JISC

Researchers, librarians, publishers and policy makers will be gathering in Gloucestershire on June 30th and July 1st to discuss the issues they face in creating, delivering and sustaining digitised content.

As JISC’s digitisation programme enters a new phase of enhancing previously unseen and difficult to access materials, experts from across libraries, museums and the private sector will meet to look into future opportunities and challenges at this year’s Content Conference.

With over 17 trusted, high-quality collections already available due to JISC funding, and another 25 projects busy digitising new content for research and teaching to be made available from September 2009, it seemed the ideal time to stage the conference.

Alastair Dunning JISC’s digitisation programme manager said, ‘Bringing previously unseen materials to life and enriching the UK’s digital online resources has been a driving force behind this programme. Although the materials have been digitised predominately for use within formal educational settings, many of the materials are also available for anyone to access. This conference is looking to share the challenges facing education and information professionals in managing information on the internet when the speed of technology is changing rapidly.

‘But one cannot assume that information put on the internet will stay there forever,’ he said. ‘Universities need to have strategies for sustaining such content, the technical solutions for preserving the data and the expertise of their staff to be able to maintain and refresh information so it doesn’t become obsolete as soon as it is created.’

It is not only the technological challenges that need to be overcome but also the legislative ones too.

As David Lammy, Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property, commented in a recent article, ‘Copyright has largely been the domain of lawyers and creatives, or professionals like teachers. We are moving into an environment where so many people have to be aware of being on the right side of the law, but at the moment accessing those rights is not a straightforward process for the consumer.’

There are many issues surrounding digitisation and access of information through the web, whether that be representing fragile materials in digital form or the complexities of license agreements, copyright and ownership of works. This conference will explore these topics and bring together experts from the public and private sector to share best practice.

Register for the conference

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