Press release: Partnership boost to UK higher and further education

The partnership between Jisc and the British Library has already yielded initiatives such as the digitisation of two million pages of nineteenth-century newspapers, along with around 4,000 hours of recordings from the British Library Sound Archive. 

The formalisation of this relationship has potentially far-reaching significance to UK education and research: its principal goal is to ensure that learning and research in the UK are supported by the leading-edge technology and access to exceptional content that such a cross-sectoral collaboration can offer. 

The Memorandum of Understanding, signed at a ceremony at the British Library, commits both parties to a range of collaborative activities, overseen by an annual work plan, joint strategic liaison meetings, the funding of a senior post as British Library Jisc Partnership Manager, and the sharing of knowledge and expertise between the two organisations. 

Dr Malcolm Read, Executive Secretary of Jisc, and Ms Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library, sign the memorandum of understanding between the two organisations in front of an image of one of the nineteenty century newpapers which will be digitised as part of a joint project between Jisc and the British Library. The project is one of a wide range of joint activities which the agreement cements.  

Today’s agreement builds on the activities currently being developed and implemented by the British Library and Jisc. In addition to the digitisation of newspapers and sound recordings, the agreement formalises existing partnership arrangements and currently covers some 16 different projects and services. 

Examples include:

• an e-theses pilot service to investigate mass digitisation of current holdings of theses in the British Library and UK universities
• collaborative work in the area of digital preservation and digital repositories
• the provision and development of a range of national resource discovery tools, such as SUNCAT, COPAC and Zetoc

Dr Malcolm Read, Executive Secretary of Jisc, said: “The British Library is one of the most important scholarly resources in the world and we are delighted to be working closely with them. Our partnership has already been a strong and successful one and it now promises to deliver further benefits of lasting value to UK education and research.”

Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library, stated: "Jisc has an international reputation and a UK-wide remit for ICT services and innovation supporting Higher and Further Education. We are delighted to formalise our existing close relationship with Jisc and the partnership will continue to work on future major national initiatives.” 

For further information and images, please contact:

Philip Pothen (Jisc)

Lawrence Christensen (British Library Press Office) on 020 7412 7114, e-mail lawrence.christensen@bl.uk

Notes for editors

1. Jisc – the Joint Information Systems Committee – is a joint committee of the UK further and higher education funding bodies (HEFCE), and is responsible for supporting the innovative use of information and communication technology (ICT) to support learning, teaching, and research.  It is best known for providing the JANET network, a range of support, content and advisory services, and a portfolio of high-quality resources.  Information about Jisc, its services and programmes can be found at www.jisc.ac.uk/
2. The British Library - is the national library of the United Kingdom. It provides world-class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive research collection. Further information is available on the Library’s website at www.bl.uk, which currently records almost 2 million 'hits' or visits per month.
3. The British Library/Jisc Partnership Manager (Neil Beagrie) is employed by the British Library on behalf of both organisations. He is responsible for:
   • Developing and maintaining a strategy for collaborative working between the two organisations;
   • Planning, co-ordination, and follow-through from bi-annual strategic liaison meetings;
   • Identifying, founding, and  supporting projects of mutual benefit, and oversee funding applications to initiate them;
   • Stimulating knowledge transfer and interaction between the two organisations and their associated services and communities;
   • Providing a source of expert advice and support in both organisations;
   • Actively communicating and disseminating information about the partnership and its activities in both a UK and international context.
4. SUNCAT- the RSLP, Jisc and the British Library jointly funded feasibility and scoping studies for a national serials union catalogue (SUNCAT) to assist the research community with the locating of journals in research libraries. The Phase 1 pilot ran until the end of December 2004. A further two-year service development phase from January 2005 is now in progress. The pilot service containing records from 22 leading research libraries was launched on 10 January 2005.
5. BL/Jisc Partnership activities. Further information on BL/Jisc partnership activities is available on the British Library and Jisc websites at:

   www.bl.uk/about/cooperation/jisc.html

   http://www.jisc.ac.uk/part_bl_info.html