16 April 2008: National Library to host renowned speaker
Chris
Batt, OBE, former chief executive of the Museums, Libraries and
Archives Council UK and a former adviser to the European Commission,
is to speak at a function at the National Library on Monday April 21.
He
has more than 20 years’ experience in cultural heritage and learning
policy development and, with a keen interest in the development of
information technology for public use, now works as a library and ICT
strategist.
The National Library is bringing Mr Batt to New
Zealand from Australia, where he spoke at the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network (ATSILIRN)
conference in Darwin and worked with the state libraries of New South
Wales and Queensland.
The primary purpose of his New
Zealand visit is for an exchange of views and ideas and during his time
in Wellington, he will meet staff of the National Library to discuss
content and information democracy issues.
Mr Batt led the
implementation of the £170m People’s Network programme in the United
Kingdom, the largest single investment ever made by government in the
public library service. His task was to connect all 4300 public
libraries to the information
superhighway by the end of 2002, giving
universal public access to the rich information and learning resources
that are now being created in cyberspace.
The New Zealand initiative - the Aotearoa People’s Network - was launched in November 2007. It is a collaboration between the National Library, public libraries, business and the community, and part of the wider Government Digital Content Strategy to unlock the nation’s stock of content and build opportunities for the public to access it.
Providing free
access to broadband Internet services in public libraries, the Aotearoa
People’s Network will complete its first phase by the end of this
month, with 147 computers placed in 34 libraries across 13 regions.
Planning for phase two is under way with a further 36 libraries due to
go online.
