Higher coverage: Jisc programmes feature in e-supplement
‘E-mail – love it or loathe it, there is no escaping it,’ writes Jisc’s Electronic Records Manager Steve Bailey in the lead article in the Times Higher’s e-supplement published today. E-mail’s speed, convenience and ease of use are, however, the very attributes that can make it a threat to a college’s or university’s assets. The passing of the Freedom of Information Act means that ‘every e-mail sent or received by any member of staff using the institution’s e-mail service is covered by, and potentially disclosable under, the Act,’ he continues.
However, institutions can meet their responsibilities under the Act by adopting a ‘multi-faceted’ solution, one that includes ‘a combination of staff training and awareness, policies and technology,’ Steve Bailey writes. ‘Institutions should make sure they have a comprehensive e-mail policy that covers everything from acceptable use to the definition and treatment of e-mails as business records.’
In another article, Digitisation Programme. Manager Stuart Dempster talks to the Times Higher about the six projects he is responsible for and the vast array of online resources they will deliver from next summer. A resource which will span four centuries, all disciplines and a wide range of media, it is soon to be boosted by further investment of £6m over the next two years. ‘It’s not an archive,’ Stuart Dempster says, ‘but a living breathing collection, which will increase over time.’
The Knowledge Exchange is the subject of another article. Formed by Jisc and counterpart organisations in other European countries – the SURF Foundation in the Netherlands, Denmark’s Electronic Research Library (DEFF) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) – the Knowledge Exchange is developing closer working relationships between the organisations as international collaboration becomes ever more important in the online environment. Jisc Partnership Manager Louisa Dale tells the Times Higher: ‘The Knowledge Exchange is all about maximizing potential. It will enable us to improve the quality of the ICT development and services we already provide.’
The potential of virtual research environments (VREs), and their application across a variety of disciplines, is the subject of another article, with performing arts, archaeology and orthopaedic surgery the disciplines featured. Jisc is investing in the development of VREs which provide collaborative environments in which research teams can share online tools and resources across subject, institutional and sometimes national boundaries.
VRE Programme manager Maia Dimitrova says the projects are showing that as the needs of the research community change, so VREs and the facilities they provide will become more and more central to the ways in which researchers work: ‘the projects are beginning to allow researchers to work on a range of challenging problems that have not been possible up to now.’
To look at the Times Higher’s e-supplement please click on the following link: e-supplement.