Qualifications
Academic:BA (Hons) First Class ﷓ Open University
Professional:Honorary Fellow of Library Association
Member, Institute of Information Scientists
 
SHORT BIOGRAPHY
CHRIS BATT OBE is Director of Learning and Information Society at Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries where he is responsible for strategic advice on the delivery of services to users of museums, archives and libraries. As part of his remit to advise on the use of ICT he is responsible for the implementation of the Government’s People’s Network programme. His task is to connect all 4,300 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.

Until August 1999 he was Director of Leisure Services for the London Borough of Croydon where he had worked for over 20 years. Closely involved in the development of Croydon Clocktower, the award winning cultural centre, his responsibilities as Director of Leisure Services included libraries, museums and heritage, the arts, sport and recreation, parks and open spaces, and tourism.

In 1999 Chris advised the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on the creation of the new Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries. He has a keen interest in the development of information technology for public use having been involved with the development of computer systems since the mid-seventies and has written seven books on the subject. He also lectures in the UK and the rest of Europe.
 

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

PAST
Secretary, Public Libraries Research Group (1973 ﷓1986)
Chair, Public Libraries Research Group (1986 ﷓90)
Chair, LA Information Technology Group (1989 - 1993)
Adviser on IT to Federation of Local Authority Chief Librarians
Adviser, AMA Arts and Libraries Policy Group
Scrutineer for Library Association Board of Associateship
Member of the British Library’s Information UK 2000 research team
Member of the Advisory Board of the Library Information Technology Centre
Member of New Library Task Group on Content Creation
Member of MLAC Design Group

PRESENT
Member, Program Editorial Board
External Examiner for DLIS, Aberystwyth Distance Learning MSc in Information and Library Studies
Member, British Library Advisory Committee and Humanities and Social Sciences
Member, British Council Advisory Committee on Library and Information Services

PUBLICATIONS TO SPRING 1999
1. Croydon Public Libraries. In Vine 36, November 1980
2. Microcomputers in Public Libraries. (with David Harrison) Public Libraries Research Group, 1983. ISBN 0950380156
3. New Technology in Public Libraries: Preparing for the Future. In Public Libraries: Re﷓appraisal and Restructuring, ed. HARRIS, C. and CLIFFORD, B. Rossendale, 1985. ISBN 0946138060
4. Microcomputers in Public Libraries: a Review of Current Trends. In Program, vol 19, no 1, January 1985.
5. New Technology in London Public Libraries. Association of London  Chief Librarians, 1985.
6. New Technology in Public Libraries: a Survey. Public Libraries Research Group, 1985. ISBN 0950380172
7. New Technology in Public Libraries: a Traveller's Tale. In Library Association Record, vol 88, no 2, February 1986.
8. Blunt Facts at the Sharp End (paper presented at the 1986 annual conference of the LAIT Group). In ITS News, no 7 September 1986
9. May I Speak to a Silicon Assistant Please? In Public Library Journal, vol 1, no 5, November/December 1986
10. Microcomputers and Organisational Change: the UK Public Library Experience. In Lehmann, K.D. Application of Microcomputers in Information, Documentation and Libraries. (Proceedings of Conference held in Baden Baden, March 1986) North Holland, 1987. ISBN 0444701354
11. Fact and Fiction: the Future of Information Processing in Public Libraries. (Paper presented at the 1987 annual conference of the LAIT Group). In ITS News May 1988.
12. Information Technology in Public Libraries 1987. Public Libraries Research Group, 1988. ISBN 1870917014
13. The Host in the Machine. In Feeney, M. and Merry, K. Information Technology and the Research Process. Bowker﷓Saur, London, 1990. ISBN 0 86291 476 0
14. Information Technology in Public Libraries 1989. Public Libraries Research Group, Croydon, 1990. ISBN 1 870917 02 2
15. Cutting Edge Column 1 ﷓ 23. In Public Library Journal, May/June 1987, September/October 1987, November/December 1987, March/April 1988, July/August 1988, November/December 1988, March/April 1989, July/August 1989, November/December 1989, March/April 1990, July/August 1990, November/December 1990, March/April 1991, July/August 1991, November/December 1991, March/April 1992, July/August 1992, November/December 1992, March/April 1993, July/August 1993, November/December 1993, March/April 1994, July/August 1994, November/December 1994, March/April 1995, July/August 1995, November/December 1995, March/April 1996, July/August 1996, November/December 1996,  March/April 1997, July/August 1997, November/December 1997, March/April 1998, November/December 1999
16. Threading the Consequent Maze: the future of the bibliographic record. Proceedings of the Marc Users Group Conference, 1988. 1990
17. Managing Library Automation, 2nd. Edition. (with Marlene Clayton). Gower, 1992.
18. Information Technology in Public Libraries 1991. Library Association Publishing Ltd. 1992.
19. MUSLS ﷓ a multimedia, multi﷓discipline database. In Program vol. 27 no. 1, January 1993.
20. Does IT Matter? Discussion paper for the Comedia research study ﷓ The Future of Public Libraries. May 1993.
21. Information Technology In Public Libraries, 5th edition. Library Association Publishing, 1995
22. The Heart and the Brain of the Information Society: Public Libraries in the 21st Century. In RAITT, D. Ed. Libraries for the New Millennium. Library Association Publishing, 1997, ISBN 1 85604 257 X.
23. Information Technology in Public Libraries, 6th edition. Library Association Publishing, 1998
24. I have seen the future and IT works. Second Ameritech Information Society Lecture. Merchiston Publishing, Edinburgh, 1998. ISBN 1 872800
25. The People’s Network: The Final Frontier in Developing Information Services for the Millennium. Proceedings of a seminar held on 2 November 1999. CPI, Stamford.
26. Konzertierte Aktion der Europäeischen Kommission Publica in Biblioteks Diensts 6. 1999
27. Au Coeur de la Revolution: les bibliothèques publiques britanniques en XXI siècle in Regards Croises et Perspectives, les bibliothèques publiques en europe. Bibliotheque Publique d’Information, Apris, 1999
28. Learning for Everyone: Into the Bubbling Cauldron in Universities of the Future. Ed. M. Thorne. Office of Science and Technology, DTI, 1999