JISC

January 2002

Focus on Access to Institutional Resources Programme (FAIR)

To: Heads of Further and Higher Education Institutions funded by the English, Scottish and Welsh HEFCs and FEFCs and by DEL, N.Ireland
Copies:
Directors of Information Services
Learning Resource Managers
JISC Committee Members
JISC Executive
JISC Regional Support Centres
JISC Services

Contents

• Introduction
• Background
• The Call and its Focus
• Scope of the Call
• Partnership and Project Outputs (Evaluation and Dissemination)
• Evaluation Criteria for Proposals
• Accessibility Issues
• Public Relations
• Bidding - Eligibility and Level of Support Available
• Town Meeting
• Bidding Process
• Further Information
  
• Appendices
  1. Cover sheet for Proposals
  2. Background and Context
  3. Glossary and Useful URLs

Introduction

1. The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) intends to fund a number of projects to support access to and sharing of institutional content within Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) and to allow intelligence to be gathered about the technical, organisational and cultural challenges of these processes. The Focus on Access to Information Resources (FAIR) programme will contribute to developing the mechanisms and supporting services to allow the submission and sharing of content generated by the HE/FE community. This programme is part of a broader area of development to build an Information Environment for the UK's Distributed National Electronic Resource.
2. Proposals are invited from FE and HE institutions funded via the UK funding bodies. Proposals are invited from single institutions or consortia. Partnership arrangements may be developed outside the sector (for example with learned society publishers, the library, museum and archive sector), though the lead body must be part of the FE or HE community and funds can only be allocated through the lead site.
3. JISC funded services are also invited to submit proposals in partnership with colleges and universities, in particular to explore the use of the harvesting of the metadata that is disclosed into services. In pursuing proposals services are reminded that it will be important not to duplicate the work currently funded under the JISC-DNER Development Programme.
4. Institutions have a period of six weeks to respond to this call. The deadline for full proposals is 5.00pm on Thursday 28th February 2002.

Background

5. This programme is inspired by the vision of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI), that digital resources can be shared between organisations based on a simple mechanism allowing metadata about those resources to be harvested into services. In the e-prints community this is realised through data providers who mount the e-prints (and who could be based in institutions, in subject groupings, or in some other way), and who disclose their metadata to a service provider, which again could be based in institutions, or could be subject based, regional, national or international. End users can either search the particular data provider of interest, if they know it, or can search the service provider, which will have gathered together the metadata from many data providers. The OAI protocol is one mechanism that can support this model, but there are others. The model can clearly be extended to include other kinds of objects, for example learning objects, images, video clips, finding aids, etc. The vision here is of a complex web of resources built by groups with a long term stake in the future of those resources, but made available through service providers to the whole community of learning.
6. The use of Open Archives is a key way of disclosing metadata about resources held by members of the higher and further education community. (See: Developing an agenda for institutional e-print archives; J MacColl, M Napier, P Hunter, 2 October 2001, Ariadne 29, for a discussion of some aspects of this). The JISC wishes to evaluate and explore different mechanisms for disclosure and sharing of content and the related challenges so as to inform the developing Information Environment. Whilst it is expected that a major aspect of this programme will be work involving the use of the OAI protocol, it is open to other protocols for disclosure such as Z39.50, RSS, Xquery, etc. Therefore, proposals involving the use of these or other mechanisms for the harvesting of metadata will be considered. Given that much prior work with Z39.50 has taken place, it is essential that any work that takes place develops innovative approaches and builds on existing experience in this area. For example, the potential for interaction between the use of OAI and Z39.50 to increase the comprehensiveness of services would be an interesting area to explore.
7. The FAIR programme is part of a larger area of work being taken forward by the JISC. The JISC envisages the Information Environment as a place where members of the HE and FE community can place and share useful content. The JISC content portfolio has the potential to grow to embrace both externally generated content from publishers and aggregators of educational content and community-generated resources. Therefore staff and students clearly need a place in which to lodge suitable content and products and a currency for exchanging and adding to it. This is an important part of developing a relevant and useful portfolio of resources. The Information Environment must therefore create the mechanisms and supporting services to allow this process to prosper.

The Call and its Focus

8. The FAIR Programme will involve members of the HE/FE community in projects to deposit and disclose institutional assets and to gather intelligence about and increase our understanding of the technical, organisational and cultural challenges of these processes. The FAIR Programme will also contribute to developing the mechanisms and supporting services to allow the submission and sharing of content generated by the HE/FE community.
9. It will be important that outcomes from projects funded under this programme complement the work of international initiatives in areas of open archives and metadata harvesting. An example of projects funded under the Mellon Foundation Harvesting Programme. Other examples of international initiatives in this area are the DINI (Deutsche Initiative fur Netzwerkinformation, which promotes implementation and use of Open Archive systems. A list of current OAI data and service providers. Also of interest is the work of the NDLTD (Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations) which is developing a model for electronic submission and sharing of theses and has many European as well as US participants.

Scope of the Call

10. Proposals are invited for projects and studies in the following areas:

    Projects

    1. Support for disclosure of institutional assets (digital information and learning resources), including institutional e-print archives and other types of collections through the use of the OAI protocol.
    2. Support for the harvesting of the metadata disclosed through this protocol into services which can be provided to the community on a national basis. Such projects may be collaborative in nature between JISC or other services, and institutions, and will explore the usability and accessibility of metadata disclosed. These services may be based around subject areas or other groupings of relevance for learning and research.
    3. Support for disclosure of institutional assets (digital information and learning resources) through the use of other relevant protocols for example Z39.50 and RSS, although priority will be given to the funding of innovative approaches in these areas rather than tried and tested solutions to the disclosure of metadata for searching.
    4. Exploration of the deposit of institutional collections:
       1. with a community archive (such as the AHDS);
       2. to augment existing collections which have proven learning, teaching or research value (for example the Bristol Biomedical Image Archive).
    5. Experiments with the embedding of JISC collections and services in local institutional portals and how well they can be presented in conjunction with institutionally managed assets.

Studies

6. Investigations into the related issues and challenges of institutional asset disclosure and deposit, including, collections management, IPR, technical, organisational, educational, cultural and digital preservation challenges.

Some examples are as follows:

• studies relating to the establishment and administration of institutional e-print archive services, for example, the challenges of providing e-print archives given varying resources available within institutions
• studies exploring how readily e-print and other institutional assets may be disclosed for teaching as opposed to for research purposes
• technical studies exploring the use and integration of relevant protocols for disclosing metadata within the architecture proposed for the Information Environment
• Studies examining the best way of disclosing IPR and copyright information in a machine readable form as part of the OAI protocol.

NB Funding will not be allocated for the digitisation of assets or the conversion of catalogue records to digital form. However funding will be awarded to develop the metadata associated with making these assets available to the community through the use of relevant protocols as mentioned above.

Partnership and Project Outputs (Evaluation and Dissemination)

11. JISC will wish to oversee and monitor the progress of funded projects. This will include recognition that in groundbreaking work there may be failures as well as successes, but that all such experience can provide valuable information for the community. It is also recognised that aims and objectives as well as the technological context can change, and that individual project objectives may need to be renegotiated over time.
12. Both formative and summative evaluation will be undertaken within the programme. JISC will under take evaluation in partnership with the funded projects. Projects will be required to co-operate with the programme evaluation. Each project will be required to build in evaluation activity in its project planning. The scale and nature of this project evaluation will naturally be dependent on the size and scale of project activity, and should be appropriate to programme aims
13. JISC will draw up a dissemination strategy in partnership with the projects and other JISC initiatives. However projects will be expected to engage in project specific dissemination to the FE and HE sectors as appropriate (see paragraphs on Public Relations).
14. JISC will look for phased outcomes as the project progresses. The nature of the project outputs will be expected to:
    • Provide a lasting benefit to the community;
    • Have a scale and nature concomitant with the level of funding provided;
    • Contribute to achieving the JISCs strategic aim of fully supporting the sharing of research and learning objects.
    15. Projects will be expected to comply with the JISC/DNER standards and guidelines developed to underpin the Information Environment and should make themselves familiar with the technical model for the Information Environment. Projects will also be expected to follow the JISC/DNER project management guidelines. This includes IPR and copyright guidance, adherence to good project management practices, regular reporting and participation of projects in steering committees. A Programme Manager post based in the JISC Development Team will provide management support to projects.
    16. The JISC does not seek to retain IPR in the project and deliverables created as part of its programmes. However funding is made available on the condition that project outputs are made available, free at the point of use, to the UK HE and FE community in perpetuity, and that these may be disseminated widely in partnership with the JISC.
    17. It is intended that the learning and deliverables created as part of this programme will be deployed by the JISC as part of a long-term strategy for providing access to community resources and where this is possible arrangements for archiving of deliverables will be set in place. However, wherever this is achievable, projects will be required to set in place mechanisms to ensure the continued availability and currency of deliverables after funding has ended. The JISC will not be able to commit to the long term delivery or maintenance of project outputs after the end of the programme, though guidance will be given about opportunities for continuation funding and embedding within institutions.

    Evaluation Criteria for Proposals

    19. Evidence of quality of outputs - the extent to which the proposal shows both innovation as appropriate, and careful consideration of the issues and demands outlined in the call. The quality of the proposal will be considered on the basis of identified out puts and the evidence provided of how these will be achieved. (25%)
    20. Impact - the extent to which the project outcomes will be of general value to the FE/HE community. This will include an assessment of the extent to which the projects will contribute to the overall strategic aims set out in this document and the likely benefits - short-term, medium term and long term - for the JISC community. Included in the assessment under this criterion will be the need for sustainability of the work at the end of the project funding period. (25%)
    21. Partnership and Dissemination - the degree to which the proposal demonstrates an openness and willingness to work in partnership with JISC in forward planning, dissemination and evaluation; the potential for extended partnership beyond the funding period; the nature and level of the likely outputs for dissemination. (15%)
    22. Value for money - taking into account the level of innovation, chance of success and relevance to the FE/HE community, is the project good value for money? (10%)
    23. Track record of both the project's institution(s) and the project team demonstration of the project teams and institutions potential to manage and deliver a successful project, for example through work done to date in the area or in related fields, ability to engage with and build a community and understanding of the issues and of the technologies. (15%)
    24. In the case of consortium proposals, the strength of the consortium will be considered. This refers to evidence of the commitment shown by the consortium partners to the consortium and the proposed project, and the degree to which the work proposed is aligned with institutional strategies and is shown to be embedded within the mainstream of the consortium. Proposers may wish to produce evidence such as partnership agreements, strategic plans, working papers etc. These may be included as appendices to the proposal and need not be counted within the 10 page limit.
    25. Notwithstanding the weightings of the evaluation criteria, proposals that fail badly on any one criterion may be rejected, and proposals showing exceptional strength in one or more areas with serious weaknesses in others may be funded. In making awards under this call JISC will take into account the need for the appropriate, varied and affordable portfolio of projects and partners. It is not, therefore, necessarily the case that the projects with the highest raw scores will be funded.

    Accessibility Issues

    26. JISC considers the accessibility of systems it funds to be of critical importance thus ensuring that all students and staff are able to use such systems. In keeping with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act and Human Rights legislation, and the wider access policies of the Funding Councils, it is expected that software and IT resources in institutions should be accessible to staff and students with disabilities. Proposals should, where appropriate, take account of accessibility issues.
    27. Advice and recommendations for ensuring IT based systems, tools and resources are accessible by all staff and students can be found in the resource section of the Technology for Disabilities Service (TechDis). Further advice and consultancy is available from the TechDis Centre.

    Public Relations

    28. JISC will provide help and guidance to all funded projects regarding publicity, dissemination and evaluation activities.
    29. JISC endeavours to ensure that a coherent message is given to the community covering the breadth and depth of its activities. Projects will be expected to follow the JISC PR strategy and guidelines. These include advice on developing publicity materials and producing press releases, and will be issued to funded projects.
    30. Projects will be expected to establish and maintain a website for the dissemination of information about the project, (the size and scale of which will of course be dependent on and appropriate to the level of resourcing of a given project).

    Bidding - Eligibility and Level of Support Available

    31. FE and HE institutions and departments and individuals from FE/HE institutions funded by the UK funding bodies are eligible to submit proposals.
    32. Consortium partners external to FE/HE are welcome, however the lead partner must be a FE or HE institution funded by the UK funding bodies. Budgets for partners outside the FE/HE community cannot be met directly by JISC.
    33. As guidance, proposals for projects from one to three years duration and with budgets ranging from 30,000 to 300,000 will be considered. All projects are encouraged to start as soon as possible. Funds available will not cover institutional overheads. Where possible, institutions are invited to make contributions to the work.

    Town Meeting

    34. The JISC is holding a Town Meeting where potential bidders will be given information about the background to the call, its objectives and the bidding process. Attendees will also have an opportunity to ask questions of JISC staff, JISC committee members and members of the FAIR steering group. This meeting will take place on 1st February in Woburn House, 20 Tavistock Square, London at 2 pm. Members of the FE and HE community are invited to register for the meeting by contacting Sarah Sherman on jisc@kcl.ac.uk, 0207 848 2937. The total number of participants at the Town Meeting is restricted so institutions are invited to register early.

    Bidding Process

    The bidding process will be in two stages.

    Stage 1

    Proposals should be submitted to a maximum of 10 sheets of A4 plus appendices, together with a letter of support from an authorised senior manager at the institution (in the case of consortium proposals, from each member institution), and a completed cover sheet (see Appendix A). These should be sent to Rachel Merrett, JISC Executive, Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QD. An electronic copy of the bid, appendices, coversheet and letter(s) of support should also be sent to r.merrett@jisc.ac.uk. Both hard copy and emailed proposals must be received by 5.00pm on Thursday 28th February 2002. Faxed or late proposals will not be accepted.

    35. The content of the bids should reflect the evaluation criteria set out in paragraphs 19 to 25 above. To assist in the assessment of all proposals against a common baseline, please follow the structure outlined below:
        Outline - A brief outline of the nature of the work to be undertaken, the length of the project, the proposed start date (projects are encouraged to start as soon as possible) and how it will contribute to the FAIR programme.
        Project deliverables - A description of the intended project deliverables, and an explanation of how they will be of value to the JISC community and in particular how they will impact positively on learning and research.
        Budget - A budget that in broad outline identifies how funds will be spent over the life of the project, including a breakdown of funding across academic years (August to July). Staff costs, equipment and consumables, travel and subsistence (if applicable) dissemination, evaluation and other costs should be identified. An indication of institutional contributions (e.g. overheads, equipment, staff time) should also be given, as appropriate.
        Evaluators - Names and contact details of two evaluators who are independent of the project and who may be called upon by JISC for an assessment of the project proposal against the evaluation criteria outlined above.
        Key contact - a named contact for correspondence concerning the proposal (include name, position, institution, address, telephone and fax numbers and email address)

    Stage 2

    36. JISC will consider these proposals and endeavour to notify successful bidders by early April 2002. JISC will expect to work with the selected projects to jointly agree the work programme and to ensure that the project budget is adequately set and profiled. JISC may wish to negotiate outcomes and content as appropriate for the Information Environment strategy. of which the FAIR Programme is a component.

    Further Information

    37. General enquiries about the FAIR programme should be sent to:
        Catherine Grout, DNER Assistant Director for Development, JISC Executive London Office, Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, London, WC2R 1HH, 0207 848 2493 
    38. General enquiries about the proposal submission process should be sent to: Alice Colban, JISC Executive, Northavon House, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS16 1QD, 0117 931 7257

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    Appendix A

    Cover Sheet for Proposals (All sections must be completed)

    Focus on Access to Institutional Resources (FAIR)

    Name of Lead Institution/Organisation

    Name of Proposed Project

    Full Contact Details for proposal leader Name: Address:     Tel: Fax: Email:

    Programme Area(s) of Proposal (Please indicate which programme area your proposal relates to using the categorisation in paragraph 9 of the Circular)

    Length of Project and cost to JISC over its Life

    Cost of Proposal to JISC in each academic year

    Proposed Project Start date

    Outline Project Description

    Name and Contact Details of Project Evaluators

    
    

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    Appendix B: Background and Context

    The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) has endorsed the Information Environment Development Strategy 2001-2005 and an implementation plan for the Information Environment. The FAIR Programme is one of the sub-programmes of the wider Content Disclosure and Submission Programme.

    Information Environment

    A key JISC strategy for the next 5 years is to build an integrated Information Environment that:

    • Accommodates and delivers all kinds of digital content
    • Fully supports the submission and sharing of research and learning objects
    • Provides a range of meaningful, rich and innovative methods of accessing electronic materials, to enrich and develop learning and research
    • Provides a collaborative landscape of service providers who work together seamlessly to meet the needs of the community on a national basis
    • Is underpinned by real world interoperability, based on a common standards framework and common semantics for digital resource descriptions and access.

    The realisation of the Information Environment involves the development of a robust service provider architecture, content submission and sharing mechanisms, fusion and portal services, shared infrastructure services, and an enhanced presentation layer supported by the network infrastructure (Super Janet 4).

    Content Disclosure and Submission Programme

    The JISC envisages the Information Environment as a place where a variety of stakeholders particularly members of the FE/HE community can place and share useful content. The JISC content portfolio has the potential to grow to embrace both externally generated content from publishers and aggregators of educational content and community-generated resources. Therefore staff and students need a place in which to lodge suitable content and products and a currency for exchanging and adding to it. This is an important part of growing a relevant and useful portfolio of resources. The Information Environment must therefore develop the mechanisms and supporting services to allow this process to prosper. There are significant advantages to the FE/HE community and to the JISC/DNER of this approach.

    The key objectives of the Content Disclosure and Submission Programme are:

    • To progress access to and sharing of community content through the following mechanisms:
    • DISCLOSURE: Harvesting of metadata
    • DISCOVERY: Providing support for the exposure of records about community collections (library, archive, learning, teaching and research collections would be eligible)
    • DEPOSIT: Direct submission of relevant content to existing services/collections
    • EXCHANGE: Re-purposing of existing and forthcoming JISC/DNER content suitable for use as learning objects in order to allow them to be integrated with or plugged into MLE's and VLE's
    • By 2005, to have significantly enhanced access to community collections through the use of these mechanisms
    • By 2005, to have funded and managed a number of community-based programmes in order to ascertain the organisational, technical, and business challenges involved in sustaining this area as a core strand of JISC activity.

     

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    Appendix C: Glossary and Useful URLs

    AHDS (Arts and Humanities Data Service)

    DNER (Distributed National Electronic Resource)

    FE (Further Education)

    HE (Higher Education)

    JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee)

    MLE (Managed Learning Environment)

    OAI (Open Archives Initiative)

    RDN (Resource Discovery Network)

    RSS (Rich Site Summary)

    VLE (Virtual Learning Environment)

    Useful URLs

    The JISC/DNER technical architecture: scoping the information environment
    
    Technology for Disabilities Service (TechDis)

    Open Archives Initiative