Introduction

Library and information workers have always had a tradition of networking and collaborative working, both within the profession and also with other professional groups. In the last decade governments, agencies and organizations have raised the profile of partnership working as they see this as one way of meeting the needs to modernize and develop new approaches to working and delivering services in a complex and rapidly changing environment. A scan of the current ILS literature reveals that many information workers are now involved in developing and delivering a wide range of services through partnerships.

This chapter will explore the realities of working in partnership and it will focus on five themes: the context for working in partnership, benefits of working in partnership, challenges of working in partnership, processes of working in partnership, and managing the partnership.

Context for working in partnership

Sullivan and Skelcher (2002) highlight the rise in collaborative working between the public, private, voluntary and community sectors, and they map out how collaboration is central to the way in which public policy is made, managed and delivered in the UK. Partnership working is currently popular with the UK government where it is seen as an important strategy for tackling complex and interlinked problems such as crime, education, health and housing in our inner cities. Partnership working is one way in which the modernization agenda is being tackled. It involves collaboration with partnerships in health and social care, social inclusion, and education which includes a lifelong learning agenda involving many public and other library and information services. Financial drivers are often used to ensure that the different sectors and agencies work together in partnership to deliver services and products.

A wide range of partnerships exist and these may be located within a region or country, transnational, e.g. European, or global. Pilling and Kenna (2002) provide an excellent overview of collaborative initiatives in the information world, which covers the UK national and regional perspectives, co-operation in specific fields (higher education, preservation), European and international co-operation, and funding. The following examples show the range and scope of some projects.