

librarian is “hoping to develop a virtual museum … We’re hoping to develop then some e-

learning, and to have some artefacts – photographs, documents – all digitalised.” And

another museum has already digitalised its materials: “we’re re-digitalising now.

We’ve done the first one, and what we’re now doing is working to four or five views of each

item … we’re not prepared to put it on the website … there’s no demand for it. We’ve done it

purely for our own purposes, for records and identification purposes.” These projects are

very much in the embryonic stages, but there has been interest expressed in the

digitalising of sporting artefacts in the form of the Sports Heritage Network, which is

a partnership of sports based museums and academics that includes one of the

libraries taking part in this piece of research. A report undertaken in 2005 surveyed

over 500 sports museums, galleries and archives and detailed their collections with a

long-term view of carrying out collaborative projects with these organisations (24

Hour Museum 2006).

Sustainability is a major issue with regards to digital libraries. Often funding

can be secured for establishing a project, but it is more difficult to find resources to

maintain the resource in the long term. “To be sustained and sustaining, digital

libraries should develop business strategies or models that enable they to endure

beyond research funding” (Giersch et al 2004). It is how the resource is used that will

determine if is a sustainable project and “the introduction of a feedback mechanism

[on the site] has proved an important communication mechanism” (Turner et al 2004:

204), especially when the users are remote and often invisible.

There are numerous benchmarks and plans available from various

organisations that can act as guides when setting up a digital resource. The

European Union’s Digitisation Policies Benchmarking Model themes include:

management (objectives, workplan); human resources (available skills); funding

(including sustainability); productivity (including the proportion of content that has

40

been digitised); impact (added value); priorities (selection criteria for digitised

materials); and technical aspects (appropriate technologies) (Yeates and Guy 2006).

JISC has played a large part in facilitating digital collaboration and stresses that it is

“critically important to establish good lines of communication with all those engaged

in digital preservation efforts” (Jones 2004: 85).

4.7 Cricket libraries and technology

When investigating what technologies the librarians had at their disposal it

became clear that this varied widely, as did the librarians’ attitude to it. The

librarians all have access to email in some form or another. “I’ve got my little office

behind me with my computer and my email … And I guess if I needed something else I could

ask and I’d probably get it.” One library had computer facilities for users in the library:

“We do have the PC here as well as my office … On a match day I’ll switch that on

and people will come in and look at other scores and so on. If we get a very rainy day

then they might … want to check their home emails … If the library does get an

extension we’re sort of toying with the idea of having a little section at the end as a

little Internet café, but it would have to be very small, we wouldn’t have much room,

perhaps just two or three PCs and a coffee making machine or something.”

Two librarians stated that they tended to use their computers at home to

conduct library work on: “all the work I do for the Club is by computer and is all done from

my home,” and “I’ve got email. I use my own … all we use the computer for is to store a list

of the books we’ve got available here.” With regards to computer facilities at the Ground

one library did not have a computer terminal, and if any alterations needed to be

made to the list of books it meant “displacing somebody half an hour from the office when

they’re trying to work.”

With regards to using the computer for library work, and particularly if the

librarians used the Internet in their day-to-day duties, two librarians stated they used

the eBay website to bid for and buy any memorabilia for the Club. One librarian

bought new stock for the library from the Amazon website, “cos they’re so cheap.”

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Another librarian used Google to search for information: “just little things. I mean, if

I’m trying to find the name of the British High Commissioner in Australia, for example, that

sort of thing.” The librarians used the CricketArchive (for records and statistics) and

Cricinfo (for news and scorecards) websites on a regular basis, and one claimed, “I do

look at the cricket sites. But that’s about all, really.” One librarian was responsible for the

Club’s website and used the computer for “radio links, we play the match reports …”

One librarian did not use the Internet, but used the computer for “basic letter writing,

building up the records of our collection memorabilia, updating our library inventory.”

4.8 The librarians’ skills

It was recognised that for the cricket librarians to make use of, and reap the

benefits from, an online-networked resource they would need to possess some

technological skills. Hildebrand (2003) raises the point that “library staff may no

longer have the required skills to take advantage of current and emerging web

technologies” (Hildebrand 2003: 144). And to fully take advantage of a networked

resource, and be able to contribute to its maintenance “a library would need to have

access to the skill level required” (Sennema 2003: 262). As well as the librarians

being comfortable with the technological aspects of the resource, “sufficient skilled

staff are going to be required to maintain, develop and undertake backroom routines

that will be needed to effectively deliver a range of services online” (Hildebrand

2003: 144).

The librarians had different levels of confidence and ability with regards to

IT. When asked how they rate their own technological skills one librarian replied:

“pretty good, I used to work in IT.” Another was comfortable with the basics: “I just use

the analogy that if I drive a car I want to be able to drive it, I don’t expect to tinker with its

engine”. Another librarian was in charge of the Club’s website: “All the photography’s

done through here; so I do … a lot of the Club photography. A whole mass of things are done

through this site … In fact, I spend 95% of my time on there? I look after all aspects … the

school, interface with the kids, you know, everything like that all done through here.”

Another librarian stated that: “I can send emails, that’s about my limit.”

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“It is not always possible for every partner to have the skills required for the

project and if time and resources are not given to addressing training requirements

the partnership will never operate at optimum level” (Henry and Marley 2004: 31).

The Cornerstone Project: Building the Foundation for Sharing Unique Treasures in

Alabama found that workshops and training were very important (Downer 2005) so

that everybody had the same relevant skills. Most social software is designed to be

easy to use, and wikis, for example, were “intended to make it easy for anyone

without special training in HTML or an authoring language to dive in and add

content” (Fichter 2006: 30). But it is clear that there are varying levels of IT

competence in cricket libraries, and so the librarians were asked whether they would

be prepared to undertake extra training to become more proficient, confident and

knowledgeable in the area of IT, one librarian said: “I won’t say we muddle along

because we are making progress, but at our vintage it’s not that easy to take on new ideas.

My student days ended in 1949 … If we felt we needed it we would like to know where

we could go to get the advice and get the help.” Another librarian welcomed the idea:

“I’d probably go to my boss and say look, I need some training in this particular aspect

and I’m sure he’d be fine with that. Another interviewee was lucky to have “an

excellent IT Department who run courses throughout the year … Mostly on the sort of

programmes we would be using in the course of our job anyway,” and this library was

getting a Library Management System installed later this year “on the

recommendation of the IT people.” Another librarian also had “the option of going on

various IT courses. And basically it’s Enhanced Word, Enhanced Access.” Another

librarian stated that they were “always interested in developing any sort of skills.”

Another librarian stated that “it’s a question of time”, which is a major

consideration for those librarians who work as solo volunteers. Yet another

stated that: “I’m forever, in theory, I’m forever developing my skills … I simply want to

know how to do what I want to do.” An interesting move by the Alabama Mosaic

project “is involving students at the School of Library and Information Studies at the

University of Alabama in the design and maintenance of the Alabama Mosaic

website” (Downer 2005: 251), which would help distribute the cost of Alabama

Mosaic and give students practical experience in a working digital project, and a

similar solution involving students from a British university could be a possible

solution for any long-term digital projects involving the cricket libraries.

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As well as learning or refreshing technological skills, keeping up to date with

developments in the library and information profession can only be beneficial

because participants can “learn about new ideas, resources and support

mechanisms” (Turner et al 2004: 267). John and Wright (2004) agree stating that

attending conferences helps to build personal contacts and discuss problems.

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Chapter 5 - The online-networked resource

An online-networked resource could be beneficial to cricket libraries

because it would enable the librarians and archivists to have regular contact with

each other and be more aware of what each library holds. It would also be a benefit

to the libraries’ users because as Turner et al (2004) point out the joined up approach

saves duplication of effort and “links virtual and physical libraries in the mind of the

users.”

5.1 Users

“The patrons of the special library are likely to be rather narrowly defined”

(Bierbaum 1993: 29). In the case of cricket libraries the bulk of the users will be the

members of the Clubs the libraries belong to. However, other users include

researchers, writers, students, and genealogists; if members of the public phone in

advance they can use the facilities also.

All the librarians interviewed were concerned that an online-networked

resource, in whatever form it took, benefited their users. Wilding (2002) observes

that the most common reason for libraries to enter into partnerships is to extend the

services offered to their primary user groups. Hildebrand points out that “a

significant number of Internet users are also library users. They will be familiar with

using libraries to locate resources to satisfy their information needs, and hence, seek

to use library websites for the same purpose” (Hildebrand 2003: 139), one librarian

was hopeful that “perhaps networking and getting all of us together on the Internet is a

good way of starting to encourage people to come in”, but another librarian noted that the

users that frequent his library are twofold: “a lot of schools come in”; the students

physically come into the library and take pictures of the artefacts there, and the

members of the Club who “will not even know how to switch a computer on.” This

librarian is also the Club’s Webmaster and states that “the bulk of our hits come from

people who are working”, which implies that there are users of the website who could

be potential users of at least the library’s online presence. Hedegaard (2004) claims

45

that the information on NOKS, the cultural historical database for the North of

Jutland, “makes users aware of the existence of institutions they did not know

before, and NOKS is often just an entrance to further information in these

institutions” (Hedegaard 2004: 295).

At the moment even the libraries with the largest collections and most staff

are not mentioned on their Clubs’ websites. These sites are often cricket fans first

point of contact for the Club to buy tickets or check for fixtures, and are a good

promotional tool for the libraries. Three of the websites of the eight Clubs visited do

not mention a library or museum at all, and the other five have a History of the Club

page where a link to the museum’s page can be found. Three of the museums had

contact details available on their web pages. Three of the Clubs have an online

enquiry form, which can be directed to a specific department, but none of them offer

the possibility of contacting the museum or library this way. One of the reasons

libraries are not mentioned directly may be that most of the librarians have other

roles at the Club such as tour guides, Webmaster, archivist or museum curator, and

their contact details can be found under these titles rather than the library. One

librarian said that “there is talk that we might have our own website eventually. But it’s

more likely in the short term that we’ll be part of the” Club’s site. One librarian stated

that he had been asked by the Club whether he wanted more publicity for the library

on the website and he had responded that he “couldn’t deal with an extra twenty people

coming in here every lunchtime”; there are plans for this library to be extended, and the

librarian has stated that extra publicity might be welcomed then once they have the

space to accommodate all the users. Another librarian acknowledged that “it helps if

you know the library exists which … doesn’t seem to be very obvious from the information

given on the various websites at the moment.” A virtual presence could increase

awareness of the libraries’ collections and services, reach non-users, and provide

additional services for current users. “The key is to figure out what the user

community needs from a physical library in this Web world and make sure that the

facilities are redesigned to accommodate them” (King 2004: 174).

As one of the librarians interviewed stated, the fate of any collaborative

online venture would be “governed by a great extent by how great a use is made of the

facility.” The users will determine what the resource contains and how it is used, and

46

ultimately if it is a successful project: “Inclusion of service users’ perspectives … can

make the difference between a project being taken seriously or not” (Wildridge et al

2004: 7). Cox (2004) recommends that longitudinal user-needs studies are carried out

before implementation of both users and non-users. Cox (2004) also suggests that

collaborative environments are tested and liked by the users – and this does not just

mean users of the libraries, but the librarians themselves as they will be responsible

for maintaining and promoting the resource. Turner et al (2004) point out that the

National electronic Library for Health’s approach to promotion has focused on

reaching as many of the target user groups as possible and focusing on librarians, as

these are the people who will need to know how to use the resource so they can

assist others.

Sloan (1998) asks whether specific groups that do not frequent the library

should be targeted. With regards to cricket libraries this could include the staff at the

Clubs, as one librarian observed that “they don’t really use the library facilities”. A new

online resource could be promoted on the website, the Club’s intranets and via

emails. The librarians at all the Clubs are very user focused and eager to promote

their collections and services. As Berube (2004) points out, users remember the good

service almost more than they remember the answer to their query – this is true for

both face-to-face and online services. The lesson to be learned from this is that the

technology is not the service the librarian is, but the technology can help the librarian

reach a wider user base.

Because most of the libraries have a narrow user base it was interesting to see

whether the librarians thought that an online resource would raise the library’s

profile and encourage more users to utilise the resources and materials. Two

participants stated that they did not think such a resource would encourage more

people into the physical library. The reasons given for this were that the stock they

had was under-used: “use of the general library books is very very much greater than the

reference or statistical library”, and “people don’t use what we’ve got”, and also the fact

that the library does not loan books out to the general public might be a disincentive,

as well as the fact that “we wouldn’t be prepared to lend them to other libraries.”

47

Only one interviewee noted that it was unlikely that more people would use

the physical library due to the presence of the online resource because “more people

would probably use the online resource.” One librarian stated that it would not make a

huge difference to the number of people already using the physical library, but

pointed out that “it’s not a huge library … so therefore if I get fifteen people in here in at

lunchtime of a Championship game it’s pretty packed.” Another librarian agreed with this

statement noting that: “at the moment we tend to have a trickle of people; we could find that

we’ve got an awful lot more people wanting to use the library.” One of the larger libraries

stated that such a resource would lead to users and enquiries being directed to them

from other cricket librarians: “they may come to us via the Counties, you see, because the

Counties would find that there’s an awful lot more of the stuff that’s being asked for that they

wouldn’t have, and then they would put them on to us.”

One participant suggested that it would make people more aware of the

library, and “by having a greater awareness of the library itself people would say well

actually I don’t think we should jettison it, let’s keep it. By us being networked it would also

avoid duplicity. I think it’s the duplication of things that’s the biggest benefit, and would

encourage people to use it.”

5.2 Benefits and drawbacks to an online resource

When asked how an online resource could benefit their own library the

participants came up with a variety of responses. One librarian was confident that

such a resource would not benefit their library because “as a stand alone library it’s

perfectly adequate.” Another librarian was very honest and stated that “I don’t really

know what I would be looking for in terms of contact with other libraries.” But in terms of

exchanging information relating to the individual Clubs the librarians acknowledged

that this could be a use for the resource. Most of the libraries held materials

predominantly relating to the Club at which they were based, so such a resource

would enable them to access the location of materials relating to Clubs and regions

around the country. The main benefit recognised by those librarians who thought

the resource would be useful was that it could enable them to see what materials

other cricket libraries held. Participants thought that “it would certainly be useful to

48

know what’s in all the other cricket libraries”, and “if we had the catalogues online we would

have some idea of what other people had”.

Two of the interviewees based at libraries with large collections stated that a

resource would be beneficial to other, smaller libraries as their collection was fairly

comprehensive: “because we have such an extensive book collection – there’s very little that

we don’t have.” Another librarian agreed that a smaller library could make greater

use of a shared resource: “if they’ve only got a couple of hundred books they would be more

likely to use the database … to see which of the bigger libraries has got the book they are

after.” One respondent claimed that: “Even if only 5% of what we interchange is good

then it’s a step forward.” Another librarian pointed out that “it’s not the library … that

would benefit, it’s the members, the individual member who’s just making a casual enquiry.”

Another participant agreed stating that an online resource would “help people coming

here and going down blind alleyways … rather than me saying no we don’t have that

information I can point people in the direction of where I believe the answers to lie”, and

such a catalogue would allow users to be directed to the library nearest to them for a

book rather than having to go to the location that they phoned or emailed, which

could be miles away. Another librarian noted that it would make conducting

research easier because “rather than me saying oh no, I haven’t got that book try the others

and then they have to make individual phone calls to all the other places, I can look it up

easily for them, and help them out in that respect.”

Two of the interviewees did not see a need for an online resource networking

the libraries; one stated that it would not “serve any useful purpose, and I would have

thought that there would be an enormous amount of work needed to get the information

online in the first instance”. Alamasy (2005) points out that organisations with a strong

focus on a particular discipline are likely to have resources already committed to the

day-to-day operations and will probably be unable to spare resources for extra

projects. Another noted that “there’s very little interface between ourselves and any other

County Cricket Club”, and that “everybody works their own way, they use their own

system”.

Another interviewee stated that an online resource would help the libraries

learn from each other and interchange. One librarian pointed out that there was a

49

“lot of duplication”, which an online catalogue in particular could help to resolve. One

interviewee noted that: “it would depend on the costs of it and what was required to be

done by each of the libraries”, and that “if you only get two or three then it’s not going to be

a lot of use. I think either it’s all networked or it isn’t”. Another participant saw a

networked resource as an opportunity to join “up lots of disparate bodies”.

When asked whether there were other enabling or constraining factors to

setting up a resource one librarian replied money. Another mentioned staffing.

Another librarian agreed with both of these points stating that: “there’s no money in

libraries … unless someone’s donated money, and it needs someone to do this work. Whether

one can find enough volunteers to do it, I don’t know.” Another interviewee agreed,

stating that: “the constraining factor would be the budget of each Club. There’s an economy

of scale to be gained by having the administrative organisation running it rather than the

individual Clubs.”

5.3 What should be included on the resource?

One librarian suggested that the essentials should be included on the

resource:

“We are a library, we are a museum. We have a lending and reference library. Our

membership is just … five pounds a year; entrance is a pound. An extensive lending

library, twelve hundred books – it’s open to all members of the museum. That sort of

thing.”

With regards to a networked catalogue one participant stated that what

should be included should be “the basic stuff like title, author, year, date of publication,

where it could be found, which libraries had it” and the ISBN. Another participant stated

it should incorporate a search facility, and that the catalogue should not just be

limited to books, “I think you should have photographic archives. And also sound … I

think a sound and video archive would be excellent.”

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The librarians agreed that as well as a networked catalogue the contact details

of each cricket library should also be placed on the resource. The Clubs’ websites do

not provide these details in the majority of cases, especially when the library consists

of only a few hundred items. The email enquiries received by the librarians often

come from other sources like the main enquiry email servicing the entire Club. To

have a central point for all library information and enquiries would enhance the

services’ profile and provide users with an easy way to find the necessary

information.

Two of the librarians emphasised the fact that their facilities were used for

learning, pointing out that any resource should not be simply a database of disparate

objects but should “create compelling navigational and learning experiences for end-

users and to provide appropriate contexts for use and learning (Nickerson 2002)”

(Yeates and Guy 2006: 139). One interviewee stated that:

“we try and really encourage youngsters to use the facility, and I’m trying to work it

in as part of the Key Stage syllabus so we can actually interface with youngsters and

get them to do projects on, in here, terms projects within a Key Stage.”

And another librarian noted that “we’re hoping we can use the Internet for an e-learning

package”.

5.4 Implementing the resource

The majority of the librarians interviewed were willing to maintain their own

individual contribution to a networked resource, but were unwilling to take the lead

in any such venture. This is understandable as they do not have the time or

resources to act as the champion of such a project, particularly if they operate as solo

volunteers. As one librarian pointed out everybody involved would have to ensure

that their catalogue was up-to-date because otherwise “it reduces its [the resource]

effectiveness if you can’t really rely on the data on there, or certain Counties haven’t bothered

keeping theirs up-to-date and others have.” Hedegaard (2004) agrees stating that a

database is justifiable only if updated. The librarians were prepared to do this: “if we

51

were well indexed … and worked that into a pattern that everybody else worked to, then

really … your resource is open to at least all the … members nationally.” Many of the

libraries already have a catalogue in some form or another, but for those that do not

the librarians acknowledge that this will be the first step, and that “it’s a major job …

unless you get a volunteer to do it, it’s hopeless.”

The librarians acknowledged that they would be responsible for maintaining

their part of the resource, but for overall maintenance they looked to an overarching

body such as the MCC or the Cricket Memorabilia Society, or another large

organisation.

“Whether it’s the MLA or the ECB, I don’t know … in terms of the overall steering of

it, the overall maintenance of it, you’d have to have a separate organisation doing

that.”

One librarian acknowledged that “we couldn’t be the leader in any large …

country-wide set-up” due to the extra workload this would place upon the volunteers,

and the fact that none of them were completely confident with the technological

aspects of the project. One librarian pointed out that “the only way you’d give

credibility to get it off the ground was for all the Chief Executives [of the County Cricket

Clubs] to say right, we’re going to do this.” Another librarian agreed, stating that: “the

Chief Executive is museum-minded. And I think we could expect help.”

There was also the issue of whether the individual Clubs would support such

a resource, financially or by allowing staff to work on it. Most of the librarians stated

with some confidence that their Club would support a resource of this kind. One

librarian stated that: “they’d certainly give all the support they could without committing

any … resources”. But many County Clubs do not have sufficient resources to

contribute to such a project, as one librarian explained: “this last year, last season, we

have a deficit … And the staff is really down to the bones.” Other librarians are luckier

with regards to the support their Clubs can afford to give them: “They probably

wouldn’t have any problem with me dedicating some of my time keeping to our side of things

up to date.”

52

The librarians were asked who would need to be involved in implementing

such a resource apart from themselves. A few librarians felt that they could cope

with their contribution virtually single-handedly: “it wouldn’t be too much for me to do;

I could be the only person involved, and then dealing with a central point.” One librarian

stated that the two people involved in collating and maintaining the Club’s records

were the Club statistician and the librarian himself, “I rather suspect it would really fall

to me because I have, on computer, all the information on both of the libraries.” Another

librarian acknowledged that all of the librarians at the Clubs would have to be

involved: “you’d have to … get a meeting of the clubs that have librarians together.” He

also pointed out that the media would need to be involved: “in a funny sort of way we

would need the support of the media to actually get into the public domain.” Sloan (1998)

recommends that for the service to work effectively, collaboration with the Club’s

computing and networking facilities is essential, and that it is important for the Club

to understand what the library is attempting to do by offering electronic reference

service. And whereas some of the librarians advocated collaborating with IT

personnel, one librarian pointed out that they would have to get an expert in because

none of the staff at the library were conversant with modern technological

capabilities, whilst another library had a close relationship with the Club’s IT

Department and thought that they should be involved: “probably our IT manager

would recommend somebody that had an expertise in that particular area, and they would be

brought in to have a look at it if necessary.” Another librarian felt that as the Cricket

Board had a Webmaster they should be involved. Hildebrand (2003) agrees that it is

important to utilise the expertise of information technology staff to install software

and implement web services, because not only do they have valuable skills

themselves but they can also recommend experts in their field.

Hildebrand (2003) points out that for libraries to establish a meaningful

online presence it is necessary to develop a business case. However, the cricket

libraries may be fortunate in this respect because it may be possible to house the

resource on a Club’s website. There are other legal aspects that will need to be

considered depending on what is put onto the resource. One librarian had concerns

over the level of entry offered to people on such a site:

53

“my concern is that you’re opening up a huge raft of information, which is actually

commercially viable … And my concern with that, let’s say the moving footage, is

that players have their own image rights etc. … So by charging for that facility, that’s

one way of feeding back some money to the people who have provided it. But it’s a

very grey area.”

By providing such a rich source of material online Intellectual Property

Rights become an issue, particularly with regards to digitalising images and video

archive. Some legal issues that need to be considered include any intellectual or

property rights in the resource or integral software supplied with it; contractual

terms; confidentiality of individuals and institutions; “protecting the integrity and

reputation of data creators or other stakeholders in the resource; or any legal

obligation to select and preserve the authenticity and categories of records or

individual resources” (AHDS 2001: 12). These legal issues have to be taken into

account because they can lead to “protracted decision times or undue legal costs”

(Yeates and Guy 2006: 153).

During the implementation stage an evaluation should be made of a pilot

operation lasting one or two months. Not only will this give the librarians and the

Clubs feedback on how the resource is being used, but it should also be used as an

opportunity to refine the service and repair any glitches that might have been

highlighted. As Gross et al (2001) point out libraries want evaluative data that will

help them describe their services to their stakeholders and funding agencies,

improve services and collections, and better understand their users.

5.5 Sustainability

The issue of the sustainability of a project should be raised before the

construction of an online resource is started. Huxley (2001) suggests that new

business models are needed to ensure sustainability. “ThamesPilot has

experimented with significant membership fees to provide some independence from

external funding for shared staffing and services, with some success” (Yeates and

Guy 2006: 151). Other approaches include the support of local publishers wishing to

54

digitise and archive local newspapers; tourism bodies providing current information

linked to heritage sites; and future members paying more than founding members.

Yeates and Guy (2006) identify three factors in creating sustainable services: a

common vision; a collaborative institutional infrastructure; and adequate funding.

Secure funding “is required to enable planning, budgeting and to maintain partners’

commitment and enthusiasm” (Henry and Marley 2004: 31).

Maintaining a project of this kind after the initial funding has run out is a

major theme in the literature. One librarian suggested introducing an annual fee for

each County involved, acknowledging that the smaller counties in particular might

not be able or willing to afford this: “The level I think would have to be discussed, because

some of the smaller Counties might say we’re not going to pay £100 to be involved in the

project …before it was set up an investigation would need to be done to discover … what the

Clubs were prepared to pay.” Another interviewee agreed that the long term funding

would have to come from the county clubs, and he also mentioned that funding

could be sought from the MLA and the Heritage Lottery Fund, acknowledging that

the funding of the County Clubs is haphazard: “if you’re a Test Ground it’s good, if

you’re not a Test Ground you’ve got less money.”

“You need a central fund, so the HLF, the MLA ought to provide a pot which is then

divided up equally between constituents, the eighteen First Class Counties … The

easy way around it would be for the HLF or the MLA to give a grant to the ECB, and

then the ECB to […] among its constituents, because these organisations come under

the ECB charter.”

Another librarian acknowledged that he could not really answer that

question because “it depends on what reaction one gets from the other counties.” One of

the interviewees pointed out that “one of the advantages here is that once something like

that is up and running we would just budget each year for that.”

Another librarian addressed the issue of ensuring that the information on the

online resource was regularly maintained and updated: “it really is a major job. It’s

55

not a full time job, but it’s something that wants doing on a regular basis … perhaps half a

day a week or something.” Another librarian agreed, stating that the resource can be

maintained over the long term by “having someone who can continually update it when

necessary.” One librarian pointed out that sustainability is a “thing every voluntary

organisation that my generation is part of is struggling with … We’re at a stage where there

are more and more people, fifty plus, with time on their hands, but fewer and fewer are

prepared to do voluntary things.”

“It should never be taken for granted that a good service speaks for itself – it

must be good or it will fail eventually, however well advertised it may be; but

goodness alone is not a strong enough magnet for clients” (Ashworth 1979: 102).

One essential element of sustainability is promoting the resource. Some of the

librarians raised the point that they could not cope with more visitors to their

libraries due to space and staffing levels but “quite the contrary occurs when patrons

have no way of knowing that a service exists ... It takes time to build recognition”

(Kawakami 2002), and “today, special librarians require a fearless, forward thinking

mindset coupled with an acute ability to self promote” (Wittwer 2001: 221), and

Turner et al (2004) point out that the sharing of know-how and knowledge in library

marketing and promoting must be a priority. An email reference service, for

example, could alleviate the numbers of visitors to some of the libraries, especially if

it was explicitly promoted in such way that encouraged users to use the email service

(by highlighting the convenience factor, in-depth answers and quick response) before

visiting the library. “Celebrating and publicising success can counter scepticism”

(Wildridge et al 2004: 7), and help ensure support from the Clubs. “The need for

better promotion is present in all library services, across all sectors. To quote Siess

(2003): “In the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries, libraries are no longer a

given.” … There is an increasing need to demonstrate real value to all stakeholders”

(Turner et al 2004: 263).

56

Chapter 6 – Conclusions

6.1 Findings

An online-networked resource could benefit the libraries by enabling them to

share information about library practices, as well as duplicate materials, and

allowing collaborative purchasing. “Greater presence, support and

acknowledgement may be achieved by more formal communication between the

librarians” (Gregory 2004: 41). At the moment the libraries are isolated from each

other by geography and the lack of a formal network. It is clear that some librarians

are perfectly happy with this arrangement, but others have started reaching out to

their colleagues to explore the possibility of collaborative working. The libraries all

hold a rich source of cricket heritage, and it is only available in the physical libraries.

An online presence would enable users from around the world to utilise the libraries’

services, and increase awareness and visibility.

None of the libraries at present has the facilities to host or start up an online-

networked resource. The construction of such a resource would in itself be a

collaborative venture, which would require all of the participating librarians to

discuss what form it should take and how it should be run. It is probably not so

important that some of the cricket libraries do not initially wish to take part, for

reasons of finance, staffing or simply believing it is not a viable idea, because enough

of the librarians interviewed for this piece of research welcomed the idea of an

online-networked resource.

What the project will need is a champion to kick-start it and oversee the

management of it. Understandably, few of the librarians felt that they had the time

or resources to undertake such a task. The larger libraries in terms of staff were

recommended by other librarians, as was the ECB or the Cricket Memorabilia

Society. All of the librarians felt that they could contribute individually to the

resource by maintaining their records and ensuring they were put online. Placing

management of the project into the hands of an outside body, even one related to

cricket, does take some of the control for the resource away from the librarians.

57

All of the librarians interviewed were keen that the resource be a useful tool

for their users as well as for themselves. However, some of them also expressed

concern about, for example, placing catalogues online for the public to use as this

might encourage theft. One solution to this could be that any networked catalogue is

available only via a subscription part of the website hosting it, so that only registered

members could use it. With regards to what form the online resource could take the

librarians were keen that they be able to see what was available at other libraries so

that they could direct their users with more confidence and efficiency. However, the

librarians also acknowledged that not all of the libraries have catalogues, and of

those that do they are all in different formats and on different systems. Integrating

all the catalogues would be a major job, and would have to involve more staff than

are available at the libraries at the moment. A long-term goal of a networked

catalogue could encourage those libraries without catalogues to get them up to date,

but this resource seems unachievable in the short-term. What might be a more

feasible option is an email reference service, as this is a service the majority of

libraries provide anyway, and it is fairly easy to set up with the help of IT

departments. Such a service would enable the libraries to be promoted more heavily

on the Clubs’ websites, and it would encourage collaboration as queries relating to

specific Clubs were passed to the relevant librarian. It is also a venture that all

librarians, regardless of the size of their collections, could participate in if they

wished to get involved because it would require a rota to be established in order for

the emails to be monitored and passed to the appropriate person. The IT skills of the

librarians interviewed varied widely, but they could all use email, so this venture

would not require much additional training – simply an introduction to the service.

This service would also enable the librarians to log enquiries and create an archive

for future use, and evidence of the service that they provide to their Clubs. It is

possible that such a venture could lead on to the librarians becoming more proficient

with other forms of social software. This could also encourage people into the

physical libraries who might otherwise have been unaware that they were there.

A pilot could be set up initially to see how the librarians respond to an

additional task in their day, and this would allow the service to be evaluated before

additional resources were assigned to it. Promotion of the service would be

essential, and this is an area that the librarians do not have much experience with.

58

At the moment very few of the libraries have a presence on their Club’s website; a

couple of the librarians have pointed out that additional promotion could lead to the

physical library being overwhelmed by visitors. However, many of the libraries are

situated in the pavilions of the Clubs, which means only members are allowed in

them on match days anyway. An online service could provide users with an

alternative means of accessing the club’s resources. One suggestion to deal with any

perceived influx of visitors is to advertise convenient visiting times on the website, or

provide contact details for each librarian so that visits can be arranged.

Initially it is hoped that one of the Club’s websites could provide an access

point to this new service, to save the librarians from setting one up from scratch. At

the moment a couple of the librarians are also responsible for their Club’s website,

and it would be convenient if it was one of these librarians that set up the service on

their ‘site. It would also be useful if other Club’s sites could advertise the service,

emphasising the part their own library would play in it.

If the cricket libraries built upon the informal connections they have already

made they could establish a network that would enable them to collaborate on

projects that would heighten their profile, and could lead to vital backing and

support from cricket authorities in England and Wales. Most of the libraries enjoy

support from their Clubs at the moment, one library has already been moved to a

purpose built larger facility, and there are plans for another to be extended, although

they are seen as a peripheral service because they do not make any money. By

establishing a network between the libraries, particularly an online reference service,

archived enquiries could be produced to evidence the valuable service that they

provide.

59

6.2 Recommendations for Further Study

There are several areas that will need further study if the libraries are ever to

establish an online-networked resource.

• An investigation into the users of the library. Interviewing the members of

the Clubs to determine what use they make of the library and its resources. It

will be somewhat easier to arrange interviews with the members of the Club,

but other users such as researchers, genealogists and journalists should also

be contacted to get views from as large a user base as possible. It would also

be useful to conduct a study into non-users of the library. This could be done

initially by handing out surveys on match days and seeing if non-members

would use the library services, particularly if they were online.

• Another area that needs to be looked at is the Clubs’ support for such a

resource. This could be done by arranging interviews with the Chief

Executives of the Clubs to see if they and their Committees would be

prepared to support a resource, particular with regards to financial support.

• Related to the idea above is an investigation into the IT Departments at each

Ground. From this piece of research it was clear that these services varied

from one person to a large department from Club to Club. As at least one of

these departments will need to be involved in the establishment of an online

resource it would be useful to interview representatives to see if they were

willing and capable to do this.

• The librarians thought that an organisation such as the ECB, MCC or the

Cricket Memorabilia Society could oversee the project and manage it, so an

investigation into the resources of these organisations and whether they

would be interested in managing the resource would be useful.

In addition, it could be interesting to set up a pilot online resource that could be

introduced to the librarians so they would have something they could use and assess

60

if it would of any use to them. This would be a time-consuming project –

particularly with the evaluation at the end, but it would be worthwhile for the

librarians to use a resource.

All of these topics would need to be looked at before an online-resource was set up

for the librarians. It was interesting to discover whether the librarians themselves

thought it would be a worthwhile venture, but there would need to be other

interested parties involved before it could be constructed.

Word Count: 19, 487

61

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70

Appendix 1 – Interview schedule

This research is being undertaken for a dissertation to complete a Masters in

Librarianship at the University of Sheffield. The aims of the investigation are:

• To examine the feasibility of creating an online-networked resource (such

as a website or a portal) that would provide a link to the libraries in the

First Class County Grounds in England and Wales.

• To identify how individual libraries could contribute to such a resource.

• To identify any enabling or constraining factors to creating such a

resource.

• To identify possible sources of funding and technical expertise for

establishing a networked resource.

Therefore the questions asked will focus upon these. Feel free to miss out any

questions you do not wish to answer or cannot for any reason. If you do not have

any objections the interview will be taped in order for it to be transcribed. You have

a right to remain anonymous and precautions will be taken to protect your

anonymity.

The online networked resource

1. Do you see a need for an online networked resource?

2. What form could such a resource take? (Eg. A networked catalogue, email

reference service, wikis.)

3. What should be included on the resource? (Eg. catalogues, digital

materials, contact details.)

4. How would an online networked resource benefit the library?

5. Do you think it would encourage more people to use the library?

71

6. Who do you think would use it?

7. How could you/the library contribute to such a resource?

8. Do you think maintaining it should be a librarian’s job?

Would you be willing to do this?

Implementing the resource

1. Who would need to be involved in creating such a resource? (Both from this

Club and from other sources.)

2. Do you think the Club would support such a resource?

financially, staffwise?

3. How could the resource be maintained over the long term?

4. Any other enabling/constraining factors to implementing the resource?

Collaboration

1. Does this library have any contact with other libraries – either at other Cricket

Grounds or other types of libraries?

2. Have you ever worked in collaboration on a project with other libraries?

3. What do you think the benefits of working with other libraries would be?

4. Drawbacks?

5. Does the library often work with other departments at the ground (eg. IT)?

72

6. Does the ECB have any contact with this library?

Technology

1. Does the library have a computer and access to the Internet/email?

2. What do you use the computer and/or the Internet for?

3. How many email enquiries do you receive a day/week?

4. Is there an IT department at the Ground?

5. How closely does the library work with the IT department?

The librarian’s skills

1. Does the library have a catalogue?

2. Are there any plans to put the catalogue online?

3. Would you say you have any technological skills?

4. Would you be interested in any training to develop such skills?

Closure

Is there anything you’d like to add to what’s already been said, or anything

you’d like to ask me?

The details of the information collected will be tabulated and sent to you for

checking. You are welcome to a copy of the final results and these will be sent to you

if you wish. Thank you once again.

73

Appendix 2 – Glossary

AHRC Arts and Humanities Research Council

ECB England and Wales Cricket Board

HLF Heritage Lottery Fund

JISC Joint Information Systems Committee

MLA Museum and Libraries Association

MCC Marylebone Cricket Club