GO GREEN WITH BDS

Universities and local authorities are leading the response to the climate emergency through publicly stated aims and initiatives. BDS stands with them by providing the means to help deliver carbon neutrality. Many councils and universities in the UK and Ireland have declared a Climate Emergency. They are looking at more sustainable ways of working. The concept of re-use and efficiency, so central to BDS initiatives such as the BDS ALL and the BDS Public Library Licence, work to the benefit of BDS customers and the planet.

Reducing the Burden

BDS helps organisations reduce Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities not directly controlled by an organisation, in this case the creation, licensing and use of catalogue records.

There are significant ways in which metadata creation at BDS helps achieve a reduction in emissions. This results in benefits across the whole book and metadata supply chain.

BDS has reduced the handling of physical books. Books are no longer loaded onto carriers and delivered to BDS’s cataloguers in Scotland, then handled at the BDS offices and packaged for a second journey back to the publishers. Instead, BDS has worked closely with publishers to receive digital content for new and backlist publications. Books are now catalogued without any associated road miles.

Simplicity is Key

The creation of accurate and reliable catalogue records from publications sourced from the publisher means that BDS metadata facilitates the direct delivery of physical items to branch libraries and campuses, avoiding the unnecessary movement of books. This also has the added benefit of getting the book to the reader without any delay.

Such efficiency and simplicity removes duplication of effort. There is no need for multiple institutions to create their own records for the core material they acquire. One cataloguer using one workstation at BDS creates an accurate and comprehensive record which can be used by institutions around the world. This has the added benefit that an institution’s cataloguers are freed to work on specialist material in their collections.

BDS-generated records are fed into the supply chain at various points – libraries, systems’ suppliers, publishers – and users can be sure that the same record is doing the job for which it was created. This saves resources by avoiding the need to inspect, correct and rewrite records and the consequent hours of computer time and office resources this activity consumes. Adherence to internationally recognised standards means that BDS records should also be suitable for use by the international library community.

Reducing Hardware

At BDS, all records created by BDS cataloguers and the publications they create the record from are stored on BDS servers. Catalogue records are then delivered to the recipient via an agreed protocol. The use of APIs for access to extended content to service end-user requests “live” directly from the BDS servers leads to a reduction of local storage at the library. Content is available only when needed. Thus, power consumption and the use of valuable raw materials is reduced yet further.

When you work with BDS you can be sure that BDS has made the investment to build the most efficient and environmentally friendly storage that technology can offer.

Over the past 10 years BDS has reduced its reliance on servers from eighty physical servers to just thirteen by investing in and developing the use of virtual servers. This results in an eighty-five percent reduction of energy consumption, so institutions using BDS metadata can rest-assured that they are helping the planet and not draining its resources unnecessarily.

Getting to Work

BDS has adapted readily to hybrid working and has used it to reduce the company’s carbon footprint.

The BDS offices at Annadale House remain open and in use, allowing anyone wishing to “come to work” to do so. However, those working further afield or workers with special needs have the option of working from a home-office. BDS installs an employee’s home-office with the equipment needed to work as if in the “real” office, and it uses its own electric van to deliver the equipment. The result is a significant reduction in travel miles to and from the workplace.

EV technology has been proactively supported by BDS with the installation of charging points around the Crichton Business Park and University Campus, where BDS is based. These not only keep the BDS van charged and ready, but they are also available for employees who wish to adopt electric as their means of getting to and from the office.

Wherever possible, BDS encourages the use of green alternatives to motorised, carbon-based transport. The company has developed a healthy cycling culture, while many employees simply enjoy the walk to work through the attractive Crichton gardens.

Part of a Green Culture

BDS is proud of its location on the Crichton Business Park set in acres of parkland with an environmentally progressive estate management culture.

The BDS offices are in a repurposed nineteenth century red-sandstone listed building, part of a complex of buildings that forms the legacy of Elizabeth Crichton, a pioneer in mental health treatment. Not only is BDS preserving part of the UK’s heritage, it is also avoiding the environmentally damaging effects of building from scratch.

Moving forward, BDS is collaborating with the Crichton Estate Management team to develop and employ renewable energy for its operation, including solar and geo-thermal alternatives.

Work Environment

BDS is a wonderful place to work. A rose garden beside Annandale House offers a delightful and peaceful place for breaks. Many staff bring a packed lunch and spend their lunch hour among the scent of roses and listening to birdsong. Trees have been donated to offset carbon emissions and store carbon, with the added benefit of enhancing the grounds. The lawn is used for receptions for cultural events that BDS sponsors.

Inside the office, BDS monitors air quality round the clock to ensure that the intellectually demanding task of cataloguing books is performed in optimal conditions. The BDS office is paper-free and all waste generated from the day to day operation of the company is recycled as is the legacy computer equipment. This is sent for refurbishment and reuse or for the recovery of valuable components and metals that are increasingly rare or environmentally damaging to extract from the earth.

Raising Awareness

Sponsorship of library-related conferences has long been important to BDS. With libraries leading the way in awareness-raising around environmental issues, BDS continues to support events, committees and cultural activities that highlight issues such as sustainability.

Only recently BDS has sponsored the CONUL conference in Ireland, the theme of which in 2023 is “Sense and Sustainability”, the NAG Award for Excellence, and the MDG conference which this year is themed around “Re-Discovery”.

BDS also supports its staff who sit on international committees that govern the development of standards relating to classification and cataloguing. The developing vocabulary of terms available within the community of librarians, including those relating to the burning issues of the day, are at the heart of BDS’s engagement.

Supporting the Globe at Home

Linked to environmental support is the help BDS provides to the local community, in the form of sponsorship of local cultural events,, such as BDS’s seven year-long support of the visit of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to Dumfries, in Scotland. This has enabled students and the general public to see worldclass theatre without undertaking a seven-hundredmile round trip to London.

Currently, BDS is supporting Absolute Classics, a music initiative that brings internationally renowned musicians to Dumfries and Galloway to perform locally and to offer workshops for students in schools. Not only does this cut down on audience miles travelled, reducing carbon emissions, but such sponsorship is also offered in the belief that culture and education matters in a world facing up to the challenges posed by climate change and the consequent social and economic upheavals it brings about.

Looking to the Future

While efficiency and simplicity have been at the heart of the culture at BDS, now more than ever BDS recognises the need to strive for a better future. Libraries around the world will be part of that better future and BDS will stand alongside those libraries ensuring the right book gets to the right reader in an environmentally friendly and sustainable world.