The team co-ordinating the response will be making regular posts to the blog.

There have been significant changes in the world, and within the University, since the original Growing Esteem 10-year strategy was adopted in late 2005. The “Refining Our Strategy” consultation process is an opportunity to review progress thus far, and to fine-tune the University’s priorities for the next 3-5 years.

The University Library will make a written submission to the review, and we need your help to do it.

Library staff are invited to attend an introductory forum today, 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm, in the tutorial room, ground floor, Baillieu Library. At this session we will identify which aspects of the discussion paper the Library ought to address in its response.

• View the presentation slides from the 11 June forum (Microsoft Powerpoint 1.2 Mb)

Over the next few weeks there will be other opportunities for you to contribute to the Library response.

To stay in touch with what’s happening, subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed or keep an eye on the Information Futures home page.

Answer: A number of people have asked why we don’t just put out there what we think the answer is and invite comment? We have always had in mind that we shouldn’t approach this process with a pre-conceived vision. Discussions so far with a range of stakeholder highlight the wide range of possible future visions. We need to get the questions and background out there for discussion by you, our community.

So – the Consultation Paper to be released at the end of February will outline some of the big issues and ask the university community to start engaging with them. Following this there will be more papers that provide background in specific areas, Academic Board and other committee discussions, guest speakers at Information Futures and other public discussion forums, and of course the opportunity for everyone to contribute via the blog.

Please get involved! Only through engagement with our community will we arrive at a strategy that is bold and realistic in taking the University forward.

Question: Are we going to look at the great things that the academic community is already doing in order to move our vision forward?

Answer: “Yes…but”. The answer is that of course we will be intensely interested in what is going on and will be interviewing a range of those doing innovative things in the creation, dissemination, access, preservation, and curation of scholarly information. If you have innovative things you’re doing please let us know or (even better) put them on the blog so that everyone can hear about them.

The “but” is that we are also attempting to look 10 years ahead and will need to ensure that we don’t constrain ourselves to the what is out there now – no matter how innovative.