JISC

30 October 2000

To:	Heads of Higher Education Institutions funded by the HEFC’s and DENI
Copies:	Librarians/Information Services Directors and Archivists in the above institutions

1. Summary

1.1 The UK HE Archives Hub service aims to allow users, ranging from the novice to the experienced researcher, networked access to quality records of all archival collections in the UK HE sector. Initially records will be collection level, however the long term vision is to include access to multi-level descriptions, full text and digitised items where appropriate. The establishment of this service will add significant value to learning and research. The service is based on professional standards and is being developed with a view to complete interoperability so it can be integrated within the Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER) and the emerging national archival network.

1.2 Following the success of the Archives Hub pilot phase the JISC has approved funding for its continuation over the period of the next three years (AY 2000 - 2001 to AY 2002 - 2003). The Service is available to higher and further education institutions, but only HE archival collections are sought for inclusion in the Hub at this stage.

1.3 The Archives Hub infrastructure and management is being taken forward by Manchester InforMation and Associated Services (MIMAS) under the auspices of the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL). In addition to funding the CURL to develop the service the JISC has agreed to fund content at a level of £480,000 over the next three years. This circular invites full proposals from HE institutions or consortia to develop and contribute collection level content to the Archives Hub service. To help inform the future development of the service, HE institutions that do not hold collections appropriate for inclusion in the Archives Hub are invited to submit a nil return by email. Funding attached to this circular is for content in respect of archival collections and manuscripts for which institutions have curatorial responsibility and make available to members of HE and FE institutions. The date for receipt of proposals is Wednesday 13th December 2000.

1.4 The Structure of this circular is:

1. This Summary
2. Background and context
3. Scope of content development and contributions
4. Proposal areas
5. Proposal requirements
6. Proposal evaluation and selection criteria
7. Further information

2. Background and Context

The Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER)

2.1 The DNER is a managed environment for accessing quality assured information resources on the internet which are available from many sources. These resources include scholarly journals, monographs, and other kinds of vector and numeric data, as well as moving picture and sound collections. The DNER is being developed with JISC funds for the UK FE and HE communities.

The Archives Hub

2.2 Originally the Archives Hub project was funded as a pilot during AY 1999 - 2000. The funding for this period provided for the establishment of the infrastructure provider at the University of Liverpool and MIMAS through the CURL, data contributions from 15 HE archive repositories, editorial support by the University of Southampton and an element of external evaluation and user feedback.

2.3 By the end of the first phase approximately 5000 collection level descriptions are available via the Archives Hub. These cover a wide range of collections in terms of subject matter and size. The JISC has agreed to fund the Archives Hub over the next three years in order to form an important element in the DNER and in the developing national archival network. The project infrastructure, management and editorial support is being taken forward as a continuation of the current pilot phase through CURL. The main content for the service is being funded by the JISC via a series of two or three calls for proposals. This circular is the first in this series .The content funding will enable a critical mass of standards based archival collection level data to be made available via the network.

2.4 Currently the Archives Hub is centralised but in the future aims to provide a substantially distributed service allowing remote cross-searching of heterogeneous databases and enabling more local control. The service will continue to focus on collection level data whilst looking to develop ways of including multi-level data and linking to a wider variety of archival resources as the service develops. The service is based on recognised standards to enable cross searching of data from different repositories and interoperability between it and other initiatives working in this area e.g. A2A, SCAN and RSLP projects dealing with archives and manuscripts. International Standard of Archival Description (ISAD(G)) is the data structure standard, Encoded Archival Description (EAD) is the data delivery format and the search protocol is based on the Z39.50 standard. One of the leading principles of the service is to accept data in different formats therefore recognising the reality across repository practice and resources as far as possible. For example data conforming to ISAD(G) (now using version 2) but made available in MARC or ASCII can be accepted and converted to EAD for incorporation.

2.5 A small scale evaluation of the pilot and the Archives Hub concept has been carried out by The Tavistock Institute.

3. Scope of Content Development and Contributions

3.1 The funds available through this circular are for collection level content only i.e. fonds and sub-fonds.

3.2 Proposals are invited for funding to develop content to suitable standards for incorporation in the Archives Hub service. All content for the service will have to conform to ISAD(G) 2 for data structure and the supporting guidelines developed as a result of the first phase of the hub.

3.3 Collection level records for the Archives Hub are to include the following ISAD (G) 2 elements; these are mandatory at fonds level. If you have a integral sub-fonds description within the same file then identical fields should not be repeated at sub-fonds level, but if you have separate files for sub-fonds, then they will need to be included.

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

• 3.1.1 Reference code(s)
• 3.1.2 Title
• 3.1.3 Date(s) of creation and predominant dates if appropriate
• 3.1.4 Level of description
• 3.1.5 Extent of and medium of the unit of description (quantity, bulk, or size)

CONTEXT AREA

• 3.2.1 Name of creator(s) (this can be omitted if it is explicit in the title of the collection)
• 3.2.2 Administrative and/or biographical history

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

• 3.3.1 Scope and Content abstract

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

• 3.4.1 Conditions governing access
• 3.4.4 Language of material
• 3.4.5 Finding aids

3.4 The inclusion of access points is also mandatory. Access points can be included for Personal, Family, Corporate & Place Name, Subject & Genre, these should be included when appropriate and advice can be sought from the Data Editor. Access points have been constructed in the first phase using the following rules: UNESCO,LCSH, AACR2 and NCA. See the data creation guidelines.

3.5 Collection level records at both fonds and sub-fonds level will be acceptable.

3.6 ISAD (G) defines a fonds as: 'The whole of the records, regardless of form or medium, organically created and/or accumulated and used by a particular person, family or corporate body in the course of that creator's activities and functions.'

3.7 The definition of a collection for the purposes of the Archives Hub service assumes this use of fonds as an 'archive group' rather than, for instance, as an acquisition group or accession level record. Institutions may also hold artificial groups of material, organised by subject or format rather than strict provenance. Collection level records for the hub will inevitably reflect local management practices. In general single manuscripts will not be considered eligible for inclusion.

3.8 The Data Editor will work with contributors to advise on collection definition and appropriate description within the hub.

3.9 A collection may contain sub-fonds which are related to the main collection but have a separate origination, such as the records of merged companies which may appear in a business archive

3.10 Data creation guidelines. These are based on the experience of the first phase and will provide you with an accurate picture of the form that data should follow. It is envisaged that these will be developed further during the course of the service development and that training will be delivered to participating institutions. Data issues that arise during the development will be resolved through consultation between the service and institutions.

3.11 All records must be for collections that are accessible to external researchers and users.

3.12 Acquisitions will not be funded.

3.13 All content incorporated in to the Archives Hub will be made freely available via the network to the UK HE and FE community and beyond.

3.14 It is expected that the Archives Hub will make its data widely available in order to collaborate as fully as possible with other archival networking initiatives.

4. Proposals

4.1 Proposals in one of the following areas or a combination of areas will be considered

a. institutions with archive and mss collections that have to update and edit current catalogues in order to produce standard compliant records

b. institutions that have yet to create collection level records for collections

c. institutions that participated in the first phase but still need to complete listings of their holdings.

d. institituions that have content available to the necessary standard and that with minimal work could be incorporated in to the Archives Hub

4.2 Institutions with a significant number of major archival holdings are encouraged to participate.

4.3 To enable institutions that have a relatively small number of holdings and limited archival staff to participate it is suggested that institutions consider submitting collaborative bids. For example funding could provide for a member of staff to work across a number of institutions within a region summarising already available lists to standard compliant collection level records. Or similarly an institution with expertise in this area might bid for funds to cover a peripatetic post.

5. Proposal Requirements

5.1 Funds are available for standard compliant collection level (at fonds or sub-fonds) data only.

5.2 Funding will be available up to a maximum of £25,000 per academic year per institution, however since funding is limited it is expected that where circumstances permit grants of less than this will be requested. Institutions should be aware that the records in the first phase of the hub averaged at about £20/£25 per record, however this cost does vary. It might be higher for less experienced institutions and for small collections the costs will be less.

5.3 Where it is possible institutions are invited to make financial contributions to the work.

5.4 Proposals should cover the period or a combination of the following periods:

1 February 2001 - 31 July 2001, or 1 February 2001 - 31 July 2002. However where a case can be made, proposals covering the period 1 February 2001 - 31 July 2003 will be considered. It is accepted that where recruitment processes are necessary, work on descriptions might not begin until March/April 2001.

5.5 Proposals should:

a) Detail what contributions can be offered of re-worked collection level (fonds or sub-fonds) data.

b) Demonstrate the research and learning value of the collections.

c) Specify the collection level (fonds or sub-fonds) records (summary guides) that could possibly be incorporated immediately into the Archives Hub.

d) Specify the number of collection level records to be incorporated, the size of the collections they describe, give an indication of the broad subject areas they cover and detail the research value of the material.

e) Specify the percentage of total holdings the number of records to be contributed represents.

f) Be accompanied by examples of data in its current form (both ready data and that requiring conversion).

g) Specify the standards that are intended to be used in the creation of access points.

h) State the access status of the collections.

i) Specify the format that will be employed for the submission of records e.g. MARC, EAD.

j) Include the sum requested to contribute data and give a breakdown of indicative expenditure plans. If there is any institutional contribution this should be included. (The funds available will not cover overheads. Funding is limited, however the selection panel will consider covering costs of equipment and travel in exceptional cases.)

k) Quantify institutional contributions in terms of overheads, staff time and finance.

l) Include the project start and completion date.

m) Demonstrate understanding of the standards mentioned and issues related to data incorporation and indicate any experience of the use of ISAD(G) and EAD.

n) Include a statement of support signed by the Director of Information/Library services.

o) Give details of personnel to be involved, stating the appropriate person to contact in relation to the proposal. State relevant contact details clearly.

p) Detail how this bid relates to other archival network bids the institution has submitted or is considering submitting to other initiatives and also how this proposal relates to any institutional strategy for networking of archival catalogues.

q) Specify whether any finding aids are currently accessible on-line, and in what format. Proposals should also state whether finding aids are available via the National Register of Archives.

r) Be no more than 6 sides of A4 excluding the data examples to be attached and the cover sheet (see next paragraph).

• The deadline for receipt of proposals is 5pm on Wednesday 13th December 2000.
• Ten paper copies should be sent to: Shirleen Craig, Heriot-Watt University Library, Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS.
• An electronic copy, either in WORD 7 or in .rtf format, should also be emailed to Shirleen Craig; s.craig@hw.ac.uk .
• Faxed copies will not be accepted.

6. Proposal Evaluation and Selection Criteria

6.1 In evaluating the proposals the following criteria will be taken into account (not listed in any particular order):

• The credibility of the proposal
• Value for money
• Understanding of the requirement
• Institutional support
• The richness research and learning value of material
• Evidence of the general availability of the collections

6.2 It is anticipated that all proposals will be informed of their success or otherwise by Friday 26th January 2001.

7. Further Information

7.1 Enquiries about this circular should be addressed to:

Shirleen Craig, Heriot-Watt University Library, Riccarton, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS.
Tel: 0131 451 3215 email: s.craig@hw.ac.uk.

7.2 Procedural issues may also be dealt with by:

Alice Colban, JCEI Secretary / Joanna Harrison, Assistant JCEI Secretary,
JISC Secretariat, Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QD
Tel: 0117 931 7257/7252 email : a.colban@jisc.ac.uk or j.harrison@jisc.ac.uk

7.3 The JISC intends to issue another call for content for the Archives Hub for the period 1 August 2001- 31 July 2002 and possibly for the period 1 August 2002 - 31 July 2003. However the final decision on whether to issue further calls will depend on circumstance. The criteria for future content is undecided, although it is expected that the primary concern will be collection level data in the interest of obtaining as comprehensive coverage as possible within the funds available. It is possible that if it is considered appropriate future calls will be open to Research Council sites and wider constituents.

7.4 HE institutions that do not hold collections suitable for inclusion in the Archives Hub are asked to supply a statement by email to: Shirleen Craig (s.craig@hw.ac.uk) with the subject line: "Archives Hub," by Wednesday 13th December 2000. This statement should either be sent directly from the Director of Library/Information services or copied to him/her.

7.5 Further related information can be found at the following URLs:

• Archives hub site
• Archives hub content guidelines
• ISAD (G) rules
• EAD website 
• DNER
• MIMAS website

JISC Secretariat
Bristol