Published Wednesday 23 June 2010 by Hanna Miettinen

A JISC Netskills-led workshop opened up important discussion, exploring issues around the support of external engagement activities by library and resource management staff at UK universities and colleges.

Taking place in Birmingham in May, the workshop titled 'Libraries, Resources and Information Management for External Engagement' raised awareness of the JISC Business and Community Engagement (BCE) programme.

Chris Young, Consultant Trainer from JISC Netskills and lead facilitator on the day, was extremely happy about the interactive nature of the event. He said:

"It's been really encouraging to hear the breadth and richness of discussions about activities taking place. The workshop really helped to clarify some of the terminology that's used and provided excellent examples of external activities already taking place. It's also definitely set high expectations for the next event!"

Next stop London

The next workshop, in London on 30 June, is aimed at staff in management and administrative posts. Chris is expecting a full house and further lively discussion around the key issues for this particular audience.

Dave Hartland, JISC Netskills Director, was also very pleased after the first workshop, describing the day as a success. He said:

"It's really opened people's eyes to the fact that they're actually already doing a lot of BCE work, even if they don't always recognise it as such. Hopefully after today they will feel capable of greater involvement in their institution's engagement agenda."

Resources from the workshop are already available on the project blog, as well as further information about both the BCE Awareness and Education project and the JISC BCE programme.

Find out more: http://www.netskills.ac.uk/content/projects/2008/jisc-bce-aware/index.html