UKOLN

History

UKOLN traces its roots back to 1977, when Maurice Line initiated the Bath University Programme of Catalogue Research with funding from the British Library. This led to the establishment, in 1979, of a research centre under the directorship of Philip Bryant, again with British Library funding. It was known initially as the Centre for Catalogue Research, and later renamed the Centre for Bibliographic Management (CBM) to reflect its broadening research portfolio.

In 1989, the British Library established the UK Office for Library Networking to work alongside the CBM. It had one full-time member of staff. In 1992, it merged with the CBM and started to receive additional core funding from JISC. The combined organisation was known briefly as UKOLN: The Office for Library and Information Networking, but three years later this was simplified to the UK Office for Library and Information Networking. In 2002 it became known simply as UKOLN, again reflecting a shift in the focus of its activity.

In 1994, Lorcan Dempsey succeeded Philip Bryant as Director of UKOLN. He in turn was succeeded in the role by Liz Lyon in 2000.

In May 2013 an article published in the Times Higher Education announced that "16 of its 24 University of Bath-based staff [were made] redundant after the cessation of a £622,000 annual grant from the higher education technology body Jisc".

Although UKOLN continued after 31 July 2013 it was significantly reduced in size and was no longer working in many of the areas which were responsible for its visibility in national and international arenas. UKOLN's Director departed without replacement in late 2013. The remaining staff were made redundant or redeployed in July 2015, marking the cessation of UKOLN's activities.