Ariadne looks beyond text
This month’s issue of the online journal Ariadne features an article by Jisc’s Balviar Notay and Catherine Grout – ‘Looking for More than Text?’- on developments in the provision of online images and time-based media. Pointing to a significant body of research which suggests that the use of non-textual materials can help to develop certain skills in learners, the authors suggest that the online environment is well-suited to enhancing the learning experience through the use of sound and images.
They go on to describe some of the key developments in this area such as the Jisc Image Digitisation Initiative (JIDI), the Jisc Learning and Teaching programme, and more recently, the Pixus image project. Most recent of these developments is the Visual and Sound Material (VSM) Portal Scoping Study and Demonstrator Project based at EDINA, which is exploring the various requirements of a portal to cross-search and harvest still images and time-based media from a single interface. “Embedding portal functionality could help to deliver a more seamless experience to users,” the authors write, “and also allow online portal services provided by Jisc and others to be tailored to organisational priorities and goals.
Other articles in the new issue of Ariadne include one by Amber Thomas and Andrew Rothery on repositories for learning materials which looks at how online repositories are being used to store and share e-learning content, while another, by Martin Feijen and Annemiek van der Kuil of the Cream of Science Project, part of the SURF Foundation’s DARE Programme, explores how their online repository offers open access to almost 25,000 publications by over 200 prominent scholars in the Netherlands.
To look at the new issue of Ariadne, please go to: Ariadne issue 45.