Introduction

The UK higher education (HE) information environment is amorphous. It is difficult to define and is constantly changing shape. The language that describes it can feel abstract and be difficult to grasp. The information environment is changing in form and nature. The government provides the canvas or frame that dictates the Higher Education Funding Council for England's (HEFCE) funding agenda, which in turn shapes the strategic plans and modus operandi of HE institutions. The objects within this, including the information environment, then take their shape, size and direction.

None of us know what the future holds, but we are all effectively aiming for a one stop shop at the press of a button to academic information relevant and accessible to a wide variety of users within the HE sector. This paper will not present a big new idea or grandiose vision. It will not try to predict the future, or shoehorn the evolving information environment into a rigid framework. Instead it will take four key themes of HE in the UK and look at how a university library, Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Library, is playing its part in supporting the objectives of its parent institution. I will paint a picture of a changing environment; describe what we are trying to do and how we are doing it. Many of the areas covered will be familiar to you, your own institutions may be doing similar work, but it will give a full case study of how a fairly typical large UK university library is moving towards the future. The four key themes are: learning and teaching, research, widening participation and reaching out to business and local communities. First some brief background about MMU, its Library and electronic development.

Background

Manchester Metropolitan University (www.mmu.ac.uk/) is widely recognized for its diversity and flexible approaches to learning. It offers 1628 study programmes (part-time, sandwich, graduate apprenticeship, distance, online, foundation to PhD) and is constantly building in new modes of learning to widen access to quality education. It has seven campuses, five in the Manchester area and two at Alsager and Crewe in Cheshire. It is one of the largest universities in the UK with over 30,000 students.